From Chapter 16 “Declaring the Victory”

It was at the place of worship that Gideon declared the victory. Judges 7:15 (NIV) tells us that after he had worshipped, “He returned to the camp of Israel and called out: ‘Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.’” No-one leading an army will want to go into battle from a position of weakness: forces are equipped with weapons for defence and attack; enemy positions are bombarded by airstrikes and artillery before the forces on the ground move in. Our position of greatest strength is when, in worship, we know the presence of the God who is our strength and our song (as in Ps. 118 and Isa. 12, for example). Gideon’s declaration of faith at this point was more than encouragement to the troops: they were words of power that had an impact in the spirit realm. When Paul writes of the weapons of our spiritual warfare that are mighty through God to pull down strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4) we must be careful not to limit our thinking to “warfare prayer” and the casting out of demons: prophetic declarations of faith springing forth from our worship are powerful weapons against the enemy, and in the advancement of the purposes of our King. The times when we are lifted high in our worship can sometimes be the very moments to drop bombs on our enemy. These bombs are our declarations of the victory that we have already received.

As we saw in chapter twelve, we are to both believe for, and receive, God’s provision. But we are also to declare it. In Psalm 2:7 the psalmist writes prophetically:

“I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’”

This verse looks forward to Jesus the Messiah, but it also speaks to us. Everything the Lord says to us can be called a decree, for we know that His word is settled in Heaven, and that it does not return to Him void, but will accomplish the purpose for which He sent it. Job 22:28 tells us: “You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways.” If we believe, as scripture tells us, that the word of God is the power that holds the universe together, we must surely believe that declaring it over our situations will release something of that power into our lives.