As I mentioned in another post, we have devotions every morning at the home. I was asked to speak this morning and I wanted to share here an abbreviated version of what the Lord gave me to share during our devotions time. (Thankfully I had a translator so I didn’t have to figure it all out in Spanish!)

As I was preparing for the message and seeking the Lord on what He would have me say two things came to mind. A song of praise to Our Father (“Lift Him Up” by Cory Asbury, it is on the Immersed album from IHOP in KC if you want to hear it) and the overall heaviness and burden has been on many of the staff this week.

As I have been working around the home this week I was aware that there have been two major events causing additional stress upon the staff. The first major event is that Tim and Dena are gone this week. The staff here have a great heart to help and serve, many of them are trying to pick up the responsibility for things that Tim and Dena typically do at the home. Second, the government is doing an audit of the home this week. They have been at the home every day this week completing their inspection. This has created a lot of worry in the staff as they try to make sure everything in the audit report is positive.

So, in the midst of this I am preparing a message and I feel the Lord leading me to these two things, Praise and this burden of responsibility and worry. As I pressed into the Lord to show me what He was saying He opened my eyes to Praise as spiritual warfare. Praise is a weapon against the enemy. Sometimes we think spiritual warfare can be so complicated. We can think we don’t know what to do. Yet, the Lord was showing me Praise and Worship as a weapon against the enemy’s attacks. The enemy wants to weigh us down with our ‘responsibilities’ and our ‘worries’. The Lord says His yoke is easy and His burden is light. That is God’s word and it is the Truth. I pressed into the Word to confirm the idea that Praise is a weapon against the enemy and God led me to Psalm 150.

1 Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Everything and everyone is to praise the Lord, this includes those who are weary and burdened. Next was Psalm 149

1 Praise the LORD.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with tambourine and harp.
4 For the LORD takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the saints rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.
6 May the praise of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
7 to inflict vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters,
their nobles with shackles of iron,
9 to carry out the sentence written against them.
This is the glory of all his saints.
Praise the LORD.

What an awesome Word! I really was struck by verse six “May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands.” Our praise is like a double-edged sword against the enemy! Why do we make it so complicated when it can be so simple? When we struggle we can fight against the enemy simply by praising Our Father.

So, we spent time fighting this morning. Each person prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for something that was difficult in their life. We praised Our God for giving us a challenge that has driven us closer to Him. We gave thanks to Our God, no matter how big our struggle and burden is He is always bigger. We worshipped Our God for simply being with us during all of our struggles. He has never left us or forsaken us.

Thank you Father for my struggle to learn Spanish. You are forcing me to rely on You instead of my own words. Thank you Lord that Tim and Dena are away for it helps all of us to appreciate the many things they do here at the home. Thank you Lord for the Auditors. You are giving us an opportunity to be a witness to them as Christians. You are also showing us how little control we really have. Thank you that You are in control of all things. Thank you God for loneliness for in those times I am reminded of how much we need You.

Thank you Lord for giving us Your Word, for sending Your Son to die that we might be forgiven through His sacrifice, for pouring out Your Holy Spirit upon us to lead, guide and help us along the way. We Love You Lord.