{"id":423,"date":"2020-07-31T00:40:45","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T00:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/?p=423"},"modified":"2020-07-27T00:41:12","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T00:41:12","slug":"power-in-praise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/power-in-praise\/","title":{"rendered":"Power in Praise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, July 31<\/strong><\/p>\n

Power in Praise <\/strong><\/p>\n

At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the LORD caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 2 Chronicles 20:22<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lately I have been singing and meditating on a song by Chris Tomlin \u2013 Surrounded. It says \u201cThis is how I fight my battles. It may look like I\u2019m surrounded, but I\u2019m surrounded by you.\u201d I love that song because it\u2019s a great reminder of the power of praise. This song also reminds me of one an account written in God\u2019s Word, 2 Chronicles, which demonstrates the power of praise. Jehoshaphat was a good king who was challenged like any other kings during his time. He heard that the armies of Moab, Ammon and Mount Seir\u2014\u201ca great multitude\u201d\u2014were coming to fight against him and Judah (2 Chronicles 20:1-2). And did what any good leader would do, Jehoshaphat sought the Lord.<\/p>\n

The response from God is found verses 15-17 it says, \u201cListen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don\u2019t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God\u2019s. 16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord\u2019s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bible doesn\u2019t tell us exactly how it happened. What we were told is they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against their enemies. Using my imagination I can visualize the army joining in worship singing the lyrics to Surrounded \u2013 it may look like I\u2019m surrounded but I\u2019m surrounded by You.\u201d With a heart full of thanksgiving for the victory. And this joy, their praise caused the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to fight amongst themselves, turning on each other!<\/p>\n

Today, if you\u2019re in a valley facing defeat, spend time praising God. Not only does it invite His presence into your situation, it gets your focus on Him rather than your problem. You may not feel like praising God in your current situation, but that\u2019s precisely when you need to. Praise is a powerful weapon that we must learn to use in our darkest moments. People all throughout the Bible used it (Joshua at Jericho, Paul and Silas in prison, etc), we should be too. There\u2019s power in praise. \u201cThe Lord is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble<\/em>.\u201d Get in His presence and feel the peace as He fights for you. This is how we fight our battles.<\/p>\n

Click to read the entire account written in 2 Chronicles 20<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday, July 31 Power in Praise At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the LORD caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 2 Chronicles 20:22 Lately I have been singing and meditating on a song by Chris Tomlin \u2013 Surrounded. It says \u201cThis is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":424,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions\/424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}