Praise and worship is involved in the cycle of creation. The completion of God’s creation cycle is marked by the seventh day of praise and worship. God’s pattern for the creation of the world is a picture of how He creates events in our life as well – seasons of work, and seasons of rest, praise and worship. Have you been in a season where you work really hard, and then God releases you into rest, worship and quietness? Releasing heartfelt worship to God puts a proper order into your life and triggers new things to come forth. Right now, I want to talk about the spiritual byproducts produced and given off by your worship.

First, there is a story behind your worship. No one can really have an appreciation for what you are going to bring forth until they know where you came from. In 1 Chron 4:1 we learn Judah’s backstory. Judah’s very name means “praise.” The Bible says Judah came from the womb of a rejected, pushed aside woman who was camouflaged, hidden and disguised to marry a man who didn’t even want her (Leah). Leah was given by a Daddy that didn’t value or protect her, but gave her to a master manipulator for his own profit and benefit. Judah came out of a broken, bleeding, bruised woman who kept trying to get love, affection, attention and affirmation from users and abusers. Her reason for calling him “Judah” is given in [Genesis 29:35]; “THIS TIME I WILL PRAISE THE LORD.”

A natural byproduct of heartfelt worship in our time with the Lord is that our faith is strengthened with expectation of what God is going to do. Expectation is an element of faith. The definition of expectation is “to have anticipation with hope.” In Hebrew, the word “expectation” literally means “a cord-like attachment.” Your expectation of what God is going to do is like a cord attaching you to your future. Worshiping God strengthens our cord of expectation and also gives us new expectations for the future.

In the book of Joshua, we find the children of Israel have left their slavery in Egypt. They are ready to go into their Promised Land. They are positioned on the brink of the Jordan. The spies had spied, the report was good and the children of Israel were ready to go up and take their Promised Land. But the Jordan River, high at the harvest time, was between them and their goal. Josh 3:15 states that it was harvest time, and the Jordan River was at flood stage. I’m sure the people were thinking, “How in the world are we going to get over this flooded river?” The Jordan represents “an adversary; a roadblock; impossibility; a struggle; the problems you face that are insurmountable.” Your greatest difficulty will always stand right in the doorway of your Promised Land.

They needed a Pharez; a “breaking forth, a gap, something to cause access, to open up, to create a path” for them. I suspect you may need the same. The enemy wants to convince us that what stands before us is too great to overcome.

God told them, “When I move, you are to follow the Ark of the Covenant wherever it goes.” God was going to lead them right into the impossible. The priests of God who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant started across the river, just as God had directed. They walked forth in faith and the waters stood at attention.

Watch what happens next. Josh 4:4-7 says, “Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever.” The word “MEMORIAL” signifies a legacy that provokes remembrance and thanksgiving. A “memorial” of previous deliverances evokes worship. Joshua was saying, “I want you to know that when you get in the middle of an impossible circumstance, remember the times God has delivered you before and worship Him.” Your worship puts you in a place of breakthrough.

Finally, worship produces overflowing, abundant life. The fifth son of Judah (“praise”) is Shobal. Shobal means “overflowing.” When you pour out your worship to our Lord, He fills you with abundant life; rivers of living water that flow from your belly. Your worship produces the overflow of a satisfied soul.

We’ve talked about the spiritual byproducts produced and given off by your worship. I hope the knowledge of what worship will produce in your life inspires you to get into His presence and worship Him! Through worship, you will receive the expectation, prophetic words, anointing, and presence of God that you need to make it through this season!