Praise and worship bring the victory

2 Kings 20

I greet you in the wonderful name of Jesus. May God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord give you grace and peace.
  

What an encouragement when I read 2 Chronicles 20. The following is what I got from this chapter. I make it mine! You can do the same, because God's love, blessing and victory
is for all of us. May God bless you as you read this.

The Lord alone is the God who is in heaven. God is ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. God is powerful and mighty. No one can stand against God!If we are threatened with disaster such as war, disease or famine, we will cry out to God from our misery and God will hear us and save us.(Look at that! We are currently going through a drought in our beautiful country South Africa and in our misery we cry out to God in prayer and He sends the rain! Hallelujah!) 
It is also written in 2 Chronicles 7:14 
 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

Who are the people who carry God's Name? We are! Christians! I know the word refers to the Israelites, but the same goes for us, we are called by His Name! Many Christians persist and live in sin and God wants us to turn our backs on sin. I believe with all my heart the drought is punishment from God on this wicked nation turning their backs on Him. Jesus calls people to repentance. On our knees is where we should be and we must turn from our wicked ways and God will heal our land.  

We do not know what to do, but we look to You for help.

  

This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
 

You will not need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you. Do not be afraid or discouraged. The Lord is with you!”
(The Lord brought to my mind our position in Christ):

For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. 

Ephesians 2: 6-7 
This also reminds me of the armor of God in Ephesians 6: 13-18. 
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm.  Sing to the Lord and praise Him for His holy splendor.  Give thanks to the Lord;  his faithful love endures forever!

When we sing and give praise, the enemy is defeated.We are blessed with the enemy's wealth. We take what is his! I take it spiritually, but like here in this chapter it is literally, so the blessing can spill over to the material!Proverbs 6:31 tells us the thief must restore seven times more what he stole. Satan is a thief! In John 10:10 is written that the thief’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus came that we may have life, and have it to the full! And this is speaking of eternal life. 
The devil has stolen much from us and I'm not talking about material things, but things like broken marriages, discord in families, hatred in our hearts, unforgiveness, sickness. He has to give back sevenfold what he stole from us!Our blessing can also be in the material. Not that all of us will be living in luxury like the "prosperity preachers", no, but enough so that we suffer no lack. 

The following I write from a spiritual perspective. We will stand in the Valley of Blessing and we will praise and thank the Lord. 

We will have peace because God will give us rest on every side. 

At the end there is a warning for us, a lesson to learn. Do not make an alliance with a wicked person. The Lord will destroy your work!  

Let us pray:

God our Father, we thank You for Your word which is so encouraging and teaches us so much. Thank you for your love Abba, that through Jesus Christ you give us life in abundance. Thanks for the authority we have in Jesus Christ. You have conquered the enemy and seated us in heavenly places with Jesus Christ. Thank you, my God for your tremendous grace and love that you showed us through Jesus. Bless your Holy Name Lord.In Jesus' Holy Name we pray. 

Amen.