Untitled Sermon

Bible Study 9.15.14

Topic: Spiritual Warfare Training Part 11: Warfare of Praise and Worship

Apostle DoQuoi “The Duke” Green

Praising and worshipping God is not just showing honor to God, but it is also an act of spiritual warfare against the enemy! You should make a conscious decision to do this often. Our praise and worship isn’t what God needs, but it’s what He delights in. However, it’s what we need to be renewed and to fight the enemy! It’s amazing how much is working in your favor. No demonic attack can withstand the pressure and force that comes with the power/authority and all the other weapons God entrusted to you!

You shake up demonic foundations when you praise and worship God! The two are separate, but often go hand in hand. When you praise God, you are driven by His power. When you worship God, you are driven by His presence! This is why praise can be loud, emotional, passionate, full of energy, etc. Worshiping God can bring tears to your eyes, and sometimes you have few words to say because of His presence being magnified in your life. When you praise God, it hurts the ears of demons and it annoys them! So, while you’re praising God, also know that it is an act of spiritual warfare. When you worship God, demons tend to run away until you’re done b/c you create waves in the spirit and angels also show up with you!

You shake up demonic foundations when you praise and worship God! The two are separate, but often go hand in hand. When you praise God, you are driven by His power. When you worship God, you are driven by His presence! This is why praise can be loud, emotional, passionate, full of energy, etc. Worshipping God can bring tears to your eyes, and sometimes you have few words to say because of His presence being magnified in your life. When you praise God, it hurts the ears of demons and it annoys them! So, while you’re praising God, also know that it is an act of spiritual warfare. When you worship God, demons tend to run away until you’re done b/c you create waves in the spirit and angels also show up with you!

Praising God is a weapon against the enemy, and worship brings shame to demons b/c it reminds them of their defeat and what they lost! It is truly an honor and a privilege to be in a position to be able to serve the true and living God! Satan was demoted and excommunicated from heaven, and he’s jealous that what he once had access to we now have! You can’t afford not to give God the praise and to worship Him. It should be a part of your daily diet!

Every demon won’t respond the same way to the use of every spiritual weapon, so use as many as you know! There was a time in my life in 2011 when I was experiencing heavy demonic attacks as soon as I drifted off to sleep. My prayer life had catapulted to a new level during this time, so quite naturally it caused Satan to send higher ranking demons to try to slow me down. Normally when I would be attacked and tried to come out of spiritual consciousness (as dreams are), back into natural consciousness, I would plead the blood of Jesus or just say Jesus. Normally that would quickly give me enough strength to overcome. However, during that season, the demons weren’t responding to it as quickly, so I added in worship to calling on Jesus and pleading the blood of Jesus, and it instantly caused them to lift the attack and flee. It wasn’t anything I thought of, but it was just revelation of the Holy Spirit. It was a greater level of attack,

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and it required a combination of spiritual weapons to weaken the enemy. This is why we need to remember about all our weapons. Sometimes, you might have to plead the blood, call on Jesus, worship and call angels to fight.

Demons tremble at your worship of Christ b/c your worship gets the attention of heaven and the reinforcement you need in warfare! You should not stop persistently seeking God. Everything and everyone on earth has the ability and choice to praise God, but as God’s chosen on earth, we ought to lead the praise party!

You confuse the enemy when you praise God in a situation that you normally would have had a breakdown in! There is power in your praise! Worship has a smell! When you glorify God through praise and worship, you send an aroma to heaven that is pleasing to the Lord! It’s opposite for the enemy. Your worship to God creates a pleasant smell in the spirit realm, but it is an offensive smell to the enemy! Stink up the enemies camp!

If you want to spoil the enemies appetite, make sure that praise and worship unto God is on your menu! The only thing is that some demons will enter a church if they know they are able to influence others or to set traps. Some demons are on assignment to enter churches to deceive, and your praise has the ability to make them change plans for that day!

Your hands and feet are not only instruments to give praise unto God, but they're also mighty weapons against the enemy as you praise! Not only are your hands and feet important, but your mouth is another very powerful tool in spiritual warfare. When you sing unto God, you distract the enemy b/c they love music, but only music they can control!

This is why demons try to control the airwaves. This is why they love to influence the lyrics of music artists. Words are seeds. That’s why you shouldn’t listen to any music b/c your ears are gates into your life and seeds can be planted, good or bad! Satan has an elaborate plan, and as stated before, he and his demons are patient. They can sow seeds that are scheduled to be released at a later date. So, if you’re a parent, you should also monitor what your children listen to b/c there are some demonic seeds you can prevent from being sown!

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Eyes are also gates and demons use certain things to try to sow seeds to get you to do things contrary to God. This is why you must also guard what you watch. Entertainment can quickly turn into much more. Always watching/entertaining drama or negativity can invite drama and negativity into your life unknowingly b/c that’s how the enemy works! What you must realize is that the more you feed into those things, it’s actually a form of praise. Are you praising drama more than God? No Christian would naturally say yes, but it’s something to think about and watch closely. When you send praise and worship up to God, the life power of the Holy Spirit is renewing you!

Every time you praise God, you literally start a praise party in heaven!

We will discuss 3 specific types of warfare weapons pertaining to praise and worship:

1.) Warfare Weapon of hands 2.) Warfare Weapon of Feet 3.) Warfare Weapon of Voice

1.) Warfare Weapon of Hands , “You therefore, son of man, prophesy, And strike your hands together. The third time let the sword do double damage. It is the sword that slays, The sword that slays the great men, That enters their private chambers. 17“I also will beat My fists together, And I will cause My fury to rest; I, the LORD, have spoken.”

 In these two verses, we find God talking to Prophet Ezekiel. God was going to bring judgment on Jerusalem because of their continual sin and ignoring the warnings God sent through prophets like Ezekiel. Demons are also warned by God. We have the authority of Christ to warn demons to back off before the fight gets ugly. What we lost temporarily won't compare to their loss!

 In verse 14, God told Ezekiel to strike his hands together or to clap his hands. God said the 3rd time to let the sword do double damage. This was referencing the damage God was going to allow the enemy army to do to the Israelites b/c of their constant worshipping of idols. So, the judgment was not just on the people, but it was also on the demons the people were worshipping. Ezekiel being instructed to clap his hands was to be an expression of righteous anger. Clapping of the hands here encouraged the sword to be drawn. When you clap your hands when you engage the enemy in spiritual warfare, you’re encouraging angels to make use of the sword!

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 Clapping your hands during warfare prayers is symbolic of God bringing judgment upon the enemy.

 Not only did God tell Ezekiel to clap his hands, but God also clapped His hands in v.17. It showed his righteous anger of the continual sin and evil practices of the people. It represents God’s fury b/c God also said He will clap His hands and will cause His fury to rest. So, once the judgment was done, He would stop it. He wouldn’t allow it to continue beyond accomplishing its task. When you clap your hands in spiritual warfare, you are able to release God’s righteous fury upon the enemy! At this point the children of Israel became an enemy of God b/c they were worshipping idols, which of course are demons.

 Notice how God told Ezekiel to clap his hands, and it was in unison with the sword. When the enemy attacks you and you clap your hands, you’re literally counterattacking them in the spirit, and each clap strikes the enemy! Ezekiel’s claps represented something prophetically as well. God said how the sword would do double damage the 3rd time. This was prophetic b/c Jerusalem had 3 events happen when the Babylonians captured them. King Zedekiah was captured, the city was taken and the killing of Gedaliah who King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon put in charge of the remnant of Jews he allowed to stay behind to cultivate the land and vineyards. Others believe the 3 symbolizes the 3 different king’s of Judah who were captured, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah.

Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle

 Here we see the words of King David who was praising God who trains his hands for war and his fingers for battle. Thank God for preparing you in advance to fight in a spiritual war you didn’t even know you would be in. David was a great man of war and a leader of armies. We know that he himself slayed Goliath. His fingers were skilled as he was able to use the bow in physical warfare. However, this also has a spiritual meaning. David’s hands were used in physical battle and in spiritual battles. Your hands serve more than a physical purpose, but they also serve a spiritual purpose to war against the enemy in the spirit!

 This same David also had very skilled hands and fingers as he played the harp. King Saul was troubled by an evil spirit b/c the spirit of the Lord left him. So, it made room for an evil spirit to legally torment Saul. David came in and played the harp, and the tormenting spirit went away and Saul was refreshed (). The power of the Holy Spirit can flow through your hands to set someone free from a demonic attack!

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 Sometimes all you have to do is wave your hands towards heaven, and it’s a sign for angels to go to work on your behalf!

2.) Warfare Weapon of Feet

(kjv) Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.

 We see God giving Prophet Ezekiel instructions to clap his hands and stomp his foot, which is a sign of grief and righteous anger. All the evil the Israelites had done caused them to fall by the sword and famine and a plague. If 1 didn’t take some out, the other two would. Clapping hands and stomping feet in this case was also a sign of the destruction that was to come. When you literally stomp your feet in spiritual warfare, you're actually bruising the head of any enemy that tries to enter your life!

 When you clap your hands and stomp your feet in prayer, you’re warning the enemy to back off or get dealt with! You can see how this plays out in spiritual warfare. The sword pierces the enemy and wounds them causing them to flee. Famine is a dry place for them. They need to feed off of people. They need blood sacrifices, and you can starve them when they have nothing to latch onto in your life. The plague sent against the enemy is when masses of people come together on 1 accord to take back territory from the enemy. Your feet are a dangerous weapon against the enemy b/c where the soles of your feet touch is an opportunity to take territory back from them!

 Stomping your feet in prayer with anger against the enemy shakes and can crush demonic foundations around you! God will make your enemies ashes under your feet ().

19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

 Jesus gave you authority to walk over any enemy that tries to harm you! He let us know that not only do we have authority over all power of the enemy, but you can trample them. That means they are truly beneath you. When you walk in your Christ given authority, any demon that attacks, you can use your feet to help keep them under your feet in the spirit.

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 Even in that talks about the armor of God, it talks about your feet being shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. It’s a metaphor that was comparing the physical boot in warfare to the spiritual boot in warfare. The Good News keeps us standing firm and can bruise the enemies head. Many Roman army boots were studded with sharp nails on the bottom. When you stomp your feet in praising God, just like the Romans had nails on their war boots, it’s like driving nails into the enemy!

 If the enemy kicks, make sure you kick back in the spirit!

3.) Warfare Weapon of Voice

So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. 21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

 Here, we find Joshua and the Israelites following God’s instructions, which led to the destruction of the wall of Jericho. Jericho was a major Canaanite city, which was an enemy of God. This city was well fortified with a massive wall of defense that was built. The Canaanite’s occupied the Promised Land that God promised to the children of Israel. The wall stood in the way of God’s promise to His children. No matter how big the wall, if it stands in the way of where God is leading you, it will come down!

 Those who lived in Jericho had heard about all the miracles God had done for the Israelites. The wall was a physical stronghold, but it also has a spiritual meaning. We’ve discussed before that a demonic stronghold is based on arguments and reasoning philosophers and teachers used to attempt to discredit the word of God. It is also an incorrect thought pattern. So, this physical stronghold was a wall of defense opposing God. The wall was in the way. The enemy will erect walls in your life to try to make you feel you can’t get around it, but God gave you power to knock it down!

 God told Joshua that He had already given Jericho into their hands. God told this to him before it literally happened. God will often tell you that you have something before you physically have it b/c it’s already done in the spirit! You’ve already defeated the enemy. God gave Joshua specific instructions. It’s key that you follow the right strategy for each battle that will come through the Holy Spirit. The army could not physically penetrate the wall that was built. The only way through at that time was an act of God.

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 For 6 days they were to march around the city once per day and the 7th day they were to march around the city 7 times. After the 7th time, the priests were instructed to blow the trumpet and when the people heard it, they were to make a great shout and the wall would come down. They did just that. Their voice was warfare. When you shout with a loud voice unto God against the enemy, you weaken and break down demonic walls setup against your life! Trumpets were used for various reasons: gathering the congregation together, announcements, an alarm alerting people of an army approaching to attack, appointing of kings and praising and worshipping God.

 There is power in your voice as a warrior for God, and God gave it to you as a weapon against the enemy! Not only did the shout break down the wall, but God then gave them the grace to go into the city and destroy it. Not only can you overcome demonic attacks, but God can use you in such a way until demons leave embarrassed after the attack!

 The enemy will try to make noise in your life, but your noise can send confusion to their camp and cause their plans to come crashing down!

.. 17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you.” 18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. 19 Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with voices loud and high. 20 So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” 21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever.” 22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.

 Jehoshaphat was king of Judah at the time and he prayed to God because the enemy army was going to attack. He fasted and prayed to God and ordered a fast for the entire city. The Lord told Jehoshaphat a few verses prior that the battle was not his but it was the Lord’s. The Lord said that they would not have to fight this battle. (This again shows that there are some battles that can only be won in the spirit). Every battle is 1st won or lost in the spirit. Jehoshaphat appointed people to go ahead of the army who would sing praises

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unto God for the victory before it happened in natural. Don't be fooled by what you see! You ought to praise God before the physical battle b/c you’ve already been given victory in the spirit!

 Their praise confused the enemy and Judah won the battle. Your praise is a powerful weapon. When you open up your mouth and sing and praise God, you’re literally authorizing fire to be sent into the enemy’s camp in the spirit! Even when we look surrounded and like we are defeated, we must know that we have already won. We can praise Him knowing the victory has already been won regardless of what it looks like.

 Notice that they also lifted up their voices loud and high. Spiritual warfare is not quiet. You must open up your mouth b/c your sound causes damage to the enemy’s camp!

 It’s not by accident that every individual has a unique voice pattern that is unlike another. No voice pattern is exactly alike. Imagine what happens when multiple voices come together for God. When we raise our voices together in praise unto God, demons pause b/c every voice is different and it confuses them at the point of attack!