Worship as a Weapon

Worship as a Weapon – Discover the power of worship as a weapon in spiritual battles. Learn how faith and worship work together to strengthen and defend you in times of need. Explore biblical insights and practical strategies to transform your worship experience. Join us as we delve into the role of worship in spiritual warfare and unlock the strength you need for victory.

Kingdom Way Church – https://KingdomWay.ca is our church in Edmonton, Alberta. Watch us live at https://KWay.live Sundays at 10:00 AM Mountain time. Watch Video on Demand at https://Kway.tv Connect and learn more at https://MyKWC.ca

Transcript from Message

Thank you for being here, and thank you for being wherever you are in the world. That’s the one thing I really appreciate about the time period we are in, is the technology that allows us to communicate with people around the globe. And I think it’s a time… I was reminded this week, and I don’t know if you’ve ever pondered the question, why did Jesus come when he did. Have you ever thought about that? Why did Jesus come when he did? See, I’ve thought about that several times, and one of the primary answers that I’ve come up with over and over again is literally because of the Roman roads. For those of you who know history, one of the things the Romans were good at doing was building roads. And the interesting thing about this is they built roads 2,000 years ago that are still around today. Don’t you wish we could learn that in Canada? It seems like they’re repairing our roads every single season. But one of the reasons I believe Jesus came when he did is because the world was ready that the gospel could be shared around the entire globe, at least a known world at that time.

And a lot of that had to do with the advancement of Roman technology and building roads and communications so people could travel from place to place, because we’re not really too familiar with this here, especially living in Edmonton. But it wasn’t too long ago that people would live and die within 50 miles of their home. They would never go out of that range. And now we have the technology to literally reach around the globe and have face-to-face conversations with people who are on the other side of the world. And I take that as a precursor for what God is preparing the church for in this next season. You see, just like the Roman roads gave access to spread the gospel to the known world, The internet is a tool that God has given us to spread his goodness to every facet, every corner of the earth. The thing I find really interesting is one of the things that has to take place is before Jesus returns, is that the gospel will be preached to every nation. Well, folks, we have that ability right now. It’s just such a awe-inspiring time to be in. Now, that doesn’t mean the technology always works the way you want it to, but it is there.

Now, I just want to get started today by recognizing some people, Matthew and Joshua and Rebecca. They have helped out immensely today and every week. So let’s give them a big thank you. They’re always behind the scenes. You don’t see them because they’re usually up in the sound room and doing different things. But it’s people like that that I really, really do appreciate and thank because they help out so much. The other thing I just want to make reference to. One of the greatest tools I have ever worked with over the last 30 years of ministry has been this Neil Anderson’s book, Steps to Freedom in Christ. I have given out literally hundreds, if not thousands, of these books over the years. Now, just this week, I was able to secure a big shipment of these. Again, I’ve been out of them for a while, but I was able to get a bunch more. So if you are in a place or if you know somebody who’s in a place where they’re struggling with something, it can be sin, it can be curses, it can be anything that the enemy is using against you. This This book has been one of the most practical and easy to use books ever created.

I made a statement over 20 years ago that every Christian should go through this book at least once. So there’s a bunch of these copies out there. Take them, use them, pass them on. It’s just what Neil Anderson was able to do with this is just simplify some very complex topics. He was able to bring them down to an area where you could work with them, deal with them, and get them done. So it’s called the Steps to Freedom in Christ. There’s copies out in the foyer. So if you need that, by all means, grab a copy. Well, today we’re going to continue our series about keys to the Kingdom. Specifically today, we want to deal not with prayer. That was last week. We want to deal with worship. Just give me a second. Talk amongst yourselves. And this is the thing I love about this new app is I get all my sermons in there, but then I often don’t get the newest one. All right, here we go. We’re going to talk about worship today, and specifically, worship as a weapon. Now, when we talk about worship, this is probably one of those topics that is the least understood, and yet everybody who’s a Christian thinks they know what it is.

But it’s an area that has really gone astray. And what we’re talking about is worship. For a lot of people, worship is just when you come and sing songs. It’s been distilled down even further to some people just think worship is when you sing the slow songs. But what I want to show you today, that that is so far from the truth. Not to say what we’re doing isn’t worship, but that’s only one aspect of worship. Let’s hear what Timmy and Sarah have to say about it. And yeah, I realized I changed Timmy’s name to Tommy and back to Timmy. Interchangeable. We’ll see how that works, but it’s only one letter, typing. It’s amazing what happens. Timmy and Sarah sat at the back of the church listening to Pastor Mark preach about worship as a weapon. When we praise God, walls fall, chains break, and the enemy is confused, the pastor declared. Timmy leaned over to Sarah. I thought worship was just singing songs. Sarah nodded, Me too. But he’s saying it’s like a battle strategy. As Pastor Mark continued, he told the story of King Jehoshaphat, who sent singers ahead of his army, and the enemy was completely destroyed without a single weapon being used.

Sarah’s eyes lit up. That’s amazing. Imagine fighting with just a song. Later that week, Timmy and Sarah’s faith was put to the test. Timmy came home from school frustrated. Sarah, it’s not fair. There’s a kid at school who keeps picking on me, and I just want to fight back. Sarah thought for a moment, Maybe we should try worship. Timmy blinked, Worship? How is singing going to stop a bully? Sarah grinned, I don’t know, but if it for Jehoshaphat, it can work for us. That night before bed, Sarah grabbed her ukulele and Timmy started clapping along together as they sang, This is how I fight my battles. At first, it felt silly. But as they kept singing, something changed. Timmy felt his anger fade and peace filled the room. The next day, Timmy walked into school with a new confidence, and instead of feeling scared, he silently worshiped in his heart. When the bully walked up to him, something strange happened. He turned and walked away. Timmy was shocked. He ran home after school and told Sarah, It worked. I didn’t have to do anything. It’s like the battle was already won. And Sarah smiled, That’s the power of worship.

Timmy grinned, From now on, I’m bringing my weapon everywhere. Let’s pray. Our dear heavenly Father, we thank you that you have shown us how to worship. Father, we thank you that you’ve shown us the advantage of worship and the outcome of worship. And Holy spirit, we ask that you would enlighten to each one your truth about worship. And God, we know that this is such a massive subject. Holy spirit, you’re the only one who can personalize it for each one of us. So Holy spirit, do as you want. Teach us what we need to learn today. And all the God’s people said, Amen. Amen. So let’s look at this. Let’s take a look at worship and what it actually entails. Now, Now, like Timmy and Sarah’s story, many Christians misunderstand what actual worship is. I talked about this so many times and feel like I’m repeating myself like I just talked about five minutes ago. But the modern church has really lost sight of what true worship is. You go to a lot of churches and it’s relegated to a performance where you have a couple of very or a few talented people on the stage who will have great voices.

There’d be great musicians. They practice hard, they have it work, and everything will just sound amazing. But the question is, Is that actual worship? Because worship is not a performance. Worship comes from the heart. You can sit down there and you can sing the songs that are on the screen, and you can sing loud, and you can sing strong. But if your heart isn’t in it, it’s not worship. You’re just going through the motions. You’re going through a routine. You’re trying to fill some wild expectation. But when you learn what true worship is, and you do it out of an intentional heart, recognizing the one who you are worshiping and the value he places on worship, that’s when true worship takes makes place. When we sing songs on Sunday morning, that’s a form of worship. But worship is so much bigger than that. Worship is all-encompassing. Let me share with you what the Bible describes as worship. It is the act of giving reverence, honor, and adoration to God through our words, actions, and lives. Let’s put that up on the screen. It is the act of giving reverence, honor, and adoration to God through our words, actions, and lives.

You see, worship is not just about the songs you sing. It’s about the words you speak. It’s about the the actions that take place, the things you do. But it’s also about your entire life. Are you living a life of worship? It’s not just singing, but it’s a heart, a posture of surrender, of obedience, and devotion to God. Now, the Bible speaks to us that true worship is both spiritual and truthful. It’s a lifestyle of honoring God in all that we do. Jesus is telling us this in John 4: 2, verse 22 to 23, it says this, But an hour is coming, and now is. I love when Jesus does that because he’s showing us a glimpse into eternity. An hour is coming, but it’s already here. You get that? Anyways, dig into that if you want. But when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For such people the Father seeks to be his worshippers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. So what does this mean? Well, I love the part where the Father is seeking his children to worship him.

He’s looking for those who will be his worshpers. And then they add this little clarification. The ones who qualify, the ones who will be his worshpers, are the ones who will worship him in spirit and in truth. According to A. W. Tozer, worship is our response to God’s greatness, expressed in love, obedience, and reverence. So there’s two parts to worship here. First of all, it’s a recognition of who you are worshiping. It’s a recognition that who God is and what is he worthy of. This is why whenever you choose to come to a place of worshiping God, who he is has to be at the forefront of that because it helps you in two ways. Number one, it keeps you on track that you’re actually doing the right worship. Number two, it enables you to worship because when know who God is, the automatic response will be worship. But what does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? According to the passage we just read, it means true worship is not about an outward ritual, but about the mind aligning with God’s will. It’s not just getting in the right motion. It’s not just singing the right songs.

It’s not just clapping on beat, which can be a challenge for some, I know. But it’s more than just the outward facade. It’s not just a ritual that we do every Sunday morning, where when we come together, we sing a half an hour, 45 minutes of songs, and then we move on to the next thing. True worship is about aligning your heart, aligning your mind with God’s will. Let’s break it down. To worship in spirit and this is a fun one which a lot of people miss out on, is that to worship in spirit means you’re not just worshiping God on your own, but you’re being led by the Holy spirit to worship God. Think about that for a moment. One of the spirit’s primary roles is to bring worship to Jesus. Now, if you’ve never understood this dichotomy, everything the spirit does is to point to Jesus. Everything Jesus does is to point to the Father. They are in perfect agreement, in perfect harmony. So there’s no competition with that because, well, that’s below them. So worship is from the heart. It’s not just a mechanical action, and it requires a personal relationship with God through Jesus.

It’s spirit-led, meaning we are guided by the Holy spirit, not just tradition. I want to ask you just a simple question. Have you ever asked the Holy spirit to help you worship God? Have you ever? I’ll tell you, it was a practice I used to do quite often. To be honest, I’ve fallen away from it, which I want to get back to. But just before worship, I would just say, Holy spirit, Help me to worship. Help me to worship. Romans 8: 14 says, For all who are being led by the spirit of God are the sons of God. Now, don’t worry, you can include daughter in there if you’re female. For those who are being led by the spirit of God are the sons of God. They Think about that. Our relationship with God is determined by how we follow Holy spirit. And this is something that I believe is missing in a large portion of the modern church today is they will recognize spirit in namesake, but not in practical application. And we got to be careful that we don’t fall into that trap where we just talk about the spirit of God, but we actually don’t follow the spirit of God.

We have to follow him. This means you don’t just sing the words on the screen, but you mean them. You put yourself in the place where you’re connecting with God. One of the practical steps you can do is when you’re singing, when you’re worshiping God, just picture you’re singing to him one on one. Use your mind’s eye, use your imagination, whatever helps. And just imagine yourself singing and worshiping God. Push away the distractions, push away the things that get in the way. And just focus on the one whom you are directing your worship towards. And honestly, we need the Holy spirit’s help for that. It’s not something we are capable of doing it effectively on our own. But the second part is to worship in truth. What does this mean? Well, to worship in truth means we worship according to God’s will and his character. According to his word, who he says he is. You see, and this is where worship of God is differentiated from everything else that people worship. And I know a lot of people might think, Hey, I don’t worship anything. Well, whatever you devote your time to, that’s a form of worship.

And that’s why God is very strict and very open with us, saying he’s got to be our priority above everything else. He’s got to be the first thing, because if anything gets in the way of our worship of him, God describes that as being an idol in our life. And I know we think about idol as being carved statues that sit on things. But no, an idol is anything that occupies the space that God wants. Anything that takes up his space Anything that takes up his plans for your life is an idol. And well, scripture is clear what we’re supposed to do with idles. Worship is based on who God truly is. And this may catch you a little wrong, but it’s not based on emotions or opinions. A lot of Christians get caught up in worship as the emotional experience. Now, I’m not saying emotions aren’t involved, but I’m saying there’s a lot of people, a lot of Christians who worship simply to get that emotional experience, and they They never actually have that encounter with the one who created them. It’s not just about emotions, but understand this, when you do encounter God, the emotions do flow.

But there can be a fake alternative, and we see this in every religion on the face of the Earth, is when they worship their God, whatever that God is, they will get an emotional response. God’s. So we cannot rely on our emotions alone. Rather, we have to be truthful and honor the one who is worthy of worship. It being God, God’s plan for us to worship him, it will align with scripture, meaning we worship the real God revealed in his word. For true worship to take place, you to know who your God is. That’s why we talked about several weeks back of getting into the word of God, experiencing that. That is one of the greatest ways to worship God, is you read a passage of scripture and then you reflect on the worship that God deserves because of that. If you really want to learn how to worship God, that’s where you begin. You take the Bible, you read through it, and when you see something amazing that just touches you, you just start worshiping God for that act. That has many applications. Not only are you giving him the honor and glory that is due him, it also opens the door for him to do that in your life as well.

That’s one of the primary keys of worship is it extends God his hand into our life today. So also being true means it’s honest and sincere. It’s not fake or for show. True worship is the basics. It’s the way things are. Psalms 145: 18 says this, The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. You can’t just go after God in your own way. There’s this heresy that’s going on even in the church, is that you can approach God any way you want. It’s really up to you. You’re the one who derives it. You’re the one who makes it happen. No, true worship is a response to who God is and what he’s done. It’s not coming in and out of yourself. You’re not the one who directs it or who maintains it. It’s a response to who God is and what he has done. It literally means being honest in how you worship God. And this can be just as failing if you’re just standing there, clapping your hands, sing a song, but you’re not in it. Is that honest? Are you being honest with God if you’re just going through the emotions?

No, you’re not. Let’s be brutally clear. One of the reasons I’ve started writing worship songs is because over the last few years, I have noticed so many songs that have become so popular but are so doctrinally incorrect. People like the song because it has a good beat or it has a good tagline or it has a good rhythm, it has a good hook that’s put in there. But you got to look at the words you’re singing There’s a song that I just heard on Shine FM the other week, and there’s a line in the song that goes like this, You look at me and wouldn’t change a thing. Kind of narcissistic, if you ask me, right? Now, you may hear that verse and say, And I see how the enemy has twisted this because God loves us just the way we are. We’ve all heard that experience. That’s a true statement. God loves us the way we are. But his love does not mean he’s going to leave us the way we are. Because he loves us, he will transform us. The Bible clearly teaches that God loves us, but it doesn’t mean he’s going to leave us the way we are.

2 Corinthians 3: 18 says this, But we all, with veiled face, behold as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the spirit. You see, God’s plan is to transform you. It’s to change you. Yeah, he loves you the way you are, but he wants to make you more like him. And one of the primary ways that that makes a place in our lives is through us worshiping him. Because there’s a subtle truth. You become what you worship. You become what you worship. Now, I’m not saying that if you worship God, you become God. Okay, let’s just cancel that right now. What I’m saying is as you worship God, you become more like him. You exhibit more of his attributes, love, care, compassion, mercy, grace. The things of God get transferred into our lives. Philippians 1: 6 says this, For I’m confident of this one very thing. If Paul is confident of one thing, you probably should listen up. That he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ. So this is one thing that Paul is absolutely certain of, that what God started in you, he’s going to complete it.

Now, for God to complete something in you means he’s going to have to change things in you. That’s the whole principle. Transformation is the word the Bible often use to describe this process. But God is actively transforming and changing us. Let me just ask you, if you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, are you different now than you were five years ago, 10 years ago, a week ago? I would hope so. If you’re the same person you were 15 years ago, you got issues. You got trouble. Part of the process of worshiping God is God is transforming us into the people he wants us to become. A major part of the Christian walk is the fact that God is changing us into who he wants us to become. It’s really a core, a fundamental part of discipleship, knowing that every day we should become more like Jesus. So how do we put this all together? True worship happens when our hearts, our spirits, and our worship aligns with God’s truth. It’s not about a location, right? We have Jesus addressing this with a Samaritan woman in John 4. If you want to do a little read on that, it’s interesting.

It’s not about going to the right place. Let me be clear, you don’t have to come to church here to worship. You can worship wherever you are, okay? That’s a big part of it. Nor is it just singing. It goes beyond that. We’ve talked about that at the beginning. True worship comes out of having a relationship with God. And as you get to know who God is, there becomes a greater ability to worship him. It actually is an automated process. When you learn more about God, the automatic response should be, I want to worship him more. That’s how God leads us. Worship is a culmination of knowing who God is and allowing it to impact every area of your life. Let me say that again. This is important. Worship is a culmination of knowing who God is and allowing it to impact every area of your life. You can worship God, mowing the grass or washing the dishes, as long as you do it unto the Lord. Anything you do unto the Lord is worship. And one way that can help you to understand this, to break it down, is God created you and gave you the ability to do everything that you do.

You can’t do anything apart from him. So Worship is just truly recognizing that he has given you that ability. He’s given you that skillset. He’s given you that knowledge. He’s given you that. And when you recognize that, it came from him. And this is a great way to keep yourself humble. A lot of people, as they learn to do new things, they get puffed up, right? They get ego-driven. They think, Oh, I’m the one doing this. The way to get around that is to recognize who enabled you to do it. When you do something great, you reflect the glory back to God. And this is key. This is paramount for every one us who are Christians is learning that God wants us to do great and amazing things. Why? Because he wants the glory reflected back to him. That’s the plan. Colossians 3: 23-24 says this, Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men. Knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the reward of inheritance, it is the Lord Christ whom you serve. This is one of the most freeing things one of the most freeing truths you can ever get your hands on.

If you can understand this concept, life will get a thousand times better. Whenever you do something, you’re doing it unto the Lord. You got to wash the dishes. You can wash the dishes for yourself, or you can do it unto the Lord. One of those things has a eternal benefit. The other one, not so much. You give someone a glass of cold water. Jesus says, If you do that in my name, what happens? I’m not going to tell you. Look that up yourself. Whenever you do the work for the Lord, it’s an act of worship, whether it’s actions, whether it’s words or singing or thoughts. You can actually think worship when you think godly thoughts. It’s all part of worship. So to recap, this base layer here is that in In the spirit, we worship with passion and leading of the Holy spirit. In truth, we worship according to God’s word and who he is. That’s the two fundamental aspects of worship, worshiping in spirit and truth. So now that we’ve laid the foundation, let’s take a look at the role that worship plays in spiritual warfare. Now, for those of you, you may say, Hey, I’m not in spiritual warfare.

If you’re a human being on this earth, you are Apart, you are involved in spiritual warfare. It happens. The enemy came to steal, kill, and destroy. But Jesus came to give life and give it abundantly. So let me just quickly give you three things that worship will accomplish. The first thing that worship does in the area of spiritual warfare is that worship shifts our focus from the battle back to God. It takes your eyes off the situation, off the circumstances, off this mountain that looks like it can’t be moved, and it puts your attention back on God and who he is. Second Chronicles 20: 12 says this, Oh our God, will you not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us. Nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on you. This is a part of the verse I think we can all relate to. We don’t know what to do. Has anyone ever been in that place? If you don’t put up your hand, you’re a liar. We We’ve all been in that place where we don’t know what to do. If you’ve never been in that place, I really feel sorry for you because that’s where you do the most learning and growing.

But if you come to this place and you don’t know what to do, but their response here is, But our eyes are on you. That’s my next song I’m working on anyways. But this is just so, I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on you. In 2 Chronicles 20: 12, we see that the people of Judah were facing a very vast army made up of three nations, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and likely the Edomites. We don’t know for certain, but the region that it describes, that’s where the Edomites were living. So good chance that it was those three the nations that were coming against them. And they came to wage war against King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah. Now, in response, Jehoshaphat called the people to fast and pray to seek God’s help. Now, get this part. Instead of fighting with weapons, Judas sent out their worshippers ahead of the army. Think about that for a minute. How many would like to be on the worship team at that time? Right? Think about that. Okay, guys, there’s three armies that have gathered together to crush us. We really have no chance to win this battle.

So we’re going to put the singers and worshippers at the front of the army, and they’re going to lead the way. Yeah. I just got to They say, God has the most interesting battle strategies I’ve ever come across. We know the result. God caused their enemies to destroy each other. You see, worship lifts our perspective from the problem to the one who can solve our problem. That’s one of the key benefits of worship Because where the enemy flourishes in our lives is by getting us to focus on our problems, getting us to focus on our issues, getting us to focus on the things we cannot change. And That’s to destroy hope. That’s to destroy any inkling that we think we can get through this. But when your focus is shifted off of your problems, off of your issues, and onto the one who can solve those issues, it opens the door for God to do what he does best, and that’s to be God. It takes our perspective off of our problems and puts it back on God. The second thing is worship invites God’s presence and power. When our focus gets off of our problems and gets onto God, what that allows is God to utilize his presence His presence and His power in that situation.

Psalms 22: 3 says, Yet you are holy, oh, you who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. We can see from this verse and other verses that God inhabits the praises of his people. When we praise God, when we worship God, he just doesn’t sit back a long ways away and say, Oh, that’s nice. No, he comes in and he inhabits that place. He is drawn in to the praise and the worship of his people. Now, again, remember the basis, it has to be done of the spirit and of truth. If people are singing and worshiping and doesn’t have truth and spirit in it, it doesn’t bring in his presence. So it has to be true worship. It has to be worship of the spirit and of truth. It creates an atmosphere for God’s intervention. When we worship, we invite God to become part of the process. Instead of doing what we love to do, grumbling and complaining, we choose to worship the one who’s worthy of it all. Worship invites him into the situation. It allows him to be God in this turmoil. But as long as you complain, and wine, you actually block his intervention.

Complaining will never get you what you need from God. I would ask any of you to find me a passage of scripture where people complained and God responded. Now, there’s stories where God does that, but have you seen God’s attitude? You faithless people. Like, God is straight up that he does not like when we complain to get what we want. Why? Because complaining is a form of manipulation. When you complain, you want things to change and to be done your way without recognizing God’s way. You’re basically telling God, You know better than him. I don’t think that works for any of us. But in worship, invites him to intercede. When you recognize who he is, where he’s at, what he’s doing, and you come with an honest and truthful response to that as a form of worship, it opens the door and positions you in a place to receive. And the third one, part C, and this is a fun one because we see time and time again in the scriptures where this happens. But worship confuses the enemy. Worship confuses the enemy. Second Chronicles 20: 22 says, And when they began singing and praising, the Lord set an ambush against the son of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seer, who had come down against Judah, so they were rooted.

The Lord set embushes against the enemy. We see when they worshiped, it gave God caused to intervene. Then we see the way that he intervened was to bring confusion to the enemy. These three nations that rose up against Judah were so confused of what was happening, they literally started killing one another. So completely that when Judah arrived, they didn’t even have to raise a sword. The enemy expects fear, but our praise declares faith, and they don’t know what to do with that. Their game plan gets thrown out the window. It’s like this is always worked before. We have always been able to conjure up fear in their lives, and then we get them to do exactly what we want them to do. But now all of a sudden, they’ve introduced worship into this, and our fear has no effect. What are we going to do now? It does not compute. They don’t know what to do with it. This reminds me of the story of the people of Israel when they came to cross the Jordan coming into the promised land. The first battle that they were called to fight was against the great city of Jericho.

Walls It was said that their walls were so thick, it was impenetrable. There was no military way. The city of Jericho had never been conquered before. There was no way with the current technology they had at that time to overthrow that city. And yet God said, this is the first city I’m going to take my people against. Tells you a little bit about how God deals with us, right? They can handle it. Get in there. But again, God’s strategy was to have the people of Israel march around the city of Jericho once each day for six days. And then, you know the story, on the seventh day, they marched seven times around. And then on the seventh time, they lifted up a shout of praise and the trumpet sounded and the walls came tumbling down. Now, I just watched an interesting video on this. They know where Jericho is, and they’ve started excavating it. They started in the 1950s, but they’ve really researched this just in the recent years. And they actually knew that the place they found was Jericho because the Bible described what they found. They had no clue what this city was that they were starting on Earth until they started seeing that, okay, they had these massive walls that now fell down and gave a perfect ramp for people to come in.

And it’s laid out. They can see exactly what happened. And it was just God’s way of overpowering the impossible. But have you ever thought about what the people of Jericho must have been thinking? Here they are believing that they are secure, that they are safe in their walls. But they also know and recognize that there’s this great army of people coming against them and that their God has promised them all of the land around them. So they’re ready to fight. And how does God lead the people of Israel? Let’s go march around. Let’s march around. You see, marching is a form of worship. It’s an act of obedience. They did what God told them to do, and that is worship. But just think about this, the people of Jericho. Everyone hold fast. The enemy is approaching. What weapons do they have? None. What do you mean none? Well, it actually looks like their worshippers are their vanguard. Yep, their worshippers are leading the way. That’s preposterous. No one would lead with their worshippers. Let me see that. Well, you’re right. Their worshippers are leading the army. What does that mean? I really don’t know. That was what they were facing on the inside.

And that’s what happens when we worship God. The enemy is confused with the outcome. The enemy does not know what to do. It confuses them. It thwartes their plans. That brings us to worship in the midst of the storm. We all face storms in life. We all face difficulties. No one is is prevented from encountering that. We all go through different seasons. We all go through different times where we’re facing a storm. The Bible describes these as mountaintop experience and valley experiences. Mountaintop is when you’ve benefited from what you’ve learned in the valleys. But we go through these difficult times. And I was reminded this week of a song by Casting Crowns. In 2005, they released this. Called, Praise You in this Storm. It begins with this, this statement, I was sure by now, God, you would have reached down and wiped our tears away, stepped in and saved the day. And once again, I say, Amen. And it’s still raining. To me, that song just really encompasses our attitude when we go through difficulty, when we go through challenges. The only difference that I think we need to observe as Christians is some people like, I’ll worship you in spite of the storm.

Well, can we change that? I’ll worship you because of the storm? Sure, that’s just a little semantics. I’m aging. But it’s one thing to worship God in spite of the storm. It’s another thing to worship him because of the storm. Acts 16: 18. Verses 25 to 26 says this, But about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. And suddenly there came a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. Now, I’ve been in an earthquake or two. I’ve never been in an earthquake that would shake the prison doors so that the prison doors open up and that the shackles fall off their wrist. I don’t know how that happens. It It’s not something that I’ve seen or have an understanding of. But there’s some key points that we can take from this. They worshiped at midnight. Now, for us today, we lose that grasp because we have electricity, we have lights. But midnight would have been the darkest time of the night. When you’re close to the equator, the sun rises It sets at 6: 00 AM and sets at 6: 00 PM.

So the darkest time is at 12: 00 midnight because that’s when the sun is on the opposite side. Yet in their darkest hour, they sang, and the prison shook. Worship shifts the situation and brings breakthrough. We see this in the story of Jehoshaphat that we read earlier. But if we go back a verse, we can see how it all began. When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang the Lord and those who praised him with holy attire. And they went out before the army and said, ‘Give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindness is everlasting. ‘ The singers led the army in victory came before a sword was lifted. You see, worship is not a response to victory. Rather, it’s a declaration of victory. Worship is not just responding to the good things God has done. Worship is declaring he is going to continue to do good things. We also see the story of Jericho’s fall after praise in Joshua 6: 20, it says, So the people shouted, and the priests blew their trumpets, and when the people heard of the trumpets and the people shouted with a great shout, the walls fell down flat so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city.

These stories serve as examples for us to worship God, not in spite of our circumstances, but because of our circumstances. Meaning we flip the table on the enemy. The one who came to steal, kill, and destroy us, we turn all of his actions against us into worship of our God. The shouts of praise broke down the barriers, and worship still breaks spiritual strongholds today. So point number three, how do we use worship as a weapon? First part is to worship with faith, not feelings. I’m not discounting and saying we shouldn’t have feelings, but I’m saying feelings should come as a result of faith. Faith. We don’t drum up feelings to do it. I’m reminded of the story of Samson right after they cut his hair and they brought him up. What did he try to do? He tried to drum it up again. He tried to will it to be. But he disobeyed God and told them how to take away his strength. And they did that. And then Samson was no stronger than a normal man. Habakkuk 3: 17-18 says, Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no fruit, ‘though the flocks be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls.

I tell you, that’s a bad day. If all these things are happening to you, that is a bad day. But what is the response? Yet I will exalt the Lord, and I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. You see, it’s not simply ignoring your problems. It’s taking those problems and offering up to God and saying, God, I worship you for who you are and what you’re going to do. You see, we can look at it as we’re thanking God in advance. But remember, God’s outside of time. He is not there to say, Oh, yeah, I’m going to do this. God is past, present, and future. So he’s already done everything. That’s why Jesus could say it is finished, because everything has been done. Now, Hebrews 13: 15 says, our second Second point, worship with your voice and with your life. Hebrews 13: 15 says, Through him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of the lips that gives thanks to his name. Continually offer up sacrifice of praise. There’s two parts of this. One is continually. This is something we should always be doing.

Wake asleep. I’ve taken on this It’s a fun experiment. I’m like, God, I want to worship you in my sleep. Teach me how to do it. I’m still learning, but it’s a fun thing to continually worship God throughout the night. Now, the second part of this is the sacrifice of praise. We see this concept throughout the scriptures, specifically the New Testament, that it’s a sacrifice of praise. What is the sacrifice? Well, it’s something that costs you something. When you make a sacrifice, you have to give up something that you have. That is one of the foundational parts of praise to God, is sometimes you don’t feel like doing it. Sometimes you just don’t get in the mood. I want to tell you, those are the most pertinent times, those are the most important times you get into worship. It’s not always easy, but personally, some of the most powerful times of worship that I have encountered and I’ve experienced is during those desperate times. During those times where, hey, you just don’t feel like it, but wow, God delivers when the worshiper truly surrenders. Romans 12: 1, Therefore, I urge you, Breothren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship?

Do you present everything you got to God? Are you offering him everything? Yeah, it costs you. It does, right? It costs you for us to gather together. A lot of people like to sleep in Sunday morning. I found this out many times talking with people who are in the world. Saturday is their day where they do the work around the house, and Sunday is their day to rest and to relax and do nothing. And And yeah, that’s a big draw. So when you got to get up Sunday morning and shake off the cobwebs and come to church, that is a sacrifice. But know that God honors those sacrifices. When you do it out of an honest and contrite heart, and that brings us to worship in unity with others. Yes, we are called to worship God on our own, but there’s a greater expectation and encounter we have when we do it together. That’s why worship on Sunday mornings has been a pivotal part of the church for 2,000 years, right? When the early church began to meet, it tells us that they came together and sing hymns or songs of hymns and spiritual songs.

They did that right from their very beginning, and that has carried on as a part of the church for 2,000 years. Why? Because it’s important. It’s vital. It gives us what we need to carry on. We see in Acts 16: 25, But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God. They were praising and they were worshiping God. When they were in stocks, when they were in the dungeon, when they were in the lowest of low, and we often forget this fact, but the fact that they were arrested was illegitimate. They should not have been arrested. They should not have been in jail. So they were falsely arrested. They were in chains. They were in the darkest of the dungeon, and yet their response was, worship. We can learn something from that. Corporate worship strengthens the body of Christ. And it’s one of the fundamental reasons why we gather together, to sing praise and to worship together. Because you can be an encouragement. Just like you can have a positive effect on people, you can have a negative effect. If people are all there and you sit down and you ignore what’s happening, well, the person beside you gets distracted by what you’re doing.

But the opposite of that is also true. When you’re there and you’re worshiping God in spirit and truth, I’ve seen times where unbelievers come into the church and they start singing, too. Why? Because everybody else is, and they just know that’s something that they should be doing. It’s a way that God can advance his kingdom. That’s one of the key reasons why God told us not to forsake the assembling together is because there’s something special. I have been in situations where literally thousands of people have been in one space worshiping together. I remember some of the highlights of this when I was a youth pastor and we had YC happening. That was back at the Edmonton Coliseum, which can hold, I don’t know how many thousands of people, but they packed that place out for YC I see. At that time, I had never experienced something so dramatic as having literally tens of thousands of teenagers worshiping God. It was something that I can’t even describe. I can’t even share how transformative it was. But I’ve also seen when 50 or 60 of us gather together here and worship, and that same spirit comes in and does his work in our place like he does all around the globe.

But the difference between a dead church and a living church is the living church knows how to worship their God. So to conclude, victory is in your worship. Worship is more than just a song, it’s a battle cry. When we praise, we fight. When we sing, we are declaring the goodness of God. And I give this message. It’s a message that I have taught many times, but I think this is the most pertinent time for this, because I believe wholly that we, as God’s people, got to take our worship up a notch. We got to get out of the complacency, we got to get out of the expectations, and we just got to come to God honestly, spiritually, and truthfully in saying, God, I’m here to worship you. And I’m grateful that I can do this in a group of people who all want to worship you as well. That’s my hope and my plan. I’m grateful for the song leaders like Jeanine has just done such amazing work here, and we got to give her a big thank you for her dedication and determination in this. So thanks. Yeah, give her… And I’m so thankful for our other individuals who play instruments or sing or whatever God has enabled you to do.

It’s things like this that usher in people into the presence of God. And this is why I think it’s so pivotal. God has been reminding me of things he has in this place. And one of the things he brought back to my memory this week was we were doing this just simple time of worship The presence of God was so powerful and so heavy is the best word to describe it. People were weeping all over the sanctuary just because they felt such a heavy presence of God come in. And I remember this gentleman who walked into the middle of the church service, came and sat down, and he just started weeping and crying. And I’m like, Okay, God’s on him. Good stuff. We went through the service, and then at the end of the service, I went up to him and just introduced myself and said, Hey, how are you doing? As we were discussing, I found out this is the first time he’d ever been in a church. He had never experienced anything like that before. He wasn’t a Christian. He wasn’t a believer. He had never had any experience. But the spirit of God brought him into the place and just powerfully impacted his life.

You see, that’s what I want to see happen again. It’s not a matter of our praise team doing the the right things. They already do the right things. It’s a matter of us as God’s people preparing our hearts and worshiping him out of a spirit of truth and full abandonment. That’s up to us when we’re worshiping. But I know as that happens, God’s going to open the door, and he’s going to draw people unto himself. Let’s pray. Our dear heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this day. We thank you that we have the opportunity to worship you in freedom. God, we know there are many people around the world that got to do it silently, got to do it quietly. But God, we have the God-given grace not only to do it publicly, not only here, but to broadcast it around the globe. And God, let us never take that for granted. Let us recognize that this is a gift that you have given us, and we should recognize the opportunity we have to worship you corporately, because God, we know you are worthy of all of it. We know that all the worship of all the angels and every created person from the beginning of time to time immemorial, when we all worship together, you’re still worthy of more.

So Father, we ask Holy spirit that you would teach us how to worship. You would show us each personally, intimately, how you want us to worship God. Teach us these truths and let us apply them in our personal times with you, but also our corporate times of gathering together. We ask this all in Jesus name and all of God’s people said, Amen. Amen. God bless you. Have a great and amazing time. I want to challenge you over this week on your own. When you got a moment, just start to worship God wherever you’re at. Whatever you’re at, whatever you’re doing, just start worshiping him. If you don’t know what to do, one of the key things you can do is say, God, what do you want me to worship you about today? What is the attribute? What is the thing that you want me to learn from you? He’s always faithful and true. God you. See you next time.