Finally, we need to thank God in advance. Imagine standing on a mountaintop looking across a valley toward a mountain on the other side. A big battle is about to take place down below. On one mountain, three enemy nations are ready and waiting to devastate Israel. The Israelites are on your mountain, and their leader Jehoshaphat tells them to put those who sing in the choir at the front. So the army goes marching into battle with the choir on the front line singing praises to God. It doesn’t make sense to put the singers on the front line – they weren’t equipped to fight. But the plan worked. The opposing armies got confused and ended up killing each other. It doesn’t always make sense to us to praise God while we’re in a battle. We can find it challenging to thank Him for the victory before that victory has taken place. When we’re in a tough battle, and it looks like we’re losing, praising and thanking God can seem like the last thing we want to do. But it’s important to praise Him in faith even before the victory takes place. When we thank Him in advance three things happen: 1) Our atmosphere changes. We no longer feel afraid because we have the assurance of God’s presence. 2) Our attitude changes. We begin to believe that there’s nothing impossible for God. That even though our problem is big, our God is bigger. 3) Our approach changes. Instead of speaking words of doubt, we start speaking words of faith. And because our faith honours God, He honours our faith and the battle begins to turn in our favour. We need to keep praising Him until our breakthrough comes.

What Now?

Listen to the song ‘Forever’ by Chris Tomlin. While you’re listening, thank God in advance for the victory in the battle you’ve been thinking about for the last few days.