Foundations 2012: Prayer 2
After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; already they are at Hazazon-tamar” (that is, En-gedi). Jehoshaphat was afraid; he set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the towns of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the middle of the assembly. He said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you: “Do not fear or be dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them; they will come up by the ascent of Ziz; you will find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. This battle is not for you to fight; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.” Then Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.
(2 Chronicles 20:1-18 (mostly) NRS)
What a great set-up for a story. The enemy is coming so the king and the people turn to God and cry, “Help” and a prophet steps up and says, “Don’t be afraid – relax. The battle is not yours but God’s.” The rest of the story is this: Jehoshaphat sets some singers out at the front of the army. While that is one way to kill an arts program in a nation, that is what they did. They march out and get to a watchtower and look off into the distance – all they see are dead bodies. Instead of war they spend 3 days taking all the plunder from the dead armies that had come to attack them. They returned to Jerusalem and praised God and had peace for the rest of Jehoshaphat’s reign.
There are a lot of lessons we can take from this story of God’s deliverance. The one I want to focus on, though, is about preparation. When you read through the stories of Jehoshaphat you read that he was a good king. He worked to get rid of the places of idol worship; he sought God’s wisdom from his prophets; he respected the Law and led his people well. He wasn’t perfect, but he did a pretty good job. Here is one thing he did do as a result of how he lived his life – he kept short accounts with God. Sin is a debt – a debt against God. He has set a standard and when we miss that mark, a debt is incurred. Often when we sin it is not just against God, but also against a person. We now have a debt against them – we owe them. That is why it is called forgiveness when you cancel that debt. Someone hurts you – you forgive them – you cancel the debt they had against you as a result of their sin.
That forgiveness is not automatic. The Bible says that forgiveness is based on a relationship with Jesus. 1 John 1:9 says that, “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” What I mean by short accounts, then, is that we don’t let that debt pile up in our own life. Sometimes when we start drifting in our spiritual walk, we hit the cruise control and just let things go their course. Sin goes unconfessed, our life becomes less intentional and things just kind of happen. Keeping short accounts is confessing sin when we recognize it. It is like paying off your credit card balance every month, so there are no extra charges, no interest added. We may be good at not paying the bank, but the spiritual charges that accrue against unconfessed sin are much greater than any bank charges. Missed blessings, missed opportunities to share the love of Jesus, lost power of life and witness, loss of direction and wisdom – It is tragic the damage that sin causes. As a follower of Christ you have been enlightened, you have tasted of the heavenly gift, you have shared in the Holy Spirit, you have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come – and then it stops, all because you do not return to God and seek forgiveness and His righteousness.
Jehoshaphat was able to go straight to God when the enemy came. He didn’t have to start going through life and try to sort through months or years of sin – he was current with God. His relationship was ongoing – and God heard and delivered.
We like to laugh at stereotypes. Stereotypes are what they are because they highlight a truth about something or someone. For men, there is a stereotype about directions. Whether it be maps, and we think we don’t need them, or instructions, and that we can put together that gazebo or barbeque without them. Invariably we get lost or have 3 important parts left over. Prayer is the same way. This book (the Bible) is a direction manual about prayer. Let’s look at a few of them – some of my favorites:
Romans 5: “we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” This is a prayer about God looking after us, fulfilling His purposes in us.
Romans 8: 1”There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
Romans 8:10 “if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”
Romans 8:26 “the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”
Romans 8:28-29 “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Know the context, the truth of the verse. (see Romans 8:36-37)
- Trust in God’s character – it is sure and unchangeable
- Scripture is not magic – understand how the spiritual realm works
- Start from spiritual – Seek first the Kingdom of God – God’s rule in your heart
