Worship

(19 quiet-times)

This is How I Fight My Battles – Isaiah 30.32

Some people paint Jesus as some kind of modern day hippy, wondering around with a big beard and cloak being nice to everyone. But Jesus isn’t a hippy. On the cross, Jesus declared war on sin and defeated sin. Revelation says that one day, Jesus will destroy satan with a breath (it’s not a contest!) He is God, he is powerful and is described as a ‘man of war’ (Exodus 15.3). This doesn’t mean that Jesus is in the business of declaring war on people and fighting them – our fight isn’t physical but spiritual. Jesus came to save people and set them free, not to condemn them.

As Christians we are in a battle that is spiritual, not physical, with enemies that need to be defeated (things like wrong thinking, lust, hate, sin). And Jesus gives us spiritual weapons to fight – the Bible, our faith, prayer, doing good etc.

One of those weapons God gives us is worship – and specifically worship through music. One worship song is called ‘This Is How I Fight My Battles’ (by Alyssa Smith, based on the recording by Michael W Smith). In the song the lyrics say ‘I will lift a song of praise for all you’ve done… this is how I fight my battles’. This song, along with loads of others, encourages us that worship can be a weapon. The Bible shows how worship was a weapon bringing down the walls of Jericho and for Jehosophat against his enemies. The same is true in Isaiah 30.32 where God goes to war against the enemies of his people to the sound of music and percussion. When we worship, we put God first and declare that he is above anything and everything. Worship isn’t a magic tool to get God to do what we want but worship should be our response to who God is and what he’s done, as well as a declaration of what he’s going to do. We partner with God when we worship, just as a band ‘partners’ together to produce music in tune and in time. Isaiah 30.32 says that God brings victory to the sound of music – our worship and God’s actions being in time and in tune. This is how we fight our battles.

Thanking God is faith – Luke 17.11-19

Ten men with leprosy came to Jesus and cried out to him. All they said was “Jesus, Master, have pity on us” and Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the Priest. As the men obeyed Jesus and went on their way, they were all healed.

So the first lesson is that when we have any problem (or anything) we should pray to God. Second, when the men prayed they put Jesus in his right place – they called him ‘Master’ (meaning: the boss, the head of everything). Third, when Jesus tells us to do something (or not to do something) it is always for our good – the men heard what Jesus said and obeyed. Fourth, we learn that God always responds to our faith. The men were healed as they went. Not before they went. The last thing we learn is that only one person came back to Jesus and said thank you – Jesus noticed this himself. So we know that we should thank God for who he is and what he does, especially for answered prayer! But when the one man returned to say thank you to Jesus, he also got something else – his faith made him well. The word for ‘well’ shows that the man was set free from sin. Next we learn that worship is when we get close to Jesus. At the start, the ten lepers ‘stood at a distance’ but the man who thanked Jesus came right up to Jesus. We also learn that worship is a position of the heart and often of the body – the ex-leper fell at the feet of Jesus. Finally, we learn that when the man returned to say thank you, Jesus called this ‘faith’. So when we thank God it is faith and it releases God’s power in us and through us. So say thank you to God every day!

Worship is action – Ezekiel 33.30-32

For a while I played a few gigs around restaurants in my area. We would learn a number of songs and play them in the background while customers ate and drank. I would learn the parts but when we got to the next gig I had forgotten the parts and had to re-learn them. This was totally different from worship songs where I know the words, the chords and the electric guitar lead parts and just know them. Why? Because God has put worship deep in me and it’s one place where I come alive. I just love to worship. It does something deep on the inside of me and I just cannot stop worshiping! Sometimes when I’m playing electric or leading worship, I just want to keep going and not stop. But worship isn’t just playing or learning parts on an instrument or vocals, it’s thanking and praising God for who he is and all he does. It should also change us on the inside and empower us to live more for God. And when we are in worship, we have to remember it’s not just music but it is connecting to God, listening to him and obeying him.

God was speaking to Ezekiel, explaining that while people came to listen to Ezekiel’s words, they didn’t put them into action. It was like going to a gig with great musicians with great voices but coming out of the venue at the end of the gig completely unchanged. A great gig but nothing more. God was sad about this. He wants us to engage with God in worship and be changed – to come out of the ‘gig’ and be a different person than before we went into worship. As we change in worship to become more like God, it should make us want to live more for God, serve him, do good to others and bring change. Worship should be both a place where we spend time with God just because we love him. But then our love for God should call us into action into the world around us.

Worship is Warfare – 1 Samuel 17.34-35

If you read through the Bible you’ll find the Book of Psalms. This book is full of all kinds of writings that are very personal. They are a collection of poems, writings, prayers and songs. Many of them were written by David who went on to be a very important King in Israel. When he was young, David spent a lot of time looking after the sheep, writing worship songs and being alone with God. But looking after sheep wasn’t easy. It’s not easy for farmers today but when and where David was a shepherd there were bears and lions who would want to eat the sheep – or David! So he had to literally fight off these animals for his own safety and to protect the sheep.

Just to go ‘off piste’ for a minute, when we think about what David did, we should also realise this is an example of what Jesus did for us on the Cross and what he does for us today. He protects us and helps us fight off the enemy who tries to attack us. But back to David… all this experience that he got protecting the sheep in the desert alone with God helped him when he became King. Even before he became King, he fought Goliath, knowing that God would help him fight off the enemy, just as God had helped him as a shepherd. So how does this relate to worship? Well we see that David was a musician, a song writer and someone who fought the enemy. Now as Christians we don’t go round with a club attacking our enemies (!) but the principle is that when we worship, write songs and sing songs it is part of fighting for God against evil. When we speak out who God is, sing about him, put him first and declare truths from the Bible, it is (spiritual) warfare. It encourages and helps us and those who listen. It is also very powerful in the spiritual atmosphere (see Ephesians 6). David was a mighty warrior for God but he was also a talented and sensitive poet and song writer. In God’s eyes, these two go together. So get writing and singing you mighty warrior!

Serving in Worship – Revelation 7.15

What does worship look like? Revelation 7.15 gives us a good idea. It looks like these things….

  1. Standing in front of God. We stand in front of God because we’re watching him, ready to do what he says, go where he says go and be who he wants us to be. Our eyes are on the master. We aren’t looking at the distractions of the world around us but on God alone.
  2. We’re standing in front of God’s throne. This is a throne of grace – God’s undeserved favour for us. It’s a place where we find help, get made whole, get to see God for who he really is and then get ready to go.
  3. Serving God isn’t just about Sunday mornings or when it’s convenient. God calls us 24/7 and sometimes the greatest God-moments come when we’re tired or don’t want to do something. So always be open!
  4. Worship is about service. The worship pastor at my church talks about ‘serving on the worship team’. It’s no place for egos or pride. And the person who sweeps up and tidies up the cable is super important! Being prepared to work, even not get the credit, is a beautiful thing in God’s eyes!
  5. Whatever we do in life, it’s for God. Colossians 3.23 talks about whatever we do, we do it with all our heart as if we’re doing it for Jesus. We are the temple of God’s presence on earth (he lives in us by the Holy Spirit) and when we serve God, it’s like the old Testament priests serving in the temple! What a privilege!
  6. God is sat on the throne. When we worship we should come with an attitude of real peace. The Bible says in Genesis that on the seventh day, God rested. He didn’t rest because he was tired but because he had finished. When we worship it’s like the ‘seventh day’. We should have prepared, got ready and then we should stand back, enjoy worshipping and watch on at what God does.
  7. The final thing is that as we serve God, he actually serves us. He gives us his shelter and protection and affirmation. Nothing can beat that!

Worship Giving – Matthew 6.1-4

When I was involved in worship at a church, one of the other worship leaders decided that some people were doing worship for the wrong reasons. He complained that some musicians were like ‘rock stars’. He was completely wrong in his thinking as none of the musicians or worship leaders thought like that! But as worship musicians it’s always good to think about why we do what we do and to make sure that we don’t have pride, even in little ways!

In Matthew 6, Jesus spoke to his disciples and he reminded them that we don’t do what we do in front of people just to be seen. When we ‘give’, we shouldn’t make a big song and dance about it. If we do things with the motivation of being seen by others, we don’t get God’s kind of reward which is so much better than the praise of people. So thinking about worship leading or being in a worship band, our heart is to serve God, to serve people and to sing songs to God – saying to him that we’re putting him at number one. We don’t use our skills just to be seen by others but as an act of worship that honours God. Worship is about God not about us. But he gives us the privilege of being part of it! So don’t nail that epic guitar riff (‘blow your own trumpet’), announcing how good you are. But nail that epic guitar riff, recognising that God’s given you the skill and that you are simply using the gift he has given you for his glory, not yours. Not using your gift and not bothering to practice doesn’t give God glory – using your gift and doing your best does. But we never do worship because we’re so good, we do worship because God is so good!

Coming to faith through music – a true story

Someone I know is a street musician – a busker. He related to me how he came to believe in Jesus. These are the details as I remember them. Apologies if anything isn’t quite right and this is not against people of other faiths but about the life in – and uniqueness of Christianity.

One time he was in a city and was playing his guitar next to a stall of people who were Muslims. They were very friendly and after he finished playing they gave him a leaflet explaining how he could become a Muslim by praying a prayer. They then said words like, ‘we can deal with your music after that.’ He replied he didn’t want it dealt with and that music was his life! He didn’t want it taken away. They explained that because he was a man, they could be more flexible compared to if he were a woman. He politely said no thanks.

A while later he was playing music in another city around Christmas time. A group from a local church came together to form a ‘flash mob’ singing Christmas carols as a way of inviting people to their Carol Service. He relates that the music was full of fun and life and was really good quality and it made a massive impact on him. One of the Christians realised that he was a busker and said that was amazing and that did he realise that his music was a gift from God. He then went to the Carol Service, enjoyed it and gave his life to Jesus. He related that it was the quality of the music from the flash mob choir, the fact that the church guys embraced his music and the contrast from what he had experienced in another city. Today he is a vital part of a church and is still playing his music on the streets and in other venues.

There is a power in music and a life in the church that you simply do not find anywhere else and certainly not in any religious group. Church isn’t about religion – it’s about people, it’s about God and it’s about people finding their place and prospering into who God made them to be!

Singing God’s promises and thanking him – Numbers 21.16-18

This shows quite an amazing picture of worship. When we break it down, we can see one way that God works. We can’t control what God does, but we can learn from the way he works and then apply that to our lives. So let’s look at what happened. Firstly, the Israelites were on their way to the Promised Land. For us this means that we are keeping on doing what God calls us to do in the way that he shows us. The second thing we learn is that God made a promise to Moses about giving water to the people. The third thing is that the people came together and it was after this that God gave the water. Finally, the people sang a song of thanks to God for what he had done. 

We’re not quite sure whether this happened before they drunk the water or afterwards. But we can learn a lot about God. God speaks to us and keeps his promises. He also speaks to us as we’re ‘on our way’ – it’s much easier to turn a ship that’s moving. Then the people gathered together and God answered the promise he had made. The people sung God’s promise back to him and reminded themselves of God’s faithfulness. So we learn that it’s good to get together and sing to God, about God and about his promises. The result for the people was that they got physical water. But for us, God brings his life-giving spiritual water, shows he answers promises and gives us hope for the things we’re praying to God about. So get singing, writing, playing or however you worship God! And remind God of his promises (see Isaiah 62.6 in the Classic Amplified Version which talks about putting God in remembrance of his promises. In context it’s about praying for the peace of Jerusalem which we should do, but it’s also a good thing to sing God’s Word to him!)

Moving forward after loss – 1 Samuel 12.19-20

One thing that everyone has to deal with is loss. You may have already lost a person you loved – like a family member or a friend. When I was at school, one of my closest friends was killed in a car crash and my brother was also killed in a car accident. People I know have lost sons, friends and parents. And it can be hard. Maybe we’ve asked God for healing and it hasn’t happened, or we can’t figure out what went wrong or why people have died. The one option we have is to trust God, despite the pain and the deep hurt. I can tell you from personal experience that time is a healer. When we lose someone we love, we have to recognise that the reality we once knew is different. We have a new reality. But God is right there with us.

In the Bible bit from 1 Samuel 12, David finds out that he son has died (God told him this would happen). David had spent time asking God for the life of his Son and grieving (the son died because of David’s sin). But when he knew his son was dead, David made a choice not to get mad at God forever or be bitter forever. David moved forward with his life. He ate some food (we can sometimes forget this in our pain but it’s important) and then he went and worshipped God. In the future we find out that David gave birth to another son, Solomon, who became King and built the temple. David had sinned but he asked for forgiveness and God helped him move forward. God is always with us, ready to help. Make a decision to move forward. Don’t bury your grief but know that God is faithful and will bring you through. And what else can we do? We can worship God despite our pain. He is worth it.

Being clean – Genesis 35.1-5

When we worship God, it is amazing. Hopefully your church is like my church where worship is really powerful, the presence of God can be felt and seen as people worship, bow down and their lives are changed by God. Worship is absolutely incredible and unique in the world and it’s only God we should worship. But Genesis 35 also teaches us that worship is not the complete picture. In Genesis, Jacob told those around him to get rid of any foreign gods they had. These were statues of other gods. But if we apply this to us today, it means get rid of those things that aren’t from God – it could be things we own, things we do, places we go, people we hang out with, how we spend our time. Anything can be a ‘foreign god’ if it doesn’t help us or distracts us from God. Back to Genesis 35, Jacob went on to tell his people to purify themselves and change their clothes. When we become a Christian, what God does is like giving us a new set of clothes. He then works on the process of helping us ‘wear the clothes right and to wear them well.’ But we have a part to play in asking for God’s help as we do good Godly things and step away from bad things and stuff that moves us away from God. In Genesis 35, the result of the people worshipping God then getting right with God was that the awe of God fell on the whole area. The same is possible today. Passionate worshippers, living for God will point people to God!!

Broken Jar and Being Filled – John 12.3

I’ve sometimes heard talks that say that it’s when God breaks us open (like the perfume bottle) that the scent of Jesus flows out from our hearts. But this isn’t the right way to understand this bit of the Bible and it’s not always true that being broken or crushed makes us more like Jesus. It’s our reaction to things that happen in life that moves us towards Jesus or away from him, not always the thing that happens. Bad things can draw us closer to God but it’s not always like that and if it was true, God would always be letting bad things happen to us! And that is the opposite of God’s nature. I have found that it’s when incredible things happen that I feel most alive in God. But God does allow things so that he can build us up – but this is for our good and blessing. It’s not to break us apart like a perfume bottle!

You see, it wasn’t the woman who was poured out, it was her perfume. And it wasn’t Jesus who made her pour out the perfume. It was her choice. There’s so many things to learn from this! The perfume was incredibly valuable (a year’s wages) and Mary decided to pour this out on Jesus. She gave and then poured out the most valuable thing she had – for Jesus, because of Jesus and on Jesus. This is a life of worship. Our best, our most valuable given to Jesus – even at our own cost at times. We also see that the scent or her perfume filled the house. If she’d poured out a tiny drop of perfume, it would only have smelled a bit and not for long. But she gave it all and so the house was filled with the scent. The more we give, the more the ‘house’ is filled. The house can be your life – your church – your mates – your sphere of influence. The more we give from a place of what God has given us, the more we can see lives impacted by the scent of Jesus. Often, the costliest giving leads to the greatest things in the Kingdom of God. I often think of the Message Trust in Manchester which has impacted the UK and the world in incredible ways. It all started when one man and his brother poured out all they had into doing a mission in Manchester. So what about you? God will use all of us – our part is to decide how much!

No place I’d rather be, Part One – Psalm 27.4-6

Back in the day of David (who wrote this Psalm), God ‘lived’ in a physical place – like the cloud and the fire that led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. David was the one who spoke about building God a physical temple building. God told him that his son Solomon would do the building work (David drew up the plans). For David, seeking God and being in God’s house was the goal of his life – this is why God himself called David ‘a man after his own heart’. This just means that God said David wanted to put God first in everything. It’s the best way to live life!

Some of you may know a song by Will Regan called ‘Set A Fire’ which is has a couple of parts. The second part of the song says, ‘No place I’d rather be. No place I’d rather be. No place I’d rather be. Than here in your love, here in your love.’ And this is kind of the same as what David wrote in his Psalm. So the question is, do we have this same passion for God? Do you seek after God as your ‘one thing’? Or are there other things that take God’s place? God wants us to have lots of interests but if things are always first in front of God, let’s say sorry to him and know that as we put him first, other things fall into place!

No place I’d rather be, Part Two – Psalm 27.4-6

In Part One of this quiet-time we looked at the passion for God that David had and asked the question whether we have this same passion! It’s quite a big challenge to think about whether we really are like this. Can we really say that God is our number one thing? In this short quiet-time we’ll look at ways we can put God first and seek his presence in our lives.

First, David spoke about looking at God’s beauty. This isn’t some romantic thing but it’s looking to God and being amazed by him. When we realise how much God loves us and what he’s done for us, we’ll have hearts (like in the Will Reagan song) that want to be ‘on fire’ for God – really living for him. Second, David said he would seek after God. If someone is hiding, to find them you have to look for them! God doesn’t hide from us, he hides for us and has amazing treasures for us. Third, seeking God also helps us be protected by him. If we stay on God’s path, we are protected from the dangers on either side. Finally, because of what God does for us, worship comes out of our mouth. Worship is our response to who God is – holy, awesome and amazing. As you spend time with someone (maybe a boyfriend or girlfriend) you get to know them and want to talk about them. As you spend time with God, you can’t help but worship him and thank him. Even if you don’t feel like it, spend time every day finding things to thank God for. He’s worth it!

Creation – Genesis 2.15-20

In the past, some Christians (or those calling themselves ‘Christian’) have apparently seen that God is one day going to re-create the heavens and the earth and have used that as an excuse for not looking after the world properly. They’ve said things like, ‘well God’s going to re-create the world one day anyway.’ Others have seen that God told man to rule over the earth and subdue it, so have taken this as a bit of a license to do what they want with creation. But this is mad and it’s got nothing to do with what the Bible actually says, let alone being opposite to the nature of God!

For starters, God created mankind and God created the natural world and animals around us. Why would he then want us to destroy it? Yes, use the materials and use the earth as a resource but not abuse it. In Genesis 1, we see mankind made in the image of God – the God of love, creation, the one who knows every sparrow that dies. When God told man to subdue it, he didn’t mean abuse the world. Instead, he meant take care of it – be in charge of it – don’t let it take charge of you in the same way a garden does if you don’t look after it! Then in Genesis 2 God told Adam to ‘take care’ of the garden. Just as Adam was a reflection of God (God naming him), so Adam was given the job of naming the animals. We don’t worship creation as new age people do; we don’t worship animals like Hindus do. But we worship God, the creator of the world around us. Just as God takes care of us, he asks us to take care of the world around us. That is true worship.

Worship Mix – 1 Samuel 10.5-7

This is an amazing bit of the Bible. The prophet Samuel was speaking to Saul who God had appointed to be King. As Saul went off, Samuel told him what would happen (showing Samuel was an actual prophet – someone who God uses to see into the future and say what God’s heart is and what God’s going to do). Saul met a real mix of worshippers – they had stringed instruments, tambourines, pipes and harps. They were one of the original ‘worship on the streets’ teams! Maybe this was a movement that the prophets had started in obedience to something God called them to do – get the worship out of the prophet school and onto the streets! Or maybe this was just what they did out of their love and passion for God! Either way, we’d do well to live like this as worshippers!

As the prophets played their instruments, they were also prophesying. It’s true that often musical worship creates a worship atmosphere where God speaks from the Bible and in fresh ways. In the presence of God and when people come together in unity to worship, God often moves powerfully. But it wasn’t just that – as Saul met up with them, he started prophesying and he wasn’t even a prophet! It’s like the atmosphere was changed and Saul was able to tune in to the heart of God in a new way. And then as this happened and Paul prophesied, God changed him and sent him out to do good works for God. Here’s a challenge – in your church, youth work and personal worship times, are you open to see God speaking, moving, changing and empowering people? It’s time to expect this as normal. We’re not operating in the fullness of all God’s called us into. So let’s agree in prayer for God to do this in our lives more and more. Amen!

Structured, unstructured – Ezekiel 47.1-5

One of the ways people read Ezekiel 47 is about worship. Looking at the picture of the ‘river’, we find that the river is always growing and getting deeper – ankle height, waist height and then too deep to cross. It’s just a picture of getting ‘immersed’ in God (being covered with him a bit like we do when get baptised and go completely under the water!)

But there’s also another thing to think about and that’s how we do worship. Sometimes we do worship by having a list of songs and learn all the starts and endings. Everything is pre-planned down to the deepest level. Other worship leaders sing almost completely spontaneous type songs and people get ‘lost’ in worship. Both are different ways of worship and can reflect our different characters! But in the picture in Ezekiel 47 we see a river flowing (and rivers flow in different directions – straight, bendy, left, right, up, down) so we can say that being flexible in our worship is good. But we also see someone measuring in the river with a measuring line, trying to find a definite height (1000 cubits). So we can see that being organised in worship is also just as good and just as honouring to God. The best thing in our worship is to prepare, be organised, but also be flexible and open to new things God wants to do. God is ordered and also spontaneous so we should be in our worship too!

Why we worship – Psalm 28.7

I once heard Matt Redman say that worship is our response back to God for what he has done for us. Psalm 28 is a good example of this. In the Psalm, David is asking God to hear his voice, asking for mercy and asking that those who are evil would be repaid for all the bad they do. I think this is probably the kind of thing many of us would say today when we look around and see bad stuff happen. When we see the evil that people do, the injustice, people trafficking and the mess that satan creates, it makes us angry in a Godly way – wanting to see God’s justice done. Don’t worry, he will but he also may be calling you to do something – is there something you are passionate about? What good can you do – action, raise money, raise awareness by telling your friends and church leaders, pray! Maybe play the Tim Hughes song, ‘God of Justice’.

At the end of the Psalm, the writer David thanks God that God has heard his cry for mercy and then speaks out exactly who God is. And this is why Matt Redman said what he said about worship being our response back to God. The Psalm writer David (the original mass market contemporary worship song writer!!) was expressing who God is and what he does – the Lord is our strength, our shield, the one we can trust and the one who helps us. So what was David’s response? It’s the same as ours should be – our heart leaps with joy (remember this is a decision not always a feeling) and with a song we praise God. When you know how much God has done, you can’t help but praise him. Yes the styles may be different across the globe, but we join with creation to praise God for who he is and what he’s done.

Distinction – 1 Corinthians 14.7-8

OK so we’ll take a few liberties here as this bit of the Bible is actually Paul talking on speaking in tongues (which is when God gives us another language which we can pray with) in a public worship service and is saying that tongues need to be interpreted in order to be understood. (Other times we pray in tongues but we don’t need them to be interpreted as it’s between us and God). But in a public service we need to know what’s going on – it’d be like going to a service where we couldn’t understand the speaker because they were speaking in a foreign language.

But for the sake of this quiet-time let’s think about a conventional kind of worship band with acoustic, electric, keyboard, bass and drums. Each of those covers a different range of sound frequencies and notes. But if everyone in the band just thrashed away it may be hard to hear who is playing what! (Some people struggle to know what’s what anyway!) But when a band really works is when they each play unique parts that fit together to make a complete sound. A good sound isn’t everyone playing full-on but when each sound can be heard distinctively. And this is what our Christian lives should be. We shouldn’t be making a big old sound like a clanging cymbal that hurts everyone’s ears (see 1 Corinthians 12) but each one of us ‘playing’ (doing) the unique ‘instrument’ (calling) that God has given to us. Back in Matthew, Jesus told his disciples that they should be like salt, adding God-flavour to this world. When the world hears and sees the beauty of our ‘notes’ (lives) played together in harmony, they will see Jesus.

Worship Indoors and Outdoors – Psalm 150.1

In recent years, God has raised up an international prayer and worship movement as one of the things he’s been doing in the earth. IHOP in Kansas City, MO, USA is the place many people will have heard of. But God is doing many creative worship things. One of them is getting worshippers outdoors and outside of the four walls of the church. A couple of us played in a park in 2010 and then found out about some guys who have seen people come to faith when worshipping outside near Newport in Wales. Inspired by this, four of us went to London during the 2012 Summer Olympics and took guitars. The reaction was quite amazing with even the notes of the guitars and no words drawing people, soothing hearts, bringing healing and more! This was in response to the call of God and is found right there in the last Psalm, 150. The first verse gives us a command to praise the Lord. We should praise God in his sanctuary (the church) and praise him in his mighty heavens. I see this as praising God outside of the church. This doesn’t mean stacking up a band and playing outside (although it may do!) It’s an attitude of worship to God, expressed in our hearts and through music. But it may also mean playing ‘outdoors’.

If you visit www.xpmedia.com you’ll learn about the testimony of Dr. Leanna Cinquanta who has seen amazing things happen in India. One of the true stories she recalls was when she felt God lead her to go to the Ganges River with her guitar and do spiritual warfare through worship. As she played her guitar, people were drawn towards her to find out about Jesus. She also worshipped in her heart inside a temple (Joshua 1.3) after God made a way for her. One day she was playing and no-one was gathering but watching on. She realised a chief priest from a local temple was walking towards her and chanting. She was a bit worried but she started singing songs about the blood of Jesus. Suddenly the priest ran back into the temple as if having seen a guardian angel. The people then flocked around her because they had been waiting for a demonstration of whose ‘god’ would win out. Of course, there is no contest with God and as a result she was able to hand out many leaflets about Jesus! This same power is in all of God’s people so ask Jesus to use you!