Psalm 100:4 exhorts us to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. There is power in praise. Any port of access is a gate and may be visible or invisible. There are evil gates and good gates. Spiritual gates are centers of activities and evil men go there to activate works to their gods. Gates may be found at places such roundabouts and mountains.
There are gates of God as well as the gates of the morning. We will open the gates that destroy the evil gates of hell. There are gates in the heavens. God is up to something great when He asks us to enter His gates. There is the gate of righteousness that assures our salvation and prolongs our lives. There are the 12 gates of the tribe of Judah heard of in Revelation 21. Any time a demon is being stubborn, call the person through the gate of Judah as demons cannot enter there. The password for this gate is thanksgiving. We can only enter into the gates of thanksgiving when there is a testimony. The mere fact that we are alive and have food, is a testimony. Therefore, we can lift our hands to heaven and sing that God’s grace and mercy brought us through.
Thanksgiving comes in the form of words, gifts, offerings and sacrifices. Many of us suffer because of ignorance to what is going on in the spiritual realm. Jesus’ mission is to destroy the world of darkness but we do not know how and where to fight. If the church does not know how to go into the different realms as a church, then we will not conquer. If we fight from the realm where Satan is under our feet then we can defeat him, but if we fight from his realm, he will destroy us.
There is the first, second and third heaven and there is hell. When Adam and Eve sinned, a shroud was placed over the earth separating all people and nations. Satan uses this shroud to separate people from worshipping God effectively. Our worship to God must carry the power to break through that shroud.
The first realm is known as the firmament where where we see the birds of the air. The second heaven is where stars, sun, and moon are found. This is where Satan dwells. Unless we know how to deal with it, we will feel a heaviness that we cannot break through. This second heaven is where Satan attacks us and this is why we often feel an oppressive darkness. Jesus has given us dominion over all this through worship which is the master key.
We have to be connected to the third heaven which is the place of God where we sit with Christ and receive revelation on how to defeat Satan. We must be able to break through to the different realms as we worship and conquer the second heaven, even as we break through the first. We need to pray before our worship sessions in order to break the power of heaviness that comes from the second heaven. An earthly example of the power of praise is Joshua’s breaking down of the walls of Jericho. We at times need to bow down with our faces to the ground in worship before the Lord rather than attempt to do anything else. We can see the demons run when we begin to shout before the Lord like Jehoshaphat. Like him, we can change the corporate destiny.
When we praise, God’s rod is released with flaming anger. Physical obedience is connected to spiritual release. Sometimes just kneeling before the Lord destroys spiritual wickedness in high places. Just the raising of your hands can part those seas. Sometimes just standing still can calm the storms around us and stamping our feet can bring down the walls that oppress us. If our praise is strong enough, we may even see a cherubim or seraphim coming to rescue us. If matters are settled in heaven, they are settled in the earth.
Satan our adversary knows but many of us do not understand that all we need to do is to step into the courts of God with praise. Satan is bringing a lawsuit against us in the courts of God so we need to prophesy that we are more than conquerors in order to triumph over him.
One of the accusations Satan brings is sin. We can do good things but if the motive is not correct then Satan can accuse us. Satan attempted to bring such a case against Job. He also brings the accusation of the sin in our blood lines to accuse us. If he can find anything to bring against us, he will use it in the courts. Praise provokes divine intervention and removes spirits of depression.
