The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coasts and islands be glad. Clouds and total darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and burns up his foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord—at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness; all the peoples see his glory.

Psalm 97

There is a sound I love to hear
It's the sound of the Savior's robe
As He walks into the room where people pray
Where we hear praises He hears faith
Where we hear worship He hears faith

Y’all. The last couple of weeks have been rough. Really rough. Can we all agree on at least that much? There is so much going on, and so much shouting on all sides.

So many people telling us through their posts and speeches and tweets and instas that “silence is violence” and if we don’t say something we are horrible people. And at the same time these same folks are shouting at us to shut up and listen.

Add to that, there are some things going on in my own life that are looming large and weighing me down. Issues that don’t need to be mentioned here, but dang, I could use some prayer y’all!! Truly.

It’s been a really, really rough couple of weeks. I’ve cried more than I’ve laughed. I’ve grieved more than I’ve celebrated. And I’ve yelled and screamed into the silence of my home (or to my television or computer or to God) more than I’ve said in public (or private) to anyone.

Awake my soul and sing
Sing His praise aloud
Sing His praise aloud

My dad fought in Vietnam but he never talked about it. I often wondered why. When I finally asked him, he simply said there were too many people already shouting about it, loudly, and he didn’t want to add to the cacophony of voices. He had his (very strong) opinions, but chose to keep them to himself – unless asked, privately – because there was already too much noise about it in the world. The war was far more complex, he said, than most made it out to be, and his opinions would take someone who was willing to listen and ponder and be open to the complexity. In other words, it would take someone who wasn’t a black-or-white right-or-wrong thinker, someone who understood the world was full of variances of greys, particularly when it comes to situations and people. And war.

I didn’t understand then, but I get it now; I get what my dad meant, and why he kept his opinions about such a controversial issue to himself. Every time I’ve gotten on Social Media over the last couple of weeks there is a cacophony of voices shouting at… I don’t know who… “everyone else” I guess… about all that’s going on, telling anyone and everyone who disagrees that they are horrible people. There’s so much black-or-white-right-or-wrong-all-or-nothing thinking going on!! And no one is actually listening to anyone else.

There is a sound that changes things
The sound of His people on their knees
Oh wake up you slumbering
It's time to worship Him

Here’s the thing, Brothers and Sisters in Jesus: We aren’t going to change things with posts on Facebook, tweets on twitter, or stories on instagram that just shout out our opinions and shout down anyone who disagrees with us. We’re just not. We might get some cool positive strokes from “friends” with the same political bent, or who hold the same opinions we do, but we aren’t going to change anyone else’s mind. And are we really advancing the Kingdom of God when we do this? I don’t think so. Posting a black square for a day, or making some symbol of something our profile picture, may make us feel good for a moment, but it does little to change the world or advance God’s Kingdom.

UNLESS that symbol, that black square, drives us to stop posting, close our computers, get on our knees and pray and worship Jesus.

Awake my soul and sing
Sing His praises loud
Sing His praises loud

Before you go off on me that right now we need action, not prayer (or maybe action with prayer) let me remind you of a couple of the many times prayer and praise accomplished more than any human action could.

In Acts 16 we see that our God delivers individuals who choose to pray and worship Him – while also benefitting all those around them! Paul and Silas were in prison for freeing a woman from a evil spirit. That spirit was profiting a particular man greatly and he was really pissed about losing that profit. So that man had them put in prison.

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose.”

Acts 16:25 – 26

Did you catch that last part? Not just the good guys were freed by God; everyone, even all the criminals in the jail, were freed! Because two men chose to pray and worship.

And in 2 Chronicles 20, we see our God delivers an entire nation (Judah) from a horde of enemies because they chose to praise Him – and not one of them raised a weapon in their own defense.

“The moment they began their shouts and praises, the Lord set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir who came to fight against Judah, and they were defeated. The Ammonites and Moabites turned against the inhabitants of Mount Seir and completely annihilated them. When they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped destroy each other.”

2 Chronicles 20:22 – 23

All these nations had conspired together to take Judah down, and it scared the crap out of the King, Jehoshaphat! His fear drove him to his knees in prayer. Not only that, but he called all of Judah to pray and fast…and they did. And. God. Moved. On their behalf.

There are so many other examples throughout Scripture of God moving, powerfully, mightily, in huge ways and in small ways that make mighty differences in the world! I challenge you to find more and post them in the comments. Let’s encourage each other with how powerful and good and righteous and holy is our God!

And when He moves
And when we pray
Where stood a wall now stands a way
Where every promise is amen

Do you know why these things happened? Because God saw the faith of His people. Where we see His people praying, worshipping, crying out to Him, God sees faith.

Now, not everyone believed He would move – but they most believed He could. And I’ve discovered – at least in my own life – that that is enough for God. When He sees my faith that He can, even when I admit I don’t know if He will, He moves and shows me He will. And, man, that increases my faith! It’s helps my unbelief! Sometimes I don’t even have to believe He can. I just cry out; and He hears faith in that cry. Isn’t that amazing!

Seriously, y’all! Our God is incredible! Marvelous! Awe-inspiring!

When God’s people pray and worship Him, when we admit who we are and focus on who He is — holy, righteous, just, merciful, loving, gracious, patient, slow to anger, all-powerful, all-knowing, always present– when we focus on Him, He does miraculous things!

And when He moves
Make no mistake
The bowels of hell begin to shake
All hail the Lord all hail the King 

Sometimes He tells us to just watch Him work. Wouldn’t that be amazing to see Him work in our country right now!! And sometimes He lets us be a part of the miracle. He sometimes even calls us to be a part of it, pressing in on us and giving us words to speak and actions to take. Oftentimes those are very scary and demand a great deal from us personally. They aren’t what’s popular or cool; they aren’t what the rest of the world is saying or doing — or perhaps it requires us to change, to allow His love to permeate us and transform us rather than someone else. Whatever it is, His call to action is never easy. It requires faith. It requires prayer and praise. Lots of prayer and praise.

I know. I’ve had the great privilege of being called out by God, and man, it’s scary! And it’s hard! But you know what? That’s also when it get’s so exciting because it’s GOD-initiated rather than self-initiated. And God will see it through! As one of my pastors, Dave Buehring, says, “What God initiates, He permeates. What we initiate, we have to sustain.”

When we let God determine our words, our posts, our tweets, our instas, and our actions, He permeates them with His power and causes them to do all He plans for them to do. But we can’t know what those words and actions are if we don’t first go to our knees in prayer and praise.

It is the sound that changes things: us getting on our knees, praying and praising God. I know it’s hard to do right now. So many people shouting and pulling our attention away from God and to a myriad of issues – some very valid, some completely made up – that seem to demand all our time right now.

But right now is the precise time we need to fall on our knees and pray. We need to humble ourselves before our God, let Him search our hearts and show us where we have missed the mark. We need to know what our God thinks of all of this. We need to know what He wants us to do; what He needs us to do. That may mean we remain silent on some things. It may also mean we have to say and/or do hard things that go against the world’s opinions.

And right now is also the precise time we need to fall on our knees in praise to praise the God of the Universe, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the only God who can restore us to sanity! And He will, if we but ask Him. But it’s not going to be an easy, pain-free path. For anyone.

Sing His praises loud, y’all! It is the sound that changes things.

Oh let the King of glory enter in!
Fall down on your knees and worship Him!
Let His praise rise up don't hold it in!

Awake My Soul by Brooke Ligertwood – Hillsong Worship