2 Chronicles 20:21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”
Our approach and attitude to the challenges we face determine the temperature of our atmosphere. The thermostat of our environment is our response to the problems and perturbations. “Fear is a natural and biological condition that we all experience,” however, being gripped or paralyzed by fear will wear-out our faith. It will make the environment grim and gloomy. The environment we surround ourselves with will open the door to the spiritual realm. Faith, gratitude, thanksgiving and praise will open the door for hosts of angelic beings to embellish us. Praise and worship is the language and linguistics of heaven. Hence when we praise instead of complain, we will be surrounded by a myriad of angels. Bless the LORD, all His angels mighty in strength who carry out His word, who hearken to the voice of His command (Psalm 103:20). On the contrary when we grumble, grouch or gripe, questioning God’s integrity or faithfulness the dark demonic forces will intrude into our dwelling. Our mind and mouth is the thermostat of our environment. Praise brings heaven down and whining breaks hell loose.
Jehoshaphat was informed of very disturbing news about an invasion of a powerful coalition. Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea (2 Chronicles 20:2). The first natural human response of Jehoshaphat was fear. He was “alarmed”. However, he did not wallow in panic, anxiety and distress. He responded to the incursion with praise. Praise changed the disaster-prone atmosphere of defeat into victory. The strategy to win every attack is to adjust the thermostat of our mind from mourning to praising.
Praise changes the atmosphere of our life:
1. Scheme: The tool to defeat the schemes of the devil is ‘praise’. Praise sprays acid on the demons of fear, fret and frenzy. They burn, scream and flee as we start praising God. The immediate natural response to any bad news or unforeseen problem would be fear but do not allow fear to dominate your mind and dictate your words. Defeat the schemes of the devil by praising God.
2. Strategy: The strategy of victory is to stop wallowing in the problem and turn the pout into praise. Jehoshaphat set his worship team to go before the army. As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated (vs 22). Jehoshaphat’s instruction to praise God transmitted the command to the angelic forces to attack the enemy’s army. They barraged the enemy’s camp and defeated them! Praise is the winning strategy.
3. Success: ‘Praise and worship’ is the simple truth for success.
Praise resets the thermostat of our lives to a God-rich environment of victory.
2 Chronicles 20:24 When the men of Judah came to the place .., they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.
Prayer: Dear Holy Spirit, remind me to reset the thermostat of my mind to ‘praise mode’ at all times. Amen.
Leave a Reply