Wow! The Lord is on the move in our midst again, and there’s no doubt that it’s due to the understanding we now have of the awesome power released by praise and thanksgiving, which often tends to be overlooked as we stand for the restoration of our marriages! The Lord’s been revealing that to us over and over again as we’ve seen Him work in the lives of our members, and we certainly had amazing confirmation of that again after a post on the ladies site yesterday, which I’ll share below. But first I want to share just a few verses of scripture that help make it abundantly clear that praise and thanksgiving may well hold the key to victory as we stand for the restoration of our marriages.

First, 1 Peter 2:9 makes it very clear that God saves and delivers us so we will declare the praises of our Lord and Savior, because it says But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. And Isaiah 55 is an awesome chapter that demonstrates exactly how that works! So any time we fail to declare the wonderful things God does for us, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem, we are withholding the praise intended for the glory of Jesus. And Psalm 22:3-4 (NJKV) explains why there’s so much power in praise, because it says But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them. Obviously, the power of God literally inhabits our praises as His people! And there’s no more powerful example of why praise and thanksgiving is so important to us as we stand for the restoration of our marriages than in 2 Chronicles 20:20-23, which says Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.” As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. Now that should be more than enough encouragement and motivation for all of us to CONTINUALLY sing praises to the Lord, with genuine and sincere thanksgiving in our hearts and on our lips! That’s why Philippians 4:4 tells us Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! God very obviously wants us to focus on the positives and not the negatives, which is confirmed in Philippians 4:6-8, which says Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. And then Colossians 4:2 says Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And when we put all of this together, it’s easy to see why the Lord has been moving so mightily in our midst and that’s why the following post by one of our members yesterday proved to be so powerful, and excellent advice and counsel:

Be Alert…Be Watchful…He is Moving!

“A lot of us here are really seeing God at work; I am seeing how God is REALLY speaking to a lot of us. God is moving here (Just as Diane said) and I want us to all be on alert and super watchful of what is going on around us in even the smallest of details, because things can very easily go unnoticed and we want to be able to praise God for every tiny little thing He does. We also must be watchful of those tests, because if we miss them, we might also miss the mark.

I have had SO much happening lately and I am just standing in awe at the power of God moving; not only in my life, but in the lives of everyone here. I want to share just a few things and ask you all to look at what is going on with your lives right now too. Ask God to show you anything you have missed!

I have told you about my house situation; living with unsupportive parents and brother. This is a major hindrance to me as far as my marriage goes, because my husband will not come here unless he absolutely has to. Last week I found a house which I love, but so many road blocks have come up and they all directly relate to getting into a house. Satan sure does not want us in our own home and I am so excited to know why. BUT I have seen God turn each and every road block around, crushing the devil’s plan, and using it for good.

And I had confirmation of answers to a couple of my recent prayers today. My husband told me that now he doesn’t know when his check is coming in. First it was Friday, then Monday, then by the end of the week. Well, since none of that got to me, I guess Satan said “Well fine, that didn’t work, now you’re not going to know at all when it’s coming.” My two prayers have been this; one – that my husband would seek support from me and two – that his faith and trust in God would grow through all of the battles he is facing. The first thing out of his mouth when he called today was ” Amy I need you to pray for me. Please pray God would deliver me from this situation.” HAHA! Do you see it?! Now here is what is so awesome. I was praying about the money thing this afternoon and immediately Marsha Burns’ words (Small Straws)for today popped in my head:

“March 6, 2007: Take advantage of a brief respite as you come into My presence for renewal and restoration. You will need to be refreshed before you launch into the next phase of your journey. You must be awake, alert and discerning in order to gain a full and gallant victory. Know that I am preparing you in ways that you are not yet aware of, for truly I have gone before you to make the crooked places straight, says the Lord. Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

And I just laughed! When I first read that this morning I thought there would probably be a delay, figuring I would see my husband pull away or another roller coaster of emotions. But as I prayed and God reminded me of what I read this morning, I laughed, realizing that was it! But look at how God moved today. I haven’t seen this paycheck yet, but I KNOW its coming. And my husband sought me out to pray for him. Do you think he asked one of his buddies or the NCP for that? He turned to God a little bit this morning, just as I had asked. Even though I have yet to see the money, I can already see how God is turning this for good!

My point is that we are so quick to praise God when we see that right in your face awesome work of God. But what about all those little works that lead up to it? Are you watching for them? Look at every unimportant situation in your life and realize that He is there working. When you see it praise Him. When you see a test put before you, pass it! And then sit back and watch his blessings roll in.

We had that movement of God’s power sweeping through here just a short time ago. I see it beginning again and I want us all to be blessed by it, so…. Stand firm, take your positions, and the Lord will deliver you!

Amy”

And the following was my response to Amy’s post:
Response by Linda Wattu on March 7th, 2007 at 8:17 am
“Amy, you are SO right! We must always be LOOKING for the signs that God is working so we can give Him the praise and thanksgiving He deserves and wants! Don’t forget, if He can’t trust us to give Him praise, honor and glory in the little things, why should He expect us to do any better with the big things – and it is ALL about glory for Jesus Christ! So it stands to reason that the more we praise Him and use every situation to glorify His name, then the more God is going to give us to praise and give thanks for! That’s why I always encourage people to read Philippians 4 often and to put it into practice! That one chapter sure does hold a lot of the key to joyful and victorious Christian living! Thanks for sharing – and how perfect Marsha Burns’ word was for you today! Keep that wonderful, expectant, God glorifying attitude, Honey, and the devil will be afraid to come around you or your precious family! He hates to see Jesus getting the glory, so he will stop doing that which brings it to Him! If only we could all get that through our heads and into our hearts and spirits! Your breakthrough is just around the corner, so just hang in there!”

And the following response is from Rosalie, whose husband recently returned home very unexpectedly and suddenly:
Response by Rosalie on March 7th, 2007 at 9:19 am
“*smiles* AMEN sister!!! I struggled with the knowing part for the longest time until the Holy Spirit shared with me that I could plead and beg and pray for the longest time but if I didn’t believe and KNOW that God was able to do what he promises, then it’s like a mute point if you will.

When I first came home to an empty house and bed, I slept on my husband’s side as if to seek comfort and feel his presence. I was very hesitant to drive to the city where my husband worked for fear of seeing him and the NCP in his red truck. Well, God told me he didn’t give me a spirit of fear…. He asked me why I was sleeping on the wrong side of the bed… What if He brought my husband home in the middle of the night; where would he sleep? And God challenged me to pray every time I saw a red truck and praise HIM for the work He was doing. I did so reluctantly at first; then it seemed that the world was flooded with red trucks and I was laughing and praising God for the renewal of my husband’s relationship with Jesus, the work He was doing in him, and the restoration of my marriage. Then I started praising God for the work He was doing in the NCP’s heart and life and for the Christian witnesses He was sending to minister to her.

Amy, you are so precious to the Lord and thank you for your devotion to Him.

Heavenly Lord we thank you for your infinite mercy and grace. Lord we stand in amazement in all You do for us. Thank you Lord for fighting the fight for us. Help us to draw closer to You and wrap your arms of love around us, sustaining us through it all. Lord thank you for the work you are doing in (husband’s name omitted)heart and life. Thank you for the good man he is and how you are going to bless him and his family. Thank you Father that Amy’s family is able to see Jesus in Amy. Lord help them to seek your face and will for their own lives. AMEN”

And here’s my response to Rosalie’s awesome testimony:
Response by Linda Wattu on March 7th, 2007 at 11:05 am
“Rosalie, thank you SO much for sharing this, especially the “red truck story”! I can’t tell you how many of the members I’ve shared that with, because I know it was such a powerful tool against the work of the devil, and certainly made him run from you and your family! I’m sure he got scared every time you saw a red truck – and he didn’t want the NCP included in your prayers for sure! But you set an awesome example for all of us to follow and the Lord is blessing you for it. And I particularly want to thank you again for staying involved in the ministry; we greatly appreciate hearing from you and how the Lord has worked in your life and family.”

The reason for sharing this is to demonstrate the real and undeniable power of praise and thanksgiving, and LOOKING for the Lord’s hand at work in our situations, so I thank Amy for her permission to share what she wrote here. But the REST OF THE STORY is in all of the praise reports posted on the sites today or sent to me by email or conveyed by phone. And here are just a few of them:
1) One member’s wife sent him a message wishing him a happy birthday and said that she hoped all of his wishes came true, even though she knows that his greatest wish is the restoration of their marriage! That may not seem like much, but it’s a real big deal in light of the lack of communication they’ve had and the fact that his wife has moved to another state.

2) Another member’s wife didn’t show up for their first court hearing for the divorce she was very determined to get. And even though he doesn’t know why she didn’t show up or cancel the hearing, it’s still a praise report!

3) Another member’s husband just showed up at her parent’s home (where she’s living and where he feels very uncomfortable) and just hung out with her for several hours this morning!

4) Another woman’s husband brought her child support today for the first time without having to be asked for it (and he hasn’t been paying it much even then) and he actually hugged her with body contact for the first time since he left!

5) Another member, whose husband usually gives her the silent treatment, called her on the way home from work, and when he got a call which was presumably from the NCP and she asked if he needed to get that, he paused a minute and then said no and kept talking to her until she said she needed to get his dinner ready! And then at home tonight, after dinner, he started telling her about a medical emergency at work and they had another normal interchange of conversation!

6) And then another member who has recently had her relationship with her husband restored, even though he has not come home yet (he works in another state), said they had a disagreement when he was home this past weekend, but she apologized when she got home from church (no matter who was right or wrong), and he ended up staying over another night! And he has started giving her money, which he hasn’t done in a long time, and now he calls her a lot more, even several times a day! And she’s going to be getting two honor awards in an upcoming college awards program, and that after coming very close to giving up on her education!

There’s no doubt that God responds when we praise His name and give Him glory and honor for EVERYTHING He does for us; it just seems to release supernatural power like nothing else we say or do! And it seems to have a snowball effect! And when we read Matthew 25:14-30, The Parable of the Talents, we might have good reason to be just as concerned about what happens when we DON’T praise the Lord and give thanks for what He’s doing in our lives! So I hope these testimonies will provide the proof, if needed, that we all need to be a lot more focused on praise and thanksgiving, which just means looking at the power and promise of our Lord and savior instead of our situations and circumstances. And it’s not possible to do that without being blessed and encouraged or without finding a lot to give praise and thanksgiving for!

Posted Wednesday, March 7th, 2007 at 11:49 am in Seeds Of Faith.