LACE UP - Your Shoutin’ Shoes
PRAISE WINS BATTLES BEFORE THEY START. There is POWER in your PRAISE!
2 Chronicles 20:20 -25
20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.
22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
WHEN YOU PRAISE, THINGS ARE MOVING BEHIND THE SCENES.
PRIASE does not just move you — it confuses the enemy!
Through praise, God transfers that confusion to the enemy’s camp.Priase does not just turn battles into victories — it turns battles into blessings!
Praise is not about how polished you sound — it is about how surrendered your heart is.
PRAISE protects you from attacks.
In a fortified city the walls might be strong, but without gates, how protected is it?
Isaiah 60:18
18 “You shall call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.”
Priase is the gateway where Heaven invades earth.
The gates of Heaven made of Pearls.
Pearls are formed through
- When you praise through your pain…
- When you praise through your difficulty…
- When you praise through your battle…
YOU ARE OPENING THE GATE OF HEAVEN TO RULE TO AGAINST ANYTHING COMING AGAINST YOU!
The gate is where two kingdoms collide.
When you worship — no matter what darkness meant for you — a gate of Heaven shows up, and everything changes.
OUR BATTLE SHOES = “POINTE SHOES”
When a ballerina first puts on pointe shoes, they do not feel natural.
- They are stiff. They are uncomfortable.
They have to be broken in. BREAKING IN POINTE SHOES TAKES TIME.
No one put pointe shoes on and they automatically worked smoothly.
Part of the shoe = the shank is the stiff part of the shoe that provides support to the arch of the foot. Some dancers use a hairdryer to warm it so that they can make it more flexible.
1. PRAISE
WE NEED TO BE QUICK TO PRAISE!
Psalm 103:1
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
- Soul = Mind, Will and EMOTIONS!
IT IS IN THE HEAT OF A MOMENT - THAT OUR PRAISE GETS POWERFUL!
That is when we have to start with a Hallelujah anyway.
It is forgetfulness that causes our feet to fail!
It is not that God has not been faithful — it is that we fail to remember!
The enemy wants you to be so overwhelmed by what is in front of you that you forget what is behind you…
- How He provided.
- How He healed.
- How He restored.
- How He made a way.
Deuteronomy 8:11
11 “Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God…”
- When life is hard, we doubt because we forget what God has already done.
- When life is good, we get prideful because we forget Who got us here.
AND WE TAKE OFF OUR PRAISE SHOES!
David’s list of rememberances.
Psalm 103:3 - 4
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
When you feel weak, sometimes you have to start reminding yourself:
✔️ He forgave me.
✔️ He healed me.
✔️ He saved me from things I did not even know were coming.
✔️ He crowned me with mercy.
2. PRAISE
- PRESSURE PUSHES - The world and your flesh tells you you should collapse.
- WORSHIP STRETCHES - Worship tells you to expand!
Acts 16:25 - 26
25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.
The pressure of their
When you worship under pressure, something has to move.
When you worship in tight spaces, something has to break.
Instead of looking at the issue from every angle, you just need to:
❌ Close your eyes
🔥 Lift your hands
🙌 And lift your worship!
HALLELUJAH ANYWAY!
IN EXTREME PRESSURE YOUR PRAISE
DOES NOT RELEVE THE PRESSURE ~ IT RELEASES THE PRESSURE!
Being quick to worship - changes the pressure into power!
3. YOU HAVE GOT TO
The BOX is what makes or breaks a ballerina.
In every pointe shoe, at the very tip, there is something called the box — a hard, flat structure that supports the dancer’s weight when they rise to the tips of their toes.
The
- It is the place where the pain kicks in.
- It is the place where most dancers quit.
- It is the place where a dancer has to decide — am I going to give up, or am I going to rise?
POWERFUL PRAISE happens at the breaking point.
The box you have to break is the one in your
The box often represents our thinking, the things that try to contain us:
- limitations
- doubts
- fears
If the enemy can keep you trapped in the box of your mind, he can keep you from praising freely!
Praise is not based on
John 12:3 - 5
3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him,
5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
John 11:23 - 29
23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.
THE THING: HALLELUJAH ANYWAY! Praise HIM anyway!!!
The only chance we will EVER have in ALL OF ETERNITY to worship Him in pain, in grief, in uncertainty, IS RIGHT NOW. This is it! This is our one chance!
Let’s NOT waste our pain — let’s use it to worship!
That is when worship costs the most!
v. 38 - 44 NIV
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
JESUS BROKE HIM OUT OF THE BOX!!!
THE GREATER THE PAIN, THE MORE INTENTIONAL MY WORSHIP.
WE HAVE GOT TO BREAK THROUGH THE BOX of our soul….
Psalm 43:5
5 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”
WHAT BOX ARE YOU IN?
What is the box that is holding back your worship?
- Fear of what people will think?
- Worry about looking foolish?
- Disappointment from the past?
HE IS WORTHY OF OUR WORSHIP!
Worship is WORTH-SHIP — declaring, “Jesus, You are WORTH IT ALL!”
- He gave me strength!
(Psalm 28:7 - “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me.”) - He gave me hope!
(Romans 15:13 - “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him.”) - He saw me through my darkest moments!
(Isaiah 41:10 - “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.”)
When we think about all He has done — we cannot stay in our box!
It’s time to rise!
It’s time to step out!
It’s time to worship like never before!
LET US LIFT UP OUR WORSHIP RIGHT NOW!