The Holy Spirit can and will move in an atmosphere of praise and worship. God doesn't want us to take advantage of Him or take him for granted, but in addition to prayers and petition and intercession, there should be prayers of praise and worship. God has desire for fellowship and companionship. That's why you were created. God made man for His own pleasure, so he would have someone with whom to fellowship. He is our Father, for we are born of God, and I'm sure that no earthly parent ever enjoyed the fellowship of his children more than God enjoys the fellowship of His sons and daughters.
In an atmosphere of worship, God will bring blessings, things you may not even have asked for. The word says that were ministering to the Lord; Acts 13:1-4 when the Holy Spirit spoke. Petition is not ministering to the Lord, so they weren't asking God what should Saul and Barnabas do they were just worshipping and adoring the Lord and He blessed them. We need to come together just to minister to the Lord sometimes. Hebrews 13:15 says we need to continually praise God. Even in the midst of dark circumstances, yet not only in the midst of dark circumstances, we need to praise Him. We need to praise God and love Him just because He's God.
B. Praise as Warfare.
You need to praise before the victory comes, in the midst of the battle. You need to know and have confidence in the one you’re praising! †Psalm 8:2 -when Jesus quoted Psalm 8:2 in Matthew 21:16, He replaced the word strength with the word Praise. The joy of the Lord is our strength. So praise then is a source of strength.†
†Acts 16:23-26 -Paul and Silas sang praises.† I think the fact that it was midnight is significant in that midnight is the darkest hour of the day, and when we are physically and spiritually at midnight in our lives, at a dark time, a crisis, is when we too need to praise God. Paul and Silas did this and were delivered. We need to get wisdom about God's word and understanding of it. We need to understand why we pray and praise. We need to mature in the word of truth and we will, as we let the word dwell in us richly in all wisdom and keep praise in our hearts and on our lips. As we understand the word more, we'll have more to praise God about and add more depth to our praises.
We need to understand how to use these weapons of our warfare and we need to be diligent in using them. The more you understand the word of God, the more heartfelt your praise will be and the more powerful this weapon will.Praise as a weapon. Psalm 149: 6-9. Praise is a weapon, dancing before the Lord is a weapon. 2 Chronicles 20:21-22 When Jehoshaphat and Judah went out against the enemy; there were three armies -the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the children of Mt. Seir. They had banded these three armies together and had gone out against Jehoshaphat and Judah. He didn't have the men or the army, from the natural standpoint, to meet them. He called a prayer meeting. They fasted and prayed.
Usually the Spirit of God would move upon certain ones, the prophets, but the Spirit of God moved upon a young man in the congregation this time, and he stood up and prophesied. The Lord told them through His word, not to have any fear, but to go out against him for the battle is the Lords. So, the next morning they went out against the enemy and the bible says they put the singers anointed to sing praises in front. Just get a picture of this; going out against three armies, that had banded together against the people of God. Trained soldiers with swords, javelins, and spears went out that day; yet right up front to lead the parade, so to speak, Jehoshaphat didn't have a man there with a sword or shield or spear or any armor on, only those anointed to sing and praise the Lord.
Now notice what they did, they sang, and praised. Who? What? The Lord God Almighty, they ministered to the Lord. They sang and praised the Lord. They sang praises to God as Paul and Silas did. Here they sang praises or sang and praised the Lord. Here is what they said, Praise the Lord. That is what they said, that was their praise. Evidently, they just marched along and sang “praise the Lord for His mercy endureth forever.”
Let's look at the 22nd verse and see what happened as a result of this prayer of worship. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambush against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten; the bible says they were self-slaughtered. Imagine that they whipped themselves. When they began to sing and to praise God did something! When they sang and praised and trusted God, there came a manifestation of God's power just like in Acts with Paul and Silas!
Standing on the Word should always be accompanied by praise. Ephesians 6:17 -literal translation (amplified) the sword the Spirit wields. As we stand on the Word in Praise, the spirit of the Lord wields His Sword on our behalf. Hebrews 4:12 -the Word is the Sword. Revelation 1:16 Jesus -out of His mouth proceeds a sharp two edged sword; what is it! The Word! Out of our mouths should precede the same sword, when we speak the Word and Praise the Lord. Philippians 1:28 (amplified) says, “Praise the Lord in all things.” Let the enemy know you are not moved. Let God know you trust in Him. Sing forth praises at midnight fearless, constant, and steadfast, with joy in your heart for your Lord. Sing continual praises daily in good times and in bad. For He is Worthy!