Every Christian knows the importance of worship, whether personal or corporate, and how important it is to give God that personal quiet time to just love on Him. Worship can and should be a lifestyle: applied to every aspect of life, even the marketplace, because it’s also a weapon we use to fight against our carnal nature and the devices of the enemy.

In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat heard from God and led Judah into battle with worshipers at the forefront, and ended up not fighting at all because his enemies had killed each other.

“As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men … who were invading Judah, and they were defeated … They helped to destroy one another. When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.” (2 Chronicles 20:22-24)

In Joshua 6, Joshua also received from God the strategy for his victory, and the walls came down with shouts of praise and blowing of trumpets.

“When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.” (Joshua 6:20)

I want to share two testimonies to show you why hearing from God isn’t just an Old Testament principle.

WORSHIP CHANGES PERSPECTIVE 

I work as a Civil Engineer in a construction firm. A few years ago, I had just completed a construction project and was told that I would be transferred to another ongoing development to support the team there.

This new project was in Jurong West, and I live in Pasir Ris. It was a 150-minute commute every day by train and buses that totalled to a 5-hour daily commute to and fro. And being at a construction site, I was working a 6-day week in a dusty, noisy and humid environment.

A few weeks prior, I was called to serve in a greater capacity in my church ministries. I had also just gotten married and moved into my new home, in the midst of settling in and unpacking. I told God, “There has to be a way for me to balance family, ministry and work, but I just don’t see how it can happen.”

I made my mountains bigger than my God.

Over 2 to 3 weeks, the burden of it all took a toll on my physical health, with high blood pressure and migraines. I felt down and out. I spoke to a director and with his response of “no choice”, the idea of resigning from my job was becoming more of a reality.

One morning, I decided to listen to worship songs on my way to work, and a certain song came on. It was “Catch the Wind”, by Melissa Helser. The lyrics just awakened my spirit and lifted my soul. It was joy overwhelming – like seeing a loved one after a long time.

God was there all along, but it was I that had positioned myself in a valley where I couldn’t see past the mountains.

I began singing the words over my life, over those mountains. I kept repeating the song on my way to work, and the more I did, the more I felt God rise up like the Sun rising from behind those mountains, and His rays of warmth and hope grew more intense and lifted me up. God was there all along, but it was I that had positioned myself in a valley where I couldn’t see past the mountains.

At the end of that trip to work, I asked God what I should do, and He told me, “I’ve got it under control, wait on Me.”

The next few days were easier on the soul, though not perfect, but as I declared His words to me, faith arose again and again.

A few days later, I got a call telling me that I had been chosen to join the head office’s tender department. There were many other engineers all over, but I had somehow been requested for by name. I’m not saying I was that good, but I’m saying God is that precise when it comes to His children.

I couldn’t explain the joy that welled up inside me because with just a single move, God had done these three things for me:

1. My daily commute would be dropping to just 45 minutes.
2. My Head Office was just a few bus stops away from my church.
3. My work week was reduced from a 6-day to a 5-day work week, without a compromise in salary.

Worshipping when I was in the valley, even when I didn’t feel like it because I felt like I had no strength to do anything, and then hearing what He had to say and declaring it over my situation – that had brought the ultimate victory.

WORSHIP HELPS US FOCUS ON THE RIGHT VOICE 

A few months ago, when my wife was 5 months pregnant, she started bleeding in the middle of the night. We had previously gone through an early miscarriage before this child. The thought of what happened to the miscarried child hit us both, and although we exchanged a few words, we knew we were both thinking the same thing. As we were rushing to the A&E at 1am, the fear crept in and grew incrementally.

As we were travelling in the taxi, I decided to worship to “No Longer Slaves” by Jonathan and Melissa Helser. I didn’t have to be a slave to the fear and be gripped by it because I’m a child of miracle-working God. I shared this with my wife, and she started singing too.

When our gynaecologist arrived at the A&E at about 3am and scanned the womb, she could not find any areas that were bleeding. These would normally show up on the scans as dark spots. She also said that if any bleeding had just happened in the womb, the scan would have picked this up.

But the scans were completely clear, although there were traces of dried blood from 2 hours ago, from before we arrived at the hospital.

My wife and I knew there and then that God had moved. Worship dispelled the voice of fear. He drowned our fear with His perfect love, and it gave us the hope that God was our firm foundation, the Rock that doesn’t move.

GOD SPEAKS TO EVERYONE

There is a misconception that only pastors or full-time ministry workers can hear from God. In our busy lifestyles, this misconception can turn into our excuse to not spend time to hear from Him. But I believe that the Holy Spirit in us is there for communion, and He is interested in a relationship with us, to speak to us about everything that happens in our daily lives.

Why would the Holy Spirit make us His dwelling place and not speak to us? It’s as if two people are living in the same house but never speaking. I’m not dismissing the need for pastoral counsel or godly advice, but the first place we always run to should be to Him, the Holy Spirit that indwells us.

It’s just that sometimes, the noise of the outside drowns out His voice on the inside. God desires wholeheartedly to respond and commune with us, as we draw near to Him (James 4:8).

Worship is the key that helps us to drown out the noise on the outside and to focus on His voice on the inside. Worship is communion, and that is what we are created for. Hearing prophetically from heaven positions us to see His Kingdom come and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Caleb is part of the team that planned Resonance, a 1.5-day Prophetic Worship Symposium that takes place on July 5-6, 2019.  Believers and worship teams are invited to come discover how to hear from heaven during personal worship, as well as explore God’s heart for using the prophetic in worship to lead individuals, church communities and the nations into new levels of supernatural breakthrough. To find out more or register, visit their page.