Tag Archives: praise

Weapons of our Warfare – Let the Streets Resound with Singing (& Some Final Thoughts)

I had to resist the urge to title this one “Worship”, the nomenclature we have given to music in the Church. If I could wrap up the biblical definition of worship in a very short sentence it would be submitted service and obedience to God. While we can certainly include music and singing into our worship, music and singing are not what constitutes worship. But take heart, our worship is a weapon of war because our submitted service and obedience to our King will thwart the enemy’s plans every time.

But the sound of our singing and our music as we praise Him is a different weapon.

“Then he [King Jehoshaphat] consulted with the people and appointed some to sing for the Lord and some to praise the splendor of His holiness. When they went out in front of the armed forces, they kept singing: Give thanks to the Lord, for His faithful love endures forever.

The moment they began their shouts and praises, the Lord set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir who came to fight against Judah, and they were defeated.” – 2 Chronicles 20:21-22

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose.” – Acts 16:25-26

“Your singing will be like that on the night of a holy festival, and your heart will rejoice like one who walks to the music of a flute, going up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. And the Lord will make the splendor of His voice heard and reveal His arm striking in angry wrath and a flame of consuming fire, in driving rain, a torrent, and hailstones. Assyria will be shattered by the voice of the Lord….And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord brings down on him will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres; he will fight against him with brandished weapons”. Isaiah 30:29-31

“Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and an evil spirit sent from the Lord began to torment him, so Saul’s servants said to him, “You see that an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord command your servants here in your presence to look for someone who knows how to play the lyre. Whenever the evil spirit from God comes on you, that person can play the lyre, and you will feel better.”…Then Saul sent word to Jesse: “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor with me.” Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would pick up his lyre and play, and Saul would then be relieved, feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.” 1Samuel 16:14-23

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,  making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil… Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 6:15-20

This year has shown us, in more ways than one, that the days we are living in are evil. The sound of chaos, hatred, and rebellion has filled the streets, and for a moment, it put the Church back on her heels. But now, I hear a new sound in the nation, as God’s people take their song out of the church buildings and into the streets – from parking lot services to huge gatherings of people singing and praising God all across the country. More and more the streets are resounding with the warfare sounds of the saints.

We are at war, whether we like it or believe it. So loose your song, Beloved. Sing praise to your God.

A few final thoughts…

> In Ephesians 6, Paul tells us to put on the whole armor of God, but we are never instructed to take it off. The armor is not temporary clothing, it is a life lived in faithful obedience to Christ. If we take that off, sin is at our door and it will have us.

> Your faith – your dependence on and trust in God – is always the target. Guard it well. Build yourself up in it. Always recall to mind the faithfulness of your Father. He has proven that He can be trusted. Do not let the enemy convince you otherwise.

> The more I walk with Jesus, the clearer something becomes. Spiritual warfare becomes exhausting when my focus is on the enemy. When I’m trying to figure out where he is and what he’s doing, I get overwhelmed. So as I’ve gotten older, I spend much less time trying to get the enemy to move.

Instead, my focus is on moving God.

This is why it is critical for me to have an intimate relationship with my Father, so that I can know what moves Him.

My worship {submitted serving and obedience} moves God. ⠂My faith {my trust and dependence on Him} moves Him. ⠂ My prayer that desires His will over mine, moves Him. ⠂My song of praise, even in dark seasons, moves Him.

When I choose love when my flesh would rather hate, it moves God. When I do the work to forgive when walking away would be easier, God is moved. When I choose to live a life that moves God, war is being waged. But God is and will always be my Defender. He is my warrior King and the battle ever belongs to Him.

My final take on the topic of spiritual warfare?

Move God, and the devil will move.

dearly beloved

Dearly Beloved,

I am praying for you. I don’t know why you feel the way you do. I don’t know why your mind is dark and your heart is heavy. I wish I could fix it but I can’t. I am not your healer. So today I approach the throne of grace with boldness on your behalf. Because your Healer is on that throne and He is good and He is mercy and He loves you.

drowningBeloved, you were not made to tread water, gasping to get the air you need as you go under again. This going under and barely making it through each day is not the destiny your Father has for you. Today I pray that He will call you to walk upon the waters that are threatening to drown you. And when He calls, I pray you will stand up and walk.

 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

dry-bonesDry bones are not your portion. That valley is not your home.  So today I ask for the breath of God to blow upon your soul. I ask that life would stir in your bones and in your heart. Today I declare that the thief cannot have you, for you are not his to take. You belong to God and God breathes life and not death because He is alive and has called you to life. Beloved, God Himself is your portion and He holds your future and He is good. I pray that every scheme set against the life God has called you into will be brought down by His mighty hand. Today, I call out to dry bones to come alive.

“Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.”

 As David cried out, so I cry out. Because you see, I know that your God fights for you. You don’t feel it, may not even believe it, but I know it to be true. Because you are His and your enemy is His enemy and when He arises, that enemy scatters.  So I cry out for you and I ask your Father and mine to rise up on your behalf and contend for you. I pray that His presence will be felt by the darkness, and by you, setting the enemy to flight and giving you rest in your Father’s shadow.

“He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” 

 Today I am asking that the Healer of hearts will heal yours. I pray that the wounds that have led you here, to this place of despair, will be exposed to the Light and covered by the healing hand of God. I pray that whatever is holding you captive would hear the voice of your Savior pronounce freedom over you today and that darkness would be compelled to release its’ hold. Because the Son of heaven was sent for you and all authority was given to Him. That leaves none for the enemy of your soul.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”

 So right here, before the throne of grace, I declare the truth of God. You are not defined by your feelings, but by God’s heart for you. You are chosen and you are holy and you are God’s. I pray that today you will break your partnership with the lies of the enemy that tell you anything other than what God has spoken over you. Beloved, you are not who you think you are, but who God says you are.

You were not made to despair. You were not made to feel hopeless. You were made to praise.

Raining

So today I pray that despair and hopelessness will be overcome by praise rising from the heart of His beloved. I pray that by the Spirit of God living in you, praise will erupt and lies will break and truth will overtake the darkness that hovers over your mind. Because praise is a weapon and it shuts the mouth of the liar and opens the heart of the downcast.

Dearly beloved….

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

John 10:10; Ps 35:1; Isaiah 61:1; 1Peter 2:9; Romans 15:13

worship music (or, worship God)

He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” (Genesis 22:5)

Abraham was about to go “over there” to sacrifice his promised, beloved son, Isaac, in obedience to God, and he called it worship.

But where’s your boombox, Abraham?

music notesI believe we (the Church) have redefined worship. To many, if not most of us, the word “worship” is synonymous with “music”. In fact, you rarely hear those two words separately anymore in the Church.  We have worship songs, worship music, worship bands, worship services. We even have worship encounters.

But do we have worship?

As I searched the scriptures, I came to a startling conclusion:  music was not used for worship in the Bible, it was used for praise.  But we have so joined those two separate and distinct acts, that they are now defined by the type of music being played. If it’s a fast, upbeat “make you wanna dance and shout” song, then we are praising. If it’s a slow, contemplative, “make you sway and/or cry” song, we’re worshiping. Sunday services generally begin with “Praise and Worship”, and are even specifically formatted with a little “praise” at the beginning, some “worship” in the middle, and some really good “praise” at the end.

Am I right?

romans_12_1“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

In both Hebrew and Greek, the word means to bow, to prostrate oneself in homage to God, and in both the old testament and the new testament, worship involved sacrifice. In the old, they offered sacrificed animals. In the new, we offer sacrificed lives. Neither has anything to do with music.

Worship cannot be defined by a few hours on a Sunday morning of people singing, swaying and dancing to the latest worship songs. It can’t be defined by how well we were able to “enter in” based on how the band played and how the sound system was working that day.

Worship belongs to God, not to us. When we make it something we do for us, it is no longer true worship, it is self-worship.

Worship is not an experience or a response to a song. Worship is obedience to God’s command.

With all of that said…I LOVE the music in the Body of Christ! I love the gifts that God has given to the songwriters, musicians, and singers, enabling us to make a joyful noise, to praise Him, to exalt Him. And the win/win is that when we do that, we feel good, and we experience His presence because He inhabits the praises of His people.

Church, use the gifts of music that God has placed in you. Praise God, exalt God, make a joyful noise. Even make a slow, beautiful noise that makes me cry and put my face to the floor. But don’t continue to call music  “worship”, and don’t keep defining worship as an “experience” with God.

So here is the realignment, for me:  Do not reduce worship to the realm of music. Do not seek to worship God because you need to feel something. Learn to worship Him with your life. In the quiet spaces, in the difficult times and the good times, in the wilderness or on the mountain…worship God with a sacrificed, obedient life.

“Offer your bodies (the complete man) as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” 

If I continually seek after the next great song so that I can “experience” worship, but give little attention to my own obedience, to my own heart condition, then I am not a worshiper, I am just someone who likes good music.

Church, if you pour all your resources, time and efforts into creating the ultimate “worship experience” on Sundays (or any other day), but you are not teaching your congregation to live sacrificed, obedient, holy lives…then you are not a worshiping church, you are simply a church that has really good music.

Challenge (I’ve done this and, admittedly, it’s not easy, but it will shift something in you):

For one week, worship without music. In your quiet time with God, when you would normally pull up your playlist to start things off — don’t.  No “worship music” for one week. Instead, ask Him how you can obey Him that day, and then do it. Ask Him if there is something you are holding onto that needs to be sacrificed as an act of obedience. Then make the sacrifice. Worship God.

Let me know how it goes!