Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.
Psa 149:6 – 9
We can't propel things from nowhere; the same way an arrow must shoot from a bow, or a grenade may be launched from a rocket launcher, praise must go out from your mouth. And every time we carry out an act of compliance, that is obedience to praise, it results in a victory of sorts!
Complaining and grumbling are one hundred percent unacceptable in God’s presence, “Do everything without grumbling or arguing,” Philippians 2:14. Do not fail to praise God, it is a major weapon for the Christian.
There are times when the spirit of God prompts praise and it’s usually because a great victory is coming that you do not know about. But some do not, or will not praise properly until they have a motive – there must be a reason to praise. "Why should the praises go up now? Are there blessings that are coming down?" they ask… This is a wrong platform for launching this weapon of war.
Go with what the Spirit is prompting whether you are alone – and this is happening in your heart, or you are with people. When the Spirit is saying, "Give Me praise now,” don’t say, "I do not feel like praising, Let me be real to myself." It's so much better to praise God at the time He's leading you to. It's not for us to know what God is planning, just like we don’t know how the bones of a child are formed in the womb (Ecclesiastes 11:5). What matters is that, God pushed you, and you allowed yourself to be pushed. Even when you want to stop, and He says, "No, another step," go with it. Every step you take in obedience contributes to your victories.
I once shared how my little daughter escaped a major accident some years back. She was quite young back then, and would sleep on our bed (in my bedroom) at certain times in the mornings. One night, I found myself saying, "Praise God! Praise God!" rather strongly. The next morning, my daughter fell asleep in another room for the first time in months, and no one bothered to move her to our bed. During that time, I too was out of the room. Then it became windy outside – the wind was so strong that the avocado tree behind the window in my room snapped and a branch swung on the roof, swiveled, and shattered the louvers directly over my bed. Large shards and pieces of louvers were all over the place where my daughter used to sleep. I immediately realized that God was saying, ‘Thank Me’. I find it very interesting how many times God leads me to thank Him before the thing happens. That was an instance of giving thanks in faith. Thanksgiving, is a weapon of war, in and of itself. You praise from a place of appreciation, but often it must come from a place of faith.
Some people are very good at going to God, “Oh God, I want this from You, and I heard that, if I give You thanks, You will respond. So, I give You thanks.” "God, as I'm praising you, I hope you're counting. Have you seen how many minutes I've spent? Whichever angel is in charge records there, I hope you're noting? Let my praise not be in Vain." Doing such is like offering a corrupt sacrifice. It's insincere. It's selfish. Don’t’ praise as a method of getting things from God. Rather thank God for your life, that you have food to eat and you have clothes to wear. Be grateful for what exists already.
One day, as I drove out of the gate of my compound, I noticed rows of corn plants that were almost ready to be harvested. I had been away from my residence for weeks, so as I was driving out, they really stood out to me. Those corn plants were a picture of the price that was paid in the sun, with much sweat, with fingers in the dirt, and this is what happens spiritually.
When harvest time comes, you can’t just walk into any farm and take corn because it is not your farmland. You can see a farm, admire it, ask God to bless the land, and pass.
All sort of things happen whenever we yield to the spirit. Sometimes, we see the results immediately. Other times, we see the results weeks, months or years after. Now many of God's children will say, "No! God can never do that. Are you telling me that if I don't do this now, the blessing God had for me in two years wouldn't come? I can never agree." That means, you don't agree with, Galatians 6:7 which says, “Don’t be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap.”
There is a time to sow and a time to reap.
Grumbling will stop you from acquiring more in the spirit, and even in the physical. Have a habit of praise.
Brother Sadhu Selvaraj told of how God directed him to fast and pray only for a certain number of days. About a week or so later, he gets a letter from a couple who were being oppressed for years by a Hindu witch doctor. The witch doctor would call evil spirits against them and they would be terribly tortured. Bro. Sadhu honoured their invitation and went to their house. When he got there, the Lord told him to go to bed so he slept. He woke up at about 5 minutes to 12a.m, knelt down to pray and is stopped by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit told him "Just lift your hands and give praise." So he didn't even pray. He just lifted his hands, he was just saying, "Lord I bless Your name." This was the warfare. Why? Because the actual warfare had finished in the earlier days when he prayed while not knowing why he was praying.
As he lifted his hands, he saw angels come. He saw the witch doctor, go to the cemetery, and call out spirits, wicked spirits, and they filled the sky. But as he lifted up his hand, he saw a clash between an army of angels led by a mighty angel and demonic forces. The demonic forces were defeated and in the physical, this witch doctor fell sick with terrible boils and eventually died horribly. He did not die because Bro. Sadhu prayed against him, but because he had been so wicked and God chose to judge him in that way. He had heard that the couple he was oppressing had brought a Christian so he went and called out wicked spirits to prove his power. Glory to God, he was defeated him. Brother Sahdu's obedience didn't ‘bind and cast’ anything. He just lifted his hand, and gave praise. Also, he had sowed in obedience.
Every weapon has its springboard: an arrow has a bow, a gun has a barrel it comes out of, a tank is the base for explosives to go out, a grenade has a launcher, etc. In the same way, praise is a weapon to be fired out. It is to spring out of gratitude and not a calculated desire for something. This is why people say, "I was told to praise God now. I praised. Nothing happened", because, it was not fired out from its proper device. You were supposed to fire out your praise and thanksgiving from a grateful heart.
Your heart can stir you up to bless God, it can flow over with good things like the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 45:1, even when you don’t know why. I often don't know why. I just go with it. This is very important if you want to experience amazing things!
