The Lord says:
"In this time and season, beware of the spirit sent by the enemy to discourage you and pull you down. Take authority and bind it. Focus instead on My power for your breakthrough. For this is the month for your breakthrough. As you enter this new month, don't stop praising! This is a month to praise like never before. Praise your way to your breakthrough and open door. If you have been feeling down recently, praise your way to a new purpose and strength in your life. Never miss this time and season for breakthrough and open door in your life!"
Before we move further, let's go to the definition of 'breakthrough'. This word can be defined as 'an instance of removing any barrier', 'an instance of overcoming any obstruction', or 'an instance of new development after a stalemate'.
Psalm 22:3-5 (NKJV) says, 'But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.'
The word 'enthroned' here is 'inhabitest' in King James Version, or 'yashab' in Hebrew. This word can mean 'to stay, to dwell, to inhabit, to make (His) home, to be King'. In other words, as you praise Him, He makes His home in your situation, and takes His place to be the King over your situation.
The word 'praise' here is 'tehillah' in Hebrew. It is an expression of awe for how great and awesome He is. It means 'to praise with high praises with all your heart and soul, totally focused and given in to Him, giving your highest praise and adoration to Him (for who He is)'.
Have you recently been feeling like you are not good enough? Have you recently been feeling like you are useless and good for nothing? Or have you recently been dealing with low self-esteem problem, loss of confidence, or even loss of purpose in life? It's like there's just no more sense of purpose in your life, and no more sense of direction in your life. And you find yourself having no strength to look ahead in your life.
Take heart, beloved. Focus away from yourself and from all these, and focus on the Lord instead. You know why? When you praise the Lord, you are effectively focusing on Him, and not on your own weaknesses, problems, challenges, regrets, or failures.
As you praise the Lord, you are focusing on His greatness. He is great, and greatly to be praised! After all, He is the Creator of all the universe, the galaxies, the sun, the moon, the stars, and of course, this earth. Let Him take over your situation. There's nothing that's too huge for Him. He is always greater. He is always bigger. He is always stronger. And that's why He is worthy to be praised and extolled!
The devil wants you to wallow in your self-pity. The devil wants you to regret over something that you have done. The devil wants you to stay in bitterness over something that you have lost. In short, the devil will do anything to pull you down and cause you to feel useless and defeated. Don't entertain him. Focus on the Lord instead by praising the Lord and keep praising the Lord! In fact, praise the Lord like never before!
When Paul and Silas were in a seemingly hopeless situation, and seemingly at a 'dead-end' road in the inner prison, what did they do? Acts 16:25 (NKJV) says, 'But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God...' It means they were praising the Lord!
And see what happened next? Acts 16:26 (NKJV) says, 'Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed.'
The unthinkable happened. A miracle happened. Of course, your situation may not be exactly like Paul and Silas' situation. But you know what? To God, all things are possible!
The background of what happened here is that some people were feeling very threatened by Paul and Silas. The masters of those who used the spirit of divination to make profit by fortune-telling were losing their business because of God's work through Paul and Silas. So, they worked out a plan to cause Paul and Silas to be dragged to the authorities, and eventually Paul and Silas were sent to the prison. So, there they were, stuck in the prison, and left in the cold, dark, place.
Now, how did Paul and Silas respond? They didn't wallow in self-pity. They didn't blame anyone. They didn't blame God. But instead, they praised God! Many people would have been tempted to put blame on themselves, on others, or even on God. But instead, they did the opposite. They praised the Lord! And praise they did!
Beloved, maybe you too are in one of those darkest times of your life at the moment, or in your "midnight hour", so to speak. Maybe it's a seemingly 'dead-end' road, a challenging crisis, or a very difficult situation that you are facing right now. Do not lose heart. Like Paul and Silas, you can choose to praise the Lord and keep praising the Lord!
I declare that your 'chains' shall be loosed! I declare that your 'doors' shall be opened! And you too shall see your breakthrough! Just do not limit how God's going to do it!
As for Paul and Silas, if you read further in Acts 16, what was initially a "midnight hour" eventually turned into an occasion of great breakthrough and even testimony of how great God is. Hallelujah! The same it is for you! Believe, and receive by faith!
Prayer:
"O Lord God, You are indeed a great and awesome God. Nothing is impossible to You. We do not want to limit You with our own limited minds. Instead, we choose to praise You. You have spoken this is a month to praise like never before. We enthrone You with our praises. We declare You as King over our lives. We declare that You reign in our situation and circumstances. We declare our breakthrough. We declare our open doors. We declare new purpose for our lives. We declare new strength in our lives. In Jesus' name. Amen."
