You're One Praise Away: Why Worship Changes Everything

What if I told you that your next praise could be your breakthrough? What if you're just one worship away from that phone call you've been waiting on, one hallelujah away from the answer to your prayers?

Today, I want to share something that's going to shift your perspective on worship, praise, and the storms you're facing right now. You're one praise away from your breakthrough.

The Prison That Changed Everything

Let me take you to Acts 16:16, where we find Paul and Silas heading to a prayer meeting. Notice that, they were on their way to church. Sometimes the biggest miracles don't happen in the sanctuary; they happen on the way there or on the way home. You might be the only Jesus someone ever sees outside these four walls.

As they're walking, they encounter a slave girl with a spirit of divination. She's like the Miss Cleo of the Bible, telling fortunes and making her owners a lot of money. Here's what you need to understand: just because someone operates in the spiritual realm doesn't mean they're operating in the right spirit. This girl had a gift, but it was being mismanaged for profit.

She follows Paul and Silas around for days, screaming, "These men are servants of the Most High God!" Now, she was technically right, but her goal was to confuse and distract. The devil will give you a little truth mixed with a lie every single time.

Attack the Spirit, Not the Person

Here's where it gets powerful. Paul, being greatly annoyed, turns and speaks, but notice who he speaks to. He doesn't attack the girl; he addresses the spirit inside her: "I command you in the name of Jesus to come out of her!"

Church, let me help somebody today: Stop attacking people and deal with the spirit. It's not always the person; it's the spirit operating through them. Every spirit needs a body to inhabit. That's why you need the Holy Spirit filling you, because if you're not filled with the Holy Spirit, another spirit will move in.

Think about it. In the Garden of Eden, there was a serpent, a spirit, that convinced Adam and Eve to disobey. With Cain and Abel, what made Cain kill his brother? A spirit influenced him. When Jesus was about to go to the cross and Peter said, "No, Lord, this shall not happen," Jesus responded, "Get behind me, Satan." He wasn't talking to Peter; He was addressing the spirit using Peter in that moment.

I remember when my father, who hadn't been much a part of my life, asked me what I was doing. I told him I was a professional speaker. His response? "You're a speaker? I can't believe you're a speaker. You were always such a quiet child."

Jab. Jab. Jab.

Often, the words that hurt us most come from the people closest to us. But the Holy Spirit told me, "Don't internalize those words." I had to say to myself, "Get behind me, Satan. I'm not receiving that." Just because someone older than you speaks something doesn't mean you have to receive it. Not everything someone tells you needs to be internalized.

From Help to Hurt

Back to our story. When Paul casts out the spirit, the girl's owners realize their money-making scheme is over. They grab Paul and Silas, drag them before the authorities, and accuse them of causing trouble. The crowd joins in the attack, it's a mob mentality now.

Then comes the punishment: they're beaten with rods. Not once, not twice, many times. They're stripped, thrown into the inner prison, and their feet are fastened in stocks in an agonizing position.

Let that sink in. They were trying to help someone, and it hurt them.

Have you ever helped somebody and it hurt you? Have you ever helped family members and it cost you something? Yeah, we've all been there. Sometimes when you're trying to do good, you end up in a painful situation.

The Power of Midnight Praise

Here's where the story turns. Acts 16:25 says, "But about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God."

Stop right there. Where were they going to begin with? To a prayer meeting. And what has stopped you from praying?

They've been beaten, stripped, shackled, locked in the darkest part of the prison and they went right back to what they were starting to do. You have a broken toenail and stop your whole prayer life. Through all of this, they returned to prayer and praise.

Let me ask you something: What if God allowed Paul and Silas to go to jail for the jailer? What if God allowed you to go through your storm for your brother who doesn't know Jesus yet?

What if God permitted you to face this trial so your family could see that you can praise God in the valley, not just on the mountaintop? Your worship isn't just about the good times, it's about how you respond when everything falls apart.

It's easy to praise God when your bills are paid. But what about on the 29th day when you're trying to figure it out? What about when you're waiting on that breakthrough and nothing seems to be moving?

Paul and Silas could have complained. They could have said, "Why me, God? Look what we're going through for doing Your work!" But instead, they chose praise.

Praise Sends a Signal to Heaven

When you're in a situation you can't get out of, you need to send a signal to a higher authority. Paul and Silas understood something crucial: "I can't get out, but I can call Him in."

The Bible says God inhabits the praises of His people. Could it be that there was a praise party in prison and God said, "I want to be a part of that"?

Here's the beautiful thing, they didn't need every prisoner to praise. They only needed two people willing to say, "I'm going to praise God in my prison. I'm going to bless God in spite of what I'm going through."

You don't need everybody on your side. You just need one rider. Where two or three gather in His name, there He is in the midst.

Suddenly: One Praise Away

Acts 16:26 says, "Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so powerful that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened."

You're one praise away from your suddenly.

It doesn't take God long. Your praise is the down payment on your breakthrough. When you start praising, angels start moving. When your money is funny and your change is strange, praise God. When you don't know what else to do, praise God, because God loves praise, and when you start praising, heaven responds.

Think about it: we can talk to astronauts in space without a wire. We can call someone in Africa from our cell phone without being connected physically. If humans can send signals into space, don't you think your praise can reach the throne room of God?

When Paul and Silas started their praise party, it sent a frequency that reached the heavenlies. God said to Gabriel and Michael, "We've got work to do." For the foundations of the earth to shake, that had to be supernatural.

The question you need to ask yourself: Does your Father know your voice?

Your Praise Sets Others Free

Here's something powerful: the earthquake didn't just free Paul and Silas. Everyone's chains came loose. Everyone's doors opened.

Your praise might set your brother free. Your praise might liberate your sister. When people see you praise God despite what you've been through, when they see you worshiping in the valley, that's when they get saved.

The jailer woke up, saw the doors open, and was about to kill himself (because losing prisoners meant his own death). But Paul shouted, "Don't hurt yourself! We're all here!"

Think about that. This man beat them, chained them, threw them in prison and Paul's first response is to save his life. Why? Because Paul understood his purpose wasn't just about him. God brought him to prison for the jailer.

The jailer rushed in, fell down before them, and asked the most important question anyone can ask: "What must I do to be saved?"

Paul and Silas answered: "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."

That very night, the jailer washed their wounds, was baptized with his entire family, and started a church. A church born in a prison. A missionary field Paul didn't know he'd be entering.

God will use crazy things to get people saved.

The Pain Has a Purpose

Sometimes the pain you're going through has nothing to do with you. It's about who you're connected to. It's about who's watching. It's about the testimony God is building through you.

Job didn't do anything wrong, but his trial wasn't just about him, it was about his friends who were watching. God may be using you as a witness to reach people in your circle. They think you praise God because everything is easy, but when they see you down and you still lift your hands, that's when they realize your praise isn't conditional.

I'll be honest with you. Years ago, I was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. I asked God, "What's up with this?" I told the doctor to find me a clinic far from Riverview, I didn't want anyone to see me in a weak moment.

Of course, I ended up at the one clinic where people from my church worked. At first, I was frustrated. But the Holy Spirit said, "They're on assignment." God placed them there to take care of me, to walk with me through chemo.

And you know what? God used me in that cancer clinic. I prayed for other patients. Nurses joined our church because they saw something different in how I handled that season.

I asked God, "If you wanted me to reach nurses, why didn't You just send me a text message? Why cancer?" But God said, "We are touched by the infirmities." God allows you to go through certain seasons so you can identify with people's pain.

Now my heart is for people battling cancer. Every sick child makes me think of my own daughter. God allowed me to walk through that valley so when I see someone else there, I don't judge them, I can say, "I've been where you are, and God can bring you through."

Fighting With the Word

You need to understand something: everything you're going through had to pass through God's hands before it got to you. It may surprise you, but it's not a surprise to God.

So how do you fight? You fight with the Word of God.

When pressure comes, the only thing that should come out of you is Scripture:

• Psalm 34:1 – "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth."
• 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks."
• James 1:2-4 – "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials."
• Romans 8:28 – "All things work together for good to those who love God."
• Romans 8:18 – "This light affliction cannot be compared to the glory that shall be revealed."
• Psalm 23:4 – "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."
• Jeremiah 29:11 – "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you."
• 2 Timothy 1:7 – "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind."

You better get the Word on the inside of you, because when the devil starts pressing, the Word is what comes out.

Keep Your Hands Up

When I was in that PET scan machine, rolled back with my hands up over my head, I heard a voice say, "Son, as long as you keep your hands like this, you have nothing to worry about."

You know when a baby wants to be picked up? They don't have to say a word. They just lift their hands: "Lift me up, Mama. Lift me up, Daddy."

If you're going through a storm right now, if you can't do it by yourself, if you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, just lift your hands and say, "Lord, I surrender. I can't do this. Lift me up."

He's as close as His name. The blind man cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" They told him to be quiet, but he cried louder: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

You're One Praise Away

Listen to me: don't let the devil beat you with who you used to be. Don't let him tell you you're not good enough, you're not qualified. That's who you used to be. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

The person the devil is talking about is dead. You're a new creature in Christ Jesus.

What mountain should you be speaking to right now? What situation needs the Word of God decreed over it?

• "Lord, I thank You this is going to work out for my good."
• "I'm bold as a lion."
• "I've been young and now I'm old, but I've never seen the righteous forsaken."
• "My God is a supplier."
• "I know my Redeemer lives."

We are word containers. When the devil and life start pressing on you, you start a praise party. First Samuel 30:6 says David encouraged himself in the Lord. Sometimes you have to pat yourself on the back. Sometimes you have to encourage yourself.

When I was in that machine with my hands raised, God reminded me: as long as you keep reaching up to Me, you have nothing to worry about.

Your Breakthrough Is Coming

If you're in a season right now where everything seems to be falling apart, where you've been beaten down, stripped of your dignity, locked in a situation you can't escape, I want you to know something:

You're closer than you think.

Your next praise could be the one that shakes the foundations. Your next worship moment could be when God says, "We've got work to do." Your breakthrough is one praise away.

Don't give up on your praise. Don't stop worshiping because things got hard. That's exactly when you need to praise Him more.

God didn't bring you this far to leave you. He's working it out for your good. He's making a testimony out of your test. And when you get through this and you will get through this. Somebody is going to look at your life and say, "If God did it for them, He can do it for me."

Keep your hands up. Keep praising. Keep believing.

You're one praise away.

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