God sees you. He knows every battle that you’re fighting, and He is holding you.
The people of Judah fought in a different way: They fasted and worshipped. God has called us as Christians not to fight like the world but to fight in a different way. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians, “The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (10:4–5, NASB). I love that. We’re taking every thought captive, meaning that we’re bringing every thought under control. Thoughts like, It will always be this way; I’m not good enough; I can’t provide for my family; I’m going to lose my house; I’m going to lose my husband; I’m going to lose who I am as a person. Don’t entertain those thoughts by taking them out to dinner and a movie. Stop those thoughts by saying, “You’re under arrest, ill thought. You don’t have any place in my mind. Right now, I’m taking you captive, and I’m going to let Christ renew my mind.”
Sometimes those thoughts come like bullets out of the blue. You could be worshipping, and an intrusive thought will flash into your mind. Has that ever happened to you? It’s happened to me. Thoughts will come out of nowhere, just shot right at you. But you know what you have to do? You have to take every thought captive, and you need to say, “You don’t belong here.” Sometimes, when I’m angry at the devil or a situation and my thoughts are plaguing me, I’ll literally just lay hands on my head and say, “Thank You, God, that I have the mind of Christ. Thank You that no weapon formed against me shall prosper.” Sometimes you just have to lay hands on yourself.
Taking every thought captive isn’t a normal protocol when you’re in crisis mode, because you feel like you need to fight the battle yourself or defend yourself. But even Jehoshaphat didn’t do that. He went straight to God. This was his battle strategy, and this should be our battle strategy also.
You would think that Jehoshaphat’s next action would be rolling out a map on a table and saying, “Okay, I’m going to place soldiers here, here, and here.” But he didn’t do that, because our weapons aren’t carnal. Instead, Jehoshaphat “appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor” (2 Chronicles 20:21).
The battle plan wasn’t based on having a bigger army, but it was based on worshipping God in the battle, singing out despite the situation, and saying, “God, You are good, and Your love endures forever. You are going to get us through this situation.”
While the army marched behind the singers praising God, “the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated” (verse 22, NIV). Can you imagine what the singers were thinking when they were sent to the front lines not to wield weapons but to worship God? But while they were worshipping, God set ambushes. The Spirit of the living God sent confusion into the enemy’s camp, and they started fighting one another instead of Jehoshaphat and his people.
Jehoshaphat’s battle plan was worship. We’re going to learn to worship our way through the battle, because if it worked for Jehoshaphat, it will work for us.
It’s one thing to worship when life is good. It’s another thing to worship when you pick up the phone to find out your best friend has cancer. It’s another thing to worship when you find out your son is lost and you don’t know where he is. It’s another thing to worship when you get a bad report from the doctor or you feel like your marriage is falling apart. But we’re supposed to worship in the troubling times when everything in our lives seems to be falling apart. Do you believe me? Because if you do, you’re going to see God set ambushes against oncoming attackers.
Verse 30 says, “The kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side” (NIV). God gave him rest on his right, his left, and in the front and back. God gave him peace through worship. This is so powerful and such good news.
When my older son, Parker, was in elementary school, he told me that, during worship in the kids’ ministry, he saw a vision. He said, “While I was worshipping, I saw myself standing and speaking before people.” He had never talked like this before. He usually told us that he wanted to be a basketball player or whatever other profession was popular with his friends at the time. But that day he told me, with a sweet, tender spirit, that he had been called to the ministry while worshipping God. Earl and I started to cry. We said, “No matter what you do with your life, we love you and we believe in you.” But it was in an atmosphere of worship that Parker saw himself in the future. Right after church that particular day (I didn’t know that any of this had happened), he said, “Mom, will you take me into the church’s auditorium?” So I did. The auditorium was mostly empty, and he just looked and walked around. He later told me that his vision had compelled him to walk around the auditorium because he had seen himself speaking in front of crowds. God will give you visions for your future while you worship.
I remember another time when worship factored into our family’s story. When our younger son, Grayson, was five years old, he was lost on the school bus during his first week of school. They dropped him off in the wrong neighborhood. Yeah, it was a really crazy, terrible day. We found him, but Earl and I were broken, frustrated, and discouraged because our little boy was lost. After hugging him tightly, then dealing with the principal and the school, we fell to our knees; we walked into our bedroom and just started worshipping God because we didn’t know what else to do. Peace flooded our hearts in that moment.
Recently, we had a funeral at Shoreline City for a sweet little four-year-old boy. So many people from our church prayed and worshipped in the chapel of the hospital while his family was in the middle of their son’s fight for his life. Our people’s praise and worship touched others in the hospital because worship was surrounding this family’s struggle. Before the funeral, his beautiful mom and I were in an upstairs room of the church, and she gazed out the window, watching the cars arrive. Then one of her little boys started bawling because he was going to miss his brother. Do you know what she did? She grabbed him and sang over him. Even in her darkest pain, she knew worship was the only thing that was going to get her through. If we can grasp this concept, peace can flood every situation in our lives.
At the funeral, the worship team sang “How Great Is Our God,”[2] and that song changed the atmosphere. Before they started singing, the atmosphere was heavy with aching, longing, and brokenness; we were all crying. But then the team started singing, “How great is our God! Sing with me, how great is our God.” Suddenly, the Spirit of the living God rose up and ministered peace. I’m here to tell you that worship will change the atmosphere, set ambushes for oncoming attackers, and destroy strongholds.
Worship changes the atmosphere, sets ambushes for oncoming attackers, and destroys strongholds.
One of my favorite scriptures is found in Isaiah:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. (61:1–3, NKJV)
I’m believing that if you’re feeling heavy, God is going to wrap you in a garment of praise in exchange for your spirit of heaviness. I’m believing that God in the Spirit is going to transfer the weight of what you’re feeling and drape you in praise.
I worship when I’m on the mountaintop and when I’m in the lowest valley. I worship because my soul needs it. I worship because it reminds me that God is on the throne and bigger than any battle I face. I worship to renew my mind, purify my heart, help my perspective, and keep me sane. It’s amazing how locking eyes with Jesus, thanking Him for what He has done and is going to do, pushes back darkness and refreshes our souls. I’ve sung over my teenager’s room; I’ve sung over my little girl’s room. I’ve even blasted worship music from the front seat of an ambulance after receiving life-threatening news about my husband. I’m sure the driver was like, What is this girl doing? but I didn’t care. In my desperation, I invited God’s presence to fill me up for the battle we were facing.
I don’t know what you or your family are in the middle of, but I believe, by the Spirit of God, that He’s going to wrap you in the mantle of His presence. I don’t know what battles rage in your community and beyond, but I dare you to worship, and I dare you to lift your hands to heaven and say, “Not my will, but Your will be done.” I’m declaring that you can bless the Lord at all times, that God will meet you wherever you are, and that His Spirit will cover you.
Let’s Pray
Dear Jesus, by faith I lift my hands to heaven in this moment, and I commit to worshipping You even before the victory. I remind myself in this moment that You are still worthy of my praise. Just like Paul and Silas worshipped in chains, I’m going to worship in the midst of my pain and my circumstances. You are on the throne, and I thank You for Your faithfulness, goodness, and kindness in the middle of every storm. I thank You for fighting battles on my behalf, and I thank You that You are bigger than any challenge I face. You are worthy; You are holy. I exalt You and You alone.
14 Your Word Is Yes
I remember when one of my sons was going through the terrible twos. I call him “our spirited one” to gently characterize his craziness, but he was a hot mess. He’d break down and throw tantrums when we’d go out. We’d try to pick him up, but he’d be dead weight. Can any parents identify? Sometimes God is calling us to say yes, but we’re kicking and screaming along the way. Let’s stop the dead-weight drop! When God says yes to your calling, say yes also. When God says yes to the plans He has for you, say yes. When God says yes to your beauty, value, and worth, you have to agree with His yes. Our yes plus His yes is powerful!
God has called us to say a confident yes. The Word says that Christ within us is the hope of glory.[1] We’re stamped with His Spirit. Our surety in Christ is what gives us the power to say yes. You don’t have to rely on your own power—tap into His! God already said yes for you when He allowed His Son to die for you on the cross. So, when you say yes to a new season and when you say yes to God’s plan for your future, you’re saying amen to what He has already said. Imagine what would happen if we all said yes. Imagine the ramifications of thousands of our yeses. Imagine the power of thousands of us realizing that God has chosen us to be that girl, part of a plan that is unfolding in heaven. It’s time for us to get a little bit uncomfortable and prepare to be challenged, because God is calling us to a season of yes. He wants to push us forward. The seat you’re sitting in right now is a launching pad into your destiny. I don’t want you to think that you’re just sitting on a living room couch, because you’re really at mission control and God is about to count down: “Three, two, one.”
Many times our yes starts with questions. I think about Mary in the gospel of Luke right before she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth. An angel had just appeared to Mary and told her that she was about to become pregnant and bring forth the Savior of the world. Can you imagine being engaged, not married yet, and an angel just shows up and tells you that you’re about to be pregnant with the Savior? Of course, Mary immediately questioned the word she had been given: “Mary said to the angel, ‘But how? I’ve never slept with a man’ ” (1:34, MSG). Sometimes our “But how?” keeps us from stepping into the yes of God’s calling, because we like to figure out the process first.
