Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Day 98 - The Power of Praise


"He had a bad doctors report but is still praising God."

There is a man who attends our church who by all natural means should be dead. He has cancer and issues with his heart. Every time we call for people to stand to be prayed over for healing he is right there. The doctors have given him several grim reports and months to live. Despite all of this he is alive and feels better than ever. Every time I see him he praising God and speaking faith. 

There is power in our praise. Praise opens the door for God to do mighty and wonderful things. When we praise it releases our faith and God moves. 

The Bible is full of illustrations of people who praised and God moved on their behalf. 

Think about Jehoshaphat. Not only does he have one of the most memorable names in the Bible he also has one of the most memorable testimonies. He had multiple armies coming against him. There was no hope in the natural. A prophet speaks the Word of the Lord to him and he worships and prays. Then he does something unusual. He sets people in front of the army to sing and praise. The Bible records that as they sang and praised God that the armies that were coming to destroy them actually turned and destroyed each other. 

What about Paul and Silas who were imprisoned after the cast the devil out of a little girl? Here they are in the middle of the night singing in stocks. Everyone in the prison could hear them because they were singing so loud. Suddenly the stocks are released and all the prison doors open! Through these events the keeper of the prison and his whole family are saved. 

The point for all of us is that we should praise instead of complain when adversity strikes. God will win the battles we face, loose our bonds and set us up for His purposes as we praise Him. It may not be easy and you might have to praise through tears and pain but as you do God will move on your behalf. 

Do you have a story of how God moved when you praised Him? What scriptures encourage you to praise?


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