A few friends gathered back in 2019 for a Live Six One Night of Worship. We have reformatted that evening (as much as possible) to blog-form, praying it will be encouraging during this time. It also seemed like a good time to invite each of you into a Live Six One sneak attack challenge.
Below you will find the short teaching from the Night of Worship, followed by a sneak attack challenge and a prayer guide you may use, if you desire.
Worship as Warfare: It Is Our Weapon
As we began preparing for the Night of Worship, the Lord really sparked my curiosity to dig deeper and reminded me of a few memories from years past. Reflecting back, the common thread was when fear or shame seemingly drug me down, listening to and singing along with worship music would bring me peace, comfort, and rest. My mind felt attacked, but as soon as I would sing worship songs, I could rest and refocus on Christ and the truth. A few questions arose:
What do the scriptures say about worship? What is God doing when we worship? What happens when we worship? In us? In the atmosphere? In the spiritual realm?
“Worship is one of the most important things human beings can do, not because it feeds God’s ego, but because it lines us up with Him and against our enemy. Worship is an act of war. It is also an act of participation, strengthening our relationship with God and with each other.”
“In worship we declare that we are on God’s side. We declare this to God, to ourselves, to other people, and to the whole spirit realm.”
Worship: Beyond the Hymnbook, Dr. Charles Kraft
I think we would all agree that we are in a war and that spiritual warfare is real. In this battle we have weapons to battle with, and one of them is our worship.
In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat was faced with an impossible battle. We see him seek the Lord in prayer and confess his powerlessness to destroy his enemies. The Lord responds to him through Jahaziel by saying, “the battle is His, do not be afraid, stand firm, hold your position and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.” Jehoshaphat and the people responded by worshipping and praying.
The next morning Jehoshaphat said, "Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed." (2 Chronicles 20: 21) Then, Jehoshaphat placed the choir and the band on the front lines! What trust, obedience and courage going into a battle, but they faced their enemies with worship and praise, and just as the Lord had said, they witnessed a mighty deliverance! Through their worship, the Lord confused their enemies, who turned in on each other, and were completely destroyed (vs 22-23). So much so that they spent days collecting all the spoils (vs 25). And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms when they heard that the Lord had fought the enemies of Israel (vs 29).
"Even though the victory belongs to God, the human means through which God gives victory is the ministry of the choir."
Ambushing Satan With Song, John Piper, https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/ambushing-satan-with-song
The Apostles Paul and Peter knew their worship and warfare weren’t separate. They needed God’s help for their present “battle” in prison, so they worshipped. Their part was to worship the Living God, shine His light, and God not only displayed His power in freeing them from prison, but the Spirit moved in the hearts of the men they were imprisoned with, and even their families were saved! Their worship was a part of God’s strategy in war. Acts 16: 25-34
Worship AS warfare. It was their weapon, as it is ours!
A few things gathered from these texts to address the questions:
Why should we worship as a weapon for warfare?
- We were created for worship.
- We’re commanded to worship.
- God incorporates it as one of His strategies in war!
What happens in us when we worship?
- We remember who God is, what He has accomplished through Jesus, and we’re comforted.
- What we know to be true in our minds integrates into our hearts, and we are able to engage the Lord with both our heads and our hearts. Not based on feelings, but coming into agreement with God at both a head and heart level.
- "Spiritual power is released and we find peace and rest from demonic oppression." The Power of Song, Matt Chandler, https://www.tvcresources.net/resource-library/sermons/the-power-of-song
“One of the greatest weapons in our arsenal is worship/praise. When using this technique we quell the enemy’s attempt to infiltrate our minds and hearts. We focus on our original assignment, our relationship with God, and therefore deflect the enemy’s attacks.”
Shifting Atmospheres, Dawna De Silva, pg. 60.
What happens in the atmosphere or spiritual realm when we worship?
- We see enemy confusion, defeat, enemy ground taken.
- We are pushing back darkness. Light shining in the dark!
Worship as Warfare: Missionally
According to John 4, the Father is looking for true worshippers. But how do we achieve true worship? We don’t, because Jesus did! It is the gift of God that we have received new hearts, new identities, have been adopted, and have received the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus that we might worship the Living God in Spirit and in truth. (Ephesians 5:18-19) Worshipping in Spirit and in truth is pure and simple worship. This can look like singing, but it isn't limited to just singing. May every single thing that we as believers do be done to worship Him.
For the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, she went from needing to fill a jar of water, to then completely forgetting about the jar, running to tell everyone about Jesus, in which many others believed from her testimony. May it be so here in our cities, Lord.
This is the Lord's strategy in the war we are in. Hearts changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, wielding our weapons to worship Jesus in Spirit and in truth. Jesus is always after the heart of the people, and as we want to be like Christ, we get to do the same.
Call to Intercession: Partnering with God
We could be tempted in difficult situations to focus only on our present feelings and struggles. We could sit back quietly thinking we're alone dealing with this or that, or we could be tempted to think it’s a “them” issue that others are facing. But could it be both?
Could it be that what we’re feeling and struggling through is similar to those around us? Could we expand our prayer out further and look from up higher? As we deal with our own hearts before the Lord, we might then shift to a broader focus for those around us and our cities. Let’s step into the ministry of intercession. Let’s pray God would prepare the way and people’s hearts would be turned towards Jesus.
May we step into the battle with our voices, hearts, and minds. May we worship the Living God only. May we declare we are on His side! May we agree we want to see Him move in our hearts and minds, in our cities, and in the hearts of the people around us.
We hope you’ll join us for the Live Six One sneak attack challenge: Worship Night at Home!
Here’s the challenge: Pick a night sometime in the next week for an at home worship night. This can look so many ways, please get creative with it! It could be indoors, outdoors, loud, quiet, acoustic, a playlist, dance ribbons, etc. I think you get the idea. Just a time set apart to worship and pray in or around your home!
We would love to see pictures from your night and hear from you what your worship “set” will be! Let’s take some time to spur one another on and encourage the saints. Please share them to our social media pages or tag us so we can see them! If you'd like to use the prayer guide, you may download it below.
If throughout the evening of worship at home the Lord brought areas to mind or revealed places in your heart you’d like to process through in prayer, we’d love to pray with you. You can read more about prayer ministry appointments or contact us here.
