Pit Praisers

Pastor Joel @ Lakewood Church

We all have times when we feel like we're in the pits (bad medical report, debt, etc...) Praise turns things around and we need to praise before things turn around.

Joseph's brothers were jealous of him and threw him into a pit planning to fake his death.

People don't have the final say when life takes an unexpected path God is still working.

Judah means praise.

So Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is  there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is  our brother and  our flesh." And his brothers listened. Then Midianite traders passed by; so the  brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

Genesis 37:26‭-‬28 NKJV

Praise can get you out of the pit.

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Hebrews 13:15 NKJV

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.

Psalms 40:2 NKJV

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Psalms 34:1 NKJV

Paul and Silas

They were working for God and got thrown into prison.

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed.

Acts 16:25‭-‬26 NKJV

The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV

When we're in the pits it's easy to have a pity party instead, thank God that he is bringing you out.

Sometimes the pit is on the road to your destiny. God will not mismanage your life, he's planed the beginning to the end but he didn't promise that it would always make sense.

In Joseph's dream his brothers were bowing down to him, but when he ended up in the pit it seemed backwards.

Praise can be an attitude.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:16 NKJV

Pitstop

In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above

The pitstops are not the end. It's a time to refuel and get prepared for the next leg of the race.

This pit is not my final destination.

Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed." But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us." But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Matthew 15:21‭-‬28 NKJV

God will break protocol and turn your situation around when you praise even if you don't deserve it. 

But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.

Psalms 22:3 WEB

the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: "Praise the Lord of hosts, For the Lord  is good, For His mercy endures forever"— and of those who  will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord . For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,' says the Lord .

Jeremiah 33:11 NKJV

Walls of Jericho (Joshua 6)

It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the city wall shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up, every man straight in front of him."

Joshua 6:5 WEB

Do you trust God enough to praise him in front of a wall that's not moving?

Exhortation

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

Psalms 89:1 NKJV

The Trevinos

Affected by generational curse that led them to divorce but remarried his SAME wife after a God coincidence at Lakewood when he ran into his wife again. While allowing God to work on them through faithfulness, getting plugged in, and through classes.

The Villareals

From a rough background but sought God and were able to overcome that. When they first started coming to Lakewood he looked at offering as God wanting to take something from him. The funny thing was that he had nothing to give but God didn't hold that against him. He now has 3 glass companies and is prodpering.

Neither family had Godly examples but they planted themselves at Lakewood and were able to raise their children in a Godly way.

God wants to meet us right where we are and he is not holding anything against me.  His plans for me have not changed.

But this I  say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So  let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

II Corinthians 9:6‭-‬8 NKJV

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

Luke 6:38 NKJV

We are all supposed to grow in our measure of giving.