Surly's Soap Box

The difficult thing is that when "the spirit of heaviness" is upon you, it is hard to summon the will or spirit to resist. The conscious effort to "put on the garment of praise" (Isiah 61:3) has given me the traction I need. Praising Him - praying, singing, even dancing - takes my mind, will and emotions of of myself and puts it on Him, and what He has done, from creation to salvation and beyond, I know He has a plan for me, a plan for good and not ill, and to give me a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

In these times it is never clearer that we war not against flesh and blood, but spirits and principalities. (Eph. 6:12). We may think we war against our own flesh and shortcomings, but it is a spiritual attack, and our enemy knows us well, and what buttons to push. But we know, too, that our own weapons are not carnal (2 Cr 10:4), but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

Meet the spiritual attack on the spiritual plane and pull down the stronghold by praising God, especially when it's the last thing in the world we feel like doing, and when the enemy is saying, in effect, "Curse God and die" (or beg, or demand). There is a time for reminding God of His word and His promises (reminding ourselves, mostly) but this is a time to "put on (choose) the garment of praise."

This can also remind you of your own "Ebenezer's" (see 1 Samuel 7:12), which means, "hitherto has the Lord always helped us." That builds your faith and your praise even more.

A small example.

Part of my 'not going quietly' is praise, even in the darkest of times. I've got to follow the example of when Paul was tossed into prison and sang praise until the gate where broken down. Perhaps begging and demanding were the wrong words. Maybe imploring, along the line of Elijah praying for rain is a better fit.

Now this is what I'm talking about. One of our brothers is under attack, and we're not gonna stand by and watch him get pummeled by the enemy. Just like King David had his 30 Mighty Men of arms, I'm looking to get 30 men registered on the Solid Rocks web site to stand together and do battle. If one of us is under attack, we're all under attack. The prayer network that we'll create is not only going to help us as individuals; but we're going to make an impact beyond what we can imagine. Prayerfully consider joining this site and get back to me. The site is www.solidrockmin.blogspot.com; get back to me at cesareks4@riversidecable.com if you feel led to join, I'll get off an invitation to log-on and start posting. In the meantime, we'll be standing in the gap along with you Dave and pray you through this time. I've been there, and I know someone prayed me through.