The love of God in your heart and the
praise of God on your lips are an unbeatable
team. When an unlovely person tries to
provoke you into strife, you will remember, I
am not provoked. Instead of retaliating, let the
praise of God come out of your mouth.
This doesn’t mean that you have to let
them take advantage of you. Praise brings
the presence of God on the scene and causes
some astounding things to happen in the
spirit realm.
Notice Psalm 8:2. “Out of the mouth
of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained
strength because of thine enemies, that thou
mightest still the enemy and the avenger.”
When Jesus quoted this verse in Matthew
21:16, He said, “Out of the mouth of babes
and sucklings thou hast perfected praise.”
Jesus equated praise with strength. Strength
against what? Strength against Satan, our
only real enemy.
Now look at Psalm 9:2-4. “I will be glad
and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy
name, O thou most High. When mine enemies
are turned back, they shall fall and perish
at thy presence. For thou hast maintained
my right and my cause; thou satest in the
throne judging right.”
Praise stills the enemy. It stops strife because
it stops the source of it—Satan. Praise
and love pack a powerful, “one-two punch.”
Praise will cause the devil to fall back and perish
at the very presence of God coming into a
situation. And love never fails. That’s why the
love of God in your heart and the praise of
God on your lips are an unbeatable team. You
have not only taken a defensive action against
strife, but an offensive action as well!
An excellent example of how praise backs
Satan down comes from Aimee Semple
McPherson’s ministry. She was holding a
large tent meeting when some of the townspeople
decided to throw kerosene on the tents
and “burn that bunch of religious fanatics out
of town.” They were making so much noise
outside the tent that no one could hear the
preaching. Aimee McPherson took control of
the situation by praising God.
The Lord opened Aimee’s eyes to see
into the realm of the spirit. She noticed that
every time she said, “Praise God,” the evil
spirits that were driving those men cowered
and backed away. The men eventually calmed
down and became convicted of their wrongdoing.
Before the meeting was over, more
than half of them gave their lives to the Lord.
Not only was the meeting saved, but the men
were too!
When you praise God in the midst of
strife instead of retaliating, God will not only
maintain your right and your cause, He will
maintain the right and cause of the other
person as well. Because He is no respecter of
persons, God will show you a way to have a
no-lose situation. Everyone will win because
Satan will lose!
Beginning today, you can conquer strife.
Make a decision to keep yourself full of the
love of God. Meditate the “love chapter”
(1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Confess it in the first
person several times a day. And when others
provoke you, don’t retaliate. Instead, give
thanks to God for His goodness and watch
His presence come on the scene and put strife
under your feet where it belongs!
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