My WARship is for real.

Many of you are unaware that you are in a war. Yup, right now, right where you are, at this very moment, as you’re reading these words you are in the middle of a war – the war against good and evil. The devil is real. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (NLT). The bible goes onto tell us in Ephesians 6:12, “For 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” (NIV). You ever wonder why as soon as something amazing happens to you, something bad comes creeping around the corner? Well now you know why! YOU ARE IN A WAR!

If you’re in a war, don’t you have to fight? YES! But, how do you fight against the devil and his evil spirits? I can tell you that your boxing skills (or lack thereof) will not be that useful for you. Your #1 weapon is WORSHIP! Think about it. The longest book in the bible (Psalms) is entirely devoted to WORSHIP and I do not think it’s coincidental that it falls smack dead in the middle of the bible. And you know what’s even crazier, the devil does not want you to worship God! He wants all of your worship to go to him. His #1 goal is to steal, kill and destroy your worship to God. Why? Because he knows that you worshipping God means you submitting to God, trusting in God, loving God and most importantly, turning your back on the devil!

I discovered the power of worship through a book titled, “He Teaches My Hands to War” by Larry Stockstill. I’ll be honest in saying before this book I sometimes would just sing the songs to God and not really worship Him. It would look a lot like karaoke and there would be no heart involved, just pure entertainment. Then I started reading this book and studying the book of Job and the Holy Spirit convicted me real quick!

Job was a very wealthy man and had everything he wanted and more. Then, one-day God allowed Satan to test Job (yes, you read that correctly – God ALLOWED Satan to test Job. You see, the devil can’t do anything without God’s approval! Whoo! That should make you worship right there! But, let’s get back to the story). Satan took away Job’s possessions and children and guess what Job did? “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped” (Job 1:20, ESV).

WHAT?! Job went from abundance to lacking in a matter of minutes and yet he still chose to worship God. Wow. I wanted to smack myself when I read that. How dare I not worship God with my whole heart when Job barely had anything and still fought for his worship. It amazes me how we can sing a love song by…I don’t know, John Legend and tears will fill up in our eyes but we simply clap our hands and say “hallelujah” to God with fake emotion. But we wonder why we feel attacked, lonely, defeated, miserable, etc. etc.

I now have a completely different perspective on worship. I know the power behind it. I know that when I am having a rough time and feel lonely, the minute I begin to open my mouth and worship my Father that a peace that surpasses all understanding will come over me. I know that when I am down in the trenches and I can’t even think of the words, if I just hum a tune to Him that he will fly on the wings of the wind for my defense! I know that when I feel like the world is completely against me, if I just lift my hands to Him he will show me the table that He prepared for me in the presence of my enemies. I know because I’ve tried it. So, as Mr. Stockhill said--you can worship AND war or you can complain and give up. It’s up to you.