Giving God the praise for another blessed month, we are starting a new series that goes by the name “Reaching Beyond,” and our first part is what I titled by the help of God, “Praise Over Worries.”

Worry has become an essential part of many people’s lives, both Christian and non-Christian alike, and some are sinking in worries because of their lack of belief that they can ever overcome their worries, while others, knowing they have a way out, a solution in Jesus, still find it difficult to make use of the opportunity they have in Jesus Christ.

And some of the opportunity we have in Jesus Christ is that because Jesus has overcome the world, we also, are now privileged to overcome the world, and because all power in heaven and on earth is His and in Him is peace that money could not buy, we also have power and peace that surpasses human understanding, also He said come to me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest, so we have rest in Him. And this privilege is what opens doors to the resource called PRAISE so that we can always praise Him for He is the only One who has control over it all. Amen!

However, the reason why those who have a way out, a solution in Jesus Christ, who are believers, would not want to make use of the resource, the instrument called praise in the midst of their worries is because of lack of patience, lack of faith which is due to their unbelief, and also because of the lack of perseverance.

Even the simplest thing that ought not to disrupt their thinking and belief now has access to their mind, and they get easily troubled by what they can run to God for help for. They get easily troubled by what God has given them the power to overcome.

What you do not know most of the time is that when you get troubled by worries, it is because the devil wants to harass you, disrupt you, and stir up anger in you so that you can blaspheme your God.

The devil’s reason is to trouble your heart so that you may call God names and dwindle down your trust in seeing God as a Deliverer, forgetting what Jesus said in the book of John 14:1 that we should not let our hearts be troubled. We should believe in God and in Him also.

And this strategy used by the devil is the reason why many are still worried over prayers that they once had a belief that God has answered but are yet to manifest. This strategy is the reason most folks are still anxious for everything instead of being anxious for nothing.

And this is because they are giving in to their worries to overwhelm their consciousness of what God is capable of doing in their lives. Beloved, what we know is that our God is great and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.

And that is why trusting in His word should be paramount when the devil uses the strategy called worries against us, because those who trust in His word are those who will have the understanding of giving praise on the day of their battles.

They are the ones who will position themselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. They are the ones who will not chicken out when the enemies come in like a flood because they already know that the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against their enemies.

And this is one of the major ways you reach beyond your worries. For when you know His words and stand on His words, you wouldn’t have to give in to worries but rather appoint your mind to praise God, appoint your hands to give a clap offering, appoint your mouth to sing of His praises, and appoint your legs to jump and dance because what God cannot do does not exist.

This, Jehoshaphat understood. When worries kicked in, when fear kicked in, when his enemies—Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—raised up their standard like a flood, when they told him not to believe that his God would save him.

And that’s why he set himself to seek the face of the Lord and command the people of Judah to do the same and once he heard back from the Lord, through Jahaziel that he should not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not his but God’s, he cheered up because that was all he needed, somebody—a word from the Lord.

That was all he stood upon, and his worries disappeared, and praise was set up over worries. Hence the reason he bowed down his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem followed suit to worship the Lord in verse 18 while the singers also praised the Lord.

All because of the word of the Lord that had come to them. The word of the Lord is coming to you today that God is bigger than your worries, is bigger than your problems, and all you need to do is to kick in your praise to swallow your worries.

And that is why Jesus asked the question in Matthew 6:27, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” and He questioned, “Why do you now worry?” In other words, you need to be filled with His praise and not be filled with the worries the devil is using as a weapon of disruption and distraction against you.

Beloved, let your praise reach beyond your worries in this new month. For in it you shall prevail. In your praise, there will be assurance of victory. In your praise, you will see the salvation of the Lord. In your praise, God will be God.

Praise over worries moves God to act on your behalf and scatter your enemies, putting them in disarray as you plunder abundance of valuables from the camp of your enemies in excess, and the name of the Lord will be exalted in you and through you.

And the victory God will give to you will put the fear of God on you over everything the devil may want to use to bring worries at you again. For the Bible says in verses 28 and 29, “So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.”

And through Jehoshaphat’s reliance on God’s word and the praises he gave to God over his worries, the Bible says in verse 30 that his realm was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.

I pray for you that God will give you rest all around, the kind that worries will never be able to penetrate again in the name of Jesus. Let somebody give God the praise. Amen.