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Table of Contents

Introduction

Ch. 1………..…...The Voice of Confession

Ch. 2……………The Voice of Declaration

Ch. 3………...…….The Voice of Worship

Ch. 4……………...The Voice of My Song

Ch. 5…………….The Voice of My Praise

Ch. 6…………………………..The Voice

Ch. 7……….………..The Voice of Praise

Ch. 8……...The Voice of Encouragement

Introduction

This book was written with you in mind. Do you ever wonder if your voice needs to be heard? Or if you really have something to say that would change someone’s life? Well I have written this book to tell you the answer is YES! Get ready to unlock the voice inside of you. You have been equipped with a word of encouragement, healing and joy to share with the world. Not only that God has created you to be a true worshipper. That means your voice is your greatest instrument.

As a Minister of Music it has been my endeavor to always encourage the people of God to lift up their voices together to create a sound in the atmosphere that would be pleasing to God. Because the sound of our voices in corporate worship is like the angels when they are facing each other and singing Holy, Holy and Holy in the heaven. While facing each other they are creating a mercy seat for Christ to dwell. Lifting up their voices in adoration to the Father.

Regardless of the size of the congregation or skill level of the musicians creating the mercy seat in the service was always our goal. Every time I had a chance to create a corporate sound I wanted heaven to find it suitable to create a mercy seat for Christ to dwell in the midst of our service. Because in His presence there is fullness of joy, and in His presence there is peace forever more. In His presence there is liberty the captive soul will be set free. In His presence is where I want to be. This was a verse of a song that I wrote many years ago. We see a demonstration of healing, deliverance, break-through and freedom when we unite our voice in worship and praise. It is there that God will answer our request in His presence.

One thing that I have learned throughout these opportunities of leading worship is that God recognizes the cry of His children during worship. My son Jazzdaven is 3 years old and when he was younger he knows that there is a sound that he could release in the atmosphere that would get my attention. He would allow things to go so far between him and his big sister RayJ’Nai before he would releases a sound in the atmosphere that would travel through the house to wherever I was and it would get me moving to his rescue. Understand I know this is only one form of moving as a father when you are in trouble; but allow this to be an example of how we can hear the voice(s) of our children in the natural and react. Why would we think that God would not hear us in the spiritual realm and do the same? God is looking for our true worship and praise.

My prayer is that this book will encourage, provoke, inspire and challenge people from all walks of life to lift up their voice, because it is priceless and should never be silenced. My prayer is that you will enjoy the journey that we will take together through this book. Starting with the voice of our confession and concluding with a voice of encouragement, as we make the commitment to let go of the things that have kept us silent for so long. I declare a release of our choice to give the world what is due from our instrument, our voices. My desire is that the atmosphere will be charged for the Kingdom of God and everyone that comes in contact with this book will feel the freedom to speak from his or her heart.

Let me say thank you in advance for taking the time to read what has been given to me regarding our voices and the power that we hold within the very sound that we carry to change the atmosphere. Lift Up Your Voice…

My Confession

When you hear the word “confession” do you immediately start to think of the worse that could have happen? In this day and time, a range of circumstances could come to mind. Who is he or she sleeping with now? Is she leaving him? You are the baby’s father? You are the father! Involved with one scandal after the next, when would it stop? We all know that the list of situations could have been much more surrounding the word or phrase confession.

The word confession as defined by Webster’s Dictionary is the acknowledgment or disclosure of sin or sinfulness, especially to a priest to obtain forgiveness or absolution. Another definition is confession of faith, a formal profession of belief and acceptance of doctrines, as before being admitted to church membership. Regardless of which definition you use to define the word confession a common ground is shared is that you will have to use your voice in order to accomplish either method.

The bible says in 1 John 1:9 “if we confess our sins; he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Before one is ready to confess their sins we must first come to the conclusion that we are actually in sin to begin with. Many times we have made numerous excuses for our behavior and have made statements that justify the things we are involved in. How many times have you heard this “I am still young I will get it right when I get older.” What about “Let me make my own mistake it is my life.” This has caused many of us to actually believe that this is just life and remove the label of sin from the action. God forbid!

You may still not be clear on what I mean? In my own life I have made plenty of allowances for what I would categorize as just life. Not taking ownership of anything that has gone on in my life but I have really become a master of the blame game. Replying to my problems with No, it is not my fault? Leave it to me there is someone out there to blame for the foolish-ness I allowed myself to be involved in. Making declarations such as “because of this person or that person I will not trust anybody at all now.” “I don’t need anyone I can do this by myself.” How crazy is that? It makes no sense at all but you would be surprised how many people have made the same permanent decisions based off of a temporary moment of life like I have. Ultimately I came to the conclusion that because of my last experience I was just going to do things my way. Frankly in my opinion you did not have to like it or me; and neither would you have the ability to change me. If that did not work I could always fall back on my most frequently practiced quote that says, “This is just the way I am.” This quote in itself would be a forewarning or justification for everything else that may follow that statement whether in actions or in deeds.

For a great majority of my life I have had a problem with the statement “It is just the way I am.” This statement has been used to excuse the action of leaders, parents, pastors and teachers but this position has damaged so many people’s lives; because contrary to popular belief this is not a reason to do whatever you pleased without giving consideration for the person it may affect. This type of speech also speaks to the unwillingness of the person to want to change or do better.

Just because you were taught a certain way, does that mean you have to die doing it that way? Things in life are always changing and evolving and we must keep our minds open to change as well. My plea to this generation is that when it becomes apparent to us that a new way of doing things has been discovered that we do not run from has been discovered but grow and challenge yourself to embrace the new way. People should not have the right to do whatever they please and hide behind the language “that is just the way I am”. Because one thing is for sure and that is God can change who you are; I am a living witness because He did it for me, I am not confined to this cycle any longer.

If you have discovered yourself within this illustration leaning to this type thinking when change has become too hard for you. Unite with me in making this confession. I confess that I have cheated myself out of learning new things because of fear. I confess that just because I have seen things done one way does not mean that I will continue in the same way. I will embrace development, advancement in my own intellectual thoughts; communication and I will be sympathetic towards others. Starting Now!

When we serve a God that gives us new mercy and grace every morning. I am here to encourage you that you can change who and what you are, especially if it is causing people around you pain and discomfort. We can no longer make allowances or justification for our sins we deal with them head on.

The Apostle Paul speaks clearly to this point explaining what we should if our actions offends our brother. Our actions can never be based on what we know to be right for ourselves; we also need to consider what is right in regard to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:13 “wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world stands, lest I make my brother offend.” Is this taking it too far? I do not believe so, because if we embraced this principle; the value of life would be different for all mankind. We would discover people showing respect towards each other more. We would respect the life of someone if they succeed or fail would be our concern. We would become our brother’s keeper.

Can I confession that yes I am guilty of not following Apostle Paul’s teaching. What an impact I could have made in the lives of other people if I would have became more mindful of my brother and my sister’s walk of life more than my selfish opinion.

Do you understand that even though you and I may not have been walking in this mindset that Apostle Paul was teaching, that God still wants to use us for His Kingdom? Knowing that we all have sins that we have not owned up to and struggles that we are still dealing with day-by-day, God still says to us you belong to Me and I am always available to hear your confessions.

When we begin to understand the grace of God over our life and we recognize some of the struggles that we have allowed ourselves to go through because of what we have not confessed; we can find ourselves getting angry. Why? Because we know that it could have all changed if we would just simply made our confession of weakness, confusion, frustration and bitterness. You and I must come to the realization that we do not have to prove anything to anyone any longer and we do not have to be the best at everything. We can relax and rebuild ourselves in the love of Christ.

Now watch this! The very thing that has been keeping us from the promise of God for our life has now been released through our confessions. We do not have to wait to the end of this book to start feeling our release. We can confess the dark secrets to God now and start feeling the power of release over our life immediately.

We go through things to make us stronger and wiser, but when we find ourselves going through the same things over and over again. What is the problem? Is it that we just like the struggle? Is it that we cannot get the lesson out of our situation? Do we have to repeat it again and again before we can submit? Or are we so hardheaded that our will is more important than that of God?

I must confess most of the time that was my issue. I did not want to break my will or my desires. The fact of the matter is that I was so smart in my own mind that I thought I knew everything. Feeding that type of thinking caused my heart to become harden and my voice to become silent. I remember thinking to myself; I have all of this knowledge, yet I could not understand why I was not winning. I have never been the type of person that enjoyed losing in any capacity. This attitude also caused a closed mouth while protecting a dysfunctional heart.

The trap was now set and I was going full steam ahead. My mind was full of disappointment and lies from the enemy and the lies I had told myself. Really I failed to understand the power of my confession.

When I looked in the mirror I saw a man that was so tired of going through the same junk over and over again ending up with the same results. Which is the definition of insanity. That is when I said to God what is it that you actually want from me? Tell me, I will put all of my energy into making it happen. He simply said, “Confess to me that you need me more than anything; confess your sins and ask for forgiveness; and forgive those that you have not forgiven; and I would take you though this journey called life.” It could not be that simple? Could it?

When I heard the voice of the Lord I was reminded of the story regarding Job. His life went from one extreme to the next but Job did not waver in his commitment towards God. Solomon says, "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof,’’ Ecclesiastes 7:8. Crazy enough all I could think of is that I had experienced one extreme after the next and just wanted the peace of God in my life.  Realizing now that it all started with my confessions.

Even through Job’s challenging story, there came a point in his life where Job had to make some confessions of his own. We will notice three things in Job chapter 42 that will encourage our hearts.

Let us understand where Job was in the text so that we can appreciate the context. Job was on the road of deliverance and recovery of all other things he had experienced. During this time Job had a time with the Lord, Job confessed and worshipped. First Job had to confess was that he knew that God could do all things. Job 42:2 reads, “I know that you can do everything, and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you.”

In other words Job is saying I have been convinced that you can do whatever you want to do in my life and nothing and no one can upset or disturb the plans you have for my life. Isn’t that just an amazing viewpoint of the power of Jesus Christ? To the point that we should make the same confession over our life, family, business, ministry and everything that God has placed in our hands to do.

It does not matter how you have grown up and what you go through during the process. The plan of God for you is still His plan. Regardless of what you lose or gain when you understand who is in control you will come to the conclusion that it is going to work out. Yes we have made some poor decisions and destroyed major relationships but the plan does not change. God is a rebuilder of broken things and a mender of relationship, because of His love. Even the company we keep will change but the plan for our life will stand.

We can be all that God has called us to be in Him. We should also start each day by making this confession “This day let your will be done in my life. Allow the relationship(s) that I am supposed to have line up with your plans for me today. I confess that I am totally and truly convinced that you can do everything you have promised in my life in Jesus’ Name Amen”. Starting your day like this everyday you will have the victory over your giants before they even think about coming after you.

The second confession that Job made that also exposed me was when Job said “I have talked too much for my own good” Job 42:3 reads, “You asked, who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know”.

I may be the only one who has ever done this in their life but I have found myself speaking on things under the power of assumption and lacking a lot of wisdom and facts to back it up; but most of all it was just misleading. Watch here what God was asking Job, he said, “Who is it that is muddying up the waters here? Ignorantly confusing the issue? And second guessing my purpose?”

Job said it was I Lord. Have you been here before? The place where you just did not see God being able to use you after all of the things you had been through? After what you have lost. After the hurt you had experienced, how could God want to use me still? We have to be careful that we do not allow our past, present or future pains to speak for us because our pain will not comprehend the purpose of God.

Could you imagine if Christ had allowed His pain to speak for Him on the cross? What shape would this world be in? What if the nails became too much for Him to handle? What if the beatings were too overwhelming for him to go through it all? What if seeing the Father turning away from him while he took on the sins of the world? WOW! What a Savior! And I just want to say thank you Jesus that you did not come down. Thank you for having the strength and courage to stand in my place and surrendering your life for my sins and the sins of the world as the plan of God.

I want to encourage everyone who has found them self in this position stop allowing what you have seen to muddy the waters of what is going to come. Your faith has to stand on top of everything for a better viewpoint. Like Joshua and Caleb everyone else seen giants but Joshua and Caleb saw victory. God is not planning something mediocre for you, but his plans are bigger than what our minds can imagine. That is why we need him more than life itself.

If you are looking for a place to really shout through this next line in the verse is what did it for me. When God asked who is second-guessing my purpose? Do not question God’s ability to bless you if anything “can you stand to be blessed?” Thanks Bishop T.D. Jakes. Take it from Job’s experience it does not matter what you and I have been through when God has a purpose for you all things will work together for your good and for your purpose.

This is where my life changed when I stopped second-guessing what God could do. Make no mistake about this He will do exactly what He had in mind from the foundation of the earth for us. Yes, I know it does not look like it, while you are still struggling to pay bills and living from check to check, trying to make ends meet. Allow me for a moment to encourage you that even in your lowest times do not second-guess the plan of God for your life. If He said it, He will perform it and everything will come to fruition in the fullness of His time.

Nothing delays the inevitable in our life like second-guessing. How many times have you said, “I should have followed my first thought?” What about this, “I should have never made that move…” If this is you make this confession with me; I confess that from this day forward whatever dream, goal or talent I recognize as a gift in my life I will pursue with passion and without doubting. I will strangle the life out of my doubt and feed my faith through the word of God. I will not be delayed I will arrive on time to my destiny.

After all of this you would think that Job would be done confessing things right? Well the answer is no. Job made one more confession. He stated, “I despise myself for my lack of faith”; Job 42:6 reads, “Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes”.

Here is the turning point for every believer when your faith is challenged by doubt and fear and fails in the process. Do you confess that your lack of faith is what has hindered your progress? I have had to make that confession like Job when my faith was challenged and it did not hold up in the storm. Lord, I am sorry for the lack of faith that I had in You. After all of the things God had brought me through you would think I would have had built a stronger faith than this, but I have fallen short again.

Forgive me oh Lord and I will never do that again I will not live by rumors or hearsay. I will live by Your word and that alone. I realize that if I have to live by what people say about me, or the story of defeat of others I will never make it to the promise that God has for my life.

Through my past experiences I have learned that I do not just worship the God of my parents and grandparents, but now I can worship the God of Nate King. I have seen with my own eyes how He has healed my wife. How God has provided for us when no one was able to assist us. I have heard God speak to me and have seen it come to past. He promised me my son Jazzdaven 7 years before he even came to this earth. When the doctors told my wife and I to abort him we stood on the promise from God that he was suppose to be here. Regardless of the medical report of my wife’s blood pressure, we understood that if God promised us a son, the promise was going to come to past.

In the words of Job “now I have it all firsthand from my own eyes and ears”. My faith is ridiculous and do not think for one moment that the enemy still does not try me. However, my confessions are different now. No more wavering because I am in the plan of God and it shall be whatever God says it will be.

Do you realize that God blessed Job’s latter days greater than his former days? Can you understand that the testimony is not just in Job’s suffering but to his confession as well? Because Job still had reservations in his heart as it related to how the purpose of God was going be done in his life. After the epic life he had just come through what else could be left for Job? His confessions.

Here are my confessions. I have not lived in the fullness of God for my life because of my own reservations. I have looked at my friends, family and others that I have admired and have said the same thing every time why am I not moving in the same productivity? Is it because they believed in their purpose and promise over their life? Are they operating in their gifts and talents without regrets? Did they make excuse after excuse?

Regardless of all this, I believe that God is saying that it is our time and season to take ownership of the things He has placed in us and run with it with no regrets. Through our confessions and the story of Job I pray that you will be released to confess the things in your life that has kept you from operating in the fullness of God.

As we have learned through this story, no one and nothing will stop the purpose of God for our life - not even you. Understand that God is waiting for you and He has patience. Ensure now that you are not placed in a predicament where you have no other choice but to surrender. Say yes before the hospital bed, or the diagnosis that is not favorable. Surrender to God, before the child that is in trouble and before the other issues and attack come.

Everything that you have gone through to this point has all been designed to push you into your purpose. For some even after reading this book your heart may still not soften to make peace with yourself and with God. Just remember that your confession unlocks your purpose and starts your new life. From salvation to serenity it all starts with confessing.

When you move from complaining to confessing you move into a humbling place in your life. It is through confession that you take a look in the mirror and call out what is wrong with you and not those around you. If you are going to move into your place of purpose you cannot be afraid to confess your sins, weaknesses and lack of faith. For the word says, that if you have the faith the size of a mustard seed… you can please God. For without faith it is impossible to please God, because it is going to take faith to believe that no matter where you are in your life right now God’s purpose and promise can and will happen for you.

Stand up and take your rightful place in the Kingdom of God and do not take no for an answer.  Do not look at closed doors as a sign of failure and do not listen to haters of your world because they cannot control the timing of God. Understand that God can do it overnight and if you have faith and have made your mind up to confess what you are missing; start looking for a better morning.

My confession does not make me weak but just the contrary it makes me stronger. Confession will build ones self-esteem along with strengthening our voice both internal and external. I am a firm believer that once I became free of things that were keeping me hostage like hatred, low self-esteem, over indulgent, and many more things that I had to confess to God and ask for forgiveness. Thanks be to God that now my voice is being heard by people I never realized was listening until I found my new sound. The songwriter penned this line in his song “I once was lost but now I’m found was blind but now I see.” It was amazing to see what I was throwing away because of what I could not see or speak. Free your voice today through your confessions.

Hear our voice oh God as we make these confessions:

I CONFESS Peace is upon me

I CONFESS Power is present

I CONFESS Purpose is here

I CONFESS Passion is strong

I CONFESS Potential is now

I CONFESS People are aligned

I CONFESS Pride is humbled

I CONFESS Pity is not self

I CONFESS People help me

I CONFESS Principles are lived

I CONFESS Problems defeated

I CONFESS Price is right for me

I CONFESS Peers align with me

I CONFESS Precious awaits me

I CONFESS Predestined I am

I CONFESS Permanent Joy

I CONFESS Protection all day

I CONFESS Past is behind me

I CONFESS PEACE AND GRACE!!!

- Brian Keith Williams

My Declarations

To declare something is to give authority and value to. This type of declaration usually takes place in your life or in the life of others. Declarations have the power and authority to bind and loose things in our lives. The Gospel according to St. Matthew 18:18 “that what so ever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and what so ever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

A quote by Evangelist Shane Perry says: “It is imperative to understand that your present declarations are becoming your future manifestations. What you say today is creating your tomorrow”.

The power of declaration is when you speak the word of the Lord over your situation and place a demand on the Father to move on your behalf. When your declarations fall in line with the Word of God and His will for your life the promise of the Lord is to give you the desires of your heart.

Let us look at this from another viewpoint. Even if you are not a student of the Bible we still understand that whatever we declare with our mouth it will be right? Case and point; a young man at the tender age of 7 started telling people that he was going to be a big time basketball player. His declaration was spoken in words that he was going to make it to the NBA. Many that heard him say this was in fact kind hearted and encouraged him by saying things like “you can do whatever you put your mind to do.” One day as a freshman in High School, he tried out for the basketball team and was later cut from the team. Never wavering in his declaration he still spoke his dreamed and worked his plan. He attempted again as a sophomore, made the team and later went on to attend North Carolina University. Michael Jordan was eventually drafted by the Chicago Bulls into the NBA, being named the greatest player of all times. Michael Jordan destiny however, started with his early declaration.

How could this be a promise of the Lord? Before we were even formed God had planned our destiny. Then He places a strong desire in our heart that will not let us go. When we sleep we dream about it. The first thing we think about when we wake up in the morning is that desire. If anyone asks us about what we are going to do in the future it is around our desire and destiny.

If this principle is not operating in your life then ask yourself what are my desires? Are they in line with the plan of God for my life? Not just your desires but also ask yourself am I flowing in the plan of God for my life? Are my choices lining up with the calling over my life? The Word declares that; “his word would never returns to Him void” (Isaiah 55:11). God cannot lie and neither will He take His Word back from His children.

This chapter is so powerful because we are going to unleash the power of our declarations in the atmosphere, while setting the stage to a coming out party, unleashing our voice, introducing the atmosphere to a new sound, and starting our declarations over our future. Excited? Great!

Now how do we get started? I’m glad you asked. We must first clearly understand our position and authority while making our declarations. In the book “The Rules of Engagement” by author Dr. Cindy Trimm she gives us great insight as it relates to the words declare, decree, bind and loose that I felt would be a great foundation to build on as we begin to set the stage to release the authority in our voices while charging the atmosphere.

To declare is to “state emphatically or forcefully and authoritatively or with confident”. We cannot come out declaring our next level being timid, scared, and double-minded without a firm conviction. To declare we are putting things in place for a permanent purpose not a temporary fix. This is how we need to set our mind that what I declare today is formed today and tomorrow and so on. Matthew 11:12 say, and “from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” Understand the enemy is not going to be happy in our new stand against what you are going through but we still have to take it by a declaration of force.

To decree is an authoritative order, directive, or command enforced by law. In our kingdom role, we must accept our God given jurisdictional authority and effectively utilize our power through the spoken word (using your voice). Note here that in order to decree you must emphatically make a sound from out of your mouth.

God understands and knows our thoughts but understanding the atmosphere is not created in our minds. Every last one of us exists in our own atmosphere or to put it in another way “our world”. We are given disappointing news verbally in our world. We are degraded verbally in our world. We are affected in a lot of ways verbally in our world. This means we need to fight back in the same manner verbally.

Proverbs 18 declares, “that death and life are in the power of the tongue.” So when people have tried to kill your dreams you can speak life back into them by your decree. When we decree we must be specific, we cannot just say I decree I will have a new job. We need to speak the what, when, where and why in our decree. Because we believe that we can have whatever we say.

To bind is to irrevocably or permanently place under legal obligation. It means to prohibit undesirable spiritual activities (as you would if you were to issue a restraining order). Satan is legally obligated to observe all terms and agreements as outlined by you, the issuer, within your prayer. Our declaration establishes the terms and agreements for the enemy to abide by in the atmosphere. When we have angels named Gabriel and Michael fighting in the atmosphere because of the sound we released we must put our faith in the declarations we speak over our family, friends, finances, business and our ministry.

To loose is to emancipate or unshackle or release from an assignment, contracted activities/post, or undesirable state of confinement or imprisonment. As believers, we have the power to release demonic spirits from any and all diabolical assignments given by Satan that ultimately will be contrary to the will of God.

If we never understood in the past the importance of knowing the plan for our life, this definition of loose should change our mind. As believers and people of purpose if we understanding this principle it can launch us through our destiny with confidence. According to what we have learned here we hold the key to release the demonic spirits from their assignments. With this knowledge we do not have to take it anymore, what so ever we loose down here on earth shall be loosed in heaven. We need to use the power of loosing in every area of our lives.

Now that we have the rules and definitions of what we are going to put in place today let us begin building from here. Let us be clear about one thing; we cannot decree, declare or bind anything in the Name of Jesus if we do not believe that He is the Son of the living God. It would be like trying to use a light without plugging it into the electrical source. The light is unusable without the electrical source because the power is coming from the electrical source not the bulb. No power no light and with no belief there is no declaration.

The sound of our voice is going to move heaven and earth through the power of God. Now let us be honest with our self that some people are scared of that much authority in their own voice. Coincidentally, this is where most of us tuck and run. I encourage you to hang in there for the remainder of the ride and watch how God through these writings explodes our level of thinking.

Now the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray and Jesus did just that. Additionally, he introduced the world to a prayer that we now call “The Lord’s Prayer”. Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. In the beginning of the prayer it was established who we are talking to. This built the foundation for what was to follow. Subsequently, the prayer moves us to the declarations over our day. Allow me the latitude to add the phrase “I declare” or “I decree” going forward and you will see how throughout the prayer we are declaring and decreeing.

I declare give us this day our daily bread and I decree that you forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us.
I declare Father that you lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
And I decree that for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever Amen.

Even the Lord’s Prayer is a great example of a series of declarations and decrees set as precedence over our lives. Yet we see that without honoring and greeting the Father it would be rude to just fill our prayers with just declaration and decrees. Amen!

As simple as this may sound to some of you I did not see it until I started praying and studying for this book. I remember going and asking God in my worship time to teach me more about declaring and decreeing things over my life. Truly I felt uncomfortable with the notion of declaring wealth, health and good things over my life and over my family.

It was not long after my time with the Lord that we started going to a new church. For some years, we attended a Word of Faith church and we were afforded the privilege of leading worship and hearing the pastor speak on faith and the power of our voices. For some reason I just did not believe it right away. I could not wrap my mind around the fact that God had it all for me; and it was paid in full by the sacrifice of our savior.

Let me explain to you why it was so hard for me to believe. I have spent so much of my life either talking myself out of something good for my life or better yet talking too much that people that were going to bless me change their mind because of what I said. You may have found yourself here before and realize too late that you did not get the job of your dreams because you said too much. The relationships that should have been formed never happened because of negative attitude or conversation. This was unfortunately the life that I was living. If you have found your life stuck in a place of confusion and wondering; there is hope because God has plans for us to exercise our voices to confess not just the wrong that we have done. But more so we need to declare over our lives and the right that we want to happen in our lives.

If you are anything like me I am so passionate for the more of God and what He has planned for my life that I do not want to miss anything that I am suppose to have. That may require me to grow up and start talking in favor of what I want to see happening in my life; I am ready to decree and declare. What about you?

If declaring things in the atmosphere was not important to learn and understand Jesus would have not taught the disciples to say give us this day our daily bread. In other words give us this day everything we need to be successful for today. I want to live to the fullest each and everyday. Lacking nothing, missing no opportunities and moving in purpose.

As you could imagine because of the title of this chapter I found truth in my discovery about using my voice as a weapon of choice. When the Word of God is used to back up your declarations you become rooted, grounded and convinced that what you say is what you can have. It is through your boldness to say it, which God had planned from the very beginning of time to equip us with the very things that we have declared. Together, our voices will unlock our destiny and shape our future.

Through prayer and devotions here are some things I believe can jump-start our new walk of declarations. According to Psalms 84:11, “no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” It has been the deceitful plan, of the enemy to cause the children of God feel embarrassed, outcast and defeated when we begin to declare wealth, health and strategies over our lives.

According to 3 John 2, “I wish above all things that you prosper, and be in health, even as your soul prospers.” We cannot cheat ourselves because of the lack of teaching or because someone may be saying I have never been to church before.  Maybe it has been so long since you have spoken to God or you are not sure how to reunite the communication between you and God.

Does either one of these examples apply to you? If so, I have great news today it does not matter; because God does not want you to cheat yourself out of the things already promised to you. Why miss out on all of the blessings, healing, breakthroughs and prosperity that have our name on it waiting for us to speak it into the atmosphere, because of the past inadequacies? No sir, no ma’am.

My concern is not with what others think about what I should or should not have in my life. I will declare promises over my life, family, business and everything that I am involved in because it is my Kingdom right. When you apply a declaration to specific needs, you will experience the power of God's Word working on your behalf regarding your needs.

Can you find a situation in your life that you could apply the Word to? Establish a daily declaration over that situation in your life over the next few weeks. Declare specific promises according to Word of God. It works!

I challenge you now to try it for the next 21 days. Take your time and declare a specific promise that you want to take place in your life, The more you declare and decree even what you did not believe will start to change, from your tone to your posture will all change and manifest through your declarations.

I have listed some declarations that will get you started. This will allow you to bring a shifting in the atmosphere for your life. These declarations cover the promises of the Bible dealing with healing, operating with no fear, and provision of God just to name a few. Of course what I have listed here are not all of the declarations in the Word of the Lord of course.

My intention was to give a good foundation of how to get started. I understand that you may be walking in healing now but life can change in a moment.

Speak these declarations over the next 21 days. Choose the declaration that will fit your situation and see how thing begin to change for the better in your life. Come on let us begin to speak… “Your Voice; Your Choice”

Declaring the promises of the Bible…

- I am the Body of Christ. My body is the house of God. God lives in me and I belong to Him. I've been bought with the price of the blood of Jesus, so I glorify God in my body and in my spirit - 1 Corinthians 6:15-19; 2 Corinthians 6:16, 3:16.

- God has plans to prosper me and to give me a good future and hope. Jeremiah 29:11

- Satan has no power over me. I have been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of God's dear Son - Colossians 1:13.

- Therefore sin has no power over me - Romans 6:14.

- I separate myself from every unclean thing - 2 Corinthians 6:17.

- I submit myself to God. I resist the devil and he flees from me - James 4:7.

- I give no place or no opportunity to the devil - Ephesians 4:27.

- I choose the fear of the Lord, which is to hate evil, pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the disobedient mouth - Proverbs 8:13.

- I love God more than anything this world offers - Mark 12:30.

- I present my body as a living sacrifice to God - holy, devoted, and consecrated to please Him, which is a part of my spiritual worship to Him. I am not conformed to this world's way of thinking, but I am continually being transformed by the renewing of my mind to His Word so that I can prove what is the good, the acceptable, and the perfect will of God in my life - Romans 12:1,2.

- I have the mind of Christ - 1 Corinthians 2:16.

- Jesus said, "The prince of the world comes, but he has nothing in Me." Just like Jesus, I decree that Satan has nothing in me - John 14:30.

- Cast down imaginations and every thought that tries to exalt itself against the knowledge of God. I bring my thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ and His Word - having a ready mind to revenge all disobedience - 2 Corinthians 10:4,5.

- I think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. If there be any virtue or praise, I think on these things - Philippians 4:8.

- In righteousness I am established. I am far from oppression. I do not fear. I am far from terror. It will not come near me - Isaiah 54:14.

- Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee - Psalm 119:11.

- If I sin, You said if I confess and repent of my sin, You are faithful and just to forgive me of it and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness - 1 John 1:9.

- No weapon formed against me shall prosper and every tongue that rises against me is condemned or shown to be wrong and stopped. This is the heritage God has given me as a servant of the Lord and my righteousness is of Him - Isaiah 54:17.

- Like Jesus, I love righteousness and I hate iniquity; therefore God anoints me with the oil of gladness - Hebrews 1:9.

- Lord, You said there is no temptation that has come to me or that can come to me that is not common to man, nothing that is beyond human resistance. You are faithful to Your Word and to Your love for me, and You will not allow me to be tempted beyond my strength to resist and You will provide a way out or a way of escape so I will be strong against it - 1 Corinthians 10:13.

- I am of God and I have overcome every anti-Christ spirit because greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world - 1 John 4:4.

- This is the victory that causes me to overcome in this world - my faith in Jesus and in His Word - 1 John 5:4,5.

- I live and walk by faith and not by sight or feelings - 2 Corinthians 5:7.

- I live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God - Matthew 4:4.

- I let the Word of Christ dwell in me richly in all wisdom - Colossians 3:16.

- The spirit of faith is, I believe and therefore I speak - 2 Corinthians 4:13.

- I overcome the devil by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of my testimony, not loving my life unto the death - Revelation 12:11.

- I shall live and not die to declare the works of the Lord in this earth - Psalm 118:17.

- All things are working together for good in my life because I love God and I am called according to His purpose - Romans 8:28.

- Thanks be to God who gives me the victory through my Lord Jesus Christ. He always causes me to triumph - 1 Corinthians 15:57; 2 Corinthians 2:14.

- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me - Philippians 4:13.

Declaring healing over your body, soul and mind…

- I believe that I will live and not die to declare the works of the Lord in this earth - Psalm 118:17.

- God has said that I have been given at least seventy years to live and because of strength, I could live eighty years or more Psalm 90:10.

- Blessed be the Lord who daily loads me with benefits - Psalm 68:19.

- I seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and He adds everything I need unto me - Matthew 6:33.

- No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly - Psalm 84:11.

Declaring the provisions of the Lord over your life…

- My God supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus - Philippians 4:19.

- I give and it is given unto me, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over do men and women give into my life - Luke 6:38.

- This book of the law shall not depart out of my mouth, but I will meditate in it day and night that I may observe to do all that is written in it; for then I will make my way prosperous and I will have good success - Joshua 1:8.

- It is God's will that I prosper and be in health, even as my soul prospers - 3 John 2.

- As I give to God, He is able to make all grace abound toward me so I will always have sufficiency in all things with abundance for every good work - 2 Corinthians 9:8.

- I serve Jehovah-Jireh - the God who provides. He sees ahead and makes provision for me in the future steps of obedience He asks me to take - Genesis 22:8,14.

- God is El-Shaddai, the all-bountiful Supplier of the needs of His people – Genesis 17:1,2.

Declaring directions for your journey…

- I choose to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. The stranger's voice (the devil's voice) I will not follow. I will run from the stranger - John 10:4,5.

- I follow Jesus - John 10:27.

- Today and every day I will hear what the Spirit of God is saying, and I will not harden my heart or shove aside His promptings - Hebrews 3:7,8.

- Your Word, Lord, is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path - Psalm 119:105.

- You lead me in paths of righteousness for Your name's sake - Psalm 23:3.

- The steps of a good man or woman are ordered by the Lord - Psalm 37:23.

- The Lord guides me with His counsel - Psalm 73:24.

- As I am a giving and compassionate person, showing God's mercy to others, the Lord will guide me continually - Isaiah 58:11.

- The Spirit of truth lives in me and He will guide me into all that is truth. He will show me things to come as I allow Him to speak into my life - John 16:13,14.

- I have the mind of Christ - 1 Corinthians 2:16.

- I will trust in the Lord with all my heart and I will not lean to my own understanding. In all my ways I will acknowledge Him, and He will direct my paths - Proverbs 3:5,6.

- You will keep me in perfect peace, because my mind is stayed on You, Lord - Isaiah 26:3.

Declaring the power of “No Fear”…

- I will not worry about anything, but I will pray about everything and thank God He hears me. I cast all care on the Lord because He cares for me, and I let the peace of God which passes all understanding keep my heart and mind in Christ Jesus - 1 Peter 5:7; Philippians 4:6,7.

I think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report. Whatever is virtuous and praiseworthy, I think on these things - Philippians 4:8.

- Jesus left me His peace; therefore my heart will not be troubled or afraid. I will trust in Him - John 14:27.

- I let the peace of God rule my heart and act as the umpire of my life - Colossians 3:15.

- Great peace have they who love thy law, and nothing will by any means offend them - Psalm 119:165.

- I follow after (pursue) peace with all men and holiness without which no one shall see the Lord - Hebrews 12:14.

- I give no place to strife because where there is strife; there is confusion and the opportunity for every evil work - James 3:16.

These declarations like the ones we have explored will be how you can live an undefeated life? Now we have an answer for every question? You no longer have to just take the words of other people and want they have to say about you? You can speak over your own life. Your life has to be important enough that not speaking what is promised over your situation should make you uncomfortable.

No matter what goes on around me I will still declare and decree great things over my life. I will use my voice to encourage and decree greatness over the lives of God’s people through song, writing, teaching and preaching the Word of the Lord; declaring what other will not say and writing, teaching what others have a problem explaining. My voice is a voice that will declare with authority of God’s purpose and will for His people.

Understand that when it comes to declaring what you have discovered in the Word of God is not the only the way you declare things over yourself but you have to believe it as well. Faith is what moves God and faith is speaking what you do not see until you see it; and that moves God.

Another friend of mine had a list of “I AM” listed on this wall in his bathroom. Where he declared and decreed this list of “I AM” over his life everyday. I have found myself declaring the same over myself because they were awesome declarations. When you realize what God has placed in you it is easy to declare those attributes over your life.

If you have never declared anything in the past let today be the beginning of your new life of voice. Regardless of your status economically, socially, or emotional you can change everything about your world by your declarations.

My Worship

Worship to me is entering into the intimate heart of God and when that happens it affects the intimate part of man. Worship is like a person being in love with another person. Your emotions are so involved in such a way that you are blinded by the opinions of anything around you because of your level of love and passion for this person. Your mind is so lost in the relationship and how it makes you feel from the inside out that when you are not with the one you love your life stops for a minute. In essence, you are always, constantly and consistently thinking about them.

You find yourself wanting to call them on the phone, having butterflies in your stomach when you know you are about to see them. Smiling when you hear their name called across the room, or even just the very thought of you having them in your life brings such a happiness over you.

I am convinced that God wants us to have the same feeling and passion for Him. The question still remains why do we shun this type of emotional, spiritual and intimate relationship with God? I believe that down through the generations we have confused the meaning of relationship for our acts of religion. It is because of the behavior of many Christians in the name of religion that we have turned others away from the Father.

Worship is greater than the place you call your church home or who you call your pastor as well your denomination. Worship speaks to the very essence of the heart towards Christ and the sacrifice that He has made over 2000 years ago. Yet, it also gives us a place to be so vulnerable in the hands of the Father knowing that He is going to make everything all right.

Worship has always been my favorite way of getting away from the circumstances in my life. However, was it really getting away from circumstances? Some time with Jesus or in other words our life circumstances put us in a position where we have a come to Jesus moment.

I know so many people that have found ways of dealing with their problems. Oddly enough it is not in the direction of the Father. As did Adam and Eve, we tend to hide because of what someone else told us or because we believe that we are naked.

Now choices have to be made whether to dig in the Word for an answer, or find our self in the bar drinking up an answer, maybe even self-medicating, smoking or shooting up an answer. Either way if you and I did not choose Christ we made the wrong choice.

If we constructed a panel of witnesses that made the decision to hide, the fact is that you would find more people in line than we could interview. Life without a relationship with the Father is a worthless and tedious life. My brother, my sister, we have everything to live for. I stand to stay that I am forever grateful that I never turned to self-soothing addictions to shield me away from the things I just could not deal with. Throughout my life’s experiences, I found myself resorting to praise and worship as my weapon of choice. Releasing a sound in the atmosphere that my Daddy is familiar with and moves when He hears me crying out to Him. This is the response needed from the sons of God. God is so ready to pull us out of any circumstance that we could ever come up against.

I remember when I was growing up how my parents would always have music playing in our house of great artist such as The Winans, Commissioned, Shirley Caesar and so many others that would create an atmosphere on Saturday as we prepared to do our weekend chores.

It was from those childhood experiences that I learned some valuable lessons. Yes, even as a youngster God was moved by our worship and not our complaints. Of course we did not have a clue where we were going in this journey we call life but one thing was certain and that was regardless of where our destiny was headed worship was going to be the fuel to get us there. The cares of life and burdens that we carried throughout our adolescent days were actually moments where God was proving Himself to us.

We lost our oldest sister in a tragic accident and we would have never survived during that time without the upbringing that we were introduced to. I am a living witness with a testimony to the faithfulness of almighty God. It certainly was not easy for us to bury my sister but having a relationship with the Father gave us all someone we could talk to and share how we felt and what we needed personally from Him that would heal our individual wounds. David records in Psalms 55:22 that if you cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. The Father himself guards you when you are the righteousness of His plan over your life.

Many of us can relate to tragic things that have happened in our lives. We have experienced losing a loved one or having an incurable sickness. Yet, with all due respect I believe out of all that we have been through, Job still holds the crown for the most tragic moments in the shortest period of time. We will discover later in this chapter that God watched over Job and was faithful to rebuild him in the process. It was then that God begins to tell Job how His purpose for him would never be stopped or altered. This same truth stands firm and evident in our lives. God is not just allowing you to see, move, hear, feel and experience tough situation just for giggles. He is building you and me.

God has afforded me the privilege of gleaning insight from some incredible worshippers all around this world. From my grandmother, Evangelist Sarah Jewell King, also known as “Mom” who was a powerful worshipper throughout her life. She had the ability through the Holy Spirit to walk into any service regardless of the atmosphere and change everything. She boldly allowed the favor of God to fall with one song or one statement unlike anything we have ever seen before. We were always amazed at how God used Mom when she had the opportunity to minister. Her musical ability along with her love for God and his people always kept her in the face of God. Mom was the first person that I knew that would remix a song and make it better without trying. She was the original sampler in a non-digital world, and I would love to hear her sing all of the time because you never knew how it was going to end.

Mom was so sincere about the presence of God and from an early age I gleaned from her leadership. Listening to her play the piano at home and sing on Sunday night service she would allow me to play drums for her when the adult drummers did not make it there on time. Excited, as I was to be able to play in service I could not help but show it on my face. It was then when mom would remind me “to God be the Glory” and I would reply “yes mom” with a smile. I understood quickly that she did not play around when it came to giving your gift back in worship and the glory back to God.

Mom has set the bar for worship not just for me but our entire family. A generation of worshippers was birthed through the example of our grandparents.  Within the next generation was birthed my Uncle Eric King who as been a major contributor to my worship lifestyle. To this day I admire his commitment to setting an atmosphere for the presence of God in Pastoring and singing. Many would say you should expect Eric to be this type of a worshipper because of his mother and father being so powerful. True but so many of us run from the very calling we see our parents operating in because we want different. The same struggle they had to endure to get the anointing or glory upon their lives we are not looking for that type of life. Yes he could have taken another route in life but I am thankful to God that he followed the plan of God for his life. It was because of Eric’s commitment to follow God’s plan for his life that my life was directly impacted.

It all started around the age of 9 when Eric would come and pick me up on Saturday and allow me to load up my drum set up in his car. He would take me over to Love, Peace and Happiness Church and started training me on how to play the drums. The first thing you would probably think is, what is there for a 9 year old to learn about playing the drums? Eric took his time and taught me everything he knew and even more. Time would soon reveal that what I thought playing the drums was, it was only a small portion of that. Eric started pointing out to me how my instrument drove the very nature of the service and the atmosphere. Whether we wanted to be in pure worship how the sounding of the cymbals and hi-hats ringing through the sanctuary would encourage the people to lift up their voice and fill the atmosphere with worship. What if there was a shout? Every church drummer in the world loves this moment because you know that if you start hitting the bass drum the thump of the sound imitating the sound of a foot stomping and the tempo of a groove that just made you want to get up and dance.  The drums carry the sound that can get the church to go up in praise and dancing to our God.

Being educated about my gift helped me to understand one of the purposes in worship where I can be an asset for the Kingdom. When you can clearly see that your gift is from God you should want to give it back to Him in the pureness of worship. This is the highest honor and form or worship!

Rest assure that just having my an extended family working to bring me to introduce me to my rightful place in God would not be enough if I did not have parents who saw from an early age the hand of God upon my life to change a generation through my ministries. I thoroughly appreciate the sacrifices of my parents as they invested time and money into my musical instruments.

Worship is the place where God wants us all to be. It is in this place that His Shekinah Glory is more frequent in our lives. Mark Twain says, “Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.” Several of us sadly feel this way about worship. Show me the blessings first and then I will show you a level of worship that would match the blessing that I have seen. What if God operated under this law when it came to our life? Then our worship would not be authentic it would be predicated on what God is doing for me.

Worship says that regardless of what you will do for me my worship speaks to our relationship we have now at this moment. That is worship. Worship comes from the mere fact that God is God all by Himself and He does not need anything or anyone to move for you. Before we were even born God had sent the answer to every question we may have in our life.

Genesis speaks of God visiting Adam and Eve everyday in the cool of the day. He created us so that He could visit with us at least once a day for an intimate time of worship. Like anything else in life if being in the presence of your Father is important you will make the time to have daily devotions that will move you to a place of worship and his Shekinah Glory.

Whether you get your time in with God through worship as I did coming up as a child while cleaning the house; or have family members and friends that are of the same mindset come together for a time of worship.

Bishop Chandler David Owens frequently stated in his messages that, “When I begin to think I begin to thank”. Thinking about where God has brought you from and even more so how He brought you over, with His loving hands, a soft voice, a gentle touch of His amazing grace, sets the tone of your worship. You cannot help but to offer praise and worship to God for who He is.

Father thank you for loving us enough to give us the passion of worship. God our prayer is that you prove yourself to each and every person reading this book. Regardless of where they are in their lives if they are dealing with sickness, lack of provision or searching for an answer make your presence big in their lives. By faith we believe that it is done and that we will hear the testimonies of those across the nation of how your power through worship has changed their situation. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

I Belong To You

Lord you are my savior

You saved me from this disaster

Of an earth I live in

In your presence is where I’ll be

The world cannot offer what you promise me

The world cannot predict what you already know

Man will always let me down

But you turn my frown upside down

To belong to a kingdom

That is so much better than any land

And every country

Is an absolute honor?

Thank you Lord for taking me into your arms

You have given me hope

You have given me a future

I do not want to be anywhere else because I belong to you

Copyright © 2012 Liam Francis. All rights reserved

My Song

“I do not sing because I sound good, but I sing because it makes me feel good” –Bishop Felton King

The theme of the song is inspired by the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew: "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26) and "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:29-31).

Civilla Martin, who wrote the lyrics, said this about her inspiration to write the song based in the scriptures outlined above. Early in the spring of 1905, my husband and I were sojourning in Elmira, New York. We contracted a deep friendship for a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle—true saints of God. Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for nigh twenty years. Her husband was an incurable cripple who had to propel himself to and from his business in a wheel chair. Despite their afflictions, they lived happy Christian lives, bringing inspiration and comfort to all who knew them. One day while we were visiting with the Doolittles, my husband commented on their bright hopefulness and asked them for the secret of it. Mrs. Doolittle's reply was simple: "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me." The beauty of this simple expression of boundless faith gripped the hearts and fired the imagination of Dr. Martin and me. The hymn "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" was the outcome of that experience. —Civilla Martin

Reading this story made me understand even more what my Great Uncle was speaking about in his quote. If I had to guess the chords of “His eye is on the sparrow” was probably on his heart. As these lyrics speak to the very heart of feeling good. Civilla wrote; I sing because I’m happy; I sing because I’m free; His eyes are on the sparrow and I know He’s watching over me.

God has equipped me with such a heart and passion for music. For years it has been my fuel to get through the ups and downs of life. Even when I was running from the calling on my life, my ministry through my voice was still powerful and anointed.

I was amazed at the way people were blessed by my voice that I would often wonder myself how could God be using me? Fully knowing that my life was not always in line with His plans for my life. Could it really possible that my ministry was moving the lives of God’s people while I was still holding on to past pains and dealing with present disappointments?  I was living the scripture Romans 11:29 that says the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

Wanting more for my life and desperate for the opportunity to be used for the Kingdom, I made the commitment to go all in for Christ. My testimony has always come through my song, and with my new commitment the beginning of my song writing days ahead. Realizing that going through what I have it dawned on me that it was to be a blessing to someone else through my songs.

This was going to be different. I was not just going to write songs that would be sung on Sunday morning. My calling and assignment was to write songs that would change everything about your situation. From how you looked at it to the atmosphere you found yourself in the words and melodies of my songs would have an effect on you.

I know that the right atmosphere coupled with the right song you could change everything in your life at that moment. Many of us were conceived because of the right song being played on the radio at the right time that put love in the air.

You should always have a song that will bring you to a place of happiness and peace. This I feel is the real meaning of “new song” that David spoke of in the Psalms. Some would disagree but I believe that your song is just that “yours”, to share with world at large. There should not be a way for you to sing a song with conviction if you have no way of identifying with the lyrics or the message behind the song. It would be like giving counsel to someone about a situation that you have never experienced before in your lifetime. Even better it is something that you are still struggling with yourself and are seeking help as well.

Your song is the same thing; this world is waiting to hear what you have to say within the lyrics of your song. Waiting to hear the lyrics and melodies of victory, healing, deliverance and the love of Christ that you have.

This type of song is not just about your ability to hold a note, this is about you having a heart to express your thoughts in worship along with the willingness to open the lyrics of your heart where people can find similarity, peace and comfort in your words. There are a lot of people that do not have the gift of singing but have written some of the most moving songs in our Christian libraries today.  What happens most of the times is that writers that have the story or testimony find singers that can paint the picture with their gift. Just do not make an excuse for not writing the song that speaks of your experience if you feel that is your gift.

One of the many things I love about God is that if He has given you and I a gift or calling and He will protect us until our time comes. I hear you David out tending to the sheep in the field while your brothers were being paraded in front of Samuel looking for the oil of anointing to fall on them. But not being what other imagined the next King would look like. Nevertheless David had all of the attributes heaven was looking for to rein as King.

Joseph being sold into slavery on his way to his promise all over a dream that he shared with his family that they thought was out of control. But the song of Joseph stood the test of pit, prison and to the palace that what God has for you it is for you. There are so many other witnesses of how God protected them because He had called them for the next generation. These witnesses encourage me because I know that I have been called to be a mouthpiece of encouragement to the hearts of His people.

David wrote in the Psalms 98:1 “Sing unto the Lord a new song; for he has done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, has got him the victory”. I want to spend some time with this scripture because there are some great revelations in this passage.

Sing unto the Lord! We have to get to that point where our song is more then just sweet lyrics that rhyme or have compelling statements. It has to be about singing back to the Lord. History in music is that all music came from the church or a Christian influence. Many of you have seen the movie “Ray” when they spoke of how Ray Charles got his start in the church. People were against what Ray Charles was singing and playing because they knew it came from the church and mixed with Blues as well as a bit of Rock-N-Roll.

You have probably seen countless documentaries about how other genres of music as well as Blues, R&B, Rock-N-Roll and even some country singers all have a Christian background. They all started out singing unto the Lord a new song.

Simply put, a new song is a song that comes from the heart. It comes from trials in our life that you and I have through the grace of God, overcome. A Situation that we should not have made it through, but somehow we made it out, births a new song.

Many of the stories I have read or seen changes were evoked by the lack of understanding. The opinions of others that people did not understand why we were using jazz run in this song or more bass then usual. Why then have we decided to rap instead of singing your expression? The list can go on and on when you begin to speak on how to sing a new song unto the Lord.

A new song is not something other will always be able to join in with because they really do not understand your story like you know it.

I remembered coming up in the church the mother’s of the church would sing songs that no one had never heard before and then give a testimony of how God dropped that song in their spirit to get them through their day. That is a new song. Preaching a revival at a Spanish church I started praying for the people and God was giving me words to sing in English and the prophetic was hitting the very core of the person I was ministering to. It was later confirmed through an interpreter to bring Glory to God, that is a new song.

I declare we are in a season of a new song coming back to the Kingdom of God. That worship leaders will begin to hear the word of the Lord during their worship set and will lift up their voices and speak or sing the song of the Lord in the atmosphere.

For he has done marvelous things: the song of Lord is speaking of his marvelous ways that has been made in the life of His people. That is why I can sing a new song everyday, because His grace and mercy is new every morning and the bible records, great is His faithfulness.

He wants to hear you voice lifted in the atmosphere. You have a song that the angels cannot sing. It is a song of redemption, deliverance and one of freedom. Let this be a new day for you and your worship. As we have said before it is not about the sound of your voice but the willingness of your heart to give back to God what is owed to him.

The latter part of the verse says, “His right hand, and his holy arm, has got him the victory”. This speaks of the power and authority of God. It shows us the power of our song as well. Beloved, we cannot sing a song of defeat, weariness, sickness and all of the negative things we go through back to the Lord. When He has put forth his right hand of protection for us to be victorious understood the song of the Lord is why. It was important to David that you will find this phrase more than once in the Psalms. David was setting the stage each time that no matter what you are going through do not lose your song. Do not lose the words of authority and power that comes to you during the time of battle. When you find yourself in a place of praise and worship through a storm you need to be armed with a recorder or pen and paper, because as God begins to give you words to a song you need the record it.

Bishop I.V. Hilliard stated, “God is not obligated to repeat himself when you are in His presence”. This is a key ingredient to receiving a new song from the Lord. Be ready to record his heart and mind and the release of the Lord for the people.

I remembered one night I was on the freeway in California and was dealing with some decisions that I had made that put my wife and I in an unfavorable position. I finally got to the place where I had enough of the cycle and where it seemed as if we would never get it right because of my decisions.  I started feeling depressed and had made the choice to just run my car off of the road and end it all. In that split second I had to make a choice and as I started moving to the edge of the freeway rails the spirit of the Lord came into the car like I had never experienced before to where I felt the angels of the Lord taking control of the wheel and moving the car to the safety lane. Instantly, I just stopped and began crying out in worship to God like I was losing my mind. No I did not understand it then but I do now. In that moment, I lost sight of the promise and almost forfeited my inheritance. I would have forfeited the birth of my children and so much more I would have left undone; all because I underestimated the power of my song.

I would be lying if I told you I never had to deal with that spirit of suicide again but the difference this time is that I had a song that will stay with me forever. You know even though I knew it then and now that I am somebody when the pressures of life start to hit you on every side you may find a place to hide so not to deal with your situation. King David even hind in the cave and prayed saying; I cry out loudly to God, loudly I plead with God for mercy. I spill out all my complaints before him, and spell out my troubles in detail: "As I sink in despair, my spirit ebbing away, you know how I'm feeling, Know the danger I'm in, the traps hidden in my path. Look right, look left - there's not a soul who cares what happens! I'm up against it, with no exit - bereft, left alone. I cry out, God, call out: 'You're my last chance, my only hope for life!' Oh listen, please listen; I've never been this low. Rescue me from those who are hunting me down; I'm no match for them. Get me out of this dungeon so I can thank you in public. Your people will form a circle around me and you'll bring me showers of blessing!"-Message Bible.

I love this passage because this tells me that I am not by myself and is recorded proof of what needs to be done when you find yourself in your own personal caves surrounded by enemies that will be defeated. Lift up your voice and begin to praise God now knowing the outcome of your situation is favorable in the eyes of the Lord.

Let me take this moment to encourage you my dear brothers and sisters. Whether or not you are a worship leader, praise team member, musician or just the casual singer your song is His favorite song. As a Father regardless of how many children are in the choir when I hear them sing I can recognize my babies out of them all. Because my heart beats to the sound of their voices and it moves me to a feeling that is hard to explain.

My Song

Let my song

Be a song of joy,

A song about peace

A song of love

Let my song be heard

By the young and the old,

Let my song ring loud

Through mountains and seas

Let this song be heard by the deaf,

Let this song be seen by the blind.

Sing this song

Shout it out loud,

Sing this song

Strong and proud

Let this song

Reign forever,

Waste not this song,

…This song of life By: Fab Ricciardi

My Voice

As worshippers, it is imperative to know that the fragrance of my (your) voice is pleasing to the Father. It is with the same intimacy as the alabaster box being broken before Jesus and the aroma that was released in the atmosphere. Beloved, when I release my voice in worship it creates an atmosphere and a voice to the Father.

There is power in the sound of your voice. The word of God speaks to this fact by saying life and death is in the power of the tongue. What you allow to leave your mouth can either bring you life or introduce you to death. What do you mean by life and death? Will I die or live by what I say? And do you mean figurative or metaphorical? These are all great questions. Let us further dialogue to gain insight and clarity on this matter.

Many would argue that there is no way that your words could cause your death. I would beg to defer. There is a speech that I like to refer to as death speech. The meaning of death speech is the ability to cancel, destroy, sabotage or deny through your word chooses. Crazy enough so many of us, yes I said us; we do it so often that we do not even recognize it is being done until after the affects of the matter comes together. I cannot tell you how many times I have found myself driving away from an interview saying, “why did you say that?” I was apart of many fights and heated discussions of people trying to tell me how my life should be during certain seasons, and I just did not agree. Believe it or not those moments fueled this patter of death speech in my life. When I failed at something regardless of what it was I would beat myself down with words I heard from other people describing my life.

Death speech allows you the ability to take the negative statements like “you have a hard head”, “if you do not straighten up you are just not going to make it”, “I do not see how you will support a family acting like this”. “I do not know what we are going to do with you”, and the one that has haunted me the most “I do not know where you get that from.” These phrases can all be used to kill the dream and dreamer in you.

The enemy knows how words affected you when they were said to you back then or you heard it said to someone else. It does not matter because the devil is hoping that if you hear them again it would have that same affect on you. That is the master plan. Remember, the word of God says that he is the accuser of the brethren. Within this role his job is to bring back the hurtful things and cause you to repeat them over and over. THAT IS HIS JOB! He is the father of death speech. Once you understand that you have to recognize that voice and not fall into his many devices and traps. I know at times it is not easy but it is doable trust me. The old nursery rhyme that says, “stick and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” is a lie. I understand the method behind the rhyme but the truth of the matter is if you do not take a position over the things spoken to you and over your life those words will not just hurt you, but in the day and time we live in those words will kill you. I do not have to except what you say I am, I only have to believe who God says I am.

I do not want to get ahead of myself but know matter what you are going through, the answer is simple, just speak life. Sure you did not hear life being spoken to you as you were coming up and it is easy to just go with what you know, but I declare it now in your life and mine that life is what we will speak in the Name of Jesus Christ the giver of life.

Life speech is vital to the walk of a believer. Quite frankly it does not matter who you are walking with every once in a while God will drop a vision, dream or an idea on you that everybody in your circle will not understand including you. In the biblical account of the story of Abraham, his only instructions were, to get up and go! There was no formal plan or idea as to where we he was going, but simply to go. In my limited imagination, I can vividly see Abraham having several deep and serious life speaking lessons with Sarah. When it is that God speaks on that level where your dimension is going to change He does not speak so loud that everyone can hear. Wherever life takes you, always remember that God does not speak loud but He shows you loudly. People will recognize the hand of the Lord on your life and many will even see the direction in which the Lord is directing you. This is the reason why you hear a lot of times that you do not look like what you’ve been through or where you are going. The many trials and tests that we face are always speaking life to us and through us.

Our voice is so powerful that it will even speak from the grave. Look at the story of Cain and Abel when God asked Cain,  “Where is your brother?” Cain’s response was, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Yet in the midst of Cain getting analytical with God, watch how our heavenly father responds to him. He said, ”What have you done? The voice of thy brother’s blood cries unto me from the ground.”

Beloved, I do not care what your haters have planned for your demise. The voice of worship will still rise through the storms and the traps that have been set for you. Indeed I am compelled to remind you that, no weapon formed against you shall be able to prosper.

Recently, I was listening to a message from Pastor Christopher Walker of Greater Grace Temple in Smyrna, Georgia. He was showing how the voice of Abel’s blood and the voice of Jesus’ blood spoke to the nation. Abel’s blood spoke of judgment while Christ’s blood spoke of redemption. Abel’s blood spoke of revenge while Christ’s blood spoke of reconciliation. Abel’s blood spoke of injustice while Christ’s blood spoke of freedom for everyone. The moral of this example is that the blood still speaks. That is why we must speak life. We must take ownership of where we are in our personal situation and start speaking a new path of escape. We should not wait for destruction to happen when we are able to speak deliverance right now. Personally, I believe we the body of Christ can get this in their spirit, we will truly experience everlasting life that comes with a powerful voice.

Many refute and believe that Cain and Abel’s story did not have to happen. This may be true, however I believe that it was written for our learning, our example and for our testimony. I must drill this point in; that what I place in the atmosphere will not die, even if I do. A sound remains as long as it has a medium for circulation, yet as a sound decreases in loudness its amplitude also decreases. It is at this point that we are unable to hear it. On earth however, there is no place with vacuum so sound always remains in air. Only because of it being a damped, or sympathetic type of vibration its amplitude loudness decreases with time, as there are resistive forces in the atmosphere causing it to decrease in loudness pitch and frequency. So we feel sound dies out after a while but in reality it does not as no sound vibration can be a Natural Vibration as such vibrations require vacuum for it to have constant amplitude and frequency. -ICSE Physics Text

Herein lies a reality to us as believers. When God spoke the world into existence, his released sound caused him to maintain it in place. Through the laws of sound everything that God has spoken has to stay in place. As an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ Jesus everything I speak will through the test of time – exist. No earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, or any other disaster that you can think of will be able to stop what I have the courage to put in the atmosphere.

Speak these declarations with me:

The atmosphere is set for your miracle.

The atmosphere is set for your healing.

The atmosphere is set for your breakthrough to come.

Just believe that God is able to do it.

In the Hebrew the word mouth means opening, of a well or river. When we go up in worship our mouth are opening the doors that have been shut, opening the opportunities and strategies for our future. That is why as worship leaders we are always prompting the people of God to open our mouth and give God praise and worship. It is so awesome to know that when God opens a door no man can close it and when he closes a door no man can open it.

The word says; “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” –John 7:38. We are pregnant with worship and praise; our voice is the birthing tool given to everyone to release their spiritual baby. As the above declaration stated just believe that God is able to do it. We must believe as the scripture said. When we put our voice to it we provoke a response from the Father. God is not going to let you or I put His words out in the atmosphere and He not back-it up. You remember when you were younger on the playground and someone was talking crazy to you. What would you say to them? Back-it up put your money where your mouth is or talk is cheap. As long as you are just saying what you can do it does not matter until you act on it. When we get in to worship our voice puts this example in the lap of our God. In essence we are saying, “God if you are a healer then heal me; if you are my provider I need you to provide.” This is when God says; “My word will never come back to me void. I have enough to sign any check you have and complete whatever you ask, in my name it shall be done.”

“Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach; good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest. Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit you choose” –Proverbs 18:20-21.

I firmly believe that in this season we will have the ability to use our voice to speak over ourselves. Speak your mind to God for He has all of the answers for you. I love this part of the verse when the writer says good talk (in my words life speech) is as gratifying as a good harvest. You can talk your way to the top and have no regrets doing it. But rest assure, you have to make a choice because this talk can either be poison or good fruit. The decision has to be made up in your mind how you will proceed. Use your voice to speak only the things that bring you in line with the promises of God for your life. Your dreams have to continue to come from your mouth until it happens. Visions must continue to be heard from your mouth until it happens. I admonish us to remember that our mouth is the open door, the flowing river, and the weapon to bring the high places down and making the twisted places straightened out. Remember it is always your voice, your choice.

If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice, I'll go to sleep each night trusting in you. Point out the road I must travel; I'm all ears, all eyes before you. -Psalm 143:8 MSG

“I love the fragrance of your voice, you're the color of Loyal, My favorite sound is your smile, I'm intoxicated with joyful Oh, and I am moved by you”. - India Arie

My Voice of Praise

Psalm 149:6 “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand".

In the Old Testament, several times it was said that God's people were not to appear before Him empty. Even in the New Testament we are taught to approach God likewise come with an offering. So for those that believe that praise is just an Old or New Testament belief it is actually taught in both eras. Do not come empty handed. The Lord is requiring us to bring spiritual gifts, offerings, and sacrifices. In the book of Hebrews 13:15 says: “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” We are to bring the fruit of our lips in worship and praise to the Lord.

Now, if you ask any midwife, they will tell you it is a bad sign when a newborn babe fails to cry. Equally, when a child of God cannot praise there is something wrong. When Charles Wesley was only three days saved he wrote his first hymn 'O, for a thousand tongues to sing my Great Redeemer's praise.’

We are told that he wrote approximately 6500 hymns the rest of his days. Now, I know we are not all Charles Wesley's, but that is an example of how we ought to have in our hearts a song of praise to God. Someone has said that praise is the soul in flower, and if your soul is not blossoming this morning, if praise is not in your life, or praise is not in our churches, it is evidence that there is something wrong. When our plants are withering, when growth is declining, when our souls are in winter; by that I mean they are icy cold, they are chilled and dead. Then we must discover, rediscover, the power of praise.

Praise is simply expressing esteem for a person... we are praising their virtues or their accomplishments... Primarily, praise is simply expressing esteem for a person; we know that when we praise one another, we are praising their virtues or their accomplishments. It is really to voice that a person is worthy of honor, but praise to God is much more than that.

The English word 'praise' has a French origin, but it means 'to prize.' To praise God means to prize God. The word 'prize', of course, means 'to value', 'to esteem', 'to cherish' something or someone, but it also means to estimate of worth. So when we praise God we are valuing Him, we are esteeming Him, we are estimating His worth. In other words, in praise what we actually do, whether we realize it or not, we gather together all the facts that we know about God, and we put these into words, words of praise and words of thanksgiving. Now it follows that the less you know about God, the less you'll be able to praise Him. If you want to praise God more, you need to have a revelation of God through His word.

Now, how is praise expressed? Praise is expressed in the whole man body, soul and spirit. The Psalmist echoes this in Psalm 103:1, “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name”. Our feelings and our emotions will be toward God in praise, and even our actions will glorify God. This is what I want you to see: how is praise expressed? It is expressed through the body. The spirit is the part of us and it enters into true worship of God in His holiness, and that will have an effect on our mind and emotion, our will, our thoughts, our feelings and our actions.

But it is expressed praise and is expressed through our body. 'Praise and thanksgiving' - what did Hebrews say? - 'The fruit of our lips'. Secondly praise is also to be expressed enthusiastically. What I mean by that? Praise that God expects and indeed requires of us as His children is to be unrestrained, enthusiastic; we could put the word 'excited' on it as well. Psalm 95. It illustrates the progress into worship, in verse one: 'O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation'. But in the New King James Version translates that: 'Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation'. Listen to verse 2: 'Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms'. We are to shout with a great praise because the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods'.

Let me ask you this question: how do you think God views half-hearted praise? The casual chatter that occasionally drowns out by the organ: the heartless speechless prayers, or the mocking of hymns? Sometimes I reason that God just would rather that we did not bother at all, as to give Him half-hearted praise! Praise is meant to be a celebration, and an extolling of God in His greatness and in His attributes. It is meant to be a boasting of God - and when we boast; we do it in a cheerful, free manner.

I understand the notion clearly that this type of praise can be misinterpreted and misunderstood. Many believe that when somebody really starts getting excited, praising God, well then people think they are attention-seekers, or they are being showoffs or self-centered. It has to be said that often that can be the case, and often people abuse the openness of their praise and just want people to focus on them and how greatly they can praise the Lord. However, this is not a dispute against praising God. This is why; the Lord Jesus Himself in the Sermon on the Mount, said that our gift giving, our fasting, and praying can be done hypocritically.

We can abuse those three things: giving to the poor, fasting and making people know that we are doing it, and praying to God on the street corner wanting people to think that we are very holy. But this was not used by the Lord to say that you shouldn't give to people who are poor, and you shouldn't fast, and you shouldn't pray; of course not! He was telling us to do it righteously and honorably. We could not dream of putting a stop to giving, fasting and praying because it can be abused. Neither will praise be stopped because other abuse it and make a mock of the very thing that God calls us to do to honor Him.

Now here's a principle, if you want to know how to praise God and yet avoid extremes and abuses. God-consciousness will cast out self-consciousness. In other words, the more mindful you are of God's presence, the more blind you will be to the presence of those around you. At this moment you become blind to embarrassment before them, and blind to impressing them if you're prone to self-centeredness.

Praise as it stands is an appraisal of God, and if we could get so taken up with God we would not care who is around us or what they thought. Remember how Michal, David’s wife, was embarrassed at David’s behavior when he praised God literally out of his clothes. When people do not understand your journey with God they will not understand your undignified praise. She went as far as to David. Subsequently, Michal was cursed by God and made barren. I challenge each of you dear readers to become a praise warrior and watch the enemy become barren around you.

Let us move on now from what praise is and how praise is expressed, to what praise can do. When I talk of exuberant, excited, unrestrained praise of God, I am not talking about hot air and verbiage. I am not talking about flowery terminology and expressions that make newborn believers discouraged in their prayer life. Matthew Henry stated: 'Be not afraid of saying too much in praises to God, all the danger is of saying too little' – that is what we are talking about. In other words, it is impossible to exaggerate when you are praising God!

In the book of Luke chapter 19:37-39 here is evidence from the Lord Jesus Himself that He desires this excited, enthusiastic, exuberant praise. In verse 37 it says: ‘And when he was come near, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice', they were shouting loudly and jubilantly, 'for all the mighty works that they had seen'. They had appraised the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they mentally had that journey of about 16 inches from their mind down to their heart, and then the heart came out in their extremities their hands, and their feet, and their voice - in praise to God. In verse 38, the writer goes on to say: 'blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest, 'and some of the Pharisees', miserable lot they were, 'from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples'. 'This is unbecoming, this is unseemly, rebuke your disciples. Tell them to keep quiet' listen to the Lord Jesus' response: 'And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out'.

I want to share some things that praise can do.

First of all praise accelerates answers to prayer. There are many prayers of the Lord Jesus recorded in the New Testament, but there is only one time that He was asked the question: 'Teach us to pray'. He goes on to say,  'After this manner pray ye...’ this prayer if you notice begins with praise: 'Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name'; and then it ends with praise, 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven'.

The first 10 words are praise, and the last words are praise. Now the reason why the Lord Jesus taught us to pray that way is that praise is a means to accelerate answers to prayer. It was George Mueller, a great man of faith, that said when you need God to answer a prayer you ask God for a promise; and when God gives you a promise, having prayed for the promise, then you start to praise from the promise pray for the promise, and then praise from the promise. When you start praising God according to what He has promised; He's given you a cast-iron guarantee of it in His word and you will accelerate that answer.

Let us see something else: praise encourages the miraculous. In Acts chapter 16 and there are other examples of this. Remember Paul and Silas were in jail for their faith in Jesus. Act records 'at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed' - there's a connection between their praising God, singing, and the miracle! There is a power in praise in that it encourages the miraculous. No chains, bars or guards should silence your praise. Your praise should be so powerful that it become contagious and everybody around you should feel the presence of God by virtue of your praise.

Praise not only encourages the miraculous, but also wins battles. In 2 Chronicles chapter 20 we read that Judah faced a huge army across the Dead Sea. King Jehoshaphat did not know what to do, so he proclaimed a fast and the people sought the Lord. The Spirit of God spoke through the prophet and told the people: 'The battle belongs to the Lord', and dispelled their fears. They were instructed early the next morning to go out to see what the Lord had done, and at dawn they marched to the battlefield as though they were going to some religious festival. It was not the army of their time that led them into the battlefield. It was the musicians and singers, the praisers of God that led the way. This story tells us that God heard the praises of His people and the songs of their faith. Subsequently, their enemy was destroyed. God caused them to turn one against the other and slay each other! The people of Judah did not have to lift a hand, and the Bible says that when Judah arrived at the battlefield all they had to do was collect the spoils (goods).

We read in that story, 2 Chronicles 20:22: 'Now when they began to sing', here it is, 'and to praise, the LORD', Jehovah, 'He set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated', when they began to sing praises, because praise sparks victory! If you are lacking victory in your life ask yourself how is your praise? Is it blossoming, is it with the whole person, spirit, soul, and body? Is it excited, exhilarated praise, enthusiastic praise, unrestrained praise, exuberant praise? For if you could only get through to God in your praise, I believe you may well have victory!

Praise drives the devil away. First Samuel 16, Saul had been displeasing to God. He had been anointed of God as King of Israel, but he was so disobedient to what God was doing and saying that God was chastising him with an evil spirit. The writer penned, 'it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul', that he called for a musician, and that musician was David the new anointed of God. 'David took an harp, and played with his hand', and we read, 'so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him'. Listen carefully: Satan is allergic to praise!

We do not just praise God for God's benefit even though primarily that is what it is for; but we also as a secondary benefit, to drive the devil away, and as a selfish benefit we are blessing ourselves and can be delivered. Where there is jubilant praise, Satan is paralyzed. Praise is like an antidote to the poison of Satanic oppression. If we are going to have victory over the devil, or strengthen our spiritual lives we must learn to praise - the devil away! If you are struggling with oppression, depression or any other emotional attack, lift your voice right now and begin to praise and watch God win the battle over the enemy in Jesus Name.

Praise, combined with thanksgiving, gives us access to God. You may ask how can that be? We find in the Psalm 100:4 it says: 'Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name'. We see two degrees of access to God first through God's gates, and then into God's courts. We go through God's gate and then into His courts. Through His gates by thanking Him, and into His very courts by giving Him praise. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise in Isaiah's prophecy, God's gates are called 'Praise', you can read that in Isaiah 60. The way into God's presence is through praise and thanksgiving. Now listen carefully: you cannot have access without praise! In Psalm 22 we read that God inhabits the praises of His people.

The Voice of Encouragement

It is so important to have a voice that you can depend on to encourage you in a time of discomfort. I am going to take this opportunity to use David’s account with adversity and how he encouraged himself in the Lord.

The last words of I Samuel 30:6 read, “...but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.”

All of us face difficult and trying times, and sometimes we are forced to face them alone. Instead of becoming frustrated and discouraged by these strenuous circumstances, we must look for words of encouragement. The problem comes when we begin to look for these words to come out of the mouths of other people, and not ourselves. Surely it would feel better coming from someone else speaking a word of knowledge or direction. But God will often only give you what you need to hear.

In 1Samuel 30:1, David has found himself messed up. To the point that the Bible says that, “...the Amalekites had invaded the south.... and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; and had taken the women captives.... (And) carried them away...”

This was a place where David and his men had made their home for their families in Ziklag. In order to understand the significant of Ziklag you need to understand what Ziklag means. Ziklag is define as good measure and pressed down by many concordances. Ziklag was the place of God’s blessing for David and his men, and now the enemy has destroyed it by fire and taken captive their wives and their children. Listen just because you are in a place now where everything is good does not mean you can drop your guards to the enemy’s plot and trickeries. I am not implying that David and his men did not take the enemy serious; many of us do however. When everything is going good many of us do not pray as much as we should. If I can be transparent with you the records will probably show that when I was at my lowest point financially I gave the most money then. I came to an understanding that if I was going to come out I had to give my way out.

The Amalekites were an aggressive and evil group of people. Their father Amalek (whose name means the people that licks up and takes away all) had been fighting the nation of Israel as far back as Exodus 17:8, where the Bible says, “Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.” And now they have come to destroy David’s life.

There is a spirit of unforgiveness that is running rampid within the halls of the body of Christ. It allows anger and hatred to build in the heart. As we can clearly see, David and his family had nothing to do with how all of this got started but he was definitely in the middle of it. We need to be very careful not to hold things in our heart so long that it turns from a fight maybe for a purpose to a fighting out of envy and hate.

The very meaning of Amalekites name speaks to their intent “licks up and takes away all”. Is this not what the devil attempts to do in the life of every believer? The bible says in 1Peter 5:8 … the devil as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour (consume, demolish, overwhelm). He has no other plans for our lives but to devour us. I’ve seen church members, friends, family and co-workers hold things in that turns to anger that put them in a defensive posture regardless of the situation because of the past hurt or unfinished business.

Can I tell you that I have held things in my heart against people that have hurt me in the past to the point where I went for years not speaking to them because of the memory of what happened? My voice was silenced not just to them but to the Father as well. Oh yes I know God is not pleased with it but I have made peace in my heart by justifying why I carried on in this manner. I had to come to grips with myself believing that when forgiveness has already been asked of you now you have to be a big little man and accept it if you plan to be in the will of God. Un-forgiveness will mute the sound of your voice and illuminate the sound of the adversary

David is out fighting. While doing what he has been called to do his two wives were taken captive. Ahinoam whose name means beauty and grace and Abigail who’s name means the source of joy.

The two people that brought beauty, grace, and joy to David’s life were taken from him. This tragic scenario has broken David’s heart. Walking through the burnt ruins of Ziklag David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and begin crying, until they had no more strength or power to cry anymore.

It is not enough that you have lost the very thing that you have loved and worked hard to protect. But now the ones you were just in battle with start to turn against you. Consumed by sorrow, heartache, and depression, David’s men eventually turned their resentment towards him. Looking for answers regarding what was going on; the bible speak of the people wanting to stone David because of their loss, as if David himself did not lose in this invasion too.

The men were getting bitter because of their loss. My problem here is that David was not the cause of the loss or the battle that was being fought but was being held accountable for them both. I find it so odd how people that do not have the heart to make decisions never struggle with making judgment against those that can. I’m convinced that if the shoe were on the other foot of any of David’s men they would feel different about their actions. Nevertheless David is in a serious predicament.

The men that followed David were all courageous and strong in battle, but some lacked the moral fiber and virtue that stimulates men to always do the right thing. This was not something David was not use to, because these men sound just like his brothers as it relates to their physical appearance. But as of their character that is a different story. Commentary says that these were people who were sour about life, rugged, severe, and profane. Other research goes on to say they were, “...base and worthless rascals.” Moffatt says, “...they were scoundrels and low creatures.” The Knox translation says, “...they were rude, graceless fellows among his own.”

You cannot choose the quality of character that controls the people around you. You cannot choose the family that you are born in, or exercise complete control over the events of your life. But you can choose how you react to the events and the people that come against you. Faced with this dreadful circumstance, with no one to turn to for help, verse six says, “...but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.”

Circumstances do not make the man they reveal him. How you react in times of trouble reveals what has always been in your heart. Your success does not depend upon people, neither is it controlled by the negative words that are spoken against you. Your success is based upon the Lord and His will for your life. Our attitude towards circumstances determines their influence over our lives. If we remain positive and encourage ourselves in the Lord, we can take what the devil meant for evil and turn it for our good.

The voice of encouragement is a voice of strength, a voice of courage and a voice of determination. The definition of “encourage” is to impart courage, inspiration, and resolution. While others were wallowing in their misery and seeking revenge, David encouraged and stimulated himself to rise up from the ashes of Ziklag. He became proactive with his faith and decided to seek God for the answer to his problems.

Because of David relationship with the Lord he was prepared to deal wisely in a crisis. While others were continuing to whirl about, David was able to rise up and encourage himself because he knew that God would forever stand by his side. He also knew that if God did it before, certainly he could do it again.

I believe that was the mindset of David during this time. The Amplified Bible says, “...the people who know their God shall prove themselves strong, and shall stand firm and do exploits.”

How we respond to difficult times determine the level of success and faith that we have in life. Our ability to encourage and strengthen ourselves in difficult times is proportionate to the measure of intimacy we possess with the Lord. The closer you walk with God, the more positive your attitude will become and your voice will have more to pull from. In the phrase “...(they) shall do exploits,” the word “do” which means to take what you already have and to make it work for your good. What did David have? His men had turned against him. His family was gone. Ziklag was burned. All David had was his faith in God.

When people turn against you, and life lets you down, you can still stand strong and be encouraged, because Hebrews says that God, “...will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” So, David turned his attention to the only one that could truly help in his time of need. In I Samuel 30:8 says, “And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And He (the Lord) answered him, Pursue; for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.”

I heard a story of a wise prophet of God once told a pastor, if the devil cannot make you stumble with the temptations to sin, the only way that he can get you down is through the people around you. We must not allow other people’s weaknesses become our failures. If you focus your attention on what people are saying or doing, you will become discouraged and faint on the road to victory. But the man that continually encourages himself and keeps his confidence in the Lord will see his hopes realized. Refusing to be discouraged, your voice is too important to your generation.

If you learn to encourage yourself like David, and refuse to give up in your day of adversity, God will bring you through to victory and cause you to be rewarded for all the destruction that people and circumstances have brought to your life.

God has a plan for you life, and there isn’t anything the devil can do about it. It is got to go God’s way. Let us listen to the voice of encouragement of David from the Psalms:

Psalms 27:1 said, “[A Psalm of David] The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid.” When we put our trust in the Lord, instead of the people around us, we won’t be consumed by fear or loose hope.

Psalms 27:14 said, “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage (encourage yourself), and He shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the LORD.” The Amplified says, “Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let you heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.”

Psalm 27:13 said, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” Another translation says, “I am expecting the Lord to rescue me again, so that once again I will see His goodness to me here in the land of the living.”

Psalms 27:10 said, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.” The Knox translation says, “...father and mother may neglect me, but the Lord will take me into His care.” The Jerusalem Bible says, “If my father and mother desert me, Yahweh will care for me still.” Every person in your life will eventually let you down and fail you. But the Lord will never let you go. He is always by your side.

Your voice my friend is a weapon that the enemy cannot control unless you let him. As we have seen in the walk of David through his calling, his family, and his friend and even through himself the voice of David still had to rise above the circumstance.

All things are possible to the man and woman that speak encouragement to one self in the Lord. In John 16:33, Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

The phrase “be of good cheer” means to exercise courage which is the attitude we must take when facing and dealing with difficult and painful circumstances instead of withdrawing from them, be bold in other words take risks, face danger, to become daring and fearless and to be confident trusting in the Lord’s ability to see you through difficult times. Use the voice of encouragement in your life and watch God work on your behalf.