THE POWER OF PRAISE ~ ANN SHIKUH

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I was in my first year of college when I went through one of the most lethal spiritual attacks in my life.

Every night, my hostel room would have this very foul smell of rotten eggs and I would become aware of the presence of witchcraft in the atmosphere. I would lie in bed, mortified, terrified and tormented by nightmares all night.

During the day, whenever I would go for lectures, I would hear buzzing noises coming from the front of the class and would not hear a word of what the lecturer was saying.

So I would go to the library and try to catch up by reading notes. But I would ‘pass out’ on my desk in the library.

An observer would obviously think I was asleep, but I wasn’t. I was just sitting there, feeling really cold, bundled up in a really heavy trench coat even on warm days, then I would ‘pass out’ for hours.

I had been born again for some years. I knew by discernment where the attacks were coming from. I knew who was involved. And I had been taught about the basics of fighting against witchcraft attacks in the church that I used to attend back then.

So I tried everything I had been taught. Nothing worked. My then pastor gave me some anointing oil. I anointed the hostel room…but the attacks didn’t stop. Meanwhile, I was failing in class. It was a terrible season for me.

In the midst of that warfare, God provided a way out. He brought me a new friend. One day, as we were studying together, she noticed that my hand would ‘paralyse’ at some point and then the pen would fall from my hand.

So I finally opened up to her. I told her about the warfare I had been going through, and I started running away from my hostel room at night to hers, because the attacks were coming from my room. And whenever I would sleep in her hostel room, my night would be peaceful.

But one day, we agreed that I had to face the giant in my room. I couldn’t keep running forever. So she would stay with me, pray with me, and then leave me to sleep. But the attacks didn’t stop.

Eventually, she began to tell me to just thank God. Honestly, that didn’t make any sense. Why would I want to thank and praise God for demonic attacks?

She gave me a book by Merlin Carothers, “Prison to Praise.” In that book, Merlin shared the revelation God gave him on praising God even in the worst situations and testimonies of people who did it and saw a turnaround.

Sincerely speaking, I decided to apply what I read simply because I had tried everything else and failed. I figured I wouldn’t lose anything if I tried praise.

So every night, I would curl up in my bed, scared and trembling, and I would start talking to God. I spoke of how He is above all thrones, all powers, all principalities, all kingdoms, all kings, all wisdom and above all things.

I repeated those same words every night because I didn’t know what else to say. Those are the only words that were coming to me. But this is what happened every night as well: I would fall asleep praising God. And I would wake up having had no nightmares and no attacks every night.

That was how my spiritual battle ended in that school. Of course, I had to retake 6 exams, but by the grace and the mercies of God, I was able to graduate with my class.

I have shared this story here before, but I feel someone needs to hear it today. If you’re facing a battle and you don’t know what else to do… you’ve prayed and fasted, you’ve bound and loosed, you’ve decreed and declared and nothing is changing, try praising God.

Just take your eyes off the battle and start focussing all your energy on praising God. If you can find the book, “Prison to Praise” by Merlin Carothers, please do. Read and apply it. It worked for me, and I trust God that it will work for you too!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.