Feeling Frazzled and Worn Out?

Grab Your Harp and Follow Me

Strategy for combating the current spiritual warfare trying to wear out the saints.

Do you recall one of the scripture verses I shared in prior posts, that the Lord gave me for 5782? Yeah, me neither. But it came up as I have been pondering and praying about something the Lord put on my heart Monday, while in prayer.

And after you suffer for a short time [or a little], God, who gives all grace, will make everything right [ restore you]. He will make you strong and support you and keep you from falling. He called you to share in his glory in Christ, a glory that will continue forever [ into his eternal glory in Christ].

1 Peter 5:10 EXB

I don’t know about you but these past few months have been stressful. I’ve found myself tense, stressed and easily annoyed. As I pondered and prayed about it I kept hearing a phrase used in the book of Daniel. “…And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High…“(Daniel 7:25)

For days I kept hearing that phrase, ‘shall wear out the saints’. I’m not the only one feeling a bit frayed at the edges these days. Why I hadn’t inquired of the Lord about it sooner I don’t know. I just didn’t. You know how we can get. Human nature being what it is. I just kept plugging along. But that phrase didn’t leave my thoughts. I thought, oh it must be spiritual warfare. I shrugged. Oh, well. I kept miserably trudging forward. Finally, after suffering for a while I went to prayer.

I don’t talk about spiritual warfare much. There’s a reason for that. I prefer to give the enemy as little attention as possible. My gaze is on my Beloved, the glorified victorious Christ, seated upon His throne. I prefer to engage in loving communion with my Redeemer and Friend. But, when the Lover of my soul reveals something to me about the enemy of our soul I pay attention.

And when the enemy of our soul is engaged in a full on merciless attack against the body of Christ it gets my dander up. (yeah, I’m an ol’ lady) Considering that I’ve been struggling with weariness and I’ve been exceptionally cranky, I figured it was in my best interest to not only listen but act on what God was trying to show on me.

I put on my priestly garments, so to speak, and stepped into the Tabernacle of the Most High to make intercession with the one who ever lives to make intercession. What that means is that I went in my room, closed my eyes and began to pray in tongues.

One thing I know about spiritual warfare is that the best strategy is to get the strategy from the Captain of the Lord of hosts. The other thing I know is that the answer doesn’t always make sense to the natural logical mind. After all, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to pulling down of strongholds. (2 Cor. 10:4) The other thing I know is that scripture is clear that our warfare is not against people even though it often feels that way.

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:12 NLT

God speaks to us as individuals. What I mean by that is that He knows our internal language. He knows how we think. He also knows how to get His point across to us. Often I get imagery with riddles that take time, patience and revelatory insight from God to decipher. I rely on God to interpret the symbols and signs He shows me. After all, they are His images, signs and symbols. I think He knows better than I do how to interpret them. Okay, so moving on:

As I prayed concerning what strategy was needed to combat the warfare, in the Spirit, I saw a picture of a lyre (harp), and the smoke of aromatic incense ascending from the burning coals upon the Altar of Incense. I asked God what He was trying to communicate to me through these images. As He replied worship and prayer in the Spirit, I saw the inside of the Tabernacle, the Holy Place.

In the Tabernacle of Moses, the Altar of Incense stood just in front of the Ark of the Covenant which was separated from the Holy Place by the Veil. In the Tabernacle of David, the Veil was replaced with Levitical singers and musicians. Lyres or harps were among the instruments used to accompany the singers as they worshipped in the presence of the Lord before the Ark of the Covenant. (1 Chronicles 16) In the New Testament the veil was removed when Jesus was crucified upon the cross. (Matthew 27:51)

David and his mighty men victoriously fought incredible battles. As a man after God’s heart, David was intimately acquainted with the Lord and took up his sword when instructed by God to do so.

Yet, he was first and foremost a worshipper of God. He played the harp. He sang. He danced. He saw things in the Spirit. It was in the presence of the Lord where he received the counsel of God. He understood that the only way to be victorious in battle was to first enter in to the presence of God and receive an endowment of the Spirit by His Maker. He entered that place through worship and praise. He understood that God was enthroned on the praises of His people. (Psalm 22:3)

It was in the Holy Place where the battles were first won in the Spirit. Then when David stepped out to command the army of Israel, in the earthly realm, the heavenly army was already engaged with the forces of darkness.

In this hour we need to boldly approach the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in a time of need. (Heb. 4:16) We need grace – great grace.

Those of us who are weary and worn out need the God of all grace to strengthen us, support us and keep us from falling. If you find yourself worn out in this hour, can I encourage you to steal away some time to get recharged in the presence of the Lord.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

Sometimes, all it takes is a few minutes of quiet in the presence of God to get recharged. But I must admit at first, I didn’t feel like it. I actually just wanted to get some work done. It’s not that I didn’t want to spend time with God. It’s more like, the warfare was so subtle I didn’t really recognize it at first.

My soul, my thoughts, feelings and stubborn will, struggled to accept that surrendering my precious time would make any difference. I know better but when under spiritual attack we don’t always think clearly.

I sat there for a few minutes completely frustrated. I sighed, and“God for some reason I just can’t right now. Help,” was all my soul could squeak out. Then I heard something softly. “Harp music.” Honestly, my first thought was, “Are you serious?!?” The silence was deafening. I don’t know about you but I’m usually willing to do whatever the Lord instructs me to do no matter how silly or outlandish it might sound. What could it hurt, right?

So, I picked up my phone, opened my music app and searched for some harp worship. Once found, I downloaded it. I sat silent in my chair, eyes closed, and just let the harp music play. And yes I felt even more like an old lady. Nevertheless, as I sat there engulfed in the soft tones, the thought of how when Saul was being tormented by an evil spirit, David would come and play the harp and it helped. (1 Sam. 16:23)

As I just sat silent in the presence of the Lord the stress and tension began to release me. Then without realizing it I found myself with my arms raised in worship. Within a few minutes I actually found myself effortlessly praying in the Spirit. I can’t tell you how much time went by but I can tell you I was slowly infused with the strength of the Lord.

Before I turned on the harp music I was struggling to press in. For some reason it was as if the gentle tune had broke down a barrier I could not get through on my own. In my mind this would have called for the blast of the shofar, or some other shout. But instead it was the soft gentleness of the harp that seemed to cut through the cords of distress. I would have gone for my sword not my harp. But God in His wisdom knows what weapon will win the victory in each and every individual battle. This one calls for the soft and gentle harp.

Even afterward, I decided to let the harp music play softly in the background throughout the rest of the day. Somehow, and without much effort, I found strength to get a few things done that I had been wanting to for weeks. My soul didn’t feel as harassed as it had been. My mind was clearer. My emotions were at ease. The attack was being cut off.

Yeah, harp music, who’d a thought. But it worked. Today I felt led to pass this strategy on to you. I know, but try it anyway. Harp music really isn’t my thing either. But, let me ask you this; isn’t some peace and rest for your soul worth it? There is no need to wearily trudge through when God wants to overthrow the evil one and exchange our distress for His great grace, peace and joy. And if that can happen just by playing some harp music, what the heck, give it a go. Let me know how it worked for you.

I found this on YouTube, and thought it might help.

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