“God put the victory in our voices.”
For whatever reason, this phrase kept resounding over and over again in my mind as the heaviness of my eyelids began to squint at the morning sun beaming through my bedroom windows. Like many mornings I woke up with something stirring in my spirit, but this one seemed urgent.
As I began to think about scripture, I was reminded of Joshua’s commissioning to bring down the walls of Jericho with an army of trumpets and voices. Joshua knew the plan for victory was going to be birthed through the power of the obedience of the Israelites and their ability to use their voices. As Joshua was giving the Israelites their battle instructions, he specifically told them not to make a sound until he said to (upon the long blast made on the trumpets - see Joshua 6:5).
“But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” Joshua 6:10
“When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.” Joshua 6:20
The obedience of the Israelites with their voices brought down an entire city and its “impenetrable” walls. These were not just any walls here. The city was surrounded by two walls. The first wall, began with a retaining wall which stood at the base of an embankment, standing 12-15 feet tall. On top of the retaining wall stood a mud brick wall 6 feet thick and between 20-26 feet high. The second wall stood up the embankment and towered an intimidating 46 feet from ground level. (Facts taken from: answersingenesis.org)
Now, imagine you are an Israelite for just a moment. The city of Jericho stands majestically on a hill high above you, in fact so high you are unable to even evaluate what exactly you are fighting. Just the combined height of the walls alone rises 78-87 feet above your head, this does not include any increase in elevation caused by the embankment in between the two walls. It’s no wonder the Lord told them to be silent for the first six days of marching. This gave them time to pray and meditate upon the magnitude of what God was about to do through their voices.
Can you even imagine the excitement in the air when they saw the first brick shatter? I can hear the voices increase with the drop of each brick as if they believed that the intensity of their voices was literally what was demolishing these monumental walls brick by brick. The atmosphere must have been sheer electrifying! What do you think the talk was like around the dinner table that night? That next day? That next week?
“Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” Psalm 118:15
“Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth. He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved. God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.” Psalm 47:1-5
A dear missionary friend of mine once told me to “use my voice” when I was struggling with things. She went on to explain that by doing so it would not only build up my own spirit, but I would cause the devil to flee. The reality is, I am not the only one listening to the sound coming out of my own mouth. Our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). And make no mistake, he is listening! Our voices become our weapons in our times of struggle.
Sometimes we just need to hear ourselves speak victory over our situation. We need to physically say the words out loud so our ears can hear them. Jesus told us over and over again in the gospels to “say” to this mountain go, and it will go! (Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21, Mark 11:23) He didn’t say “think” about this mountain going. He specifically used the word “say.” In other words, speak out loud, tell the mountain, yell at it, scream at it, shout at it, use your voice!!!!! We can not fight our battles in silence. God did not give us the sword of the spirit to hold. He gave us the sword of the spirit to swing at the enemy. This only works when the word of God is spoken.
Call to action
Like the Jericho wall, I have mountains in my walk that at times seem impenetrable. I would like to encourage us do a Jericho walk around our mountains. Let’s pick a specific mountain we are struggling with and spend the next six days praying about that specific thing. Then on day seven, let’s be sure to open up our mouths and speak to that mountain, yell at it, shout at it, scream scriptures at it. Use our voice! I am not about to make any promises that our mountains are going to crumble right in front of us, but maybe, just maybe we will see God move through the sound of our voices speaking life, truth and the word of God over our situations. God has put victory in our voices. Let’s use them, stand back, and watch what God does.
Father, help us to speak out the word of truth over our mountains. Help us to use the voices you have given us to usher in the victory you so desperately desire us to walk in. Like the Israelites, give us a steadfastness to walk around our Jericho, use our voice and watch what you will do. We pray that you will open the floodgates of heaven over our situations, even if that simply means that you allow us to see our mountain with your eyes. We pray these things in the precious name of Christ Jesus.
For whatever reason, this phrase kept resounding over and over again in my mind as the heaviness of my eyelids began to squint at the morning sun beaming through my bedroom windows. Like many mornings I woke up with something stirring in my spirit, but this one seemed urgent.
As I began to think about scripture, I was reminded of Joshua’s commissioning to bring down the walls of Jericho with an army of trumpets and voices. Joshua knew the plan for victory was going to be birthed through the power of the obedience of the Israelites and their ability to use their voices. As Joshua was giving the Israelites their battle instructions, he specifically told them not to make a sound until he said to (upon the long blast made on the trumpets - see Joshua 6:5).
“But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” Joshua 6:10
“When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.” Joshua 6:20
The obedience of the Israelites with their voices brought down an entire city and its “impenetrable” walls. These were not just any walls here. The city was surrounded by two walls. The first wall, began with a retaining wall which stood at the base of an embankment, standing 12-15 feet tall. On top of the retaining wall stood a mud brick wall 6 feet thick and between 20-26 feet high. The second wall stood up the embankment and towered an intimidating 46 feet from ground level. (Facts taken from: answersingenesis.org)
Now, imagine you are an Israelite for just a moment. The city of Jericho stands majestically on a hill high above you, in fact so high you are unable to even evaluate what exactly you are fighting. Just the combined height of the walls alone rises 78-87 feet above your head, this does not include any increase in elevation caused by the embankment in between the two walls. It’s no wonder the Lord told them to be silent for the first six days of marching. This gave them time to pray and meditate upon the magnitude of what God was about to do through their voices.
Can you even imagine the excitement in the air when they saw the first brick shatter? I can hear the voices increase with the drop of each brick as if they believed that the intensity of their voices was literally what was demolishing these monumental walls brick by brick. The atmosphere must have been sheer electrifying! What do you think the talk was like around the dinner table that night? That next day? That next week?
“Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” Psalm 118:15
“Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth. He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved. God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.” Psalm 47:1-5
A dear missionary friend of mine once told me to “use my voice” when I was struggling with things. She went on to explain that by doing so it would not only build up my own spirit, but I would cause the devil to flee. The reality is, I am not the only one listening to the sound coming out of my own mouth. Our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). And make no mistake, he is listening! Our voices become our weapons in our times of struggle.
Sometimes we just need to hear ourselves speak victory over our situation. We need to physically say the words out loud so our ears can hear them. Jesus told us over and over again in the gospels to “say” to this mountain go, and it will go! (Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21, Mark 11:23) He didn’t say “think” about this mountain going. He specifically used the word “say.” In other words, speak out loud, tell the mountain, yell at it, scream at it, shout at it, use your voice!!!!! We can not fight our battles in silence. God did not give us the sword of the spirit to hold. He gave us the sword of the spirit to swing at the enemy. This only works when the word of God is spoken.
Call to action
Like the Jericho wall, I have mountains in my walk that at times seem impenetrable. I would like to encourage us do a Jericho walk around our mountains. Let’s pick a specific mountain we are struggling with and spend the next six days praying about that specific thing. Then on day seven, let’s be sure to open up our mouths and speak to that mountain, yell at it, shout at it, scream scriptures at it. Use our voice! I am not about to make any promises that our mountains are going to crumble right in front of us, but maybe, just maybe we will see God move through the sound of our voices speaking life, truth and the word of God over our situations. God has put victory in our voices. Let’s use them, stand back, and watch what God does.
Father, help us to speak out the word of truth over our mountains. Help us to use the voices you have given us to usher in the victory you so desperately desire us to walk in. Like the Israelites, give us a steadfastness to walk around our Jericho, use our voice and watch what you will do. We pray that you will open the floodgates of heaven over our situations, even if that simply means that you allow us to see our mountain with your eyes. We pray these things in the precious name of Christ Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment