Yolanda Adams - The Battle Is the Lord's Lyrics
Lyrics
Speaking: What are you trying to say Yolanda?
Look forget about all that other junk
this battle ain't yours, its the lord's
think about it, and then start shouting help me sing
v1
There is no pain, Jesus can't feel
There is no hurt, that He can't heal
For all things work yes they do
According to the masters purpose
and his holy will
no matter what you in the balcony
are going thru, remember that God only wants a chance to use you
for the battle is not yours its the Lord's
we gonna tell the devil that all right?
There's no sadness, Jesus can't feel
and there is no sorrow,
that the master is not able and willing to heal
remember that all things work
they're not gonna be all good
but they're gonna work according to God's purpose and his holy will
no matter what, no matter what you're going thru
remember God sees all and he knows all
and all he wants to do is use you
for this Battle is not yours its, its its its its the lord
This battle is the Lord's. its the Lord's
yes its the Lord's it is the Lord's
but in faith you've got to hold your head up high hold your head up high
you belong to the most high God you don't need to cry
don't you cry its the Lord's
its the Lord's its the Lord's
yeah yeah yes its the Lord's it is the Lord's
No matter what No matter what
You're going thru Thru
Remember its gonna be alright He's just using you
God us only, using you for he's worthy
No matter what no matter what
you hapen to go thru right now Thru
Remember this will be a memory God is only using you
God is only using you, for he's worthy
You've got to have faith No matter what
You've got to know in your heart thru
That no matter what comes no matter what goes
Gos loves ya God is only using you
He loves ya (7x's) its not yours
And this battle is not yours no
He needs a chance to prove to your enemies that he is God
its the Lord's, its the Lord's not yours
So what you've got to do is, hold on, hold on its not yours
hold on, hold on yours
don't give up (4x's its the Lord's not yours
Step out on faith its not yours
no, no no
I'm so glad that God sees it its not yours
and he knows all its the Lord's not yours
This battle is not yours, no, it belongs to the Lord
Hallelujah, yeah
Video
The Battle Is the Lord's
Meaning & Inspiration
When Yolanda Adams hits the stage in Washington, she isn’t just singing; she’s performing a kind of liturgical intervention. You hear that conversational intro—"What are you trying to say Yolanda?"—and it immediately dismantles the distance between the performer and the pew. She’s pulling the audience out of their heads, away from the "junk" of their daily anxieties, and anchoring them into a specific, immovable reality.
There’s a line that hits different in this live cut: "They’re not gonna be all good, but they’re gonna work according to God's purpose."
Most modern worship music leans heavily into the "everything is going to be perfect" trope. It’s light, airy, and often disconnected from the grit of an actual Tuesday afternoon. But Adams offers something more grounded here. By explicitly stating that the things we face—the hurts, the sorrow—might not be "good" in and of themselves, she’s doing the work of a theological realist. She’s leaning into Romans 8:28, but without the sugarcoating that usually makes it hard to swallow when you’re actually in the middle of a mess. It’s an honest admission that some situations are, frankly, bad. But her insistence that they possess a "purpose" isn't a platitude; it’s a survival tactic. It shifts the burden of proof from our personal strength to the sovereignty of the "Master."
Then she pivots to this phrase: "God only wants a chance to use you."
This is classic Black Gospel vernacular, but it functions here as a complete reframing of human suffering. In many suburban CCM contexts, the focus is often on God providing comfort to keep us stable. Here, Adams suggests that the trial itself is a tool for God to demonstrate His identity to our enemies. It’s a radical, almost uncomfortable thought—that your private, agonizing struggle is actually an opportunity for God to show off His own capability.
When you listen to the way she repeats "its the Lord’s," the repetition starts to sound less like a chorus and more like a rhythmic shackle-breaking. By the end, she isn't really singing anymore; she’s preaching. She’s iterating on the word "yours" until it feels small, insignificant, and finally, discarded.
I’m left wondering: if we actually believed the fight didn't belong to us, would we be this exhausted? We spend so much energy trying to own our problems, to curate them, to solve them, to make them part of our personal narrative. Adams is arguing that the moment we stop viewing the battle as "mine" and start viewing it as "His," the pressure shifts from our shoulders to His.
It leaves me in a bit of a gray area, though. If the battle is strictly "the Lord’s," where does that leave our agency? Does "holding your head up high" actually require something from us, or are we just witnesses to the carnage? Adams doesn't provide a neat conclusion. She just shouts until the noise of the struggle is drowned out by the authority of the message. Sometimes, that’s all you get—and maybe, in the heat of the moment, that’s enough.