This blog was written as part of the CPC22 Undivided Series. Our hope through these reflections by ministry leaders is that they would prepare your hearts to hear from God while you’re at CPC in person or CPC+ online. You can listen to the whole CPC22 playlist here on Spotify.
Let praise be a weapon that silences the enemy
Let praise be a weapon that conquers all anxiety
Let it rise, let praise arise
I was sitting in the back row of a packed auditorium with my friend Bryce when the worship set began. I had never been to this church before, but earlier in the day I felt a nudge by the Holy Spirit to take my friend up on his offer to visit his new church.
I had already spent the whole morning serving in my own church, which didn’t make me want to go to more church in the evening as I was tired. But leadership wasn’t the only thing making me tired.
In this season, I had suffered a few major health events that had me concerned. I was mourning for my young body and worried about how this would affect my husband and young son. If I didn’t have my health, what did I have?
As the music began to play, I scanned the auditorium to see what kind of worship this community engaged in. I saw the church begin to enthusiastically worship God. Hands were raised, people were swaying, and the leader was encouraging everyone to pour out their hearts to God as they worshiped.
I wanted to just wait the music out, hands stuck in my pockets. Mourning had made me numb, hopeless, lacking faith. But as I listened, I felt the Holy Spirit gently invite me to worship. Reluctantly, I raised my hands and began to sing quietly out loud.
As I entered fully into worshiping, a thought entered my mind and my spirit. The healing will come as I praise Him.
In just a few moments, my hard heart was softened as tears streamed down my face. I worshiped God with my whole being. Hiding in the back row gave me the courage to pour out my heart to God. It had been so long since I had connected with God in this way, and when I did, He spoke to me. The healing will come as I praise Him. I repeated this to myself several times as I worshiped and later that evening as I drove home.
As I reflect on the lyrics of “We Praise You” by Matt Redmond, this thought that the Lord gave me makes perfect sense. “Let praise be a weapon that silences the enemy. Let praise be a weapon that conquers all anxiety. Let it rise. Let praise arise.”
As I praised, the enemy that whispered that my body was failing and that I was destined to live in pain, fatigue, and infertility, was silenced. For me, praising God was the weapon that banished hopelessness, grief, and worry.
It reminded me that even though my body may experience the brokenness of this world, my God never will fail me. And over time, God has healed me in so many ways. I no longer have chronic pain. I’m only tired at bedtime. And by the time you’re reading this, I will be holding my second child – a dream I had all but lost before worshiping that day.
At CPC, we make space for you to worship a God who wants to speak to you, heal you, and bring you into victory through praise. You will get time in praise and worship without the worries of missing volunteers, production mistakes, or ministry tasks.
But will you?
Will you join in worship and let God speak to you as you praise with your whole being? Will you let Him heal you as you praise Him? Will you come with the expectation that there’s work for Him to do in you, and will you let Him do it?
Because, friend, the healing [or joy, or refreshing, or love, or whatever you need] will come as you praise Him. His presence is what we were made for. And He is worthy of your praise.
