I had a vivid dream once that really shook me up. In it I saw a Pastor friend of mine called ‘Judah’ in a wheel chair. I had the impression that he had been in a car wreck. Not only was he paralysed but something was wrong with his eyes. When I awoke I wondered if I should warn him of some impending danger, but had a check in my spirit that it didn’t mean what I thought.
The Lord reminded me that ‘Judah” in Hebrew means ‘Praise,’ and that it was a message for me. The Lord said to me that I and many in the Church are crippled because of our lack of thanksgiving and praise. Our ‘Judah’ is in a wheelchair. We may have had a previous ‘incident’ (car wreck) somewhere down the line that has crippled us. We need a healing in our souls so that we can rise up out of our spiritual wheel chairs and praise the Lord with our whole beings again. This lack of praise is also affecting our spiritual eyesight.
If I wanted to be used by Him in these Last Days then I needed to up my thanksgiving and praise for therein lies my spiritual strength. We think that if we had some great spiritual gift it would make us strong but that is not how it works. In fact the gift would most likely destroy us as we would not have the strength of character to handle the power.
The Lord went on to say to me that we are entering the last of the Last Days and with all the shaking going on we will need to be thankful and praise Him like never before because there will be many things that we will not understand. Praise is like a force field that protects us from the enemies attacks. Praise makes us hot and flies can’t land on a hot stove. Demons will find it hard to land on those who are thankful and praising God. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us not to lean on our understanding as there will be many things we don’t understand in these days.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;” Proverbs 3:5-6
There is so much confusion, fear and depression around us today because folk are not asking the Lord what to do but are leaning upon man’s understanding, especially from the internet. We are a generation that has so much available to us spiritually yet we are so weak. We are like the Laodicean Church that is blind, poor and naked yet they don’t realise their condition.
One of the most powerful ways to overcome Satan is through praise. David said in the Psalms that God has ordained strength and power even through the mouth of babes through praise. It is not just for those who are great Christians but even the baby ones as well.
“Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou might still the enemy and the avenger.” Psalm 8:2
Jesus referred to this same verse in Matthew but this time He says that He has perfected Praise instead of strength. Strength and Praise can be interchanged.
“And said unto him, Hear thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” Matthew 21:15-16
What this shows us is that you don't have to be too clever to overcome the Devil, as even children can do it. Praise is one of the ways we can silence the Enemy/Avenger. Praise is a powerful weapon against Satan and its available for all the Saints.
“Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.” Psalm 149:6-9
This is the privilege of all God's Saints/children, for when we praise God, He comes down and dwells in our praises.
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. “ Psalm 100:4
Being thankful is the start of our spiritual journey every day. One of the symptoms of these Last Days is that people will be unthankul. May it not be in our lives for we have so much to thank God for. We need to have constant ‘Praise Breaks’ every day. Praise God for the carpet beneath your feet, and praise Him for running water and electricity. I thank God that I spent a long time in Zimbabwe with all the shortages of things that I can take for granted here in New Zealand.
“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel.” Psalm 22:3
God lives in the praises of His people. The Japanese have a unique interpretation of this verse. Because they used to carry their Emperor on a great throne, they translate the verse like this, "When we praise God, we create a seat and God comes down and sits on it."
Any time you make a seat of praise for Him, He always comes and sits on it. He will ride to work with you in the car. He'll fill any room in your house, for He sits on the seat of your praise, and it's there that He reveals to you His glory!
“Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.” Psalm 119:164
King David was really into praising God and he says in Psalm 119 that 7 times a day he would praise God for His word. Of course we should be praising God all the time for the wonderful things He has done for us, but David said he set aside certain times each day in his busy schedule to praise the Lord, and specifically for His word. He did this even though he was under the old covenant which is amazing in itself. We now have better promises than he had.
The word ‘Praise’ in Psalm 119:164 is the Hebrew word ‘HALAL.’ This type of praise is not passive, for it means to ‘shine, flash light, boast, make a fool of yourself, act madly or to rave.’ It’s using the whole body in praise. King David was quite a ‘Raver’ in his praise, for when they were bringing the Ark of God into Jerusalem he danced before it in his ‘under garments’ with all his might. I don’t advocate you dancing in the streets in your underpants though.
“And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.” 2 Samuel 6:16
I figured that the most obvious times he set aside as ‘praise breaks’ would be, 1. Breakfast time, 2. Morning tea, 3. Lunch time, 4. Afternoon tea, 5. Dinner and 6. Supper time. That brings us to a total of 6 times. The question is, when would be the 7th time that he would praise God? He actually tells us what this time was in the same psalm, for in verse 62 he says; “At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.” Psalm 119:62
In Hebrew the word for midnight means the middle of the night. In those days they must have got to bed a lot earlier than we do today as they didn’t have electricity, nor did they have television. Today we stay awake soaking up so much ‘stuff’ that we can barely get up in the morning, let alone arise in the middle of the night to seek God.
If David could find 7 times a day to praise God every day, then how much more should we. We are under a far better covenant than he was. We should be praising Him 70x7 a day.
In the book of Psalms we read of David getting up often at night. Here are two examples.
“On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.” Psalm 63:6.
“I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.” Psalm 16:7
This next verse has helped to change my life and I would love you to see what I have gleaned from this verse.
“The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.” Psalm 110:2-3 KJV
As I have understood the power and privilege of praising God in the night, its become the best part of my day. The blessing of the ‘7th time’. Getting up in the womb of the morning to think of and speak the word of God over my day and that of my friends is a great privilege and there are many blessings to be had. I claim the anointing that is available in the womb of the morning. Over the last 9 years I have taken this seriously and got up in the middle of the night to wait on God. I’m having my own Revival, my health has improved. In fact I haven’t been back to my doctor for 9 years. I have had some battles with my health but I have found that His word is very powerful and can be applied to our bodies. The anointing (dew) prospers me and breaks the yokes over my life. I receive strength and vision from the Lord in the womb of the morning where the dew falls.
I used to take anti-depressants as depression was a weakness in my makeup. My dad was a manic depressant and his grandmother had some serious mental health issues. But by praising God I haven’t taken them for over 9 years.The anointing has destroyed the yoke of the enemy.
To get to a higher level of praise we need to start with thankfulness. It's amazing how constant thankfulness makes us more and more aware of the goodness of God in your lives. We live in a very blessed land and in a very blessed time, but we can be blinded to it all. It’s now time for the Day of God’s Power mentioned in Psalm 110. God wants to raise up a people who know their God and do exploits for Him. We are now in the 3rd Day spoken of in Hosea chapter 6. God will raise up His army but He can only use those who are clothed in His praise.
It says in Psalm 67 that praise brings about our harvest.
“Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.” Psalm 67:5-7
Satan is trying to block us from praising God, but we have the authority to resist him and tell him to let us go. ‘Let the people praise thee.’ Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘Let My People go that they may worship me in the Wilderness.’
It amazes me how David used to praise God and even get up at night and praise God for His word. He didn’t get up to praise God for the fact that he was King, for all his riches, success or that God had made him great. He praised God for His word,His promises. We barely read the word let alone thank Him for it, especially in the night.
We have the authority to rebuke Satan and tell him to get off our backs and out of our lives. He is the one who is preventing us from gathering in our harvest. We are all designed to bring forth a harvest, an increase, and praising God accelerates the process.
“I rejoice at your word, as one that finds great spoil.” Psalm 119:162 Another translation says “I rejoice in your promises.”
When I was a child I used to read Donald Duck comics and was intrigued by Scrooge McDuck who used to have a swimming pool filled with all his money. He would dive into it and swim and revile in his riches. We have far greater riches than Scrooge McDuck. We have endless promises given to us by our loving heavenly Father, that He is wanting us to believe. Dive into His word and saturate yourself in these blessings. We have so much given to us now days. So many translations and so many ways to access the word. We have Christian radio, podcasts and Christian television to name a few.
Lately I have been enjoying listening to the word through spotify. I put it on as I go to sleep and often wake up with it still ministering to my spirit. The word washes us and increases our faith. It prospers us as we meditate on it day and night and it also heals us. He sent His word and heals us. His word is life to us and health to all my flesh.
God is wanting to raise up His End Time Army. These people will not be weak, but a people of praise, a people of power. For them to get to this higher level of praise they need to first start with thankfulness. We enter into His gates with thanks giving and then go on into His Courts as we praise. Sometimes when I get up at night I just feel blank. I stand there and begin with thanking God that I can stand. I then thank Him for the carpet beneath my feet and so on. By the time I have got to the lounge I am entering into praise and rejoicing in His promises. I love that verse in Isaiah 26:9 that says.
“With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”
I believe things have changed and we are now seeing final judgements in the earth. God says that people are going to turn and know God. They will be willing in the day of His power Psalm 110.
I want to close with this verse.
“Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” Proverbs 24:13-14
This verse shows us that when we get ourselves into the place where God’s word is our treasure, our honey, sweet to our taste then our future will be bright. When the word becomes sweet to our taste and the source of our wisdom, our future will change and our hopes will be realised. Amen.