Your Battle Belongs to the Lord

You don't fight your battles alone!

Do you want to know a simple yet super-powered weapon for your battles? That super weapon is P-R-A-I-S-E. Let me explain more.

During one hospital visit during our son’s cancer battle (Read his whole story HERE and HERE), a friend randomly texted me, "I think this is for you. 2 Chronicles 20:17". I looked up the verse and it struck me,

"You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”

Right there in the hospital room, I said out loud, "AMEN! Our battle belongs to the Lord." 

We were three months into a battle with our son's health. One brain surgery, four hard days in the hospital, another skull surgery to fix a complication from the first, too many medical tests to count, and now waiting to see if the cancer had spread anywhere else in his body. It felt like a battle.

He was in the hospital this time to get an abdominal ultrasound, two brain MRIs, a skin biopsy, and a full body PET/CT scan. From these tests, we would either get news that he has no more signs of cancer in his body which meant no more treatment, OR we would be told he has cancer in some other bone or organ and would require more surgeries and a year of chemo. Big difference in outcomes!

Now, back to my friend's text.

I read her text and the Scripture, then I returned to reading a book I brought to the hospital. 15 minutes into my book, right there on the page was 2 Chronicles 20:15!

"This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s." 

"Lord, are you trying to send me a message?!"

We sure felt like we were facing a vast army of unknowns and a possible future with more suffering through chemo.

I opened to 2 Chronicles and read all of chapter 20. I suggest you do the same.

It. Is. POWER!

The story is about King Jehoshaphat when he was going to be attacked by three enemy armies. He fell on his knees before God and asked him to help. A man came up to King Jehoshaphat and said not to be afraid, that it is not his battle, it is God's battle.

So, the King organized his people to praise God instead of fighting the enemy armies. Verse 22 says,

"At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves."

The story ends a few verses later saying not a single member of the enemy armies lived!

Did you catch what happened? King Jehoshaphat was faced with a huge battle. He fell to his knees before God seeking help in PRAYER. Then he organized his people to PRAISE God instead of fighting the enemies. God turned the armies on themselves and killed every last enemy.

CRAZY!! Do you see how PRAISE is a super-powered weapon in battle?!

What battles are you facing right now that you need to let God fight instead? 

What weapons are you currently trying to use to win those battles? Are you worried or stressed about the battle you face?

I used to try to fight my battles with research and worry. For example, if my kid was seriously sick with some condition, I would spend days researching the illness and searching the internet, books, and experts for all the possible treatments. I would then get caught up in the life-sucking “What if?” spiral of questions.

• What if she actually has this disease?

• What if the treatment doesn’t work?

• What if it gets worse like that one kid I read about?

• What if she can never do karate again which she loves so much?

• What if it causes permanent brain damage and disability?

Do you sense the heartache in this process? Can you relate?

All the research and worry would eat at me, steal my joy, sleep, peace, hope, and health. And, I wasn’t present with my family because I was either too busy researching or too sad at what might happen.

All my worries and research were rooted in control. I was trying to control the outcome of my child’s sickness and recovery. My battle strategy didn’t work so well for me.

Maybe your weapons for battle include anger, control, worry, or avoidance. None of these are a good option. PRAYER and PRAISE are winning weapons for our battles. These two weapons place the battle in God’s hands. He is the only one capable of victory, has all knowledge of what’s going on in your battle, and is all-powerful.

When you put it all in God's hands, trusting that he will fight for you, your life will be a lot easier. Not always easy, but easier for sure than if you live hopelessly trying to control the outcome yourself.

This time around, when faced with the battle of our son’s cancer eating through his skull and pressing on his brain, and during his year of chemotherapy I picked up some new battle weapons….PRAYER and PRAISE. Now, to clarify, I have been a Christian for 25 years and have done a lot of praying in hard times, so prayer is not new, but HOW I prayed was new (read HERE about how God changed my prayer life to have more power). And it sure made a difference!

I did not partner with worry, fear, or stress this time (read my story HERE about God setting me free from debilitating fear and anxiety). I did still research, but very minimally and I did not allow myself to get overwhelmed. The research was important because our son had such a super rare cancer that few people know much about it. (Studies say only 1 in 500,000 kids have his type of cancer called Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis.)

My prayers changed from commanding, decreeing, and declaring things to happen in Jesus’ name to humble prayers at the feet of God’s throne, asking that his will be done. Praying as Jesus prayed. And there was much praise going on throughout our whole journey. We would praise God for every little thing we could think of.

Because of the shift in my battle weapons and because of God’s goodness, I was able to have true, tangible peace and joy amid our fiery trial. Praise God! Praise has power because it shifts our focus from what we want to what we have; from what we wish was different, to what we are thankful for in the moment.

I hope you have found value in this post and have learned that there is so much power in praise.

Some practical steps to add more praise to your life:

• keep a praise journal where you write down what you’re thankful for

• play praise music throughout the day

• post on social media about what you are thankful for to God

• simply say, “Great job God” throughout your day when you appreciate something he has done

  
  

Using prayer and praise as battle weapons will allow you to have an abundant life of joy and peace regardless of what life throws at you. Prayer and praise put God in charge of your battles so you can rest in the peace of his victorious presence.

Fight your battles with PRAISE and PRAYER!