Jehoshaphat (see 2 Chronicles 20), when threatened by three allied armies of neighbouring countries – Edom, Moab and Ammon – called the nation of Judah to fast while he sought the Lord in prayer.
His prayer was answered by a prophetic word like the one Moses had issued at the Red Sea, and Joshua’s experience on the verge of Jordan, ‘Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord’ (verse17; compare Exodus 14:13-14).
Encouraging his army to believe the prophets of the Lord and they would succeed (verse 20), he then appointed the ‘church choir’ to lead the march against the allied troops (verse 21). And when they began to sing their hearts out in true faith, the Lord send an ambush against the enemy who then proceeded to kill each other off, leaving behind so many spoils of war that the Jewish army needed three days to gather up the booty (verses 23-25). The choir then led the march of triumph back to the capital city where the fear of God fell on everyone and peace prevailed for the rest of Jehoshaphat’s reign (verses 26-30).
That’s a great way to wage war, don’t you think? We too are called to fight, not ‘flesh and blood’ but spiritual forces arrayed against us. But let’s not overlook the beautifully lyrical way in which Jehoshaphat launched his prayer vigil (verses 5-12). The words flowed poetically from his heart in the form of three matching questions:
[] ‘Are you not God in heaven? You rule over all nations…’ (verse 6, in the present tense),
[] ‘Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it to the descendants of Abraham … for ever…?’ (verse 7, in the past tense), both questions were words of praise; then, finally,
[] ‘Will you not execute judgement on them?’ (verse 12, in the future tense, a prayer).
We really can’t improve on this king’s straightforward style of praying in a crisis. Jesus, after all, taught us to begin our praying by focusing on who God is: Are you not ‘our Father in heaven’? ‘Hallowed be your name.’ Did you not redeem us through the covenant of the cross of Christ? And did not our Joshua (Hebrew equivalent of Jesus in Greek) return to your right hand having procured the inheritance promised to our spiritual forefathers? ‘Your kingdom come, on earth as in heaven.’ On that basis we ask, Will you not ‘give us this day our daily bread’(as that foreign woman once prayed for her daughter’s healing as bread from their masters’ table for these ‘family pets’, such as herself and her daughter, Matthew 15:21-28)? For, as Jehoshaphat concluded his classic prayer, ‘we [too] are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you’ (verse 12), as his were in all three of his simple questions.
Stop analysing your praying. Just do it!
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