The Mystery of Praise II

Tuesday 3 January
READ: Psa.34:1
MORE LESSONS: Acts16:25-26

When God made man, He made him spirit, soul and body. According to 1Thess.5:23b, …and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. So when the psalmist in the first text demanded of his soul to sing praises to the Lord, it was actually his spirit that was instructing his soul to praise the Lord. Why did the spirit of the psalmist summon his own soul to praise God? Our human minds tend to focus on the prevailing challenges around and not on the prevailing power in praise within.
The realms of our intellect and logic cannot fathom that we must praise God because praise is not an intellectual concept; it is a spiritual mystery. That is why, with a closer look, we also will notice that the psalmist was not issuing an advice or suggestion but an emphatic command! David was arguably Israel's greatest King and an anointed man of war from his youth; so if anyone knew anything about issuing commands, David did. Now, here comes the great man of war speaking about praise with military undertones to reveal that he understood that praise was actually a lethal weapon of warfare.
Throughout Bible history, from the exodus of the children of Israel to the time of the apostles, the mystery of praise was one weapon consistently deployed by the children of God to quench the fiery darts of the devil and his cohorts. The mysterious power in praise owes to the fact that God dwells in praise and where ever the presence of the Lord is, no demonic operation can thrive there.
Praise is a vehicle of the presence and power of God. True praise is irresistible to God. It commands the manifestation of the full weight of the Host of Heaven to your life and situation. Whenever we praise God whole heartedly, God surely visits our lives. One visit from the Lord Himself is more than enough to turn everything around for the better and we can testify like David in Psa.126:1, When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Praise is a spiritual transaction through which you give God what He desires and He in turn gives you your heart’s desires. Truly, wise people praise God even before their breakthroughs show up. Be wise, praise Him in advance.

Prayer/Action
* Father, as I praise You continuously from today, cause me to experience the unfathomable power of praise, in Jesus’ name.
* Lord, give me the wisdom to praise You always, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
This year I shall operate by the force and speed of light, in the mighty name of Jesus.

The Mystery of Praise I

Monday 2 January
READ: Psa. 103:1
MORE LESSONS: Psa. 150: 1-6

It doesn't matter what you are going through right now, if only you dare to praise the Lord, I tell you it is only a matter of time before the Hosts of Heaven will visit your life with power and deliverance. The original Hebrew word translated, “Lord” in the anchor text is ad-o-noy' and it suggests “the controller, master or commander of an army or troop”. This is why we often see the same word appear in other scriptural texts as Lord of hosts or Lord of the heavenly hosts. So when we offer praises, it is the Lord God of the armies of Heaven that arises on our behalf.
The hosts of hell cannot stand the slightest sway from the Lord of the armies of Heaven. No wonder at Jericho, God instructed His people to make a shout of praise and as soon as they did, the walls of that great city came crumbling down because the Lord and His Host of armies came into the scene. We see the same manifestation of the Lord and His hosts in the prison where Paul and Silas were chained; at the sound of their prayers and praises, there was a great earthquake. The gates flung open and the chains and shackles fell loose from their hands and feet. If you must experience the mighty touch and transforming power of God in your life, you must consciously cultivate the heart of praise. Psa.34:1 says, I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
The heart of praise is one that is persuaded that the Lord deserves the praise irrespective of what is going wrong in the immediate surroundings or who is looking on, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose: Rom.8:28. He who offers praise is fully persuaded of the promise of God. The Bible says in Heb.10:23, ...for he is faithful that promised. That's why he who praises can go to sleep in a storm because the Lord of Host said in His Word, ...I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee: Heb.13:5b.
There are two categories of praise offered in the Kingdom of God; conditional praise and unconditional praise. The power, provision and protection of the Lord of Host are always at the disposal of people with unconditional praise on their lips. We were created to give God praise. And as we do what we were created to do, God does for us what gives Him pleasure to do; to intervene in the matters of our life. Praise Him NOW!

Prayer/Action
* Pray that God will open your heart to comprehend the mystery of praise, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that as you praise God today and ever, your destiny will take a new turn, in the mighty name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
2017, I am the evidence of a shining light as the Lord lives, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Shout of Praise

Saturday 31 December
READ: Isa.12:6
MORE LESSON: Psa.98:6-9

Some years ago, as a student in Kwara State School of Basic Studies, I was facing a particular situation that made me cry for sometime. Then I decided to go to an open field to shout praises to God for about 30 minutes. Friend, that problem did not last for two days before I got the victory. Next time there is no one around to share your problem with, shout praises to God. I once asked our father Daddy E.A. Adeboye this question, “Why shout hallelujah?” He replied that satan hates the shout of hallelujah. Give your enemy what he hates. When you shout praises because negative things are happening around you, satan is defeated.
One of my excitements in praise is the secret of it that I understand. There are a few things I know about praise and many things it has done in my life. If there is a multipurpose tablet in the Christian world, that tablet is praise. It reverses the enemy's activities. I have not seen anything that is needful for God that praise is not useful for. Praise is useful for all times. Praise is a singular multi-faceted tool that God has given us. The dimension of praise I want to share with you today is SHOUT.
The Bible admonished in the Old Testament that the priests be clothed with righteousness and the saints shout for joy. Praise can be done in form of shouting. Isa.12: 6: says, Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. In this scripture, there is a command; Shout. Why? Because of joy. Shout is an expression that goes with joy. In this scripture, it is so clear that one of the ways we can express the presence of God in our midst is with a shout. God's appearances in most occasions in the Old Testament were heralded with shout. When God comes into a situation, there is a shout. This means you can do a shout of praise to invite God into a situation.
Why do we have a shout when God is involved in a matter? This is because the presence of God brings great intervention into a matter. David said, Shout for the presence of God in your midst is great. This is because something extraordinary has entered into your midst. You can either use shout to invite the presence of God into a matter or to celebrate God in a situation. These are the two things you can do with shout. As you shout praises to God, the Lord will arise and destroy your enemies, in Jesus' name.

Prayer/Action
* Lord, let the situation I am going through end in praise.
* Father, all through the year, the shout of praise shall not cease in my mouth.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
My Father and my God, You are the reason for my seeing today, I praise You and dedicate my life afresh to Your praise! Thank You for 2016, in the mighty name of Jesus.

War against Worry II

Friday 30 December
READ: Hos.7:8-9
MORE LESSONS: Judg.16:1-30

I prophesy that you will be mighty in Jesus’ name. Where are the mighty men of our time? Just to take a fast or attend Bible study once a week is a problem for many. Every Bible study you miss in the year reduces the strength of your destiny. So, calculate how many you have missed this year and see what you are left with. Every time you refuse to do your quiet time, you become less; the beginning of that day is on the negative. Everyday you can't say this is what I read and learnt from the Bible, everyday you have no meditation nor revelation from God, you become less.
Mighty men are teachable and sacrificial. They don't only have an idea and vision, they work towards it. Don't always dream, don't always talk, work the talk. If you want to be a lawyer, make friends with lawyers, talk with people who read law, ask questions from those who are practising and sometimes go to the law court and see lawyers at work. Buy and read the books and one day it will happen. Do not ever plan to be a small person in life. There is nothing wrong in starting small but don't stay small and in order to avoid staying small, work at greatness. Be teachable, be disciplined, add knowledge, add value to your life every day. Let something in you cry out, “In the name of Jesus, I must be mighty. I receive grace to manifest”.
At 75 Abraham just started, so don't think you are too old to become mighty. Greatness should follow a man till he enters the grave. Don't think you are too small, Samuel started as soon as he was weaned, probably at age five. There are some things that will not allow a man to manifest the might of God. Tell them to catch fire. Some of such things are laziness, procrastination, early gratification of pleasure, evil company, sin, ignorance and disobedience.
Say now, “Father in the name of Jesus, I step into a mighty life; I shall not be small but I shall be mighty. In the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, I am a mighty man, anything contrary to might in my life, I command it to catch fire. I command the mighty man in me to arise and manifest. I prophesy that I shall not die small, I shall be a mighty man. The anointing to manifest mighty things fall upon me. Anything that prevents mighty things in my life, die, in Jesus’ name.”

Prayer/Action
* In the name of Jesus, I shall be great and I shall manifest greatness.
* In the name of Jesus, I shall recover lost time and become all that God has ordained me to be in destiny.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, by You I have run through a troop, and to Your glory I have leaped over the wall in 2016. I give You praise, in the name of Jesus.