In Bend, Oregon we wake up daily to seven ginormous mountains (on a clear day you can see eight or even nine) staring you right in the face.  You don’t have to get up to a viewpoint in order to see them, you see them almost wherever you go in and around Central Oregon.  They’re not the backdrop, they are literally running the place. I call them the main industry in Bend.  They are the weather, they are the recreation, and they are why I live here.

Some of my favorite scripture:

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:12 ESV 

I recently wrote on the identity that Christ names us with and the powerful weapon it serves as.  But I can’t talk about weapons without also speaking to the authority that Christ gives us through the act of praise, or rather the weapon of praise.

There’s this wicked cool story in 2 Chronicles 20 about the weapon of praise.  Hang in with me while I develop this story. I promise, it’ll be worth it.

So…There are three tribes who decide to declare war on the land of Jerusalem and the King of Judah, King Jehoshaphat.  These tribes are bigger and stronger than Jehoshaphat’s army of Judah.  When Jehoshaphat gets wind of what these tribes are planning, he has a moment of alarm, but then scripture says, “He seeks the Lord for guidance” (20:3).  Then he asks the people of Judah to observe a fast and seek the Lord.   Let me just interject here how key I believe the act of fasting was in hearing from the Lord – that’ll be another post.  After fasting,  Jehoshaphat stood before the people and he  prayed and made a bold statement of PRAISE:

“Oh Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven.  You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth.  YOU ARE POWERFUL AND MIGHTY, NO ONE CAN STAND AGAINST YOU!” 2 Chronicles 20:6 NLT

He just simply prays PRAISE to His Lord.  Remember this.  Then, he confesses his fear and what he believes God has spoken both in past and present.  I’ve always thought of confession as being an admission of guilt or wrong doing,  but in this story it is also an acknowledgement.  Jehoshaphat is acknowledging how he is feeling about his life, his circumstances and even God’s involvement in those circumstances.  One of my favorite teachers of the Word, Jamie Winship says, “Confession is telling God the truth about what you really believe about yourself and God.”  Remember this too.

So Jehoshaphat states the truth about what he really believes, about his land, about his people, about himself, and about God:

“O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name.  They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’ And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them. Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.” (20:7-12)

Then, the Spirit of the Lord rolls in.

So in other words…praise, confession and then BOOM, God answers.

“As all the men of Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, wives and children, the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of the men standing there.  His name was Jahaziel…” (20:13-14)

Jahaziel speaks up:

“Listen, King Jehoshaphat!  Listen all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.  Tomorrow march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!” (20:13-17)

WHAAAT!!!!!? “Take your positions; then stand still and watch…?”

So what does Jehoshaphat do?  He falls down with his face to the ground, AGAIN PRAISING and worshiping the Lord.

“Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the Lord.  Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.” (20:18-19)

Essentially, this is the meeting the King has summoned the people to as the strategic planning session for battle- and they spend the entire time praising, confessing, praising ….AND hearing from GOD.  I can learn something from that.

You want to hear from God?  You want the Spirit of the Lord to fall upon you?  You want to know how to war? Throw down like Jehoshaphat.  Praise, confess, then praise some more.  So…

“Early the next morning the army of Judah heads out to the wilderness and on the way Jehoshaphat stops everyone one more time to remind them to “Believe in the Lord their God and they will be able stand firm” (20:20).

I guess I would have expected that part, but then Jehoshaphat goes totally rogue.  He appoints the front line to be SINGERS. To walk AHEAD of the army as the front line of battle.  That’s right, a choir.  He tells them to “sing to the Lord and PRAISE Him for His holy splendor.” (20:21)

I don’t know about you, but when I’m facing something that has the potential to end me, the last thing on my radar is to bust out in song.  My mom was that kind of cat, but not me.  Based on what happens next though, I might start letting my inner Beyonce out a little more.

“At that very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves.  The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them.  After they had finished off the army of Seir, they turned on each other.”  (20:22-23)

Did you get that?  The enemy killed itself.  It says not a single one of the enemy escaped.  Not a single one- all because of a choir praising His holy splendor.

I think my favorite part of the story though, is what Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah discover at the end of war.  Not only did they not lift a finger in battle (only their voice in praise) but at the end of the day they receive what I believe we are all desperate for.

“So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was at PEACE, for his God had given him REST on EVERY side.” (20:30)

So here’s the whole of Homeboy’s Battle Plan:

PRAISE, CONFESS, PRAISE, BELIEVE, PRAISE, DESTROY, WIN, PRAISE, PEACE, REST…..Drop the mic. Walk away.

Do you believe that God has the authority to turn the enemy on himself in your own life, in your marriage, in your children, on your fear, on your anger, on your disbelief, on your guilt, on your shame, on your disappointment?  Do you believe that God has given you all authority to confuse the enemy?  Do you believe He has named you for this very purpose?  If you don’t believe this, maybe try going J-Phat on the enemy.  Praise and confess.  Tell him how you really feel about your fear, your anger, your guilt, your shame, your disappointment.  Praise Him for letting you do so.  But then listen.  Watch and wait for the Spirit of the Lord to fall upon you.

When we operate with praise for the King “who has authority over all heaven and earth” (Matt. 28:18), and who has named YOU with purpose, “from within the womb He called you by name…”  (Isaiah 49:1),  “no weapon turned against you will succeed and you will silence every voice raised up to accuse you.” (Isaiah 54:17)

Here’s the deal.  I’m tone deaf.  From the time I was a little girl I have prayed that God would heal my voice while I sleep and make me a rock star.  That’s actually not a joke. I’m still not a rock star- and I have made peace with the fact that the only audience members I will ever have are my poor children who are now getting old enough to make me feel self-conscious when I rap “8-mile.”  Singing, even when it’s tone deaf, is powerful and we should lift our voice to God in song and praise.   BUT, let me tell you how many other ways God is teaching me how to praise.

We were created with detailed and intentional gifts.  There isn’t a soul on the planet who has not been given one.  And perhaps more time praising the Lord will start to reveal more of these in our lives.  As I identify gifts in my own life, I’m realizing the temptation in my flesh to quickly orient them for my good, my convenience, my glory.  As I confess that temptation and confess my desire to offer them right back up to the King as an offering of praise, not only am I watching the enemy punch himself in the face, but I’m getting loads of revelation and clarity about my identity, my name, what I’m being called to, and what I’m being called away from.  This isn’t an easy thought or action.  It sounds perfectly “Christian” and quite honestly pretty friggen cliche to say, “I should use my gifts as a praise offering.”  But you should.  You absolutely should.

I believe God is calling us to set our minds to see all this life on earth, the highs and the lows as opportunity to praise.  Praise Him when you are feeling reassurance about who you are, praise Him when you are feeling clarity, praise Him when you are feeling identity, praise Him when you are feeling gifted, praise Him when you are feeling direction.  He’s speaking to you, He’s feeding you, He’s getting you ready for more.  So praise Him.  But more importantly, praise Him when you are disappointed, praise Him when your questions are still unanswered, praise Him when you don’t know the name He is calling you by, praise Him when you feel exhausted and pissed off from the absolute pain in the ass it is to live on a broken planet in fragile, ill-functioning bodies with selfish and disobedient minds.

These hardships, these disappointments, the confusion, and even the silence has an end. It has an answer and it has a Savior.  The confusion and the heartache and the sickness was never God’s intention when He set all of creation into motion.  But creation, man and woman were deceived and sought their own way- and it forever interrupted the perfect ease and flow of what the Master had built.   Sin broke the planet and it broke man.  From that point on, disappointment, confusion and struggle were forever a reality. Until the Creator gave His own life to pay for ours.  We still experience brokenness, pain, and confusion- but His blood was shed so that we could live free of it NOW and for eternity.  His blood has called us by name.  His death has eternally set us free from the bondage of disappointment and silence.  So why don’t we live free?  Why do we still feel confused and pained and tired?

We still live amongst a deceiver and an adversary, “he prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 NET).  But we don’t have to fight him for our lives any longer, Jesus already did that.  We do have to fight him for our minds, though, and for God’s will in our lives to be “done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10 NIV). Fighting for God’s will has a very strategic battle plan (just as Jehoshaphat demonstrated).  “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12 NIV).

So we have a choice to make.  Do we stay disappointed, scared and the prey of a roaming lion, or do we obediently confess, praise and go to war for the names that God calls us by, for our freedom, and for our “rest on every side?” (2 Chronicles 20:30).

Sometimes the silence means He is trusting us with a greater revelation in our life that can only come through our praise, in the waiting.  So praise Him in advance for the revelation that IS coming.  Time is nothing to God, but His timing is everything.  This 85 plus years we have on earth is seconds in eternity.  Praise Him for the gifts you see in others.  Praise Him that Adele sings like an angel and got the voice I prayed for my entire life.  Praise Him for your neighbor’s successes.  Praise Him for the promotions that someone else gets when your card was up- or for the healing and revelation that is coming for others even when it’s not shown up for you…yet.  And I promise you, the devil will be seeing a rainbow of crazy.

There’s a 100% chance that if you were to watch me go through any given day, you would  literally find me walking in circles and zig-zags as I hear the Lord ask me to go one way and then instantly feel my flesh interject a different plan.  But then, “no… my plans always end in disappointment, so back to God’s plan and then…oh screw it, how ’bout I just get on my knees and start praising.  How ’bout I just start naming the attributes of God.  Or how ’bout I just start confessing that I’m struggling to feel cared for by the attributes of God.”  Then I praise Him again when I feel a conversation happening.  Then I shut up and listen.  I wait to hear from Him.  No relationship has ever worked when one side does not stop to listen.  The whole of our lives can be and should be praise, confession, more praise and victory!

I offer up my marriage and my parenting as praise and confession.  My friendships, my time, my money, my passions, my dreams – it’s either all about me, or all about praising the name of Jesus.  I’m not willing to live under the dominion of self and disappointment any longer.  I’m not willing to be deaf to the voice of my King any longer.  So my only choice is to listen for the order of my day and offer it ALL back as praise.  My mountain bike rides, my runs, my training and racing as a whole.  Praise.  My hours spent picking up after my “short-term memory loss” children.  Praise.  My time packing lunches, unpacking lunches, preparing wholesome food, cleaning clothes, folding clothes, unloading the dishwasher, figuring out 5th grade math homework, vacuuming up dog hair, writing this post…it’s either all praise, or all struggle that leads to death.

If the mountains choose praise, then “so will I.”  (Hillsong United, So Will I)