As a believer, there is no place in the Bible that exempts you from experiencing pressure.  I know some people don’t like to hear that, but it is simply the truth.  1 Peter 5:8 tells us that we have an adversary in Satan.  John 10:10 tells us that Satan is the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy.   1 Peter 4:12 says, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.”  When we are experiencing pressure we should not be surprised by it.  It is not an unheard of occurrence for a believer to experience pressure.  I think some people get the idea that if they are saved and living by faith and walking in God’s Word that they should never encounter a pressured situation.  Psalm 34:19 says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord will deliver them out of them all.”  The righteous will experience affliction, persecution, and pressure, but if they will live by faith and obey God they can overcome no matter what they might be facing.  In John 16:33Jesus said, “In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer I have overcome the world.” Jesus is saying you will face challenges and experience pressure, but in the midst of it all to be of good cheer because you can have victory over it.  Even though there is no verse that exempts you from pressure, there are many verses that exempt you from being defeated in the pressured situation.  You may be experiencing pressure today, but you do not have to be defeated by it.  You can have victory in the middle of that pressured situation.  There are times when believers find themselves in a pressured place, a dark place, but God will deliver them.  InPsalm 40, David is in one of those dark places.  He writes, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. David was in a pit, but God delivered him.  David was on sinking ground, but God put his feet on a rock and a new song in his mouth.  I believe God is ready to do those things in your life.  I believe there are some things He wants to deliver you from, some pit He wants you out of, and some victory He wants you to have!  What’s your responsibility? In the midst of that pressure it is your responsibility to resist the enemy steadfast in faith (1 Peter 5:9, James 4:7).  It is your responsibility to stand on God’s Word and not give up or give in to the enemy.  If you will do that you will triumph over Satan’s attack!  Let’s look at the five keys to obtaining victory in pressured situations. 

THE FINAL AUTHORITY, THE FINAL SAY

The first thing that you must do in a pressured situation is you must make the Word of God final authority regarding your situation.  Matthew 8:5 says, “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.  And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.  The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.  For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.  And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”  This centurion’s servant was at home paralyzed and in intense pain.  There were a lot of voices trying to have the final say in this situation, but the centurion gave Jesus the final say.  The centurion knew what his servant’s body was saying, he probably knew what the doctors were saying, he knew what the circumstances were saying, but he gave Jesus the final say.  In essence he’s saying, “Jesus I know what everybody and everything else is saying, but your word is final authority in this situation and whatever you say is the way it is and the way it’s going to be (paraphrase).”  Verse 13 is a powerful verse because with no way of knowing that his servant was healed, and no natural reason to think he was healed, the centurion governed his life based on the words of Jesus.  He allowed Jesus’ words to be final authority, believing that if Jesus said his servant was healed, then he must be.  When you are in a pressured situation, you have to submit to the authority of the Word of God.  That means whatever the Word says is what you say, what you believe, and what you act upon.  You do not submit to how you feel, to what your circumstances are saying, or to what the “experts” are saying.  You submit to what the Word of God is saying.  For example, you may be experiencing a great deal of anxiety today, but in that situation you have to allow the Word of God to be final authority and not your feelings.  Jesus said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  According to that verse you have Jesus’ peace.  Therefore, you may feel worried and anxious, but if the Word of God is final authority in your life, then you’ll declare in faith, “I have the peace of God.”  Your feelings may be telling you that you’re worried; your head may be telling you that you are worried, the devil may be telling you that you are worried, but those things don’t have the final say.  The Word of God has the final say and Jesus said you have His peace.  That’s the end of the discussion. 

When people are in a dark situation sometimes they will hear what the Word of God says and they’ll respond, “Yeah, but I just don’t feel like it’s working or yeah, but I just don’t see how that could be true.”  “Yeah but,” is clear evidence that the Word of God is not final authority in that person’s life.  They are trying to continue the discussion when the Word of God is the end of the discussion.  A person who is battling addiction may hear Romans 6:22 (“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.”) and say, “Yeah, but I just feel so bound.”  A person battling depression may hear John 16:22 (“I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man takes from you.”) and say, “Yeah, but I just feel so depressed.”  A person battling financial lack might hear Philippians 4:19 (“My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”) and say, “Yeah, but it just doesn’t seem like God’s doing that.”  When a person talks like that, it is proof that the Word of God is not final authority in their life.  When the Word of God is final authority in a person’s life, they don’t argue with the Word based on what they see or feel.  They say, “If the Word says I have peace, then I must have it.  If the Word says I have joy, then I must have it.  If the Word says my needs are met, then they must be.  How I feel about those things has nothing to do with whether or not they are true.  They are true because God said them.” 

There are two questions that we need to ask ourselves in a pressured situation.  Number one, “What does God say about me in His Word?”  Number two, “Have I allowed that Word of God to be final authority in my life?”  Perhaps you’re in an addiction pit, a lack pit, a depression pit, a family pit, or a marriage pit.  Ask yourself, “What does God say about this in His word, and have I allowed His Word to be final authority in my life?

Here are four keys that will help you determine if the Word of God is final authority in your life.

1. When the Word of God is final authority in your life, that Word has the final say in your situation.  Once that Word has been spoken, it is the end of the discussion regarding that situation.  (If the Word says I’m healed, then I am!  End of discussion!)

2. When the Word of God is final authority in your life you need no other evidence to support what the Word is saying.  (I don’t need my checkbook to say I’m rich, I don’t need the bank to say I’m rich, I don’t need my financial advisor to say I’m rich, because if the Word says I’m rich, then I’m rich!)

3. When the Word of God is final authority in your life it carries more weight than any other voice. Other voices may be saying other things, but those voices and what they are saying mean nothing to you and carry no weight in your life because the Word of God carries more weight.  

4. When the Word of God is final authority in your life you make decisions and conduct your life based on what the Word says and not based on anything else.  (If the Word says I have joy, then I’ll start conducting my life as though I have joy.)

If you want to be victorious in the pressured place, the Word of God must be final authority!

YOU MUST CHOOSE

Once you have made the Word of God final authority, the second thing you must do in a pressured situation is you must make a decision.  For example, the Word says you don’t have the spirit of fear.  Based on that Word you must now make a decision in line with the Word that says, “I will not fear.”  In Deuteronomy 30:19 God said, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.”  Victory and defeat, health and sickness, joy and depression, peace and anxiety (and so on) are sitting before you today, and you’re going to have to make a choice.  In that pressured situation you’re going to have to make a choice that you will not be defeated, you will not be afraid, and you will not be depressed.  If you are battling financial lack you’re going to have to make the decision, “I WILL NOT live in lack.  I refuse to choose poverty.  I choose prosperity.  I choose abundance.”  If you are battling sickness and disease, you are going to have to make the decision, “I WILL NOT be sick.  I refuse to choose sickness and disease.  I choose healing.  I choose health.”  Proverbs 3:31 tells us to NOT choose the way of the oppressor.  Don’t choose what Satan wants for your life.  God won’t make the choice for you.  Psalm 25:12 tells us that God will teach you what to choose, but He will not choose for you.  I’m not referring to some half-hearted, lukewarm, “I’d sure kind of like to” decision.  I am talking about a decision based on the Word of God, made in faith, and backed by the Holy Spirit.  Some people have a tendency to think that if something is God’s will then it will just happen in their lives.  Just because something is the will of God for your life doesn’t mean it’s automatic in your life.  It is God’s will that everybody be saved, but the only people who get saved are the ones who choose to do so by receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior (2 Peter 3:9, Romans 10:10).  In the same way, it’s God’s will that you live a healed, blessed, prosperous and victorious life, but if you don’t stand up and say, “I choose health, I choose blessing, I choose prosperity, I choose victory,” you won’t experience those things in your life.  In Joshua 24:15, Joshua said, “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”  Joshua had to make a choice.  He chose to serve the Lord.  He chose life, he chose blessing!  In Proverbs 1:29 we see a group of people who made the wrong choice.  It says, “For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD.”  God did not want this for them.  It was not God’s will that they didn’t reverence and honor Him.  They made the wrong choice. 

Jesus had to make choices.  Isaiah 7:14-15 says, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.”  Jesus was not some spiritual robot who automatically obeyed God, but rather He was tempted and had to make choices (Hebrews 4:15).  Isaiah 50:6-9 is prophesying about Jesus being persecuted in the crucifixion, and we hear Jesus making some choices.  It says, “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.  For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.  He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.  Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.”  In a pressured situation, Jesus made some choices.  When you are in a pressured situation you’re going to have to make choices.  We see Jesus again acting in this manner just prior to going to the cross when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus is experiencing a great deal of pressure.  In Matthew’s account Jesus said,“My soul is exceeding sorrowful.”  (Matthew 26:38).” Luke’s account tells us that Jesus was under such great pressure that he was sweating blood.  Luke 22:44 says, “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”  The word, agony in that verse means severe mental and emotional pressure. Jesus is in a dark place.  He is facing trying times.  However, in the middle of this tremendous pressure Jesus makes a decision to pray more earnestly.  When pressure came on Jesus, he made a decision and put pressure right back on the enemy!  Jesus made a choice!  He made a choice to not be overcome by the pressure!  In Psalm 23, David was in a pressured situation. He was running for his life from King Saul and he found himself alone in a desert place called Hareth.  In verse 4 he said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”  We see David in a pressured situation making a choice.  Certainly, David had the opportunity to fear, but he refused to choose fear by making a choice.  In Psalm 118, the psalmist is in a pressured place (see verse 5) and in the midst of pressure he made some choices.  He said, “5 I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place. 6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me. 7 The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore I will see my desire upon them that hate me. 10 All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.  11 They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. 12 They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.  17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. 19 ¶ Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:  21 I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. 24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.  28 Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.  As believers, we have fallen short in this regard.  We are not opening our mouths and exercising our will as much as we should be.  We are not verbalizing our decisions like we should be.  When sickness attacks your body you need to verbalize your decision, “I will not be sick.  I choose healing.”  When lack attacks your finances you need to say out loud, “I will not be in financial lack.  I choose prosperity.”  Making decisions in this manner is one of the first things that we should be doing in a pressured situation.  When you make a decision like this your heart gets established.  Psalm 112:8 says, “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.  His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies.”   If your heart is not established, you will waver and be easily moved off of the Word of God.  However, when you make a decision in faith and establish your heart, you won’t be moved by pressure. In many instances believers are not experiencing victory because they are trying to do so without making a decision and establishing their heart.  Let me give you a picture of what this would look like in the natural.  Let’s say a man gets laid off from his job.  Right now, he needs to find out what the Word says, let that Word be final authority, and then make a decision.  God leads him to Philippians 4:19 that says, “My God shall supply all of your need according to His riches in glory.”  He then allows that Word to be final authority and verbalizes his decision, “I will not be in lack, I resist lack, I refuse it, I choose prosperity.”  His heart is established.  The next day, he gets an unexpected bill in the mail.  If he hadn’t made that decision he could be moved into worry or depression by this bill, but with an established heart he says, “I’ve made my choice.  I will not live in lack.  I have chosen prosperity and therefore I am rich!”  Two days later his truck breaks down.  With a heart that was established on day one he says, “I’ve made my choice.  I will not live in lack.  I have chosen prosperity and therefore I am rich! End of discussion!”  A few days later they shut the lights off at his house because he wasn’t able to pay his bill.  With his established heart he says, “I’ve made my choice.  I will not live in lack.  I have chosen prosperity and therefore I am rich! End of discussion!”  The decision he made on day one is carrying him through all of these negative situations.  His established heart, that was the result of the decision he made, is enabling him to not be moved when this pressure shows up.  Verbalize your decision and establish your heart the moment pressure shows up.  Do it on day one!

One of the most powerful things that you can do in your life is exercise your will and make a decision.  There was enough power in the decision you made to keep you from going to hell when you accepted Jesus as your Savior.  Decisions can bring a manifestation of God’s goodness or spark destruction.  A decision can cause a revolution or bring desolation.  A decision can bring restoration or cause devastation.  There is power in making decisions. Decisions determine direction and set you on a path or a course, and ultimately the path you travel or the course you take determines the destiny you reach.  Decisions affect destinies. Decisions determine allegiance and establish agreement.  They reveal to Heaven and Hell who you are siding with.  Decisions authorize angels to go to work on your behalf, and they authorize God to manifest His grace and favor in your life.  Nothing beings until somebody makes a decision.  Your turnaround, your breakthrough, and your deliverance from the dark place, begins with a decision.  A decision made in line with the will of God will tap the supernatural power of God.  In Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were about to be thrown into a fiery furnace because they wouldn’t bow down and worship the king’s idols.   It was not the will of God that they worship other gods.  So the king was going to give them one more chance to bow down, but they stopped him and made a decision.  They said our God will deliver us, and we will not bow.  That made the king mad and he had them thrown into the fire, but the supernatural power of God showed up and the fire had no effect on them. They made a decision in line with the will of God and tapped the supernatural power of God.  David also made some decisions in 1 Samuel 17 when he was getting ready to fight Goliath. Goliath just got through insulting David and telling David that he was going to kill him.  This is a pressured situation, but David made a decision.  It says, “45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”  David made decisions in line with the will of God and tapped the supernatural power of God that caused him to obtain victory in a pressured situation.  The same thing will happen in the life of a believer who makes a decision in line with the will of God.  A decision made in line with the will of God will cause a spiritual explosion of God’s supernatural power in the life of a believer that will bring victories in their lives that is beyond anything they could ever ask, think, or imagine!

As a believer, you’re going to have opportunities to be sick, broke, worried, afraid, and so on, but you don’t have to take any of them.  Jesus, David, and the three Hebrews could have made other choices.  They could have chosen to fear, to not obey God, and to not walk by faith. Certainly they had opportunities to be worried and discouraged and defeated, but they refused to choose those things.  You and I must do the same because we will have opportunities to get in fear, be worried, be sick, be discouraged and live in lack.  However, we can do the same thing Jesus did, David did, and the three Hebrews did and say, “No, in the Name of Jesus! I will not be defeated!”  Satan has no authority to make you be or do anything.  He cannot take your right to choose and he hates that.  If you’ll resist him and refuse to choose the junk he’s peddling, he can’t make you afraid, depressed, worried, sick, broke, or defeated.  James 4:7 says, “Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee.”  If you choose to resist him, he has no choice but to flee from your life. 

GET YOUR MOUTH IN GEAR

The third thing you’re going to have to do to obtain victory in trying times is you are going to have to get your mouth in gear.  That simply means you are going to have to speak words of faith that are in line with God’s Word.  Once you have made the Word of God final authority and made a faith-based decision in line with God’s Word, you are going to have to see to it that your words line up with God’s Word.  James 1:26 says, “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” The word vain in that verse means devoid of force, success, or result.  The word vain also means useless or profitless.  You can make a decision in line with the Word of God and seem to be religious, but if you do not get your mouth in gear you will see no profit from the decisions you have made.  Your mouth is so powerful it can mess up everything you do spiritually.  You can pray a prayer, but if you talk contrary to the Word of God after you pray, the Bible calls your praying useless.  You can sow a lot of good seeds, but if you talk contrary to the Word of God, your sowing will be profitless and you will see no harvest. 

Your words are very powerful, and when you are in a trying time or in a dark place you need to get your words working for you, and not against you.  Psalm 23 is probably one of the most well-known Psalms written in the Bible.  It goes like this, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever”.  Many people don’t know the circumstances that were surrounding David when he wrote this Psalm. David wrote this Psalm in a trying time, in a dark place, when he was under great pressure.  He was fleeing from King Saul and his army.  David took cover in a barren and desolate forest called Hareth, which means baked earthenware.  David is running for his life, and he has found himself in a dry place with no food or water.  In this dark place, in this pressured situation, David gets His words working for him and starts speaking words of faith.  David was in a pit of sorts, and he could have complained, had a pity party, and spewed words of doubt and unbelief, but he knew in the situation he was in that he needed his words working for him and not against him.  Most people who are in the pit or experiencing trying circumstances aren’t using one of their most powerful tools, their words.  It is no wonder some people have camped out in their dark place and have been there so long.  You do not get out of the pit and experience victory in trying times by speaking words of doubt and unbelief.  Yielding to unbelief, doubt, and discouragement never caused victory to manifest in anybody’s life.  When we are in that dark place and facing trying times, we need to use our words the way a mechanic uses a tool to repair a car.  That mechanic uses a specific tool on purpose with a purpose to fix a problem. When you are in the pit you need to use your words on purpose with a purpose to fix the problem. 

It is also important to note that you will not obtain victory in trying times by being silent and by saying nothing.  Quiet people who say nothing are operating in passivity and will not come out of the pit until they open their mouth and speak words of faith.  Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.”  That tells us right there that if we are going to overcome we are going to have to say something to do so. 

Speaking words that are not in line with God’s Word is one of the worst things you can do in a pressured situation.  By speaking in such a way, many people are using their words and digging themselves even deeper into that dark place.  Proverbs 6:2 says, “Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.”  Proverbs 10:14 says, “The mouth of the foolish is near destruction.” Proverbs 18:7 says, “A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.”  You can see clearly from these scriptures that by saying the wrong thing in a trying time you can get yourself into even deeper trouble. However there’s another side to this.  If you will say the right thing and speak words that are in agreement with God’s Word, your words will play a key role in your deliverance.  Proverbs 12:6 says, “The mouth of the upright shall deliver them.”  Proverbs 13:3 says, “He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.” Proverbs 14:3 says, “The lips of the wise shall preserve them.” Proverbs 12:13-14 says, “The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble. A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.”  I want to submit to you that no matter how dark the situation you are facing is, if you will speak words that are in line with God’s words, you can overcome and triumph in the face of that darkness. 

One of the biggest challenges you will face in a trying time is the challenge of not allowing your circumstances to dictate your speech.  You must not allow the dark place to infect your language.  Don’t let the pit you are in determine your confession.  It is the confession of faith in the pit, in the dark place, in the trying time that will bring deliverance.  David exercised this principle so beautifully in 1 Samuel 30.  David and his men were returning from battle and upon doing so they found their homes destroyed and their families taken.  Verse 3 describes it as such, “So David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burnt with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters were taken captives.”  David has found himself in a VERY dark place facing VERY trying circumstances.  The beginning of verse 6 says, “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him.”  David’s own men wanted to kill him.  David is at a crossroad.  He has some choices to make.  He can have a pity party, feel sorry for himself, and be defeated by the devil or he can stay in faith and overcome.  The last part of verse 6 reveals to us the choice David made.  It says, “but David encouraged himself in the Lord.”  David did not allow this dark place to infect his language.  He did not allow the pit he was in to control his confession.  He did not allow his circumstances to dictate his speech.  In the middle of some of the most trying circumstances any individual could ever face, David held fast to the confession of his faith and got his words working for him and not against him. Because David responded like this, because he got his words working for him and not against him he experienced a great victory right in the middle of troubled times.  If you read the rest of that chapter you’ll find that David and his men pursued the enemy, defeated them, and recovered every person and every thing that the enemy had taken from them.  In that dark place David’s words of faith had everything to do with the victory he experienced.

Your words can hurt you or they can help you in the pit, so make sure you choose to speak the right words.  Proverbs 16:30 says, “He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil.”   In the dark place you can literally bring forth more evil by speaking evil things.  Sometimes people are their own worst enemy.  Many times peoples’ mouths are their biggest problem and not the devil.  You cannot afford to speak doubt and unbelief in that dark place.  By doing so you perpetuate darkness, evil, and negative things in your life.  Proverbs 10:11 gives us the positive side of this.  It says, “The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life.”   In the pit your mouth can be the place from which life, victory, and deliverance springs. So get your mouth in gear and speak faith, speak life, and speak victory! 

James 3 likens the tongue to a bit in a horses mouth and a rudder on a ship, with the revelation being wherever the bit goes the horse goes, wherever the rudder goes the ship goes, and wherever your words go your life goes.  The second key to obtaining victory in trying times was to make a decision.  Once you’ve made the decision of where you are going, use your words as the rudder of your life to steer yourself there.  In other words, if you want out of the pit, if want out of the dark place, if you want victory in troubled times, then steer your life in that direction with the words of your mouth.  If you wanted to go from your house to your local supermarket but you were always turning your car in the opposite direction, it would be impossible for you to get there.  The same holds true for your words and your life.  If you want victory, you must not turn your life away from the victory that you desire with the words of your mouth.  You cannot expect to reach your destination if you are always turning away from that destination with your confession.  Until you get your mouth in gear, you have no scriptural right to believe that you will ever be freed from the pit or delivered from the dark place. However, if you’ll determine in your heart to only say what God says, you can literally steer yourself out of the dark place and into victory with the words of your mouth. 

The enemy is after your mouth because he knows without it he cannot control your life.  In Luke 11, we clearly see that the enemy is always trying to get us to say the wrong thing.  Verse 53 says, “And as Jesus said these things unto them, the scribes and Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak many things: Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.”  The enemy is prodding and poking Jesus trying to get Jesus to say the wrong thing.  Satan knows if he can get Jesus to say the wrong thing then he can triumph over him.  Often times when a person has determined in their heart to only say what God says, the enemy will increase the pressure in an attempt to control their confession.  When Satan doesn’t like what you are saying he will always increase the pressure to get you to say something else.  It is a major priority of the enemy to get the Word of God out of your mouth.  Satan knows that if he cannot get the Word out of your mouth, then he can’t stop it from coming to pass in your life. 

Let’s look at two examples of this in the Word of God.  In Daniel 3, King Nebuchadnezzar built an idol and commanded the people in the land to bow to that idol when the sound of music was played.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were three godly young men who would not bow down because God had told them not to worship any other gods.  Nebuchadnezzar had them brought in and told them that he was going to play the music one more time and if they didn’t bow down they were going to be thrown into a fiery furnace.  Daniel 3:16 says, “ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.  If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”  Satan knows that with these words in their mouths he cannot have victory in their lives.  Consequently, he has to do something to get them to say something different.  What does he do?  He increased the pressure.  Verse 19 says, “Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.”  Fire itself is already hot and will burn a person one way or the other so why did he have the furnace heated up seven times hotter?  This is an intimidation tactic of the enemy to get the Word of God out of their mouths.  Satan was tightening the screws down on them in an attempt to get them to change their confession.  They didn’t give in to the enemy’s attempt against their lives and in turn they experienced a great victory.  Verse 23-28 says, “And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”  Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!”

The second example is found in 1 Samuel 17.  David had been sent down to the battle by his father to bring supplies and to get an update on how things were going.  The moment David stepped on the scene out came Goliath.  1 Samuel 17:23-24 says, “And as David talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.”  It’s no coincidence that the moment David steps on the scene out comes Goliath to try to put fear in him.  Satan perceived that there was someone on the scene who was a threat to his plan in this situation.  Satan knew there was somebody on the scene with enough faith in God to thwart his attempt against God’s people.  Verse 25 says, “And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.”  These men were trying to get David to be afraid with them. They wanted David to be impressed by this “great warrior,” but he wasn’t.  It is important to be mindful of who you are spending time with because sometimes well-meaning Christians will try to get you to jump into unbelief with them.  When you are in a dark place, you don’t need to be hanging around people like this.  In verse 26, we find David’s confession of faith.  It says, “And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”  You can tell from these words that David is not only planning to fight this giant, but he’s planning to win.  Satan hates these words and knows he can’t get victory over David with these words in David’s mouth.  What did Satan do? He tried to tighten the screws down on David, and he used David’s brother Eliab to do it.  Verse 28 says, “And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.”   What is Satan doing through Eliab?  He’s trying to shut David up and get those words out of David’s mouth.  David turned around and asked the people again, “What does the guy get who kills this Philistine (paraphrase)?”  That’s the first attempt of the enemy to get the Word out of David’s mouth. Then they sent David into Saul’s tent, and in verse 32, we hear David’s confession of faith.  It says, “And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”  Once again, Satan knows he can’t win with these words in David’s mouth so what does he do?  He tries to increase the pressure and tighten the screws down on David again, and this time he uses King Saul to do so.  Verse 33 says, “And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”  Saul was an expert warrior himself and had won many battles. Now, David has an expert telling him he can’t do it.  Sometimes the enemy will use so-called “experts” to try to tell you that you can’t do, can’t have, and can’t be what God says.  This is the enemy’s attempt to get the Word of God out of your mouth.  However, this didn’t change David’s confession.  Verse 34-37 says, “And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.  Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.  David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.”  Satan is trying to get David to stop talking words of faith, but for the second time in a row, Satan failed.  The enemy tries one more time to get these words out of David’s mouth.  Verses 41-44 say, “And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.  And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.”  Why would Goliath say these words?  He is much bigger than David.  In the natural he probably could have just grabbed David’s head and popped it like a grape.  These words were inspired by Satan spoke through Goliath and they were Satan’s final attempt to get fear in David and the Word of God out of David’s mouth.  Satan knows that he can’t win with words of faith in David’s mouth.  The only reason David won this battle on the natural level was because he first won it on the spiritual level.  This story isn’t about rocks, slingshots, and armor.  It is about a man whose faith in God was so great that he would only speak words that were in line with God’s Word no matter how great the pressure got.  Once again, Satan could not get these words out of David’s mouth.  Verse 45 says, “Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.  This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.  And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands. And it came to pass.”  This story reveals to me that Satan can’t stop a man who won’t quit talking faith.  You may be in the darkest place you’ve ever been, but if you’ll keep the Word of God in your mouth and not allow the pressure to control your confession, you will overcome!  Satan’s attempts and strategies are no different in our lives than they were against Jesus, the three Hebrews, or against David.  The enemy will prod you and poke you through negative circumstances and pressure in attempt to get control of your mouth.  So if the pressure increases just dig your feet in and hold that rudder in place.  Winds may be blowing, circumstances may be getting worse, but you just keep that rudder in place and keep saying what God says.  You’re attitude must be one that says, “Satan you cannot have my mouth!  I’ll never say what you want me to say!”  If you’ll make that your battle cry in the dark place, you will be delivered, you will triumph, and you will overcome!

In regards to our lives, the Bible paints a picture of a court of law with Jesus as our lawyer (advocate), Satan as our accuser, and God as the judge (1 John 2:1, Revelation 12:10).  In any court of law, the testimony (the words) of the accused are the most powerful ones.  Your lawyer can say you’re innocent, the judge can say you’re innocent, but if you confess guilt, what they say no long matters. Matthew 12:37 says, “For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”  In other words, your acquittal or condemnation is in your mouth.  If you don’t say the wrong thing, Satan has no case against you.  Let’s say for example that you are battling financial lack.  Satan, as your prosecutor has to get you to confess financial lack in your life from the witness stand.  Jesus, like any good lawyer, has already told you what to say and what not to say when you are on the witness stand.  In this situation He would say to you, “Never say that you are in lack financially in anyway.  I don’t care what Satan says to you or what evidence he presents.  Never confess financial lack.  Only say “My God has met all of my financial needs according to his riches in glory and I am rich” (Philippians 4:19, 2 Corinthians 8:9).”  So, no matter how much Satan increases the pressure, no matter how bad the circumstances get, tears may be running down your eyes, but only say, “My God has met all of my financial needs according to His riches in glory and I am rich.”  If Satan can’t get you to say the wrong thing he cannot defeat you. 

There’s only one way to insure that you will speak the Word of God under pressure and that’s to make sure that your heart is full of the Word of God.  Matthew 12:34 says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”  If you’ll fill your heart with the Word of God when you’re not under pressure, your heart will fill your mouth with the Word of God when you are under pressure.  If you want to speak the Word of God in pressured times, you need to make sure that you are filling your heart with the Word of God on a daily basis.  You cannot expect to withdraw something that was never deposited.  If you’re not filling your heart with the Word of God, you can’t expect it to come out of your mouth.  What you do not put in will not come out. By choosing to deposit God’s words in your heart and refusing Satan’s words, you ensure that when pressure shows up words of faith will come out of your mouth, and that guarantees your victory!  A big part of being delivered from the dark place is to spend time feeding your heart the Word of God on a daily basis.  Many people remain in the dark place and never come out of their trying times because they refuse to engage the daily preparation and training in the Word of God.  Rather than spending time feeding their faith with the Word of God, many just sit passively “hoping and praying” that God will do something.  That type of spiritual complacency will keep you in the pit.  Psalm 107:20 says, “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”  You are not going to get delivered without hearing, believing, speaking and doing the Word of God.  In Joshua 1:8 God told Joshua, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”  You’ll notice in that verse the prosperity and success came after the hearing, speaking, meditating, and doing God’s Word.  We need to be spending time in the Word of God everyday whether we are facing trying times or not.  For people in a dark place, spending time in the Word of God daily and filling their hearts with the Word is integral to their deliverance.  A heart full of the Word will result in a mouth full of the Word, and a mouth full of the Word will result in victory!

NOT MOVED BY EMOTIONS

The fourth thing you’re going to have to do to obtain victory in trying times is you’re going to have to get control of your emotions.  Emotions are feelings caused by either pleasure or pain that are designed to move you in a direction.  As believers, we are not to be governed by our emotions or to make decisions based on our emotions.  We are not to allow our emotions to move us in a direction that opposes the Word of God.  Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be angry, and sin not.”  In others words, you might experience the emotion of anger, but don’t allow that emotion to move you in a direction that opposes God’s Word.  God gave us emotions and they are not necessarily bad things, but they become bad when we allow them to govern our lives.  It was never in God’s design that men would govern their lives based on how they feel.  It was God’s design that men would govern their lives based on the Word of God.  2 Corinthians 5:7 says,“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”  The word sight in that verse means what we perceive with the senses.  We are not to conduct our lives based on what we see or how we feel, but rather based on our faith in God and in His Word.  The walk of sight or a life conducted based on how a person feels will be a defeated one.  Only the walk of faith will get a person into victory.  The moment you start governing your life based on how you feel, you begin taking steps that take you closer and closer to defeat.  Therefore, we must not be governed by how we feel. 

This issue of controlling your emotions is paramount in talking about obtaining victory in troubled times.  The reason is when you are in a dark place or when you are facing trying circumstances, you are going to experience all kinds of emotions, and you cannot allow them to move you.  You might feel like quitting, you might feel like the Word’s not working, you might feel like saying the wrong thing, you might feel depressed, or you might feel afraid.  If you allow yourself to be governed by your emotions, defeat and destruction are inevitable for you. 

Emotions are the voice of your flesh, and they are speaking all of the time.  From the moment you wake up in the morning until the moment you lay your head down at night, your emotions are talking.  They are a voice that you will constantly hear, and you’re going to have to learn to talk back to them instead of being governed by them.  Your feelings are a part of your soul, and you are to rule the soul not be ruled by it.  In Psalm 103:1-2 the psalmist says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”  We see that the psalmist (David) is talking to his soul.  Why would he have to tell his soul to bless the Lord?  Apparently, his soul doesn’t feel like blessing the Lord at this time.  When you feel like doing something, you don’t have to tell yourself to do it.  Rather than being governed by his emotions, David is ruling over them.  If you allow yourself to be ruled by your emotions in troubled times, they will take you deeper and deeper into trouble.  However, if you will rule over your emotions and make faith decisions based on the Word of God and backed by the Holy Spirit, you will experience victory! 

Our words are one of the main ways we govern our emotions.  Proverbs 21:23 says, “Whoso keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul (mind, will, emotions) from troubles.”  This tells me that I can control my mouth and rule over my emotions.  Smith Wigglesworth was a preacher in the early 1900’s, and he pioneered a lot of the principles of faith that we live by today.  One day somebody asked him, “Smith how are you feeling today?”  He barked back, “Smith Wigglesworth doesn’t ask himself how he feels, he tells himself how to feel.”  He had a revelation that he was to rule over his emotions and not be ruled by them and he had to do it with his words.  Psalm 42:11 says, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance.”  Here, we see the psalmist exercising some powerful principles in regards to ruling over emotions.  First of all, we see him talking to his soul (emotions) when he says, “Hope in God.”  Secondly, he reveals to us that his soul is disquieted and with a disquieted soul he says, “For I will yet praise him.” Obviously he doesn’t feel like praising God, but he’s not allowing his life to be governed by his emotions.  Next, he calls God the health of his countenance.  He is simply recognizing God as the source of healing for his emotions and releasing faith that God will cause him to feel better.  The powerful thing here is he doesn’t wait for God to make him feel better before he starts acting in faith.  He just starts acting in faith, talking to his soul, praising God, and says God will take care of my emotions.  These are three powerful principles that must be practiced when you’re in a dark place.  Number one; talk to your soul, rule over it, and tell yourself how to feel.  Number two; do not be governed by your emotions.  You may not feel like praising or speaking the Word, but just get up and do it anyway.  Number three; get started acting in faith and trust God to take care of you emotionally and be the health of your countenance. 

Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”  According to this verse your words have an affect on the condition of your soul (emotions).  You can be in a dark place, facing trying circumstances with feelings of discouragement and fear all over you, but if you’ll begin to speak pleasant words, words that agree with God’s words, they will be sweet to your emotions (soul) and cause you to feel better. In trying times, you are going to have to become your own best cheerleader.  Earlier, we read how David and his men returned home to find their homes destroyed and their families taken captive by their enemies (1 Samuel 30).  David and his men wept until they had no more power to weep.  Shortly after that, David’s men wanted to kill him because they blamed him for what happened.  At that moment David could not have been feeling too good.  In the natural his emotions were probably going haywire.  He had to be experiencing emotions of sadness, fear, and anger on the highest of levels.  However, rather than being governed by his emotions, he became his own best cheerleader and ruled over his emotions.  The scripture tells us that David encouraged himself in the Lord.  David began to speak words of faith, and when he did they were sweet to his soul.  Certainly David began to feel better, he was strengthened and encouraged and ended up obtaining a great victory in a very troubled time.  As believers, we can do the same thing when we find ourselves in pressured situations.  Rather than being governed by how we feel we can speak words of life and gain control over our emotions. 

Our emotions are one of the prime areas of target for Satan.  Know this about the enemy: He loves to play on the emotions of God’s people.  As God’s people we need to take a stand and settle it in our hearts that we will not be governed by how we feel.  We have to come to the place where we believe the Word, obey the Word, and act like it’s true regardless of how we feel.  If the Word says we’re healed, then we’re healed.  If the Word says we’re rich, then we are rich.  If the Word says we’re free, then we’re free.  If the Word says we have peace, then we have it.  Our feelings have nothing to do with the validity of those statements, and we act like those statements are true regardless of how we feel.  The Apostle Paul said in Acts 20:24, “But none of these things move me.”  We have to develop that same mindset.  The mindset that says, “I’m not moved by how I feel or by what my circumstances are saying.  Those things don’t move me.  I believe the Word of God.”  Psalm 15:4 uses a phrase that is very fitting here.  It says, “He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.”  In other words, no matter how I feel, I refuse to be moved by how I feel.  I may feel worried, afraid, and depressed, but I’m not coming off of the Word of God.  I may have tears coming down my eyes and it may look like I’m never going to get victory in this situation, but I’m not coming off of the Word.  We must learn to esteem the Word of God more than we do our emotions.  It’s the attitude that says, “How I feel means nothing to me in light of what the Word says.”  To come out of the dark place, you’re going to have to take a stand on God’s Word and refuse to be governed by how you feel. 

REAL PRAISE

The final thing you must do to obtain victory in troubled times is you must enter a life of praise and thanksgiving.  Hebrews 13:15 gives us some insight to the praise life.  It says, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”  In our day and time many people limit praising God to what they do at church before the preacher starts preaching the word.  However, praise is a lifestyle that must be engaged by the believer everyday.  Certainly it can be done while music is being played, but it is not limited to that.  In fact, most of the praising you do in life will probably be done when there is no music being played.  This verse reveals to us that we are praising God when we are giving thanks to God with the words of our mouth.  Praise happens when you open your mouth and give thanks to God.  That is as much praise as a full worship band playing music and signing your favorite praise song. 

Thanksgiving on our lips begins with us thanking God for all the victories that have already shown up in our lives.  God has been so good to us, and it is always appropriate to continually give Him thanks for all the good things that He has done in our lives.  However, thanksgiving has not reached its highest place if you stop on that level.  Thanksgiving reaches another height when you begin to thank God, by faith, for victories that have not manifested yet.  It is the act of faith to say thank you before you see anything and praise God before you feel anything.  In Joshua 6, God’s people praised God before the walls of Jericho came down.  They were thanking God, by faith, for a victory that had not yet manifested.  When you are in a dark place, you do not wait for your deliverance to show up before you thank God.  Right there in the troubled time you should give God thanks for the victory that has not shown up yet.  That is faith on the highest level.  In fact, thanksgiving is the language of faith.  Colossians 2:7 says,“Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”  That verse reveals to us that when we are really established in faith, we are abounding with thanksgiving.  In other words, faith people are thankful people.  They are people who are praising God and have thanksgiving on their lips continually.  Why is that so?  As faith people we are taught to pray the prayer of faith.  The prayer of faith is the prayer that believes it receives its answer when it prays (Mark 11:24).  Therefore, the prayer of faith is not made over and over again about the same situation.  It is made once.  For example, if a person of faith was in need of $15,000 to pay off their debts, their prayer would sound something like this.  “Father, in Jesus’ Name, I come to the throne of grace and according to Your Word I believe that I receive $15,000 to pay off the debt that I have.  I take it now.  I receive it now in Jesus’ Name.”  Once you have prayed that prayer and you believe you have your victory, there’s no need to pray about it anymore.  After all, if you believe you have your victory, there is no need to receive it again.  What are we to do then?  Philippians 4:6-8 tells us. It says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”  According to that verse, you don’t let your request be made known to God by praying the same prayer over and over again.  You let your requests continually be made known to God with thanksgiving.  It would sound like this: “Father, I thank you for that $15,000.  You are so good.  I worship you and thank you for providing that money for me.”  That is why when a person is living by faith they are also abounding in thanksgiving.  You will praise (give thanks) a lot between the end of your prayer of faith and the manifestation of your victory.  It is imperative that we engage this principle when we are facing trying circumstances.  When you engage faith and thanksgiving in this way the peace of God will engage you.  If you do verse six you will walk in verse seven.  It says, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  When you engage the act of praise, you activate the peace of God. When you get thanksgiving on your lips, the peace of God will start working in your heart and mind.  If there is anything you need when you are in the pit, in the dark place, and facing trying circumstances, it is the peace of God.  You can access that peace through praise and thanksgiving in your mouth. 

Praise has many effects in the life of a believer.  Psalm 8:2 says, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength (praise) because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still (stop) the enemy and the avenger.”  The way some people talk you would think God ordained praise for the sole purpose of having His ego stroked.  God is not insecure and does not need us to tell Him how good He is.  He knows He is good.  God ordained praise to stop Satan’s attack in our life.   How can praise stop Satan’s attack in our life?  It is really very simple.  Praise is a tool that captures your mind and your mouth.  When thanksgiving is on your lips, your mind is on God.  When you are in praise, you are not talking doubt and unbelief.  You are not worrying about the problem.  Your mouth and your mind have been captured by the tool of praise.  When Satan has no place in your mouth or in your mind, he has no access into your life.  Satan cannot do anything in the life of a believer who refuses to give their thoughts or their words to anything he is saying.  I want to put two verses together here to give you a revelation of what Satan sees when you are engaged in praise with your mind and mouth fixed on God. Let’s look at Isaiah 26:3 and Proverbs 30:5.  They say, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusts in thee. He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him.”  When your mind is fixed on God, God will keep you in perfect peace and be your shield.  Keeping your mind on God stops Satan in his tracks and leaves him on the outside looking in.  The avenger has been stilled!  Praise is a powerful tool that captures the mind and mouth of the believer and stops the enemy’s attempt against their life.  In times of pressure, the enemy is constantly after our minds.  He will tell us that it’s not going to work this time and we will never be delivered from this situation.  When you are in a dark place, be sure to engage the powerful tool of praise.  Allow praise to capture your mind and mouth and thwart the enemy’s attack on your life. 

Let’s look at Psalm 8:2 again.  It says, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength (praise) because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still (stop) the enemy and the avenger.”  Many translations of the Bible translate the word strength to the wordpraise.  Praise and strength go hand in hand.  Romans 4:20 said Abraham was, “strong in faith giving glory to God.”  It is no coincidence that strength and praise are attached to the same man.  Praise is an act of faith that provokes joy.  You cannot praise God and stay depressed. When you start praising God by faith, joy begins to get stirred up in your heart.  Nehemiah 8:10says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”  The level of your joy is attached to the level of your strength.  If your joy level is low, then your strength level is low.  You need strength to resist the devil and see him flee.  Proverbs 24:10 says, “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”  According to this verse, people are defeated in trying times because their strength is small.  When your strength is small you cannot resist the enemy, and if you cannot resist the enemy then you cannot win.  When you are in the pit, you cannot afford to be weak. When you are facing trying circumstances, you cannot allow yourself to get feeble.  People who are spiritually weak and feeble do not overcome in the day of adversity; they do not obtain deliverance and walk in victory.

Now, watch what praise will do.  In the middle of your trying times, when you begin to praise God by faith it will provoke your joy.  Joy will then become the strength you need to resist the devil and win.  You might not feel like praising God in the pit, but that’s why Hebrews 13:15called it a sacrifice of praise.  It is a sacrifice to praise God when you don’t feel like praising God.  Nobody feels like praising God when they are in a dark place, in a deep pit, and facing trying circumstances.  However, there are some people who decide to praise God in spite of how they feel, and those are the ones who walk in victory.  The people who will ignore their feelings and praise God by faith will provoke their joy, obtain strength, resist the devil, and win!  Many people are weak because they won’t praise God.  They are feeble because they won’t give thanks.  If they would just stand up and enter into praise and thanksgiving, the strength of God would fill their spirits and enable them to resist the devil and overcome.  Weak people don’t win.  If you want to be strong and win, praise is a vital tool. 

Psalm 22:3 says, “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”  If there is anything you need in trying times it is the presence of God.  As believers, when we begin to praise God with thanksgiving on our lips God inhabits our praises.  That simply means where praise is, God’s presence is.  If you will begin to praise God in the pit, God will come in and get you out of the pit.  David experienced this in Psalm 23.  In a hard time he began to activate praise on his lips (in verses one through three) and God inhabited his praise.  In verse 4 he said,“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”  David said, “Yeah I’m in a pressured time. Yeah, I’m in the valley, but the presence of God is right here in the valley with me.  I don’t have to fear because my God is bigger than the whole valley!”  When we will praise God like David did, God will inhabit our praises in the same way.  The presence of God can fill the dark place and comfort you, encourage you, and rid you of all fear.  There is nothing like God jumping in the pit with you. 

The question is what sound is coming from your pit?  Psalm 118:5 says, “The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles (houses) of the righteous.”  Maybe you are in a dark place, but when we come by your house will we hear rejoicing?  One of the most challenging things that you’ll have to do as a believer is to engage thanksgiving and praise in the dark place.  The people who end up winning are the ones whose praise and thanksgiving is the loudest when their circumstances are the darkest.  What sound is coming from your pit?  What sound is coming from your house?  I laughed when the Lord showed me this.  Philippians 4:18 reveals to us that our sacrifices have a sweet smell to God and that would include our sacrifices of praise.  If praise smells good to God, then doubt, worry, and discouragement must stink to Him. God said to me, “What smell is coming from your pit?”  Is it a sweet smell of praise coming from your pit or does your pit stink?  That’s a funny way of looking at a powerful truth. Nonetheless, we must keep thanksgiving on our lips when we are in the dark place. 

It is time to get stirred up today about your victory.  No matter what you may be facing, no matter how dark the situation may be there is victory in Jesus.  God has built His reputation off of turning messes into miracles.  Now is your time!  Engage these five principles and watch the miraculous happen in your life!  I’m declaring in faith today that you are delivered, you are free, and you are victorious!