We’ve heard it said many times… “Your praise is your weapon!”

I’ve been around weapons all my life. I grew up going hunting and learning how to use weapons.

One of the most important things to learn about weapons is how to maintain them. You have to know the things that can damage your weapon. There are certain things which can render a weapon completely ineffective and useless.

The same is true for our spiritual weapon known as praise. There are certain things that can render our praise ineffective. They mainly are made up of our attitudes and the ways we think. Here are a few of them.

First, a pharisaical or haughty spirit. We know that Proverbs 16:18 says that Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. The pharisees of Jesus’ day were so educated and religious, they couldn’t see what God was doing right in front of them (Matt 21:1-16, Luke 19:37-40).

Second, the attitudes of frustration and despair. We see this when we look at Job’s wife (Job 1:29, 2:9-10). She and her husband had known the joy of living under the blessing of God, but when things took a turn for the worse, she allowed her frustration and despair to take her to a place of turning her back on the very God whose blessing she had known.

Third, the fear of humiliation (self consciousness). When King David brought the Ark back into its proper place, he danced with “all his might” before the Lord. The Bible tells us in 2 Sam 6:12-23 that his wife, Michal, got furious with him and even made fun of him because of the way he acted. In essence, she was embarrassed at how he had presented himself.

Let’s examine ourselves today and be sure that our weapon of spiritual warfare; our praise, is not hindered by any of these attitudes. I know what it’s like to chop wood with a dull axe. It’s no fun and it’s not very productive. I’d much rather swing a sharp axe. I’d also rather lift a sharp, effective praise so that God can make his habitation in my life.

What are some other things you can think of that will leave the “axe” of our praise dull?

Your comments are welcome…