Thursday, October 1, 2020

#64 Praise Empowers Your Prayers

   Dr. Wesley L. Duewel- Praise empowers your prayer.  Psalm 50:14-15 suggests that in your day of trouble a sacrifice of thanksgiving is the proper prelude to your prayer for deliverance. In other words, praise makes your petition more effective. 

   God has done so much for us already for which we have so often inadequately thanked Him, that adoring praise warms the heart of God and prepares the way for speedy answers. (Google image, Praise God)

   If there was ever an expert in spiritual warfare, it was Martin Luther. He was very aware of the demonic forces fighting against him. Luther wrote: "When I cannot pray I always sing." 

   Praise brings heaven's power upon you. God has delivered people from sinful habits through praise. Every time the temptation returned, they praised the Lord some more until the pressure lifted. Other people have been healed while praising the Lord. John Wesley, too, knew the secret: "Praise opens the door to more grace."

   Praise  multiplies your faith. As you begin to praise the Lord, the focus of your attention is drawn from the complexity of the problem to the adequacy of God's resources, from the urgency of your need to the power of the Lord to meet your need.

   As you praise Him, you begin to remember how He has helped you on other occasions and your faith rises in expectancy. You begin to lay hold of God's availability and willingness to help you now. The more you praise, the smaller the mountain you are facing appears in the light of God's greatness.

   Praise lifts your eyes to Jesus and almost unconsciously you cast your burden on the Lord (Ps. 55:22). Praise helps you realize how comparatively insignificant Satan and his demonic helpers are, how fully defeated and fearful they have already become because of Calvary. Praise gives you courage to stand in Jesus' name and rebuke them. Praise not only is the way to multiply your faith, it also becomes an evidence of your faith.

    Praise unites you in spirit with the angels. Spiritual battles are won in the invisible world by prayer and by the active assistance of God's angels who are assigned to be your helpers (Heb. 1:14). Gabriel told Daniel that he and Michael had to defeat the opposing evil spirits before they could deliver Daniel's answer to prayer (Dan. 10:12-13).

  The great joy of the angels is to praise and worship Jesus. When you begin praising God, the angels seem to gather around you and join in your praise and joy. You don't see them, but they are there. Again and again heaven seems so near as you begin to praise. God and His angels listen and are pleased.

   Praise puts Satan on the run. Satan and his demons fear the presence and authority of Jesus. They know Jesus could banish them at any time to the lake of fire, which will be their final doom. The fear of that punishment and the holy presence of Jesus torture them (Matt. 8:29).

   Praising Jesus puts the demon hosts to flight. Expect Satan to run from you (James 4:7). Luther once said, "Let us sing a hymn and spite the devil." When the battle against Satan seems unending and almost hopeless, start praising God, and Satan's hosts will flee.

   We have praised God a little and occasionally during prayer. Let us praise Him More and more. We have used praise to worship the Lord; begin using it to defeat the Devil. Apart from all the other wonderful results, it is worthwhile to praise the Lord just because of the blessing you will feel in your own heart.

   But praise is the Christian's heavy artillery; praise is more effective in spiritual warfare than is an atom bomb in military battle. Praise is a strategic way to victory.

(Chapter 18, pp. 141-142, italics added for emphasis)


Used by permission 
of the Duewel Literature Trust, Inc,
Greenwood, Indiana
Available by phone
317-881-6755, ext, 361

Let's pray-

     "Lord, help me to be aware of the needs in the people around me. Help me choose to listen to them instead of just brushing them aside. I want to be Your hands and feet while I am here on Earth. Help me be a blessing to others.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen"


Today's Bible verses-

       Matthew 24:4-8 (NIV) “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”   

      John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." 


Quotes for today-

~ Ernie Miller 

Ya know what excites me ?

Despite what “news” you hear , despite what crisis unfolds , despite what turmoil confronts

us . . . 

Our Lord . . . the risen King is still . . . 

Redeeming the lost . . . 
Comforting the sorrowful . . .
Lifting up the defeated . . .
Healing the sick . . .
Restoring the broken . . . 
Giving hope to the hopeless . . .
Breaking chains of bondage . . .
Calming the storms . . . 
Changing darkness to light . . .

And building His church . . . 

Our Lord . . . Christ Jesus . . .  the risen king . . . nothing can stop Him !!!!!!


 
~ Philip Yancey- There are 29 uses for "one another" in the New Testament, and to show what a true community would look like, check the following:

Love one another
Forgive one another
Pray for one another
Bear one another's burdens
Be devoted to one another
Regard one another as more important than yourself
Do not speak against one another
Do not judge one another
Show tolerance for one another
Be kind to one another
Speak truth to one another
Build up one another
Comfort one another
Care for one another
Stimulate one another to love and good deeds

"I wonder how different the church would look to a watching world, not to mention how different history would look, if Christians everywhere followed that model."
[pp. 107-108 From VANISHIND GRACE, Bringing Good News to a Deeply Divided World]


Words of wisdom-

~ Have you noticed some "suddenlies" in your life? times that seemed surprising to you, that they happened? Rest assured that God has, and is, planning for things to happen throughout your life. You can rest and fully anticipate His faithful purposes, knowing that your "suddenlies" are actually right on His time.


Today's Popular post-

#40 The Source of Spiritual Blessing

  Andrew Murray- "In the epistle to the Ephesians, the Holy Spirit takes an important place. Paul must have had some reason for saturating the letter with the truth of the Spirit's presence and work."




Today's question-

     To what advantage was it that Jesus left His disciples?

   His continuing story involved their participation in spreading the Salvation message to the world. Jesus told them that the Holy Spirit would come upon them in a short time, and that they were to wait in Jerusalem for that to take place.
   If Christ had stayed with them, instead of ascending to heaven, the Holy Spirit could  not have come and infused them with power to obey His command to tell the world about the Salvation He'd provided for through His death and resurrection. 
   In the book of Acts, chapter 1, we find the story of the disciples waiting and receiving the Holy Spirit, and, what happened next. Our question today is ,"Where is the power today?" 
   It is still available to those who seek it, so may we live in expectancy of receiving it to empower us to obey Christ's command to share this great Good News! 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Virtual Financial Peace University  [people can take this course anywhere with an internet connection.]

6-week course taught by Bob Blewett from Canton, NY,
beginning Tuesday, October 6th, 8:30 EST, running each Tuesday 
until December 1st.

https://youtu.be/ht_v-teyyQ8   Introductory video by Dave Ramsey

https://fpu.com/1126721   Information to join the class

 


Robert A. Blewett, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
St. Lawrence University
Canton, New York  13617
blewett@stlawu.edu
   

Kitten in blanket

I invite you to view the latest 7 posts on my blog today: Jean's blog

For CFC Sunday services 10 or 10:15, and the recorded daily devotions. 

Check out the livestream link: https://www.cfconline.org/





Upcoming posts-

           To Be Like Him
3rd. Saturday's post by Jean Oathout

     #65 How To Praise the Lord
6th- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

     #66 The Promise Is For You
8th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

       Oh, That We Might Love Him More
10th- Saturday's post by C. A. Mcllravy




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