Turning Point Ministries

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There are seasons where praise flows like a river, and then there are seasons where praise feels like a battle.

There are moments when the song comes easy, but there are also moments when your soul feels heavy, your spirit feels pressed, and your mouth can barely form the words, “Hallelujah.”

Yet it is in those very moments that you must rise up and command your soul to praise.

David said in Psalm 103, “Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name.”

David was not speaking from a place of ease.

He was speaking to his own soul.

He understood that sometimes your spirit must take authority over your emotions.

Sometimes your flesh will resist worship.
Sometimes pain will try to silence your praise. Sometimes grief will try to close your mouth.

But there is a holy determination that rises up in the believer that says, “Even if I have to crawl to the altar, I will still bless the Lord.”

There is a kind of praise that costs something.

Anybody can praise when the answer comes.

Anybody can worship when the breakthrough has already arrived.

But heaven responds to the sacrifice of praise. Heaven responds when tears are streaming down your face and yet your hands still begin to lift.

Heaven responds when your voice shakes but you still whisper the name of Jesus.

Heaven responds when your heart is breaking and yet you still declare, “God, You are worthy.”

The enemy fears a believer who praises in pain because painful praise carries power.

The worship that is born in suffering tears down strongholds.

The praise that rises out of warfare shifts atmospheres.

The enemy does not know what to do with someone who refuses to become silent in the fire.

Some of you are waiting to “feel” praise before you offer it, but breakthrough often comes after obedience.

Paul and Silas did not praise after the prison doors opened.

They praised while their backs were bleeding.

They praised while chains were still on their hands.

They praised while sitting in darkness.

And their praise shook the foundation of the prison.

There are earthquakes attached to sacrificial worship.

You may not have the strength to dance right now.

You may not have the energy to shout right now.

But if all you can do is whisper “Jesus,” let that whisper become your offering.

If all you can do is lift trembling hands, let those trembling hands become your altar.

Some of the most powerful praise you will ever offer is the praise that had to fight its way out of you.

Psalm 22:3 says that God inhabits the praises of His people.

He enthrones Himself upon praise.

That means when praise rises, His presence manifests.

And when His presence manifests, everything that He is begins to invade your situation.

Peace steps into chaos.
Strength steps into weakness.
Freedom steps into bo***ge.
Light steps into darkness.
Healing steps into brokenness.

Praise is not just a song.

Praise is an invitation for the King to enter the room.

Mary broke open the alabaster jar and the fragrance filled the house.

Worship that costs you something always releases fragrance.

Cheap praise rarely shifts atmospheres, but costly worship fills rooms with glory.

When you break before Him, when pride shatters, when self preservation breaks open, the fragrance of surrender begins to rise to heaven.

So command your soul to praise.

Praise when you feel abandoned.
Praise when prayers seem unanswered.
Praise when tears are your language.
Praise when the battle is long.
Praise when your heart feels exhausted.

Because there is a breakthrough hidden inside your sacrifice.

And I hear the Spirit saying, “do not let your pain silence your praise.”

Open your mouth again.

Lift your hands again.

Build the altar again.

Because the praise that costs you the most will carry the greatest weight of glory.

Your praise is becoming a weapon.

Your worship is becoming a battering ram against hell.

And as you command your soul to bless the Lord, the atmosphere around you is about to shift with the manifested presence of God.

-Jessica Jecker Simply Jecker