This was the situation of the people of God. They were to be killed – their young and old, women and children. All their properties were also to be confiscated after the planned genocide. What did the Jews do? Mordecai tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes. Other Jews joined him. They fasted, wept and wailed.
Now, when Mordecai gathered all the Jews of Susa and prayed for three days, God moved to revoke the death sentence hanging on their necks and also destroyed their enemies.
God started the deliverance process by visiting the king Xerxes in the night. The king could not sleep again because fiery petitions of the people of God were bombarding His throne. The decree against the Jews was reversed, their archenemy hanged and his properties were handed over to the Jews. Praise God!
When a people, a nation or citizens of a state gather to pray and cry to God, the effects are always penetrating. The condition of your people or your nation can be changed if you would bring them together to seek the face of God today.
Individual Prayers in the Bible
Prayers done by individuals also have tremendous results. Moses, Jesus, Joshua, Daniel, Nehemiah etc, are some of the people who have changed the course of their people through prayers. As a prayer warrior; especially of the midnight stock, you should not only affect yourself, your family, but you have the capacity to affect the destiny of your people, your nation and even the entire world. Jesus’ prayers and activities still affect the world till today. Moses’ prayers saved the entire nation of Israel. Daniel’s prayer set the stage for the deliverance of the Israelites from Babylon.
Let us take the cue from Nehemiah. He stood in the gap for his people. Hear him,
“They said to me, ‘Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been burned.’
“When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. Listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel.”
Nehemiah 1:3-6
You already know the tremendous result of that Nehemiah’s prayer. God intervened. The falling walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt. And the worship of God was restored. God can also do such with you. And remember, there is a reward that will always come after you have prevailed.
––
In Joshua 23:10, the bible says that,
“Each one of you will put to flight a thousand of the enemy.”
One person to chase away a thousand enemies? You can only do this supernaturally through praying. Your prayer can bring tremendous results. Yes, your prayer. And also know that when you prevail, God says you will receive a crown and He will make you a pillar in His house. A pillar and a crown reward from God? That will be wonderful!
“All who are victorious will become pillars in the temple of my God”
Rev. 3:12.
––
Please, let’s move over to praise.
PRAISE
Chapter Five
Praise
––
Paul and Silas also sang praises in the dungeon that night. With fresh wounds all over their bodies, chains on their hands and legs and in the usually dark underground prison cell, they sang praises to God. Praise and worship are some of the most powerful tools given to the believers by God. I mean spirit-filled praise and worship. There is great power in praise and worship. They are tremendous weapons of our warfare and the devil knows that. That is why he would do everything possible to stop or at least, corrupt them.
When we praise God, we bring down His presence and glory. No wonder the bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people. This simply means that He dwells, lives, occupies or resides in the praises of the believers. When you praise God, you create the atmosphere for Him to comeand occupy.
––
Now, you cannot make a success of midnight prayers without praise and worship. Midnight battles must start and end with them. Even, there are times you may not need to make any request, but just praise our great God and you will see your needs melting away on their own. I have tried it severally. I would get up around midnight and start to praise Him. I would do that for hours hoping to pray after, but would be submerged in His presence and consequently forget my file of requests. Then, I would watch those needs sorting out themselves.
In fact, I see praise as more powerful than prayer, though both are means of communicating to God. When you make it a habit to praise God at the face of every difficulty or persecution, the devil will begin to think twice before he brings problems to you, because he would have known what your reactions would be.
––
Praises usher us into the presence of God. An intercessor and all Christians should always have this in mind. The presence of God has a gate to it and praises and worship are the keys. When you come to do battles in the midnight, the first thing you must do is to open the gate of His presence with the key of praise. Then, you can begin to receive the answers to your requests.
The Psalmist knew this very well when he said in Psalm 100:4,
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless his name.”
And you know what will happen when you go into the courts of the LORD through the gates. Definitely, you will not come out the same. Your burdens, needs and requests will be met. Praise and worship will open the gates!
There are also other things that a spirit-filled praise will do for us. It will give you the wonderful privilege of joining the heavenly beings in worshiping God and bringing heaven down to the earth.
Just look at Rev. 4:2-11,
“I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it! The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones-Jasper and Carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow. Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crown on their heads. And from the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven lamp stands with burning flames. They are the seven spirits of God. In front of the throne was a shinny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal.
“In the centre and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. The first of these living beings had the form of a lion; the second looked like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth had the form of an eagle with wings spread out as though in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night, they keep on saying’ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty – the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.
“Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, the twenty four elders fall down and worship the one who lives forever and ever. And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, ‘you are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power.For you created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created.”
Majestic! This is the duty of the fearful four living beings and the twenty-four elders in heaven. I ran the whole record so that you can understand exactly what you do when you praise and worship God. I am always conscious of this fact when I am in worship – that I am joining the hosts of heaven and the billions of believers all over the earth to say that our God and King is worthy to be worshiped forever. This is sweet!
We also sacrifice when we praise Him. And you know a sacrifice is offering something precious and of great value to somebody. God deserves our best. We must give Him the fruit of our lips – that is praise as sacrifice. Our praises must ascend to Him as a sweet smelling savour.
Hebrew 13:15 says,
“Let us continually offer our sacrifice of praise to God by proclaiming the glory of his name.”
Praise as a Mighty Weapon
Praise and worship are also mighty weapons in the hands of the believers. When you praise God, you throw Satan and his dark kingdom into confusion and panic. You disorganize and defeat their plans. Look at the case of Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah again; when those three enemy nations came to attack them. After praying and getting directions from God, the bible said that King Jehoshaphat assembled the singers and marched to the battleground. They did not only defeat their enemies, but went home with more than enough spoils of war.
“After consulting the leaders of the people, the king (Jehoshaphat) appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the LORD and praising him for his holy splendour. This is what they sang: ‘Give thanks to the LORD; his faithful, love, endures forever!’ At the 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.
––
“So when the army of Judah arrived at the look-out point in the wilderness, they were dead bodies lying on the ground for as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemies escaped. King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing, and other valuables more than they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all! On the fourth day they gathered in the valley of Blessing, which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the LORD there. It is still called the valley of blessing today.”
2 Chronicles 20:21-26.
God moved ahead of them and dealt with their enemies immediately they began to sing His praises. When you praise God, He goes ahead of you to defeat your enemies. You will only come to the battlefield to pick the spoils of war and celebrate in the valley of blessings. Go into night battles with praise and worship. Make it a duty to praise God always, no matter what is happening around you. This is just my secret. Day and night, not just when I’m praying, I join the heavenly hosts to worship our King, LORD and Saviour.
Great Testimonies
