Intercessory Prayer - Praise and Thanksgiving

 

Psalm 92:1 - It is good to give thanks to the Lord And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High God!

 

In all of Israel's Biblical stories of warfare, the tribe of Judah led their army into battle with shouts of praise and thanksgiving. The very name "Judah" in itself means "praise" which made it divinely appropriate for that tribe to lead Israel's army and prepare the battlefield for the coming military confrontation with the enemy by God and as ordained, the rest of the tribes of Israel.

 

2 Chronicles 20:17 - 21 - Then God said, "You shall not need to fight in this battle; take your positions, stand still, and see the deliverance of the Lord [Who is] with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you....so they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa, As they went out, Jehoshaphat, the king of Israel stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God and you shall be established; believe and remain steadfast to His prophets and you shall prosper. Then he appointed singers to sing to the Lord and praise Him in their holy garments as they went out before the army, saying, Give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!

 

In spiritual warfare the same is true. We are to start off all of our intercessions with praise and thanksgiving for who God is and what He has already done for Israel and praise and thanksgiving for what we believe He will soon be doing for Israel. This prepares the spiritual battlefield by bringing great fear upon Satan and his evil forces who are opposing us.

 

Deuteronomy 11:25 (spiritualized)- No demon shall be able to stand before you; the Lord your God shall lay the fear and the dread of you upon all of them that you shall encounter, as He has said to you.

 

Fear and dismay hit Satan because of our confidence in God to fight for us, to accomplish all of our about-to-be-brought-forth supplications.

 

Psalm 100:4 - Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

 

Praise and thanksgiving to God at the same time also opens wide the gates of heaven and gives us entry into God's courts wherein we can confidently make our supplications before Him.

 

Hebrews 4:16 - Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

 

When we have finished supplicating the Lord for Israel, its people and its adversaries, it is good policy before God to once again praise and thank Him for all that He has done and all that we now believe He will be doing as a result of our supplications.