Praise Before the Storm Is Over

You have prayed, but nothing has changed. The pain is still there, the numbers still do not work, and the answer has not appeared. It can feel easier to praise God after the report changes or the storm ends. But Jesus told His disciples to be of good cheer while they were still in the storm.

The disciples had been fighting the wind on the Sea of Galilee for hours. They were exhausted and only halfway across when Jesus came walking toward them. In Matthew 14:27 (NKJV), He said, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” The wind had not stopped and the boat had not reached shore. Jesus called them to courage before anything around them changed.

Faith Responds Before the Result

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV) says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith gives greater weight to what God has said than to what the storm says. It responds to His Word before the result can be seen.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus asked people to act before they saw the answer. He told a man with a withered hand to stretch it out. He put clay on a blind man's eyes and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. The man had to start walking while he was still unable to see. When Jesus met the widow of Nain in the funeral procession for her only son, He told her not to weep before He raised the young man.

Jesus called for a response of faith before circumstances changed. His word gave people something to act on. The man with the withered hand stretched it out; the blind man went to the pool; and the disciples heard Jesus tell them to be of good cheer before the wind stopped.

Jesus' ministry also shows how unbelief affects what people receive. Mark 6:5 says He could do no mighty work in His hometown, and verse 6 says He marveled at their unbelief. Matthew 13:58 likewise says He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Their response mattered. God's power is at work in us, and faith gives it room to work in our lives. Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV) says God is able to do “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”

See the Promise More Clearly Than the Problem

When your attention stays on a problem, it can begin to dominate your thoughts. You may learn every symptom, replay every fear, and imagine all the ways the situation could get worse. Praise redirects your attention to God. His Word remains true, His character has not changed, and He is present with you.

Andrew Wommack shares Connie Wisecoff's story. Connie was diagnosed with breast cancer, and a friend told her to learn everything she could about the disease. Connie answered that she needed to learn everything she could about healing. She found Andrew's teaching, focused on God's promises, received prayer, underwent surgery, and was healed. More than a decade later, she was still well.

Connie faced a real diagnosis, and her attention stayed on God's promises. She kept learning about healing while she went through surgery and received prayer. Praise helps you look beyond the problem and remember the One who is faithful.

Praise in the Middle of the Prison

Nehemiah 8:10 (NKJV) says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Andrew connects praise with strength and with the scriptural picture of praise stilling the enemy. Praise takes your attention off the negative and puts it on God. When you stay fixed on the problem, it is easy to complain; praising God turns your attention toward who He is.

Paul and Silas praised God in prison. Acts 16 says they had been beaten, placed in stocks, and locked in the inner prison. At midnight they prayed and sang hymns to God. An earthquake shook the prison, the doors opened, and everyone's chains came loose. They praised while still in the prison, before the doors opened.

Anyone can praise after passing through the Red Sea and watching the enemy destroyed. Faith can praise on the near side, while the enemy is still pressing in and the sea has not opened. That is the moment when God's promise matters more than what the situation looks like.

Choose Praise Before You Know the Outcome

Andrew Wommack shares a painful moment from his own life. Early one morning in March 2001, his oldest son called and said Andrew's youngest son had died. Andrew and his wife, Jamie, took about an hour and fifteen minutes to get dressed and drive to Colorado Springs. They did not have cell phones and had no updates along the way.

Andrew felt what any parent would feel after hearing that a child had died. During the drive, he chose to praise and worship God by faith. As he did, it was as though a cloud lifted from his understanding. He began laughing and told Jamie, “This is going to be the greatest miracle we've ever seen.” When they arrived, they learned his son had been dead for more than four hours and had been placed in a morgue. Andrew says his son was raised from the dead and is alive and well.

Andrew connects that miracle to praise. He praised by faith while driving toward what seemed to be a tragedy, before he knew what they would find at the hospital.

The three Hebrew men told the king that God was able to deliver them from the furnace. They believed He would deliver them, but they also made clear that they would not bow even if they did not see the outcome they expected. Their worship rested on who God is, even as they hoped He would deliver them.

You can believe God for healing and praise Him today. You can expect provision and thank Him before the money arrives. Even while you wait, salvation gives you a reason to praise: you have been brought from death to life, you belong to God, and your future with Him is secure.

The wind had not changed when Jesus said, “Be of good cheer.”

This post draws from How to Become a Water Walker, Episode 5 by Andrew Wommack. Watch the full teaching on YouTube.