DAY 6 PRAISE DECLARATION:
THE POWER OF SHOUTING
PRAISE INSPIRATION:
47 Save us, Lord God! Bring us back from among the nations. Let us celebrate and SHOUT in praise of your holy name. 48 Lord God of Israel, you deserve to be praised forever and ever. Let everyone say, “Amen! SHOUT praises to the Lord!” - Psalm 106:47-48 (CEV)
PRAISE REVELATION:
It's easy to praise God when everything's going great, and there's nothing to complain or worry about! What do you do when you feel imprisoned or in exile? Israel felt this way for 70 years when they were in Babylon, which reminded them of what their forefathers experienced in Egypt. They could not worship God freely as they had done in the past. So let's take a little journey in Israel's history to have a higher level of appreciation for what it means to praise the Lord. When Moses delivered Israel from the bondage of Pharaoh in Egypt, it was his apprentice, Joshua, that had the vision and the authority to take these redeemed and liberated Hebrews into the Promised Land. Their first victory under Joshua's leadership was taking over the mighty city of Jericho. God commanded them to walk around this immense walled city seven times in total silence. Imagine the obedience and spiritual discipline they had to have to march around a city seven times without saying a word. Completely opposite to the behavior of their forefathers in the wilderness that disobeyed God and complained while they wandered for 40 years. To possess the Land of Promise, they had to "be still and know that He is God Almighty!" On the seventh day, seven trumpets, made from ram's horns, were blown, and Israel SHOUTED with a great SHOUT. Why did God use a shout to conquer the city? Why did Israel use their anointed priesthood to sound the shofars in praise to God for total victory? What was God saying about the potential of praise or the power of shouting. Their exalted voices confused their enemy and caused the people of Jericho to panic in fear. The adversary of our souls experiences total confusion every time we lift our voice in a SHOUT to praise God's name. The Hebrew word for a shout in Psalm 106:47 is "SHABACH" שבח, and means to praise God with a SHOUT, or a loud voice. David said we should shout out to God with the voice of triumph, in Psalm 47:1. You have to know that there's power in your shout! Your shout says you have the victory! Your declaration lets the enemy know that you're not afraid of him! More importantly, your spontaneous sound of praise lets the Lord know that you rejoice in Him as your Source and Sustainer! If we shout the way Joshua and Israel did around Jericho, every wall that the enemy has tried to put up before us, to try to stop us, will fall flat at our feet. In Psalm 106, Israel was in a place where they needed God's victory again after exile. The way they entered the land with Joshua, is the way they would return to the Promised Land in a shout of victory! If we want to possess all the promises of God, we must be willing to shout in total triumph, until the enemy gives back what belongs to us and our families. We must be willing to rejoice in our God knowing that we are more than conquerors! Remember, the end of the book says, "We win!"
PRAISE DECLARATIONS:
1. We declare total victory, as we lift up a great shout of triumph to God, in the midst of our circumstances.
2. We declare a complete return from everything that the enemy has stolen from us, our families, our businesses, and our communities.
3. We declare that the walls and barriers that have tried to stop us will fall flat to the ground, as we shout in celebration to our God.