And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! …Rev.19:6

God is not known for vain repetition, if He reiterates a particular word severally in a single chapter (Rev. 19: 1, 3, 4 and 6), it’s not for lack of a better word but because He wants us to pay extra attention to that word. The scripture above depicts "Hallelujah” as a confirmation of God’s supremacy. It affirms God’s omnipotence and his dominion over all circumstances; internal or external, spiritual or physical. Hallelujah puts God over the helm of affairs while acknowledging He reigns! Hallelujah is a mode of expression which symbolises victory and authority, the authority of the children of the All-powerful God because the shouts of Hallelujah propel God to act and we are certain nothing can rival God’s powers; no devil, no government and of course no principalities, nothing compares to His powers. From now on your shouts of Hallelujah will release answers; it will give you tremendous victories, outstanding testimonies and pleasant surprises will become a daily occurrence in your household. The sounds of Hallelujah will never cease from your abode in Jesus name. Welcome to August 2017, our month of HALLELUJAH! 

Hallelujah is universal; in any tongue, language, race or tribe (even if spelt differently), Hallelujah remains Hallelujah and till date it has not lost its significance or influence. It has been known to do the unthinkable and yield incomprehensible results.  Hallelujah is the language of the redeemed, those who have been made victorious through the blood of Jesus. It is the song of the joyful and an assurance of triumph! On the way to the Promised Land, the Israelites faced challenges of various magnitudes such that it looked as if they will never get to their destination, one of such challenges was the Wall of Jericho (Joshua 6:1-20). A wall which seemed too high to surmount and humanly speaking impossible to confront however when the Master of the Universe, the Hallelujah Himself stepped in, He proffered the most unlikely solution known to mankind in battle. Note that at that point, the Israelites were used to murmuring and complaining, they would only praise God every now and then whenever He wrought miracles but God wanted to teach them a new dimension of worship; an aspect where praise is not a function of accomplishments but for whom God is, a level of praise where you exalt Him high above the limitations around you. A level where you realise it doesn’t matter whether or not He shows up but you are convinced He is with you regardless (Hab.3:17-18). He loves it when you demonstrate your faith and say, ‘praise is what I do.’ Hallelujah is shouts of praise.  God wanted to show the Israelites that Hallelujah is not meant only for times of jubilation and celebration but also while you are believing and waiting for your miracles to happen. Hallelujah is a declaration of faith! No wonder He commanded them to go around the wall for 6 days without a word (imagine how their faith would have increased as they silently walked from day 1 to 6!) and on the 7th day after going round the wall 7 times they were to shout, the rest as they say is history (Josh.6:20). Henceforth every limitation in your life will become history; God will cause you to live a life without limits in Jesus name. Hallelujah in your mouth will cause all your enemies to tremble and whatever wall has kept you routed on one spot will crumble right before you like a pack of cards in Jesus name.  

Before Joshua got to the point where He can shout Hallelujah God already promised him that he will be indestructible because He has the greatest ally (Joshua 1:5-6). I am convinced that we are all shouting Hallelujah already because God told us last month in Isaiah 43:2 that no matter what we are going through He will be with us and nothing will destroy us. For as many that will believe that God is able to do what He says He will do; your shouts of Hallelujah will be the loudest this month in Jesus name.

Hallelujah is a divine language (John 4:24) that can be used depending on the circumstance. The shouts of Hallelujah means the devil cannot shut you up; it is a refusal to be subdued but to let the devil know that he is not big enough to hinder your praise, that was the weapon Paul and Silas used. They would have said to themselves, “yes, we have been imprisoned but that will not prevent us from shouting Hallelujah!” When you are down, praise is meant to lift you and drown your sorrows (Acts 16:24-26), it brings about salvation (Acts 16: 30-34). It is an expression of joy (Ps.149:1). To the oppressed, it is a shout of deliverance and freedom from oppression (2 Samuel 22:1-3). It is the sound of triumph in battle so no matter how tough the battle is or if you facing a difficult situation or a major barrier then you can easily overcome with the shouts of Hallelujah (Exo.15:20-21). Hallelujah brings about new things because it takes you to another level in life. It was praise that took Leah to that level where she realised God was all she needed in Gen.29:35; initially she was looking to her husband for love and attention forgetting that being married or having children is not synonymous with fulfilment of purpose but the minute she said, “now I will praise God”, her life took a new turn because out of her line came the Lion of the tribe of Judah - Jesus. Do you know why Hallelujah is so potent? It is because God cannot disregard praise, He lives in praise (Ps.22:3).  He made us His special people so that we will show forth His praise….(1Pet.2:9). The focus of our theme this month is that our victory is in our Hallelujah; our power is in our Hallelujah, our testimonies lies in our Hallelujah. All we need revival, healing, breakthrough etc is in our Hallelujah. Whenever we shout Hallelujah we are telling God YOU are bigger and greater, please take over and He will never disappoint. Not even death can drown Halleluyah because we know in heaven the angels and the 24 elders are currently singing the praises of Him who sits upon the throne (Rev.4:10-11). LET SOMEBODY SHOUT HALLELUYAHHHHH!

Lekan Oyewande

August 2017