“And I will go about Your altar, O LORD, that I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving and declare all Your wonders.” Psalm 26:6-7.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
When you are in Christ you learn to operate with confidence that I am with you as your helper and you have no fear about anything for you are confident in My love and care. You know how to respond when Satan attacks, you stand in Christ, in My full armor, and you answer using the Sword of the Spirit, which is My Word. Once you have taken My Word and answered the attacks of Satan or made a declaration for whatever it is you are seeking, whether it is healing, finances, authority over a plague, the end to an abusive situation, deliverance, a relationship, or relief from any form of trouble or affliction, what is the next thing you do? You rebuke it and cast it out in Jesus’ Name and cast all your care on Me for restoration, complete healing, and provision. But then what do you do until My Word comes to pass? Do you keep asking and asking for the same promise I said “Yes” to already in Christ Jesus? No, you take the strategic position of praise and thanksgiving. You go into full mode of praising and thanking Me for the good result. Praise stills the avenger and the enemy, because praise and thanksgiving is the way to stand on My promise and not draw back.
Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. “My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But you are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. Hebrews 10:35-39.
Praise and thanksgiving in the midst of a trial are prophecy, for they encourage, edify and exhort you to a higher realm. They also energize and give proof of your faith. You are expecting Me to perform My Word and it gives you joy for a good outcome. When you praise and thank instead of crying, complaining, and cowering in fear, your spirit and soul are lifted up to Me and I come to be enthroned on your praises. Psalm 22:3.
As you praise and thank you are encouraged, joy floods in and you are made strong. Why? My joy is your strength! Nehemiah 8:10. And joy will give you peace to hear from Me and go forward to do what I reveal to you so you can overcome as more than a conqueror.
For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace. Isaiah 55:12.
Praise and strength are one in the same. The more you praise Me for the good result I am bringing to pass, the stronger you become, the more joy you have, and you can overcome any obstacle. You encourage yourself in a difficult situation by praise and thanksgiving for receiving My love that endures forever and My love will deliver you. It is the voice of thanksgiving that brings wonders to pass. Praise will take down the enemy. It is greater than nuclear power.
You read in Psalm 8: “From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength because of Your adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease.” Psalm 8:2. Jesus later quoted that Psalm to the Pharisees, but He quoted it as “Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babes You have established praise.” Matthew 21:16. Do you see that it is out of their mouths? It is their words that are the weapon that makes the enemy and the avenger cease.
And even a weak baby can do it. Jesus did not say it had to be a brave and strong warrior. He said a nursing baby! In other words, an insignificant person that seems to have no power can do it. Even a new believer who is still only on the milk of the Word and not the meat. If the Holy Spirit can get you to speak in praise of My promise, down goes the enemy.
Even if you are in the worst storm of your life, if you come out and praise Me that I am working out everything for your good, you are in the spotlight of My love. Center stage. No longer the sidelines but the center of the battle. And I can fight the battle for you.
My will for you who are in Christ Jesus is that you rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give constant thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Do you see why? This is the lifestyle of victory and taking authority over the evil one. You do not rejoice in and thank Me for the problem, oh no, you rejoice in its perfect solution and resolution that is “yes” to you in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 1:20.
In other words, when the unclean spirit of sickness attacks you rejoice because you have a healer who already won healing and good health for you and it is yours for the taking and the sickness must go. If financial lack has come, you rejoice in My Covenant Name of “the LORD who looks ahead and provides” and in your good Shepherd that never lets you want, and watch the increase flow in. All you must do is stand on My Word of promise in praise and thanksgiving and you will know what to do and the wonder will come.
That also is praying without ceasing, constantly fellowshipping, partnering, and receiving wisdom in conversation with Me and living in continual thanksgiving for all the beautiful and new things I am doing in you and for you every moment.
David sang that he would go around My golden altar proclaiming with the voice of thanksgiving and declaring all My wonders.
“And I will go about Your altar, O LORD, that I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving and declare all Your wonders.” Psalm 26:6-7.
Jonah vowed that he would sacrifice to Me with a voice of thanksgiving and a wonder happened.
“But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD.” Jonah 2:9.
There is much for you to ponder here.
The word “wonders” is the Hebrew word pala (פָלָא) (verb) from pele (פֶלֶא) (noun) which means something so surpassing and extraordinary, so amazingly wonderful, so marvelous and miraculous, that it is hard to understand. It is the same Word I use to describe Jesus come in the flesh in the book of the prophet Isaiah. I tell you that the name of the child to be born to you, the Son given to you, shall be called “Wonderful (פֶלֶא).” Isaiah 9:6. And Jeremiah the prophet tells you that nothing is too surpassing and extraordinary, too wonderful, for Me to do. Jeremiah 32:17, 27.
For you, My people, I work wonders. I am the God of wonders. Strangely wonderful occurrences in your lives. Unfathomable. Ephesians 3:8; Job 9:10.
The LORD told Moses, “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.” Exodus 34:10.
And what did David do before he declared My wonders? He proclaimed with the voice of thanksgiving as he went about My altar. And when Jonah was about to drown in the depths of a stormy sea he called out to Me with the voice of thanksgiving, and I sent him salvation and brought him out of the depths by a wonder, a huge fish that swallowed him whole and spit him out right near the destination of Nineveh, where I had tried to send him in the first place.
Praise is a weapon that brings down the enemy. It is greater than the atomic bomb. And one person alone in his or her room can throw it and change their world. It makes you into an overcomer.
It has to do with the voice of thanksgiving. It is the greatest force in the world. What is THE VOICE OF THANKSGIVING? I should think you would like to know if it brings forth wonders. And I will show you that it does.
Now I am going to take you to the story of Jehoshaphat and the three attacking armies. 2 Chronicles 20. You may think you know this story well, but if you are not able to discern the voice of thanksgiving and the atomic bomb of praise, you do not know it at all.
This incident opens with three nations joining their armed forces together to conquer and take Jerusalem captive. The king called the people of Judah to My house (the temple) and they prayed to Me for deliverance. They declared My power and might and My ability to deliver them. And they concluded: “O 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.” 2 Chronicles 20:12.
Keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith, and not on the problem. Hebrews 12:2. Then fear will turn to faith. Magnify the Lord and your problem will dwindle down in comparison. 1 Samuel 17:45-50; Psalm 34:1-6.
Then I put My Spirit on a Levite who was a descendant of Asaph and he delivered My Word to them. Do you remember Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman and their sons and daughters that David appointed to sing praises before Me by the Ark of the Covenant 24/7? 1 Chronicles 25. The power of praise and thanksgiving kept any army from defeating Judah and Israel while David was king.
The Word for the people of Judah that I gave the Levite was as follows: “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the LORD is with you.” 2 Chronicles 20:15-17.
Now, they had My Word to them, a promise of victory. Nothing in their circumstances had changed yet, but they had My Word to stand on. And it is the same for you, you can read the promises signed in My Covenant Name (read Life Lesson 4, section B, to learn more about the Covenant Promise Names) and know they are yours and start to shout for joy!
And how did Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah respond? With the voice of thanksgiving: Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. The Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to PRAISE the LORD God of Israel, with a VERY LOUD VOICE.” 2 Chronicles 20:18-19.
They fell to the ground in thankful worship, overwhelmed with My goodness, and then they stood up to offer praise in a very loud voice.
They rose early the next morning, eager to take the victory I had promised, and marched out to face the enemy in a very unique way, a way that Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah decided among themselves. They marched forward with the choir on the front in holy attire (in the beauty of holiness) loudly singing praise and thanksgiving. And what was their repeated refrain? “Give thanks to the LORD, His love (“chesed”) endures forever.” 2 Chronicles 20:21.
And the minute they started singing praise in the face of the enemy, a wonder took place.
When they began singing and praising, the LORD set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed. For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroying them completely; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another. When Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude, and behold, they were corpses lying on the ground, and NO ONE HAD ESCAPED. 2 Chronicles 20:22-24.
The entire enemy force had gone down. It was like a nuclear bomb, no one escaped. The praise goes up and the victory comes down. Once you have prayed, found your Word to stand on, and cast the care on Me, all there is left to do before you see the result manifest is to praise and give thanks.
So what were the steps? And you should do these too if you are under attack of the devil:
- Pray and seek My face with all diligence. Focus on Me and My Word alone.
- Receive the Word and run with it. Welcome the Word implanted with its power to save.
- Fall down in worship and give full attention to My Word and power with gratitude.
- Take a stand and shout and sing praise of My glory in a VERY LOUD voice.
And watch results come.
But there is more, in the case of Jehoshaphat, I not only routed the enemy, but I also then gave them so much spoil that it took three blessed days to gather all the good things the enemy had left behind. And the people of Judah renamed the valley where the enemy armies had come up against them from the Valley of Trouble to the Valley of Blessing (Beracah). 2 Chronicles 20:26.
So what do you do when facing a problem, no matter how big or how little? Pray, get the Word that gives you an answer, fall to the ground in worship, stand up and shout and sing praise and thanksgiving, and keep praising till you get the desired result of My promise. And when it comes to pass, be ready to collect your reward. The wonder will follow the voice of thanksgiving just as thunder comes after the lightning.
Praise with the voice of thanksgiving is the most powerful weapon on earth. You will note that when the people of Judah stood up and used it, not one of the enemies escaped. 2 Chronicles 20:24. They all fell to the ground and ceased their attack of My people who praised and thanked Me before they saw the promised victory.
When the enemy comes in, rout him out with a shout of victory.
And as you read My Word look for the voice of thanksgiving and you will begin to recognize it. Leviticus 9:24.
I love you. Do you know that I am cheering you on for I surround you with songs of deliverance and shouts of joy.
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:7.
And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with a joyful shout. Psalm 105:43.
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 shouts and songs of joy. Zephaniah 3:17.