Our Most Powerful Arsenal

Good evening, Welcome to Voice in the Wilderness. I'm Don Noble of Peerhart

Ministries, and I welcome you today with exceedingly abundantly and overflowing joy. Well,

I have two weeks to remind you of some wonderful events that we have

coming up. I'm very excited to share with you that we are having our

first annual Truth and Justice Forum, so mark that on your calendar. That

is Tuesday, April the thirtieth, starting at six pm at the White Palace,

Wheeling Park. From six to seven, we have or d'eures and beverages,

and we have Nate Cain, a wonderful Christian man who's running for the

second Congressional district for our state in West Virginia, who's going to be sharing

a little bit with us. He's an ex FBI whistle lower. He has

a fascinating testimony which I've heard and it's quite extensive. At seven pm,

we have our keynote speaker, Bill Fetter, and Bill is a nationally known

and best selling author speaker. He has a wonderful thing that he puts in

an email called the American Minute. He has a program on Christian television and

I can tell you I've heard Bill in person before. He is extraordinary.

His mind is so full of facts it's hard to believe. So you don't

want to miss that. And at eight o'clock we're going to have a discussion

with a local attorney. Tom Buck is going to talk with Bill Fetter about

several topics. So it's going to be a great evening. Please come out

and join us. That's Tuesday, April thirtieth, at six pm. On

Thursday, National Day of Prayer, which is May the second, we are

having our worship in prayer time at Independence Hall that's on Market Street in Wheeling

downtown, Wheeling, West Virginia. We start promptly at six thirty and finish

around eight o'clock at night. I have Christy and Ed Moore are going to

be leading worship. I'm very excited about that because they're very anointed ministers and

so you enjoy that. And of course I'm doing something a little new.

I guess you would call it new in that the Lord told me to focus

the prayer on children and family. So I have two families with many,

many children, and we are going to listen to their testimony about doing These

are families that do evening devotions with the entire family every evening prayer scripture.

You know, it's it's it reminds me of leave it to Beaver kind of

like just you know, like who does that? Who does that today?

Well, they do and they have a testimony about the importance of that.

So we've got to pray for family and children. So I hope you turn

out for that event. That's at six thirty pm Thursday, May, second

National Day of Prayer. Okay, Tonight we are going to talk about our

most powerful arsenal. Granted, the United States has always had the reputation of

being the greatest military power in the world, and our military arsenal really has

been above and beyond anything the nations of the world have ever seen from our

fighter jets like the stealth bomber F one point seventeen, which is also called

the Nighthawk, which was designed actually designed to evade detection by radar and carries

laser guided bombs and radar seeking or infrared seeking missiles. We have that in

our arsenal military arsenal. We have nuclear submarines, we have battleships nuclear powered

like the USS Enterprise, which was the largest American destroyer, but it has

been decommissioned. It that destroyer fifty five years of service. That's a long

time. And now we have the USS Zumwalt, which is extremely sophisticated.

I mean, it's so sophisticated that it maintains its stealth, making this destroyer,

which is visually imposing. I would encourage you to go google it the

USS Zumwalt zum Walt, because it's really weird looking. But it's difficult to

find whether it's close to the shore or whether it's far out to sea.

So it has that same stealth capability as the F one seventeen. The cutting

edge technologies have made this ship an extraordinary piece of fighting power. Although our

military capability is beyond man's wildest dreams, there is yet an arsenal more powerful

than all of the might and power of our country's land, air, and

sea technologies. And you may be wondering what that might be. Well,

it's prayer, it's praise, and it's God's word. Now to the average

person, that would seem really laughable when you're comparing prayer, praise, and

God's Word to the greatest military strength in the world. Yeah, I know,

It sounds laughable, but it's not because the spiritual person realizes it's obvious

to the spiritual person that these three things, prayer, praise, and God's

word are way more powerful than anything in the natural. You see, there

have been many, many scenarios that have been played over and over and over

again in the Old Testament prove that. One of the most impactful stories is

how God unleashed ten different plagues to demonstrate his power to Pharaoh and Egypt.

Now you all probably have seen Charlton Heston in the Ten Commandments. I mean,

that was like a classic movie growing up for most of us, so

we probably have all seen that. But it shows us two things. It

shows us the power of prayer. Moses, you know, is going to

meet Pharaoh on God's behalf. He you know, he's God's man. He's

God's man for the hour that Moses and his brother Aaron, and when Pharaoh

refuses to let the Israelites go, then he unleashes ten different plagues to demonstrate

his power. So there was the plague of Blood where the Nile River was

changed into blood, and the smell was the stench was just overwhelming because everything

in the river died, All the fish, all anything living alive in the

river died. Then there was the plague of frogs. And the frogs were

everywhere. They were in the people's homes, in the land, in the

forest, and the water. I mean they were everywhere. And what they

did is they died, and they left a horrible stench. These were followed

by the plague of gnats, the plague of flies, the plague on livestock,

the plague of boils, the plague of hail, which beat down everything,

every tree, everything growing in the fields, including people and animals.

There was the plague of locusts, the plague of darkness, and lastly the

final plague, the plague on the First Born, which eventually gave the Israelites

the ability to leave Egypt. It's obvious that there is no power more powerful

than God. Now to you and I we understand that, we get it.

But to the average person today who doesn't know God, doesn't believe in

God, it's a joke. It's laughable. To them. We aren't God,

but we are his children. John one twelve tells us that, and

to us he has given us weapons to fight the darkness of the evil days

we live in I have mentioned multiple times, and I know you know this

well. I guess most people know it, but you know there are still

there are still many people that have their head in the sand. They are

clueless about the evil and the level of wickedness and demon spirits that have been

unleashed on us, not just Americans, the entire world. So how many

times did Moses pray and ask God to stay his hand against the Israelites.

I mean, they were rebellious, idolatrous, and God was just gonna wipe

them out. And Moses went to God and said, you know, please,

you know, if you wipe out the people, then what are they

going to think of you? So God heard moses prayer and so the people

weren't killed. In the story of Jonah, who initially refused to go to

Nineveh, and you know that story, how he got caught in the big

fish, he did go to the Assyrians and preach to them. And what

did they do? They repented, They proclaimed a fast, and they prayed,

and even the king, even the king arose from his throne and covered

himself with sackcloth and ashes. He made sure no one, not even the

beasts of the field, or to eat or drink water. And they were

all to be covered with sackcloth, including the beasts of the field. And

what happened. God heard their prayers and he relented from the disaster that he

said he would bring upon them. There were one hundred and twenty thousand people

at that time in Nineveh who were saved from destruction through the power of prayer,

repentance, and fasting. Praise, on the other hand, is also

a weapon in our arsenal. Praise confuses the enemy. Worship and praise breaks

the oppression of the enemy. This mighty weapon, praise is what we use

to help us win spiritual battles and to further God's kingdom. Now, praise,

that word comes from the Latin word pretium, meaning price, prize.

The word prize is a variation of that word, and originally it meant to

set a great price upon So when we praise God God, we are placing

a great value on him and his acts. Now let's look at I'm going

to look at Deuteronomy here, chapter seven and verse six, and it says

this. It says, for you are a holy people to the Lords your

God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for himself,

a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

So, as believers in Christ, we have been chosen by God. We're

a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of this earth. Right

now, we're a special treasure to him. So He has given us ways

to fight the battles that we face. If we look at Exodus chapter nineteen,

verse five, it says, now, therefore, if you will indeed

obey my voice. This is God speaking through Moses. If you will indeed

obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special special

treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine, and

you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. So

we can see from those two scriptures that we have a special place with God.

Praising God is commune what you know, like, what does that mean?

Praising God is communicating who God is, what he has done, and

what he can do. Praise number one, Praise honors God. In Luke

chapter eleven, Jesus taught us to begin prayer with praise in order to honor

and glorify God. Psalm twenty nine, Verses one and two tell us to

give God the glory that is due him. So praise helps us to focus

on God and who he is and his greatness. In Luke eleven two,

Jesus said to them, when you pray, say Father, how would be

thy name? Your kingdom? Come? In Psalm twenty nine one and two,

it says, ascribe to the Lord, O, Sons of the Mighty.

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory

do his name, Wish up the Lord in holy array. Number two.

Praise helps us focus on God. Psalm twenty two three says that God inhabits

the praises of his people. As we praise God, we raise up a

throne or a structure for him to fill. Praise sensitizes us to God's presence

and helps us take our focus off of ourselves and onto Him, so Psalm

twenty two to three. But thou art holy, O, Thou that inhabits

inhabits the praises of Israel. This is from Second Chronicles five thirteen. It

says in unison, when the trumpetears and the singers were to make themselves heard

with one voice, to praise and to glorify the Lord. And when they

lifted up their voice accompanied by trumpets and symbols and instruments of music. And

when when they praise the Lord, saying he indeed is good, for his

loving kindness is everlasting. Then then the house, the house of the Lord,

was filled with a cloud praise brought about the glory. The glory came

because they were all in one accord, worshiping with instruments, with their voices,

praising God and saying he indeed is good, for his loving kindness is

ever lasting. One of the things that can happen is when you are alone

and you spend time just praising and worshiping and dancing before the Lord, the

glory can come and you can be absolutely overwhelmed, and I mean overwhelmed by

his presence. Number Three, Praise helps us to know God. It helps

us to focus on his character and his attributes. As we praise him,

we are rehearsing our knowledge of Him, and we come to know Him as

what we praise him to be. So one important thing that you should know

is the names of God. Jehovah Nissi. God is my banner, Jehovah

Sika knew. God is my righteousness, Jehovah, Jirah, my Provider,

Jehovah, Rafha, my healer. When you know the names of God,

you understand the attributes of God, and it makes you know God because that

shows you who he is. You're actually proclaiming his nature and character. Number

four Praise breaks the enemy's oppression. This is this is one of my favorite

stories. In Acts chapter sixteen, twenty five and twenty six, Paul and

Silas. You know Paul and Silas, they were great buds. They were

praising God. They were in prison. It was the midnight hour, and

the doors in the prison were then opened after their little praise session, and

they all escaped. So praise, get this. Praise will lift you up

out of oppression, and praising God also helps us out of our self centered

ways. This is what it says in Acts sixteen twenty five through twenty six.

Oh, I love this. It says. But about midnight, Paul

and Silas were praying. So they were doing two things. They were praying,

and they were singing hymns worshiping God, singing hymns of praise to God,

and the prisoners all heard them, and suddenly there came a great earthquake,

so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken, and immediately all

the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. Now, a person who

doesn't know God would say, well, you know it was that earthquake,

that earthquake that broke their chains and you know, opened all the doors.

Well, I tend to look at it from the spiritual aspect, and I

believe that supernaturally God did that. And I believe that God allowed the earthquakes

so that it would help to bust the doors open and supernaturally unfastened the chains

that everybody had. Praise is probably now think about the fact that they are

in prison, and I mean you're talking. This isn't just like, oh,

how nice little prison. Now, this is these are horrid conditions.

Their feet and their hand are in stocks, so they're chained up. Now

are they boohooing and are they complaining? Uh no, No, they're praying

and singing hymns and hallelujah, God did a great miracle. Number five,

Praise confuses the enemy and for verses of evil. So praise is a very

intense spiritual weapon. The power of praise in battles is shown in Second Chronicles

twenty Psalm A two and Psalm one forty nine, five and nine. Praise

helps us to focus on God and realize our need for Him, and thus

turn the battle over to Him. We give the battle to Him. When

we do this, God will bring the victory. Because what I mean,

you and I don't have the power to do anything. It's God. So

praise and prayer and dependence on God are great weapons in spiritual warfare. This

is Second Chronicles twenty. That's such a great story. It says. Now

it came about that after this that the sons of Moab and the sons of

Amen, together with some of the mo came to make war against Jehosephat.

Then some came and reported to Jehosaphat, saying, a great multitude is coming

against you from beyond the sea out of a ram and behold they are in

Hazon tamorrow. Jo Jehosephat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord

and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to seek help

from the Lord. They even came from all the cities of Judah to seek

the Lord. Our God, Oh our God, will you not judge them?

For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us,

Nor do we know what to do. But our eyes are on you.

Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And King Jehosaphat thus says

the Lord to you, do not fear or be dismayed because of this great

multitude, for the battle is not yours but gods. And when he had

consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the Lord and those

who praised him in holy attire. And as they went out before the army

and said, give thanks to the Lord, for his loving kindness is everlasting.

And when they began singing and praising, the Lord said, ambushes against

the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah.

So they were routed. So they were routed, hallelujah. So King

Jehosephat won that battle. And that was that was an easy thing. He

just sent the praisers out before the army. That's an interesting tactic, interesting

military tactic. I like it. Psalm one forty nine, verse six says,

let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two

edged so in their hand. So you see, when you're in a spiritual

battle and you're up against it, you use praise as a weapon, because

the high praises that are in your mouth are like a two edged sword in

your in your hand. And lastly, the last piece of weaponry in our

arsenal is the word of God. Ephesian six seventeen tells us that God's word

is the sword of the spirit. So we carry that power with us,

and we carry it in us. We should all be packing that sword at

our side. It can take down kingdoms, it can take take down nations.

It took down the Berlin Wall. Speak God's word over every situation you

face. It's your sword. Look at Psalm one, p. Nineteen,

Verses forty one through fifty six. The psalmist writes, let your mercies come

also to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your word. So

shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me. For I trust in

your word, and take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth.

For I have hoped in your ordinances. So shall I keep your law

continually forever and ever. And I will walk at liberty, for I seek

your precepts. I will speak of your testimonies also before kings, and I

will not be ashamed, and I will delight myself in your commandments, which

I love. My hands also I will lift up to your commandments which I

love, and I will meditate on your statutes. Remember the word to your

servant, upon which you have caused me to hope. This is my comfort

in my affliction, for your word has given me life. The proud have

me in great derision. Yet I do not turn aside from your law.

I remembered your judgments of old, O Lord, and have comforted myself.

Indignation has taken hold of me because of the wicked who forsake your law.

But your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. I

remember your name in the night, O Lord, and I keep your law.

This has become mine because I kept your precepts. There is so much

power in God's word, Folks. I just want to say it's time that

we realize the powerful arsenal that we carry that sword at our side, the

word of God, praise in our mouth and prayer unto our God. There

is nothing greater, there is nothing more powerful. We are loaded for bear.

We've got it all and we should always be victorious. There is no

reason why we should ever be defeated. Jesus defeated the devil on the cross,

hallelujah. He defeated death, hell, and the grave. He defeated

everything for us, and we carry the greatest strength in the whole entire world.

Amen. Well, this is down, noble. You can go to

www dot pure r dot today and listen to this podcast again. You can

download the iHeartRadio app, go to Pure Heart Ministries podcast and listen twenty four

to seven. You can email me Dawn at pureheart dot Today all lower case

letters Dawn at pureheart dot Today. I really appreciate your financial help. Please

consider sending a check to Pure Heart Ministries PO Box eighty five, Valley Grove,

West Virginia, two six o six Oh. This is a very expensive

secular station to be on. Thank you for your prayers and boy, I

really look forward to being with you next week. This is don Neble saying

shaloam shalloam, Peace be unto you.