Praise Before The Answer

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You're listening to Bible talk with Sister Deb Osborne.
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Hey, if you'd like to give I'd like to give thanks to all the listeners and supporters of the show, take a go visit our website at HOR421 Show.bussprout.com.
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Always keep us in your prayers as we spread the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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And if you'd like to contact Sister Deb, you can email her at Osborne Deborah K at gmail.com.
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And if you'd like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal slash HOR421 or you go through our website at HOR421 Show.bussprout.com.
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And now I can give you your host, the Bible talk, Sister Deb Oz.
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Hallelujah.
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Praise the Lord.
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Praise the Lord.
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Man, it feels so good to be back behind the microphone again.
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It feels so good.
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It's been a while.
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Seems like it's been a long time.
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Uh okay, so I think I've got a really, really good message today.
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Uh I really believe this is gonna go out to somebody.
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I believe this is for someone.
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Uh and like the Lord said, him, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
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So anyway, uh I'm talking today out of 2 Chronicles, verse 20, or chapter 20.
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And I want to talk to you about a king.
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A king who made all the right decisions, a king who listened to the Lord, and and everything turned out okay.
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King Jehosaphat, okay, let me go back a little bit.
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So King Jehoshaphat was the king of the tribe of Judah.
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Now we know Judah was a ancestral tribe, a prominent tribe of Israel, one of the twelve, right?
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One of the twelve tribes of Israel.
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And he it the Judah was ex it descended from Jacob's fourth son, Judah, right?
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So uh of course they they became the southern kingdom of Judah.
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You know, when uh when God gave the Israelite nation the promised land, each one of these twelve tribes got their own little piece of land when they got there, right?
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Now, of course, this is in the uh Old Testament, and you guys go and read it and find all that out.
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I'm probably there's probably a lot I'm not even saying.
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There's a lot that I'm not even gonna talk about in this chapter because you know what my motto is?
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Go look it up.
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You know what I'm saying?
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Anyway, so um, so according to so according to Chronicles 20, a very massive attack was being planned against the nation of Judah.
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The neighboring nations, which is Moab, the Moab, the Moabites, Amon, which is the Ammonites, Ammonites, and I probably hope Lord forgive me if I'm not saying those right.
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And then, of course, the the uh uh the nation of Seir, Seir, Mount Seir, something like that.
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Hope I'm saying that right.
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Anyway, so uh they joined forces and they were going to come against Judah in a surprise invasion.
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Now there were several reasons.
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I've read up and I I've read up on this, and there were several reasons why they were going to come against Judah.
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One, they wanted to seize the promised land.
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They they wanted to drive Judah out and they wanted to claim the promised land.
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They they wanted to claim the land there.
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Judah, they also they wanted Judah had grown highly prosperous under King Jehoshaphat's rule.
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And so they also wanted the its vast wealth and its its resources.
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And another thing, the reason they wanted to attack Judah was because at that time, when when when these twelve tribes got into the promised land and they split their little, they split their group up, uh, Judah became weak.
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They were weak.
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And so these these these three places, these three, three neighboring nations here, uh, decided that they were going to have a surprise attack.
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So in Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat was facing something that he couldn't fix.
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The army was coming and going to come against him.
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And instead of pretending that everything was going to be okay, that everything was fine, he went straight to God.
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And you know, sometimes after he did that, something really incredible happened.
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God told them that they didn't have to fight this battle themselves.
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In 2 Chronicles 20, verse 15, God said, the battle is not yours, but God's.
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And before they ever saw victory, uh, well, before they ever saw victory, they praised God.
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And see, sometimes people, this is what this is about, is faith, having faith, seeking God, and above any and all, praising his name.
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And so before they even saw victory, they praised God.
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And sometimes you you have to praise God before you get the answer.
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See, praise isn't only for ever when everything's going right.
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Praise isn't when everything's all hunky dory.
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That's not all it is.
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Praise is for the middle of the battle.
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Praise is when you're scared.
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Praise is when you don't understand.
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Praise is when you don't know what tomorrow holds.
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Praise is when the enemy is bigger than you.
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And that's what King Jehosaphat was going through right now.
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He knew the enemy was coming, and he knew there was no way they were going to win that battle.
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So let me ask you this.
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What would you do?
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What do you do when the battle right in front of you is bigger than the strength inside of you?
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What do you do when you've prayed uh but but you still don't see the answer?
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What do you do when you've cried until you don't have any tears left?
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What do you do?
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Well, I'm going to tell you today, people, I'm going to tell you what the Bible says, too.
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Just praise his name.
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So in 2 Chronicles 20, Joseph gets word that this multitude's coming.
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And he was scared.
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You know, the the word of God tells us in verse 3 that he was scared.
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The Bible tells us he was afraid.
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He was afraid, but you know what?
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He still sought the Lord.
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And that's very important.
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That you see, faith doesn't mean that you never get afraid.
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Faith means that you know where to go when you do get afraid.
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Joseph wasn't imagining things.
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The enemy was coming.
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The enemy was coming, and it was going to be a problem.
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This wasn't a little problem, this was a big problem.
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And his first response wasn't to panic, it was to pray and seek God.
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So, friends, ask yourself today, what what is it that you're doing when your battle is bigger than you are?
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What is it that you do when you look at the situation in front of you and you think, wow, there's no way that I am going to win this battle?
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Maybe some of you listening right now know exactly what I'm thinking, what I'm talking about.
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Maybe you're facing a battle in your family, or or maybe you're facing fear or loneliness.
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Maybe you're waiting on an answer from God.
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Maybe you're worrying about a diagnosis.
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And you're wondering what to do.
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Well, see, King Jehosaphat found himself facing a battle that he knew he couldn't win.
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And God didn't tell him to gather a bigger army, or God didn't say come up with a bigger strategy.
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God didn't tell him to panic.
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God told him to stand still and trust him.
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Now, like I said, verse 3 tells us that Jehoshaphat feared, and I love it that the word of God tells us that.
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I love it that the word of God was honest and told us about that.
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He was a big mighty man.
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He he was a good man.
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He he you know he made Judah prosper.
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But the Bible says he feared.
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And it said it's set, the Bible says, and he set himself to speak, to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast all throughout Judah.
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You know, they seeked the Lord.
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And I love it that the word tells us this.
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Because sometimes we think that having faith means that we're never afraid.
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I believe that.
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But gee, listen to me.
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Jehoshaphat was afraid.
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But he was still a man of faith.
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You know.
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Being afraid doesn't mean that you don't trust God.
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That's not what it means.
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Being afraid doesn't mean that you don't trust God.
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Being afraid, it means that you're human.
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And God knows that He made you.
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And so the first lesson that I hope you've understood in this part is seeking God with your faith.
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When the battle comes and you see the battle coming, seek God.
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The whole nation, they fasted and they prayed.
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Every one of them.
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When you don't understand what's happening, seek God.
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When you have that fear and you become afraid, seek God.
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And the Bible says King Jehosaphat stood before his people and he prayed.
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And apparently he was it was a very powerful prayer.
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And it's right there in verse chapter 20.
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I hope you go read it.
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He basically said, You know what, God, you are our God, and you are powerful, and you rule over everything.
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And he said, You have delivered your people before.
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That's precisely pretty much what he's saying.
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And then Jehosaphat said, We have no might against this great company that cometh against us.
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Neither know we what to do.
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That's what Jehoshaphat said to the Lord.
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And I'm sure you guys have been there before, right?
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I know I have.
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Have you been there?
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You know, saying, God, you know what?
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I don't know what to do.
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And this is probably the most honest prayer that any of us could ever pray in our lives.
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You you don't always have to come before God with fancy words, right?
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You just sometimes you have to come in prayer and you just say, Lord, I don't know what to do.
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I'm gonna I'm gonna hold here for just a second because I want to tell you about a prayer that I found on, I found it somewhere and I wrote it down.
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It's on a piece of paper in my Bible.
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And it was labeled called the I don't know prayer.
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And it said, you know what?
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It said that you go before the Lord and you tell the Lord, I don't know, Lord, what tomorrow holds.
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I don't know what decision to make, I don't know which way to turn.
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I don't know how to do with all these emotions, all these feelings that I'm having.
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I don't know what to do with all of that.
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You tell the Lord, I don't know.
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Because that's covering a lot of things.
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But you tell the Lord, I don't know what tomorrow holds.
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And then with every bit of faith that you can muster in yourself, you go into your prayer closet or your prayer spot or wherever you go to do, you're praying and talking to the Lord, and you say, Lord, I don't know.
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But I know you do, and I know you.
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And you give it to the Lord.
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Sometimes the best prayer to ever pray is, I don't know.
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Because he knows your heart.
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And then listen, Jehoshaphat said what I believe is the greatest declaration of faith in this whole chapter.
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Jehoshaphat said, He said, But our eyes are upon thee.
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That's faith.
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He says, I don't know what to do, but my eyes are upon you.
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I don't know how it's gonna work out, but my eyes are upon you.
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And people, that's what we gotta do.
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Maybe we don't see a way, but my eyes are upon you.
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And that's what Jehosaphat and the whole kingdom of Judah was saying to God.
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And that's faith.
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And then when you go on and read on over in there, let me tell you what God says.
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Check this out.
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Listen to what God said back to them.
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God said, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.
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Man, I gotta praise the Lord.
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I gotta say that again.
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God said, Be not afraid, nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude.
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For the battle is not yours, but God's.
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You're trying to fix things that only God can fix, and he's saying today, give it to me.
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Just like he told Jehoshaphat, give it to me.
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God told Judah, you shall not need to fight in this battle.
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Friends, listen to me.
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Can you imagine that?
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Can you imagine that there's an army coming?
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You're outnumbered, you're afraid, you know they're coming from every side, three different nations, three different groups.
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They're gonna come from every side.
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You're gonna be afraid, you're gonna be outnumbered.
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And God says, Woo, praise the Lord, you don't have to fight this one.
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And then God said, Stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord.
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Amen.
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See, you don't have to be doing something every second.
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God said, Stand still.
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See the salvation of the Lord.
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Stop worrying.
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God said, Be still and trust me.
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Watch me.
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I used to have old saying years ago, I used to say, hide and watch.
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Hide and watch.
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God's telling you to stop and be still and watch.
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And that's what he's saying today.
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And somebody needs to hear that.
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And if you're carrying around a load that God never meant for you to carry alone, step back and watch.
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And then this is my favorite part of the whole story.
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My favorite part of the whole story.
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Jehoshaphat didn't wait until the vic after the victory to praise God.
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He bowed his head and the people worshiped.
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And then he did something, listen to this, he did something very, very uh very, very awesome.
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Jehoshaphat appointed singers.
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He appointed singers.
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Not soldiers, not his great army of people.
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When they were getting ready to go to battle, before they went to battle, because like I said, he knew there was no way they were going to win that battle.
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But he appointed soldiers or singers.
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He appointed singers.
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And these singers, he appointed his worship team.
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He sent his praise team in first.
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And they went before the army.
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Not soldiers, not the frontline men, not the ones with the with with all the weapons.
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The worship team.
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Think about that, people.
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Think about that.
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If you're preparing for a battle, now I might put my strongest soldiers in front.
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I uh that would probably be what I would do.
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I'd put but but put the praisers in front.
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He put the praisers in front.
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And God had a different plan.
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He put the praisers in front.
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And they went before the army singing and praying, praising God.
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And this is what they were singing.
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They were singing, praise the Lord for his mercy endureth forever.
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Praise the Lord.
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Praise the Lord.
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Praise His name, people.
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They were praising God for who he was.
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You know what?
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They praised God before they even saw the victory.
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Think about that.
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Think about this.
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Anybody can, anybody can praise God after the healing.
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Anybody can throw their hands up in the air and jump up and down and praise God after their prayers are answered.
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But what about before?
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What about when you're still standing right in the middle of your storm?
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What about when you don't know what tomorrow's going to bring?
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What about, can you still throw your hands up and say, God, I praise you?
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Can you praise him while you're waiting?
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While you're hurting?
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When you don't understand things, when you have questions?
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Can you praise him when you haven't seen the answer yet?
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Because trust me, people, praise isn't something you give God after he blesses you.
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Praise is an act of faith.
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Listen to me, praise is an act of faith.
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When you praise God in the middle of this battle, it's like you're saying, God, I don't know what you're doing, but I know who you are.
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I don't may not know what you're doing, but I know what you're getting ready to do.
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You're getting ready to pull me out of this battle.
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That's what you're doing.
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When you go and you praise God, that's an act of faith.
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But let me pause and make something really clear here, though, before we go any further.
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Praise doesn't mean that the battle isn't real.
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Praise doesn't mean that you pretend everything's okay.
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It doesn't mean that you don't cry, that you don't hurt.
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It doesn't mean that you don't get discouraged or have questions.
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Jehoshaphat was afraid.
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The word of God said so.
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He was afraid, but you know what?
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The battle was real.
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The enemy was real, and they were coming at them, and they were going to come at them hard.
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Their battle was real.
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Friends, your battle today is real.
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My battle is real.
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Our battle is real today, but tell you what, listen to me.
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Our God was more real.
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Their God was more real.
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Amen.
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That's the difference.
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Our God is real, way more real than what our battles are.
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And that's the difference.
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And that's what King Jehoshaphat saw that day.
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See, praise doesn't deny the battle.
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Praise declares that the battle doesn't have the final word.
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That's what it does.
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You can cry and praise, you can hurt and praise.
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You can be afraid and praise.
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I do a lot, I do these quite often, be it, trust me, all three of them.
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Sitting right in my home.
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I do all of them, but I still praise his name.
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Because you can't look up to the Lord and say, you know what, Lord, that hurts.
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This hurts, but I will still praise you.
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And you can look up to the Lord and say, Lord, maybe I don't understand.
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Maybe I have questions, but I still trust you.
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You can look at the Lord and say, you know what, maybe I don't see the answer to this or a way out of it, but Lord, I will still praise your name.
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Let's go back to 2 Chronicles 20, verse 22.
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And watch what God done.
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Just watch.
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And the Bible says, and when they began to sing him to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were to come against Judah.
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And listen at this, people, listen at this.
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When the ch for the children of Amon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Sire, utterly to slay and destroy them, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Sire, each one helped to destroy the other.
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Amen.
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Who else?
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Who else could made these three, these three nations, who else could have made these three groups of people turn on one another and kill one another?
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Only God.
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Only the God of Israel.
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Amen.
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Did you see that?
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Did you understand what he did here?
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They began to sing and praise and God moved.
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They praised and God fought.
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They worshiped and God worked.
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They trusted and God delivered.
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The enemy that they knew they couldn't defeat.
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God took care of it.
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To the point of when Judah arrived at the place where the battle was going to be, they found that God had already taken care of the enemy.
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They didn't even have to fight.
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But they gathered the spoil.
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Listen to me, verse 25 says, And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away.
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They they were three days in gathering of the spoil.
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It was so much.
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Look at what God done.
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Praise the Lord, look at what he done.
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Not only fought the battle, not only made them all turn around and kill one another, but now God supplied them with the riches and precious jewels.
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So much that it took them three days to carry it.
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Wow.
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Wow.
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People, can you imagine walking into a battle that you thought you were going to have to fight and finding out that God had already taken care of it?
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Praise the Lord.
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My friends, listen to me today.
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What battles are you facing today?
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Maybe you got something going on in your mind.
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Maybe you're fighting fear about your future.
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Maybe you're carrying grief, or maybe you're worried about a loved one.
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Maybe you're worrying about a child of marriage, or maybe you're just waiting on the door to open.
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Are you facing a situation and you honestly don't know what to do?
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And people listen to me today.
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Brothers and sisters, I want you to remember King Jehoshaphat's words.
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We have no might, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee.
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My friends, today, keep your eyes on Jesus.
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You may not see an answer, but keep your eyes on him.
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No matter what.
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Don't let the battle steal your praise.
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See the enemy the enemy would like nothing no better.
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Nothing more than to make you so focused on that battle that you forget your God.
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Because he is still God.
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He is faithful.
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He's worthy.
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He is still on the throne.
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And friends, he is still deserving of your praise.
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Every praise.
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Every praise is to her God.
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I love that song.
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And maybe, maybe you can't praise him, but maybe you're thinking about your circumstances right now.
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I don't know.
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But you know what?
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Praise him for who he is.
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Friends, he's holy.
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He forgave you.
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He never left you.
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He was there when nobody else was.
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And he made a way when you couldn't see a way.
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Just praise his name.
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Think about Judah.
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They praised before they saw the victory.
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And let me ask you this.
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What if your praise today is preparing your heart for what God's going to do tomorrow?
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Think about that.
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What if instead of spending the night worrying about something you can't control, you spent that time praising the one who can't?
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Friends, listen to me.
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There's somebody out there today who maybe listen to me right now, who is standing in the middle of a battle.
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And you don't know what to do, you don't know where to turn.
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Maybe you've prayed and you've cried and you've asked God for an answer.
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Maybe today you're just tired and discouraged.
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Maybe you're probably wondering if God even hears you.
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Trust me, friends, I assure you He does.
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But what I want you to remember again is King Jehoshaphat's words.
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We have no might.
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Neither do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon thee.
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See, you may not know what to do, but you keep your eyes upon him.
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You may not understand his plan, but keep your eyes on him.
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You may not know or see a way out, but keep your eyes on him.
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And above any and all, people, praise his name.
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Praise him in the morning.
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Praise him in the midnight hour.
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Praise him while you're waiting on the answer.
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Praise him when you get the answer.
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Praise him on the mountain in the valley.
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Praise him when you understand and when you don't understand.
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He's worthy of all praise.
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Just praise his name.
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Just praise his name.
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See, the enemy may be coming, but God's already there.
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Your battle may be big, but your God is bigger.
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The mountain may be high, but your God is higher.
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You lift up your lift up your head and you straighten your shoulders and you say, Lord, I don't know what you're doing.
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I don't know what you're doing, but I trust you.
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You tell the Lord, I don't know how you're gonna get to this.
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I don't know how you're gonna what you're gonna do with it.
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But you tell him, I believe you can.
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You tell him, I don't know when the victory is coming.
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But I'm gonna praise you while I wait.
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Because people listen to me.
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Sometimes the greatest act of faith is simply just standing still, lifting your hands, and just praising his name.
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Just praising his name.
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That's all he asks you to do.
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Praise his name.
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Morning, noon, and night.
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Just praise his name.
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Friends, that's all I have on this.
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And I hope and pray that this has blessed you as much as it's blessed me to bring it to you.
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I hope uh I hope you understand and see where I was going with this.
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I really hope you do.
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Uh, you know, uh, he's worthy of all of our praise.
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All of our praise.
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Morning, noon, and night.
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Every day.
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He's worthy.
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So please, please go read that chapter in 2 Chronicles 20.
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It's a beautiful, awesome story.
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I love it.
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I believe it'll open up your eyes.
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Anyway, thank you so much for listening.
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God bless everybody.
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And I'm going to end with a prayer.
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Lord our Father, God in heaven, we come to you today with hearts that need you.
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Because I know someone listening right now is carrying a battle.
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They're carrying a battle that feels too big for them.
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I know it, I feel it.
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They don't know where to go or what to do or where to turn.
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But Jesus, the Father, just like Jehoshaphat said, our eyes are upon you.
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Lord, please help these people.
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Help me, all these people, help us to stop trying to fight the battle that belongs to you.
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Help us to trust you when we can't see the answer.
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Help us to praise you before the victory.
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Let us never forget that you to give you all the glory.
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Lord, please help us, everybody, to understand that maybe they don't know what tomorrow holds.
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But they know who holds tomorrow.
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We thank you for these words and I ask you to let these words go, Lord, toward the hearts that need to hear it.
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And the people that need to grasp it and need to listen to it and need to let it get into their hearts and penetrate.
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Lord, bless all these people.
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Because you said your word won't come back, board, and we believe that.
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We thank you for everything.
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We praise you and honor you.
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We praise you and honor you today.
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In Jesus' holy name.
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Amen.
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Thank you.
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Stay on Jesus.
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Hello.
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You've been listening to Bible Talk with Sister Devon.
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Hey, go visit our website at HOR421 Show.buscrowd.com.
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For all your latest content and information.
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Contact information you can email at HOR421 Ministries at gmail.com.
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You've been listening to Bible Talk.
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Stay on Jesus.
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So I woke up this morning with my mind.
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Stay on Jesus.