Praise and Thanksgiving are Spiritual Weapons
SEELE Faith Editor KB Chakela shares the antedate for breakthrough
In this month’s newsletter, I shared how life-changing my experience was at the Revival 25 Conference in East London, South Africa. If you did not yet read this month’s newsletter subscribe to our mailing list to get it. I went to Revival 25 Conference expecting to receive from the Lord – a fresh anointing, fresh revelation, but instead the atmosphere was about praise and worship. This experience of being in the room and God being worshipped for a whole week, with three sessions daily shifted my perspective from one of simply asking God for the things I need to thanking Him in advance and praising Him in faith.
This theme of Praise as a spiritual weapon is one I also explore in one of the chapters in my book, Why Is God Not Answering? In it, I highlight that sometimes the key to breakthrough is not in praying more, but in changing the posture of your heart to be one of worship and praise to the Lord. Praise and thanksgiving become weapons, spiritual strategies that silence doubt, invite Gods presence, and unlock breakthrough and victory.
The Bible reminds us of this, that praise is not just a form of worship, its warfare. Psalm 22:3 in the KJV states; “But thou art holy, o thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel”, when we choose to lift God high despite our current circumstances, we create an atmosphere where His power can be made manifest. Paul and Silas in Acts chapter 16 is one of my favourite examples of this. At midnight, chained in prison, they prayed and sang hymns of praise to God the Bible says. As they praised, the earth quaked, the prison doors flung open, and all were set free.
In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat faced a vast army he knew he could not defeat. Instead of panicking he sought the Lord, he then appointed singers and musicians to go ahead of the army, praising and giving thanks to the Lord. As they worshipped, God set ambushes against their enemies, and they won the battle without any man lifting a sword.
Both these stories in the Bible remind us that thanksgiving is not just a form of gratitude after the blessing arrives, but rather it’s our declaration of trust before victory comes. It declares, “I believe God is faithful, and I will thank Him now.”
Many of us, myself included have asked “Why is God not answering?” This question alone can be very discouraging, but a shift can only happen when we replace our cries of despair with songs of faith. Philippians 4:6 gives us the blueprint for this in the NIV “Do not be anxious for anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”, the key is that prayer and thanksgiving are interlinked.
So whatever situation you are facing today, not matter how tall the wall, no matter the uncertainty, delay or disappointment, I want to encourage you choose to thank Him in advance. It’s not always easy, but it is always powerful. When you sing, worship or thank God in advance, you are not ignoring your reality, you are declaring a different reality, because God is Sovereign and faithful. This is the heart of what I’ve been learning, praise is a deliberate act of faith.
This is the conclusion of the matter, don’t ask God for what you need, praise Him for who He is, and thank Him for the victory you have in Jesus name.
