Praise and Thanksgiving is the key to every trap that the enemy sets for you

But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel

(Psalm 22:3 KJV)

Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!

(Acts 16:25-26 NLT)

“Praise and thanksgiving is even better than prayer.” This is a quote from the great Bishop David Oyedepo. How can this be so? When you pray and fast, you are giving God a job to do, which is to answer your prayers. When you praise, you attract the very presence of God. When you pray, He hears you (given you pray in faith according to His will). When you praise, His presence comes and inhabits your situation. Which sounds better? God hearing you and sending relief, or God personally tending to your situation by invading it personally? This means if you will stop complaining about the situation that you are in and begin to praise God, His divine presence will invade your situation and bring deliverance. We see this with the Great Apostle Paul. It was midnight and Paul and Silas had been thrown in prison for preaching the Gospel. These prisons were not like modern American prisons. They were small, had low ceilings and no indoor plumbing. That means Paul and Silas were sitting in a cold dungeon surrounded by the rot of flesh and feces. On top of all of this, Paul and Silas would have been put in a device that would have contorted their body making them extremely uncomfortable. What were they doing? Were they saying, “Oh Lord, please help us. Make a way or we will die?” Did Paul say, “see this Silas, everytime we preach this stuff happens. What's the point anymore?” No, they were praying and praising God. What happened? God inhabited the praises of Paul and Silas. His divine presence came and personally invaded their situation causing the chains to be broken off and the men to be delivered. I declare that as you begin to praise God today, every trap set for your feet by the enemy is canceled in Jesus name.

Today: Lift your hands and voice to the Lord. Begin to dance and praise God in the middle of whatever situation you find yourself in.