Come, bless God, all you servants of God!
You priests of God, posted to the nightwatch
in God's shrine,
Lift your praising hands to the Holy Place,
and bless God.
In turn, may God of Zion bless you—
God who made heaven and earth! (The Message - Psalm 134)
What stood out to me was the words “Night Watch”. I know that there are specific times during the day and night that are set aside for prayer. One of the prayer shifts is called the Night Watch. That is approximately from 12 midnight to 6am. As I read more from IHOP (International House of Prayer), they have prayer shifts for all the time periods. What is interesting, was that the Night Watch is used to “ praise God”. This is so in line with God’s Word and that this shift is set aside for praising God. Here is what is said on the website according to IHOP on “Night Watch”
“Our cities are filled with sin, especially during the night hours when these deeds of darkness are meant to be hidden. The IHOP–KC NightWatch takes a stand, knowing that the night belongs to the Lord. Worship and prayer through the night hours keeps the fire of adoration burning to change the spiritual atmosphere over our cities. And the small schedule change is worth having this kind of eternal impact.”
This reinforces the concept that praise is a form of warfare! We can worship and praise as a means to spiritual warfare but mostly to glorify God. IHOP also used Psalm 134 as their scriptural base for the praise during this watch. Doesn’t this give you a new perspective on praying during the night. I often wake up at night with songs going through my head. Now I know why...I thought it kind of weird, but it now connects and make a whole lot of sense. I am to praise and worship Him when I am awoken at night...this is a night watch concept. I am grateful for what I learned today about praising during the night watch. There is a great spiritual significance when praising during the night watch and I should never take it for granted.
Question: Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night with a worship song on your heart? Sing it through to bring light into the darkness in the Night Watch.
