What is the best weapon in your arsenal when the enemy comes against you?
Daily we face battles from the enemy. We may be force to deal with health issues, financial issues, family issues, friend issues, job issues, and so on. But we must remember that any of the people involved in the conflict is NOT our enemy.
The real battle is in the spiritual realm, not in this physical realm.
Ephesians 6: 12 (NKJV) explains to us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Therefore, to defeat the enemy in the spiritual realm, we must engage in spiritual warfare. And the most powerful weapon we have to use against the wickedness is praising God.
Praise is spiritual warfare.
There are two times that are best to praise God. . .when you feel like it and especially when you don’t.
“Worship and praise is the purest form of prayer because it focuses our minds and souls entirely away from ourselves and on to Him.” (Stormie Omartian, Prayer That Changes Everything, p. 9)
Let’s look at a battle that took place in 2 Chronicles 20. I will summarize it for you and highlight a few verses, but I encourage you to take time to meditate on this chapter.
King Jehoshaphat of Judah just received the news that three different armies were coming to attack him. He was afraid, so he sought the Lord and proclaimed a fast through all of Judah. He raised up a public prayer. Afterwards King Jehoshaphat received a prophecy:
Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:14-17 NKJV).
After this word came to Jehoshaphat, he bowed down and continued to worship God. (2 Chron 20:18). Then everyone stood up and began shouting with loud voices. And the very next day, King Jehoshaphat assembled his army to go out against the three coming after him. Here are his instructions (2 Chronicles 20:20-21):
“Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:
“Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.”
Imagine with me for a moment, King Jehoshaphat appointed the praise and worship team to go up to the front! This does not make sense in our finite comprehension of how things should look. But we are part of a Kingdom that is not of this world, so we must operate according to the Kingdom of God to see our victory.
Continuing on in this chapter of the Bible, the army of Judah marched out against the enemy with the singers singing “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever.” By the time they reached the front lines of battle, their enemies had turned on each other and completely destroyed one another. All Jehoshaphat and his people had to do was collect the spoils!
When we praise God, we give the battle to the Lord.
The Lord fights on our behalf, just as He did for King Jehoshaphat. And by praising God in the midst of our battles, that signifies we trust God to fight our battles for us.
Praise focuses our attention on God and thereby turns the battles over to Him. When we do this, God brings the victory!
Praise is our mightiest spiritual weapon!
