Week 22: May 28th – Jun 3rd (Victory Through Praise)

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Victory Through Praise

Week 22: May 28^th – Jun 3rd

Bible passage to read: 2^nd Chronicles 20

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“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise–the fruit of lips that confess his name.” Hebrews 13:15

In this memorable passage, King Jehoshaphat led his people to a resounding victory against three occupying armies (the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Midianites), and their weapon of choice is: ‘The Power of God’ Jehoshaphat fought and secured victory by praising the Lord, but the passage discussed an elaborate event that led to this miraculous victory. One can suggest that Praise and Worship fired the winning shot at the enemy, but ‘Faith’ appears to designed and build the weapon that was fired by Praise and Worship.

The passage described the size and might of the invaders and even King Jehoshaphat himself knew that he had no chance against this enemy, pound for pound; his kingdom will surely be destroyed. We must realize and acknowledge the fact that we have a challenge that is far greater than our power, and at the same time genuinely believe in the power of God to do all things. This belief stems from the faith we cannot boast of without an established relationship with God. In 2 Chronicles 20: 4: the people came together to seek God, Jehoshaphat, confident of his relationship with Lord, boldly stood up before his subjects and called on God for help (2 Chronicles 20: 5 – 12), Jehoshaphat did not tell God what to do, he told God what the problem was and by virtue of his standing before God, he was able to remind God of the relationship between Him and his ancestors (especially Abraham) and also hinted on covenants with generations in-between. Also, it is worth noting the fact that Jehoshaphat, at the beginning of his reign as king of the kingdom of Judah, took great effort to make sure his subject form a good relationship with God. (2 Chronicles 17). So it was not a strange appeal from the king when he asked his people to come to the presence of the Lord in fasting and prayer, and later to go to battle armed with Praise and Worship. Of course, the enemies were defeated by the power of God through praise. Joshua 6:1-27 also gives an account of how the power that lies in paying homage to the Lord can never be overstated. All that brought down the mighty wall of Jericho was the sound of trumpets and horns followed by the shout of praise, no cannon was fired but the wall came down.

In as much as God is capable of unimaginable deeds, deeds that are far beyond our wildest imaginations, we must be prepared to establish a permanent relationship with Him in order to be a regular beneficiary of these miracles.

Victory is guaranteed if we constantly reverence the name of God. Even the opening line of the Lord’s Prayer immediately after identifying God pays homage before any request is made – in reverence the name of God.

And finally, we must totally subject ourselves to God; any action that might suggest we don’t entirely trust in Him might force Him to leave us to fight our own battle ourselves. A relationship with God, absolute trust in Him, and of course praise, gave Jehoshaphat victory

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Devotional Prayer Points

• Dear God! I call on you to establish a permanent link between you and my soul, so that soul shall forever be close to You.
• Give my heart reason to praise you every second of every minute of each hour of my life.
• Also make me experience victory in all my endeavor in life.
  

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