Then Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD, my mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation. 1 Samuel 2:1.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלוהים) says:
I counsel you many times in My Word, both in the Old and the New Testaments, to rejoice. Without rejoicing there is no victory. Why? Faith is the victory that overcomes the world and true faith rejoices in the victory even before it manifests, and indeed, joyful faith is the magnet that brings in everything good. There is no such thing as sad, depressed, or worried faith, those characterize doubt and unbelief. They are fear based and I tell you over and over not to fear, not to be anxious, and not to worry. Faith does none of those things because faith knows the answer in My Word and trusts that I will perform what I promise.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Romans 4:18-25.
I tell you Abraham believed and gave Me glory. You do not give Me glory by being worried, depressed, fearful, and sad. I am sure you would not appreciate your children acting like that, especially if you always gave them good things. Abraham rejoiced. Jesus even told you that. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” John 8:56.
I showed Abraham the lamb that I would provide for the burnt offering, My beloved Son, and that was enough right there for him to rejoice forever.
And how do I know you have faith? A joyful heart, a smile on your face, and a lilt in your step. Joy generates energy. Doubt and unbelief generate sluggishness.
And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Hebrews 6:11-12.
Doubt and unbelief give up, everything looks impossible and difficult, and there is no energy in that to complete the project.
But how can you have joy in the midst of a storm? Well, Paul wrote from a dark prison cell that he was OVERFLOWING with joy. And very soon he was out of there. In fact joyful songs of praise that he sang with Silas in another prison released all the chains and opened all the gates for ALL the prisoners who were listening.
A shout of joy can take down walls. Remember Jericho? And rejoicing as you sing praise can take down three enemy armies. Remember Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah?
And remember Paul in one of the worst storms that ever hit a ship? I had given him the word that he would go to witness in Rome so he had joy even in the storm, in fact, he encouraged all on board by giving them the word that I had promised to save everyone on board the ship because of his presence thereon. In a storm, you want to be in the boat with a person who has unshakeable faith, like Jesus in that storm on the Sea of Galilee. He had no worry; I had told Him to go to the other side.
Why do you worry when I have told you I AM the LORD your healer, that I heal all your ills and pains, and have provided you with that healing in the scourging that My Son underwent to free you from the consequences of sin?
Do you remember that Hannah went year after year crying, complaining, and growing bitterness in her soul over that she was not having a child? She had no joy and tried to take the joy away from everyone around her. All she concentrated upon was what she did not have and could not seem to get no matter how much she demanded, begged, complained, and cried. She was miserable. And with no faith, I could do nothing for her. She thought she had faith because she came to the tabernacle and made offerings and begged me to give her a child in her misery but that was not faith and it blocked My ability to give her the desire of her heart. I had assured the Israelites that if they kept My Word and walked with Me there would be no miscarriage among them and the wife could have many children, all taught My Me and their peace would be great.
But then something wonderful happened. At a remark Eli made to her that sparked her faith that I had heard her prayer, faith came alive in her heart and her heart jumped for joy. She was no more sad. Why? She believed she had received her answer and would conceive. And when she and her husband went back home, and to his relief with a joyful wife who was looking forward to a son, she had the son she desired, and her husband was happy for his baby but also for a happy wife. And that baby she had by faith she consecrated to Me, and he became a champion of faith as well. Samuel followed Me and listened to My voice all the days of his life and brought the nation of Israel back to Me.
In the dark period of the judges when each man just did what he thought right and paid no attention to My Word, he brought them back to the light. And it was all because of one woman who started rejoicing in the darkness. And she was the first person to call Me the LORD of Hosts! Why? She prayed to Me as enthroned above the cherubim on the Mercy Seat where I had promised Moses to talk to him about the children of Israel.
And if you do not recall it, Hannah had five more children after Samuel. She was no more sad. Faith is glad.
There is a treasure here I offer you that you would be wise to take as your own. And I can guarantee it. Learn how to rejoice. Become skillful at it as My apostle Paul was. Use it as a tool to victory. David was very skillful with rejoicing in song and praise. It took him out of the caves hiding from Saul and the army of Israel to ruling all Judah and Israel without ever getting hurt at all. And if you want to go back further, Leah, the mother of Judah, praised Me at his birth though she was the unloved wife. She decided she was happy and thankful for all I had given her and praised me, naming him Yehudah (Judah) from the word “yadah,” which means to rejoice with uplifted hands and throw all your care on Me. And because of that rejoicing in faith, I gave her the line through which the Messiah would come in the flesh. Judah. She was the first person in the Bible to praise Me.
I could go on. Moses wrote songs, Deborah wrote songs, David wrote songs, Solomon wrote songs, and I compose songs and put them in your heart. David sang that I took him out of the miry depths of despair by putting a new song in his mouth, a song of praise, and putting his feet on a height.
Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp. The LORD your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will quiet you in His love, He will rejoice over you with joyful singing and shouts of joy. Zephaniah 3:14-17.
And what is the result of the people rejoicing with Me for My care and love for them? You already know the answer: Restoration.
“At that time I will bring you in, even at the time when I gather you together; indeed, I will give you renown and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the LORD. Zephaniah 3:20.
So how do you rejoice? Rejoicing has 4 components. And it has to come from the heart. It may not start there as you do it when you feel instead like going into fear and complaining but the wonderful thing is once you start it, it will ignite your heart if you give it a chance.
Rejoicing always starts with good news believed and received. Say you were sick and you hear that I heal, that is My desire and that I leave no other options. Or you hear the good news that your sins are forgiven in Jesus. It is believing in a benefit I give you, not just believing I give it in general but that I give it to YOU.
As Peter preached to Cornelius and his household that in Jesus your sins are forgiven, such rejoicing broke out that they all got filled with the Holy Spirit!
Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Acts 10:44-46.
When Hannah believed I had heard her and that I had given her the baby she longed for, she rejoiced.
And many of you, when you heard the good news of salvation, rejoiced and with joy unspeakable filled with glory. Never lose that first love. Repent and return to joy.
And you must smile. I tell you to look up at Me and smile and your faces will never be ashamed. Right now as you read this smile at Me. Do you not feel better smiling? Do you feel the joy? I am smiling at you.
And rejoicing is not quiet. Sing, shout, give exclamations of praise and thanksgiving, hit a tambourine, dance, lift your hands!
And thank Me with shouts a joyful singing for the good promise of Mine you are seeking to come to pass in your life right then. And the good news is they will.
Rejoicing is born in thanksgiving for your miracle even before it comes to pass. Just know for sure that if it is in My Word, that promise is “yes” to you in Jesus.
And I would advise you, if you want to be skillful in this, to take a look at what Jehoshaphat did when faced with fear at the attack of a formidable foe of three enemy armies who had united to come and conquer Jerusalem. First, he refused the fear and instead called all the people of the land of Judah to come to the Temple to pray and give the care to Me. They came and united in love for Me and looked to Me for the answer. They did not know what to do but they put their eyes on Me with confidence I would come through. And I did, of course. I sent My prophet, one of the Levitical singers, the Word of victory. I would fight for them and show them My salvation but they had to go out and face the enemy. When they heard My Word they all shouted for joy and threw themselves down on the ground before Me overwhelmed with joy and gratitude. But nothing had changed yet in the circumstances, the three armies were still camped outside Jerusalem read to attack, and they far outnumbered My people. But that did not faze them. They got up off the ground and played and sang LOUD song of thanksgiving and praise.
The next day they were up early ready to march out against the enemy with Me. Jehoshaphat conferred with the people and they decided to put the singers out front of the army in holy attire singing a song of David – “Give thanks to the LORD for He is good, His love endures forever!” and out they went to face the enemy and take him down with Me.
The minute they started praising the three armies lost their unity and two of the armies attacked the third and took it down and then they attacked each other and killed each other. When the people of Judah came to the lookout, all their enemies were dead.
Praise in the midst of trouble confuses the enemy and puts them to flight. Remember: submit to Me (and you do that by submitting to My Word), resist the devil (remember My Son called praise the strength that takes down the enemy when He quoted Psalm 8), and the devil and his demons MUST flee from you. He can never take down a praiser. It is impossible to do so.
And My Son told the Pharisees if they would not praise, the very stones would. All creation will break out in praise when My Son returns to take away all death, corruption and the curse as I make new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells.
When you rejoice, praise and thank you have a heart wide open to receive. When you doubt, fear, and complain you have hardened your heart and cannot receive from Me, but only from the devil.
Testing Me with complaining, accusations, crying, and begging is a heart hardened to Me and cannot receive.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:5-8.
Until Hannah was “no more sad” she never received the benefit she desired.
You can put it this way: Rejoicing is of faith and can receive. Fear, sadness, and despair are of doubt (double minded) and can receive nothing from Me. Not because I am not willing and trying to give it to you but because you cannot take it into your heart, the bitter roots have wound around your door and all the benefits are piled up outside.
But the good news is that rejoicing will pull all those bitter roots out and all the blessings will rush in and overwhelm you that have stacked up for so many years. My gifts and My call are irrevocable. You can always repent, return, and rejoice and I will restore and give you the Holy Spirit.
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Luke 11:13.
Ask and you will receive.
Do you understand now why I tell you to rejoice ALWAYS? It keeps you in the in the flow of Heaven, that is, the flow of supernatural abundance. The rest in the middle of the storm and chaos comes with the rejoicing.
I love you. Rejoice! Have no anxiety about anything but in everything in prayer and petition make your needs and desires known to Me with joyful thanksgiving and My peace that surpasses understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And you will have what you seek. I reward those who seek Me with joy.