A Secret Weapon

As I sit here, getting ready to share with you the biggest thing God has been doing in my life lately, I must start by being real. It is so easy to sit back on a morning when I feel no battles, no struggles and just live like I don't think I need God. Other days its so easy to worry about life and think about every detail of everything and wonder if it's going to be ok. Still other days, I find myself listening to Satan’s lies and believing him even though I know they aren’t true.

Do you find yourself doing those things too? Why does Satan lie to us? Why is it that life seems"easy" one day, and then the next is the hardest ever? Let me help you out with this…

It’s simple, really. He wants so badly to get your eyes off of the eternal One and onto your own temporary life, which will be so quick to end. He wants you to think that this life matters way more than the next. That you are of first importance. He wants you to forget that your life is over in a moment, and if you’ve done nothing but live for you, you’ll have no crown to cast down at the feet of the King of Kings, no reward or trophy to give to Him in worship before a mighty throng. He wants you to forget all of that. He wants you to live for the here and now, so that you will be cheated of a reward in heaven that could be great.

Has he succeeded? That is something you know the answer to better than I do.

Some of you are probably feeling discouraged. Some of you are riding on a high of “everything is going well.” Some of you feel like giving up on your walk altogether. Some of you are walking with Jesus at this very moment. And that is all part of the Christian life. We all go through each of the seasons I just mentioned! I’ve gone through every one of those many times.

Let me tell you of a key to lift you when you're down, a key to help you stay close to Jesus, a key to encourage you to NOT give up. The key is something you wouldn’t naturally think of to do. It’s something you and I don’t naturally even want to do. But it’s simple and it takes faith. The key is praise.

Recently, I had just come home from teaching a lesson, and got down on my knees to pray. My mind was swirling with all kind of things that I knew needed to end up at the feet of Jesus and out of my hands. I was discouraged, I was distracted with life, and my eyes were not where God intends them to be- on Him.

I began to pray and ask God’s Spirit for help, and He whispered, “praise God.” I was silent for a while, trying to think of things to praise God for. As things came to mind, I praised Him. “Oh, God, you are holy. You are the Creator of the Heavens and the earth. At Your glance the earth trembles, at your touch the mountains smoke. You know the number of stars in the heavens. You are so great, yet somehow You love me….”

On and on I went until a peace washed over me. Why did a peace wash over me? My focus shifted from someone who cannot be depended upon to get things done and to do everything right (AKA me) to the only Person in the whole universe that CAN!

If you read through the Psalms, you would see how often the Psalmist emphasizes the need for praise. He talks about entering God’s presence with thanksgiving and praise. (Ps. 100:4) He encourages those who fear God to praise Him! (Ps. 22:23) If you are seeking Him, you’ll be praising Him too. (Ps. 22:26)

Hebrews 13:15 says this: “By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.”

Praise is a choice you and I must make every day to lift our eyes and our hearts up to God, to look into the realms of heaven where He is seated on His throne, even when we are all out of feelings. It is when you choose to use your mouth to adore Him. It is not because God needs it, it is because YOU do!

God won't fall out of the sky if you and I don't praise Him. God won't have a pity party and start thinking He must not be so great because nobody has told Him He is great. That is not why we need to praise God. Yes, ultimately God will get the glory and His name will be magnified in ways we do not expect when we praise Him. But the reason you and I need to do it is for our own good.

You see, we are in a battle... Our victory is dependent on how much we have confidence in our Commander in Chief. If we forget how awesome He is, how powerful He is, how capable He is of handling our lives, how in control He is of our "out-of-control" lives, how already He has won the battle that is raging constantly, how His voice alone can do powerful things -He needs only speak the word and it is done, how incredibly loving He is of our unlovable selves, how merciful He is even though we make so  many mistakes... (and I could go on!) ...don't you think if we don't keep that in mind every day, we will put our weapons down and surrender to our enemy, we will give up before we've hardly even begun?

That's why you and I DESPERATELY need to praise Him! We can't afford not to! We can't afford to go one day without praising His name! It is a secret weapon and Satan hates it when we use it.

Do you want to be a man or woman after God's own heart? David got that privilege. God Himself called David a man after His own heart. What do you think the key was? He was constantly turning His heart to God! In the Psalms, you can see how David is constantly pouring His heart out to God, and always ends up praising Him. I truly believe that there is no coincidence there.

How can you be a man or woman after God's own heart if you don't adore God for who He is?

It's impossible! The two are inseparable. You will become like the one you worship. It's true. Look around you at the world. They worship their "idols": rock stars, movie stars, anyone who's famous, and then start trying to look like them.

That is how we should be with our amazing God. No, not trying to be God, but letting our heart become a reflection of who He is because we worship Him.

Look at what happens when we worship God: "Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in light of Your presence, Lord. They rejoice all day long in Your wonderful reputation. They exult in Your righteousness. You are their glorious strength." (Psalm 89:15-17)

When we truly worship God -which calls for a heart that adores Him, not just a mouth that's willing to say whatever- we will walk in His presence and rejoice in Him all day long! That's not something that should only happen sometimes, that's something God has given us the privilege of taking part in every day, should we choose to do so!

Oh, Christian, we can't afford to go without praising Him! Turn your heart and your eyes onto Jesus in praise! It is a secret weapon that we must use every single day to fight off Satan's many attempts to discourage us or to make us forget what really matters! And it works! When all is going well, praise God. When all is not going well, -yes, even then- praise Him.