The following is an excerpt from my book “For This Child I Have Prayed”
” I could barely see the controls through my tears. I blinked heavily to clear my vision so I could make out the skip button, trying to keep focused on the road and the traffic around me. I eventually found it, and skipped to track 7, ‘Love is War.’ Pushing through the sobs, I began to sing and to worship out of my pain and desperation. It was exhausting to sing. The fatigue hung heavy like a wet sweater in the winter, and the fear for Samuel’s life resonated at my core. I continued to sing God’s praise anyway. As I continued singing, it became easier…
….The more I sang, the more determined I was to continue to do so with every ounce of my remaining strength. As I sang, I thought of how God’s promises were the only truth I chose to know. When the bridge ended, I rewound to the beginning of the bridge and started again…
…not only had the heaviness all but dissipated, but my strength was beginning to return. My change of focus and the presence of God, which was ushered in by my worship, was giving me strength. I still felt emotionally raw, but I no longer felt empty. In tearful defiance, as I made my way through the brick rowhouses down the blacktop side streets, I restarted the section of the bridge one more time and sang the lyrics at the top of my lungs. “
When this happened, Samuel was having to go in for a 4th emergency open heart surgery. I was hurting terribly. However, the Holy Spirit tugged at my heart to worship God. In spite of my pain, I did so. And it made all of the difference.
I want to suggest to you that sometimes the most important thing you can do is worship God. When you are in pain, worship God. When things are bad, worship God. When things are good, worship God.
Let’s explore a bit about what worship is and how it is a spiritual weapon you should be learning to use:.
- Worship is an act of faith. Faith is the fundamental key in waging war.
- You are declaring God’s goodness. This reminds you of who HE is in this situation.
- You are declaring God’s word. This reminds Satan and you what God says about this situation.
- It is an act of surrender, ushering in God’s control over the situation. You are telling everyone that God is in control, and you are giving it to him.
- It is an act of defiance. You are defying both circumstances and Satan himself and telling them both that God is in control.
- It draws God near both in presence and in relationship.
This last point is really big. Psalm 22:3 states that God inhabits, or is enthroned on, the praises of His people. When we worship God, we usher in his presence. Let’s look at a couple of instances where God moves powerfully when we start to worship:
- In Acts 16, Paul worshipped God when he was in chains in prison – and an angel came by and literally let him out of jail.
- In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat was threatened with 3 armies who were supposed to be his allies, marching on him to destroy Jerusalem. He put the singers in the front and worshipped God, and WHILE they worshipped, God destroyed them himself.
- In my own life, worshipping gave me the strength to move on, and helped me deal with incredible amounts of grief.
When you are going through struggles or good times, pain or blessing, worship God. It has incredible power, and it might just usher in the miracles for which you are praying.
You can catch the next post here: Principle 4 – Dealing with Frustration
You can also catch the prior posts here:
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