Unlocking the Heavens: Release the Supernatural Power of Your Worship (7 page)

The people in the valley were worshipping an idol. What did their worship entail? We can get some clues from the nuances of meaning of the word
worship
itself. The Hebrew word for worship is
shachah
, and it means to bow down or prostrate oneself. Apparently while in Egypt, they had learned to worship an agricultural deity in the form of a golden calf. The ancient Egyptians would worship it by bowing down before it and by even kissing it on the mouth. (The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, uses a Greek word,
proskuneo
, which clearly conveys the idea of kissing the statue. It meant to kiss like a dog licking a man’s hand.) That may have been what was happening down in the valley in front of the golden calf; the people may have been bowing down in reverence before it and even kissing it, possibly on its mouth. As they took turns giving worship to the golden calf, they were celebrating fervently.

Moses could tell that they were not worshipping God. He exclaimed, “It is not the noise of the shout of victory, nor the noise of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing I hear” (Exodus 32:18). Their clamor expressed no love for God. Paul described such an outcry as “sounding brass or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1).

It makes me wonder—what does the great God of Heaven think when He listens to our worship services? Much of the time, sadly, He hears only a group of people who are making worship-like sounds while going through the motions. True worshippers will be expressing their heartfelt adoration toward Him. They probably understand the spiritual dynamics of worship, unlike the people who perform the act of worship but who lack a heart of worship. (How many times have you gone to church and walked through the motions with your heart never engaging Heaven?)

WORSHIP IS WARFARE

Moses and Joshua could hear the sounds of the celebration coming up from the camp—music, dancing, and shouting—and yet Joshua referred to it as the noise of war. In their case, the people were about to be corrected severely for following Aaron when he set up the golden calf. Their idolatrous worship was called “the noise of war” because even faulty worship sets off unseen conflicts. If that is the case, just think what true, heartfelt worship can do! Seize this spiritual principle, and your life will never be the same. I believe the reason people do not see the value in being true worshippers is that they do not know the power of praise and worship. Worship is one of the believer’s most powerful weapons in the spiritual warfare that occurs out of the sight of our earthbound eyes.

We can see a clear example of worship as a heavenly weapon in the victory song of Deborah and Barak after their successful campaign against Sisera. They sang, “The stars fought from heaven, from their courses they fought against Sisera” (Judges 5:20 NRSV). According to the order and direction of the Lord of hosts, the stars somehow fought against Sisera, either by using malignant influences or by causing storms of hail and thunder. In some unique way, the heavenly bodies—although not arrested as when the sun stood still at Joshua’s word, but by continuing on in their courses—fought against Sisera. The whole of creation is at war with those who oppose the God of Heaven. Even the river of Kishon was released to sweep away multitudes of the enemy soldiers (see Judges 5:21). Heaven and earth fought together to rout the enemies of God’s people. Then a song of worship and thanksgiving burst forth from the lips of Deborah and Barak, a song that has been sung ever since. We still have the words. Worship
is
warfare!

Throughout the Old Testament, we can see a pattern in war strategy: putting worshippers in front of armies as they go into battle. When the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites invaded Judah, Jehoshaphat, the king, faced the battle of his life. As a result he sought the Lord’s will through prayer. God responded to him through Jahaziel, “Don’t be afraid of this multitude. The battle is not yours but Mine. You won’t need to fight, but you will see the victory” (see 2 Chronicles 20:15-17). Upon hearing this assurance, the Levites praised the Lord “with a loud voice on high” (2 Chronicles 20:19 KJV). How would the people of Judah be able to win this war without fighting? In a highly unusual tactic, Jehoshaphat put the choir out in front of the army (see 2 Chronicles 20:21). The choir began to praise the Lord in anticipation of the truth of the prophetic word. As they did so, the enemy was defeated (v. 22). Here’s how it went:

When he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy splendor, as they went before the army, saying, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.” As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the Ammonites and Moab attacked the inhabitants of Mount Seir, destroying them utterly; and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; they were corpses lying on the ground; no one had escaped
(2 Chronicles 20:21-24 NRSV).

The praise of Jehoshaphat’s choir (unlike much of our praise and worship today) had a triumphant ring of victory: “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand” (Psalm 149:6 KJV). Jehoshaphat and his choir went out to praise God, and thereby they won the victory. Armed only with instruments and their singing, they changed the outcome. The battle was won through the weapon of worship. I believe that this principle applies to any battle or war faced by anyone who knows God. Warfare can be won by the weapon of worship alone!

ANGELS ATTENDING

The spiritual warfare that seems to get stirred up by worship proves that angels (both good ones and fallen angels—demons) are present behind the scenes. This helps explain the succinct statement in First Corinthians 11:10 (RSV), in which Paul advised, “That [woman being created after man] a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels.” (In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul was counseling the church within the context of corporate worship, indicating in various ways that we should be careful how we approach worship.)

According to Hebrews 1:14, angels are “ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” In other words, angels have been working on behalf of believers up to the present day. They were especially involved in the ministry of Jesus and in the New Testament church. I have no doubt that angels are still very active in the lives of believers and in God’s church today, and that fallen angels are also prowling around “like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 RSV). Wherever possible, fallen angels try to thwart the will of God in our lives. (For a glimpse of their doing this behind the scenes, see Daniel 10:12-13.)

Did you realize that angels, both fallen and good, are attending your worship services? I believe that when we gather for corporate worship or start to worship privately, a sound of warfare gets released in the heavens. Angels assemble in response to the sound, and by the direction of the Holy Spirit they do business in our lives. Sometimes that business involves warfare with the evil spirits who may also be present in the place.

In one of our services at the church where I am pastor, we had a powerful outpouring of God’s presence during an intense time of prophetically charged worship. The atmosphere was electric with the glory of God. Believers could physically feel the His power. Suddenly a young man who was totally blind received his sight; this event was witnessed by almost a thousand people. Along with the rest of the congregation, I was filled with awe as we watched this young man (whom we all knew well) see for the first time. His precious young wife wept as she watched her husband read signs, count fingers, and point out colors. What a miracle! Imagine the joyful excitement of the congregation!

I believe that the healing occurred because we had entered into such a time of genuine and intense corporate worship. The night before that service, something strange had happened. I had awakened out of a deep sleep, sat up, and heard these words, “Angels will be at church tomorrow!” I jumped out of the bed and immediately went into a time of prayer, seeking God’s direction for the next day’s worship. I felt drawn to the story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho. I began to read that story in my Bible carefully and repeatedly. That’s when I noticed something that I had never seen before: when Joshua arrived at the walls of the city, the angel of the Lord was already there. All of a sudden out of my spirit came rushing these words, “Angels will be at church tomorrow! Tell the people all they have to do is show up with a shout!”

Then when the presence and power of God became tangible in the service the next day, I stood and declared to the people what I felt the Lord had said. Immediately the place erupted with a roar that sounded like a thousand lions, and more miracles started happening all over the building. Do you see what I mean when I say that when we worship, a sound gets released in the heavens and the angels respond to it. All we have to do is show up and be ready to shout!

Here is something else to ponder. what if angels are not the only heavenly beings you can expect at your worship services? What if Jesus Himself were to attend? In the following chapters, I am going to prove to you that He does. I will then show you what He does when He gets there.

Remember, the sound of worship summons angels and, therefore, often arouses warfare in the heavenly realm. Don’t forget that the Lord is looking for worshippers, not just noise that sounds like worship.

Chapter 7

JESUS SINGS AND GOD DANCES

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing
(Z
EPHANIAH
3:17 KJV)

W
orship is a spiritual affair. Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24 KJV). You can’t truly worship God without engaging your spirit with His Spirit.

The key word in this verse is
must
. Jesus is not merely making a suggestion. Rather, He is insisting that this worshipping “in spirit and in truth” is
essential
—it’s the only way to approach God. That’s why Paul worded this statement as he did: “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son…” (Romans 1:9 RSV).

The context of this statement in John 4 is a discussion on the subject of life-giving water; therefore, we can say that true spiritual worship is closely connected to God’s personalized life-giving activity. When you offer your spirit to Him in praise and worship, His Spirit enlivens your spirit. New life flows into you from the Creator. It’s too good to miss, but yet many believers do.

Genuine worship occurs only when the spirit, the immortal and invisible part of man, speaks to and meets with God. It is the spirit of a man, through worship, which attains to friendship and intimacy with God. We must understand the spiritual dynamics of true Spirit-led worship because all other worship activities are nothing more than religious calisthenics.

Because true worship is essentially spiritual, we must take a deep look at the realm of the Spirit. What really transpires during our worship? Two verses in the second chapter of Hebrews provide a fascinating glimpse of what is happening in a worship service:

For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you”
(Hebrews 2:11-12 NRSV).

This passage reveals the powerful position of believers, and Jesus’ attitude toward them. Think of it—He is not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters! He considers Himself to be one with believers because we all have the same Father. We are brothers and sisters with Jesus Christ. He says we “all have one Father.” Paul restates this truth in his letter to the Romans: “…and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…” (Romans 8:17 NRSV). Whatever the Father God will do for His Son Jesus, He will do for us. Hallelujah!

LOOK WHO’S TALKING!

We are joint heirs with Jesus, His brothers and sisters. What does our Lord and brother Jesus do in one of our worship services? Hebrews 2:12 explains. (“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”)

Did you know that Jesus attends church? He does, as we can learn from a number of other Scriptures. For example:

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them
(Matthew 18:20 RSV).

You sit as the Holy One. The praises of Israel are your throne
(Psalm 22:3 NCV).

Simply put, when believers come together in a worship setting, spiritual activity starts occurring. According to Hebrews 2:12, when Jesus comes into a worship service, He begins to do at least two things. He declares the names of God to His brethren and even joins the congregation in singing worship to the Father. Let’s take a look at what that means.

“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters….” Note that Jesus is the one doing the speaking. God revealed His name to Moses as
Yahweh
: “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ …this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations” (Exodus 3:14-15 RSV). Until that time the children of Israel, including Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had not known God as Jehovah, but rather by the name of God Almighty (see Exodus 6:3). But through Moses, God began to reveal to His people the full meaning of His redemptive name.
Jehovah
means “the self-existent one or eternal one who reveals Himself.” The Lord instructed Moses that Jehovah is His name forever. Using this name would remind Israel of His covenant with them, His word of promises is everlasting because He Himself is eternal and unchangeable in His nature. He is, therefore, faithful and unchangeable in His Word and promises.