The Power of Praise
Including praise in my prayers is not something that comes naturally to me. I tend to begin my prayers by acknowledging God and His greatness, but then quickly move into intercession. After all, there are so many situations that need our prayers! I confess I don’t have an expansive praise language.
In October 2012, I responded to a call from the National Day of Prayer Task Force to travel to Washington, D.C., for three days of prayer. “The Summons” was an invitation to pray on behalf of our nation. The organizers of the event had no idea how many people would show up. Would it be hundreds, or just a handful of people? On the day everyone arrived, it turned out to be exactly 300—a perfect-sized “Gideon’s Army.”
We dispersed throughout the city to pray at key sites. We spent one day praying through several Congressional offices. Other days, we prayerwalked around the Mall and stood in front of the many memorials or significant buildings.
During an afternoon of free time, I sensed God wanted me to pray around the Washington Monument. I wasn’t to stand in front of it—I was to prayerwalk around it eight times. I don’t know why—it’s just what the Lord led me to do.
Across from the Washington Monument is the Ellipse—and then directly beyond that is the White House. Planted right in the center of the Ellipse was a prayer tent, literally in the “backyard” of the White House, outside its protective gates. This was “David’s Tent,” a vision given to Jason Hershey for 40 days of 24/7 worship prior to the 2012 elections (see his article on page 18).
As I stood at the foot of the Washington Monument and prepared to take several long laps around it, I could hear the worship music coming from David’s Tent. I was amazed that I could understand every word of every song. The glories of the Lord clearly blared from the loudspeakers toward me and all the other tourists.
Think about that. I was listening—along with everyone else in a several-block radius—to continuous praise. Non-stop. 24 hours. Forty days. Right outside the White House. Only God could orchestrate such a thing!
In that moment, it was obvious the Lord was not asking me to intercede. He was asking me to worship. And so I did as I walked around the Monument. I sang several songs in unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ who were worshiping in the nearby tent. My heart focused entirely on God’s glorious strength and power as the Overcomer—and not on the desperate needs in our nation.
Heaven Here on Earth
In this issue, you will read from Joseph Winger about how praise has a way of bringing a “little more of heaven” to earth. He explains how he experienced praise as a weapon against darkness—and the difference praise produces in his prayers. Jason Hershey writes about getting so caught up in praise of our glorious Lord that you might actually forget why you started praying in the first place! And Justin Hoeppner adds his personal experience of learning to shift his prayers beyond petitions, supplications, and thanksgiving to pure worship.
I’m still developing my praise language—and I find Scripture and worship songs work as excellent prompts. Perhaps this issue will encourage you, as well, to expand your expressions of prayer to greater praise.
–CAROL MADISON is editor of Prayer Connect.
