The Petition

Jehoshaphat's initial response to his problem was that of fear. His emotions ran the gamut from fright to alarm, from alarm to terror, and from terror to trepidation. The ancient chronicler records, "And Jehoshaphat feared . . ."

Let's explore this matter of fear. First, it is part and parcel of the human experience. It is played out in the drama of our lives as we face the unknown, the uncertainties, the unexpected, the unexplored and especially the seemingly overwhelming circumstances of life.

Despite the pious attempt of the so-called super saints to deny its existence; fear is an undeniable, indisputable and un-fabled reality that visits the hearts and experiences of each of us from time to time.

Those who through their canting and sanctimonious attitude proclaim that other believers who fear because of their problems have a substandard faith, breed an atmosphere of hypocrisy. For when the average believer comes to the local fellowship, they are apprehensive about being open and honest about their fears because of the criticism and the condemnation they are going to receive from the super saints. So they pretend that they are fearless when in reality they are fearful. They pretend to be living above their circumstances when in reality they are living beneath their circumstances. The end result is that they leave the fellowship without any help for their fears. Even in venues that are especially designed, e.g., retreats, workshops, and small group settings, there is always that percentage of believers who will inevitably pretend to have it all together. An additional tragedy, is the so-called super saints leave without help for their fears that they pretend not to have. In this atmosphere of hypocrisy no one is helped.

The underlying root cause of our failure to admit our fears is simply pride. We are too proud to have our fears publicly exposed so we attempt to hide them behind a facade of I got-it-all-together. Some endure a great deal of private suffering and unnecessary burden bearing because they refuse to share their fears with those who love and care for them.

Another aspect of fear is that it can be both negative and positive. It is the former when we allow it to grip us and hinder us from performing at our best. Fear is negative if it causes us to seek earthy and mundane methods to deal with our dilemmas. It is negative, when it causes us to shrink away from our tasks and responsibilities.

It is the latter, when fear causes us to seek the Lord, then it is a positive prompter in the life of the believer. The chronicler declares, "Jehoshaphat feared . . ." And that was indeed true. However, he not only feared, but he ". . . set himself to seek the Lord . . ." Any fear that drives us to our knees to seek the face of our Father in heaven is a positive fear.

Jehoshaphat set himself to seek the Lord. The Hebrew word for the phrase "to set" is nathan (naw-than') it means to consecrate, commit or give over to. The fearful situation Jehoshaphat found himself in caused him to consecrate himself and give himself over to prayer to seek Jehovah's face.

In addition to his prayer, he issues a royal proclamation requiring that all of the citizens of Judah go on a fast during this time of national crisis. Now regardless of one's theological perspective on fasting, we must admit that it has been the practice of many godly persons throughout holy history. And the line of demarcation between the effectiveness of prayer alone and prayer and fasting is hard to determine.

The nation came together to ask for help from the Lord. Representatives from each of the cities met in Jerusalem for a National Day of Prayer. In times of overt national crisis it is not difficult to get a prayerful and united response from the citizenry of a nation. This generation witnessed that on 9-11. We came together in the spirit of oneness, there was an outpouring of patriotism.

In times of overt national crisis it is not difficult to get a prayerful and united response from the citizenry of a nation.

Political lines were even blurred as the nation's politicians joined hands in a symbol of national unity. Public prayers were even allowed back in school. Of course, I have always believed that prayer has never left school. As long as there are tests, quizzes, midterms and final exams, prayer will be an integral part of the class room.

The kind of coming together that is produced by overt national crisis is not present in the less conspicuous and subtle crisis that we face. Corruption and flagitious conduct are at every level of our culture, even in high places. In his letter to the Ephesians the apostle Paul put it this way. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12) And for the most part, there are no outcries against this less conspicuous crisis. Then when there are warnings against the moral and spiritual decay that confronts us. They go unheeded en masse.

In the midst of his national crisis, the ancient chronicler declares that, ". . . Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem . . ." (2 Chronicles 20:5a) One of the meanings of the Hebrew word stood (aw-mad') is "to establish."

Jehoshaphat, unlike many politicians, established his position among the people of the nation. He did not wait for the result of polls or the prevailing political opinions. He took his stand in the midst of the congregation and established his position as one who has set his face to seek the Lord.

There is something else here in the fifth verse of this twentieth chapter that is worth noting and that is that the courtyard is described as new. It was under his reign or that of his godly father Asa that improvements were made to the Temple which had been constructed by Solomon in the previous century. When public officials are concerned about houses of worship, it speaks volumes about their character and their stand for the things of God.

Analyzing the Prayer of the King

He acknowledges the singular and exalted position and power of God when he declares, "O LORD God." He also acknowledges that God had an active role in the history of his ancestors by declaring Him as the Lord God of our fathers. Then it seems as though lest his prayer be too parochial he references God as not only the God of the patriarchs, but as the God of the heavens, the Ruler of the kingdoms of all nations. He recognized that Jehovah was not just the God of the neighborhood, but He was also the God of the galaxies. So often our prayers are rendered ineffective because we have a narrow notion of the Infinite.

The king reminds God of His omnipotency when he says, "Power and might are in your hands and no one can withstand you." I suppose it is superfluous for me to mention here that our reminders to God are not for His benefit, but for ours. (God remembers everything except for that which He wills to forget, our confessed sins for example) Every now and then we become overwhelmed by life's difficulties and great companies that we find ourselves shifting our focus from the Problem Solver to problem. It is then we often feel the need to remind God of His omnipotency, His omniscience, His omnipresence and His omni-benevolence, when in reality we are reminding ourselves.

Jehovah was not just the God of the neighborhood, but He was also the God of the galaxies.

I have heard seasoned saints in their prayers describe a situation to God and when they have reached the limit of their vocabulary and their ability to explain it to their satisfaction, they simply cry out, "Lord You know!" "You know all about it!" They remind God of His omniscience. The wonderful reality about this is that God indeed does know.

The Song Writer Puts It This Way . . .

Yes, He knows, Just how much we can bear, / Tho' the load gets heavy, / You're never left alone to bear it all; / Ask for the strength and keep on toiling, / tho' the tear drops fall. / You have the joy of this assurance; / The heavenly Father will always answer prayer and He knows, / Yes, He knows Just how much you can bear.

He continues his historical reference to Jehovah in the affairs of the covenant people. At this point in his prayer, the king rehearses the blessed acts of the LORD toward His people in times past. He remembers what has been taught to by the prophets and by his godly father. He remembers that after their release from Egyptian captivity and a time of sojourn in the wilderness that God drove out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey and gave it to Israel, to the seed of Abraham forever.

A Track Record of Successes

It strengthens our faith when we remember the historical acts of God, the promises He has made and the promises He has fulfilled. In other words we ought to look back upon our track record with God. Nothing emboldens our faith like a track record of successes.

In Southern California there is a law firm that is quite successful. On one of its commercials, they claim to win 91% of their cases. If they have adhered to the Truth in Advertising Laws of the land, then this law firm will never have a shortage of clients. There is an overabundance of confidence in them because of their track record. How much confidence should we have in God whose track record remains steady at 100%.

As you read and meditate on this prayer of Jehoshaphat, think about how God in times past has delivered you through some intense difficult situations. He has brought you through some toils and snares, some dangers seen and unseen. And now like Jehoshaphat you are facing three nations coming against you in war. Remember this, God's power is never diminished, His promises never go unfulfilled and His track record is still 100%.

According to Jesus our confidence in the track record of God ought to be at least at the level of the lilies of the fields. (See Matthew 6:25-33)

Living in the Fulfilled Promise

As we continue to analyze the prayer of the king from his own historical perspective, we hear him saying, in essence, "God we have been living in the fulfilled promise every since the time of Joshua and Eleazar (See the Book of Joshua). Every since the distribution of the promised inheritance by Joshua the Head of State and Eleazar the Head of the Church in the Wilderness, we have occupied this land continually."

In the Living Bible Paraphrase the promise is described this way . . . "When the Lord your God has brought you into the land he promised your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and when he has given you great cities full of good things—cities you didn't build, wells you didn't dig, and vineyards and olive trees you didn't plant—and when you have eaten until you can hold no more, then beware lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the land of slavery." (TLB, Deuteronomy 6:10)

We have not been ungrateful for your gifts and your benefits toward us. We have demonstrated our gratitude by building you a sanctuary in this land for your Name. There is no surer way to guarantee continued beneficence than to be grateful for that which has already been bestowed upon you. Children who are grateful and take care of the gifts given them from their parents will no doubt find that their parents will respond by being even more generous. Now if earthly parents, being sinful, respond with such generosity, how much will our Heavenly Father give good things to them that ask of Him. (Matthew 7:11)

As his prayer continues, one can almost feel his sense of resoluteness. As we listen to his prayer in our spirits, we sense his unwavering firmness of action. He firmly, yet humbly declares that, ". . . we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help." (2 Chronicles 20:9) He is determined not to move from the position of the promise. "When evil comes, no matter what form it takes, whether it be sword, judgement, pestilence, or famine we will resolutely and steadfastly stand in this place, in thy presence because Lord, this your house. And furthermore, we will cry to you in our distress and you will hear and save us."

Centuries later, this kind of resolute and stick-to-it-ness kind of faith was demonstrated by the disciple Simon Peter. There came a time when the ministry of the Master extracted deeper demands on His followers, many of them responded by saying, "this is an hard saying." Many went back and walked no more with Him. (See John 6) Then Jesus turned to twelve and queried them. ". . . Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." (John 6:68-69)

The resolute (bold and steady) prayer of the king is accentuated by the phrase in verse eight, "then thou wilt hear and help." He is determined not to move from his posture and position of prayer until his petition has been granted. Now contra wise, to some theological opinions, that constant storming of the Throne of Grace will not gain you entrance. Jesus taught just the opposite. In Luke (11:5-8), He gives us a parable expounding on the effectiveness of the power of persistent prayer.

In response to His disciples to teach them to prayer, (Luke 11:1) He utters the parable commonly known, as The Parable of the Friend at Midnight. In it a friend has had a late night visitor. Now the custom of the times was whenever a friend arrived at your home, to offer them food and drink. However, this man had a cupboard that was bare. So he set out on a midnight trek to visit a neighbor who was also a friend. Upon explaining the quandary he was in, the neighbor's reply was, ". . . Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee." Yet, for this knocking neighbor that answer was unacceptable.

Jesus concludes the parable of this midnight success story by saying, ". . . Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth." The man left with the bread. Not only bread, but with as much bread as he needed. He knew the formula for success in prayer.

This formula Jesus gives us immediately following the parable. The formula is easy to remember . . . (A. S. K.) A is for asking, S is for seeking, K is for knocking. When we are certain of what God's will is concerning an issue in our life, i.e., when it is clearly spelled out in black and white, then the answer is simple. Ask and ye shall receive. However, not all of life is clear or simply spelled out in terms of black and white. There are some grey areas. If you ponder a while you will discover that not only is there good and bad choices, but there is an added dimension to some of life's puzzles. Yes, there is bad and good, but there is also, bad, good and best. So when confronted with this dilemma, the next step in the formula is to Seek.

Seeking prayer demands more of us than asking prayer. More time on our knees, more time in our prayer closet, more time with our heads bowed to the dust from whence we came and lifted to the Father in heaven. Hidden treasures are not found on the surface, (see Matthew 13:44) they are found by those who are willing to dig.

The third principle in the Master's formula for prayer is Knocking. That is that when you have discovered the will of God but it is behind closed doors. Then we are to knock until closed doors become open doors. The inevitable question then is how long must we knock. The answer depends on how deep is your desire for the blessings on the other side of the door. Jehoshaphat stood there in the midst of the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court. And he knocked until the doors of heaven were opened.

The record also states that the king cried unto the Lord in his affliction. I am reminded of a story I heard one of my mentors, share in a sermon. Dr. A. Louis Patterson, the pastor of the Mount Corinth Church of Houston, Texas. In a sermon on prayer, Dr. Patterson related this story. He said there was a nationally known pastor and evangelist who came to Houston for a convention. He brought with him his young adolescent son. One day they went shopping in one Houston's malls. The young boy like most, had an eye for many of the toys and trinkets he saw. As they were strolling through the mall, he would pick up items and say, "Daddy I want this." His father would say to him to put that down and come on. Well after repeatedly, going through similar incidents, picking up items and being told to put them down and come; they were in the sports section of one the larger stores.

The young boy saw a football jersey with the number thirty four on it. (It was back in day when the Houston Oilers were a pro football team in Texas) The number thirty four belonged to Earl Campbell, one of the greatest running backs in football history. Well the pastor/father, growing more weary and impatient with his young son, went through same routine, "Put that down, and come on lets go." However, after walking a few steps, this time he noticed that the son did not respond. He turned back and looked, there was his boy standing there, holding that jersey, with tears in eyes. The father said to himself, "Now he wants that." Sometimes in your prayer, you have to stand, bow, kneel, prostrate yourself, whatever position you find yourself in with tears in your eyes. And it seems like the Father in heaven is saying, "Now he wants that blessing."

". . . Then Thou Will Hear and Help."

This parcel of the king's prayer, ". . . Then thou will hear and help," is not an arrogant assumption of what God will hear and what God will do. Rather, it was a confident trust in the Covenant making and Covenant keeping God of the patriarchs. His prayer was simply reflecting that which Jehovah had promised to his predecessors that this land would be given to Israel and to the seed of Abraham forever. According to the Epistle writer John, it is not arrogance to assume that God will hear our prayer, but rather it is confidence in Him. "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:" (1 John 5:14)

That confidence is based on relationship, resources and the releasing of those resources. Let me explain it this way. Normally children don't fret about whether or not they will have food, clothing and shelter. They are much like the lilies of the field in this aspect. Now the reason why they don't fret about these issues of life is because they have the confident trust that when they are hungry their parents will hear and help, i.e., provide them with food. They go to their parents because of the presence of a parent-child relationship. They recognize that the resources are in the hands and control of the parents. Then because of love, commitment and devotion those resources are released for the meeting of the child's need. This process is repeated over and over in life. And so it is, not only with food, but also with clothing and shelter, etc., that this natural phenomenon is iterated continuously in the life experiences of the parent and the child.

So then like the earthly parent-child relationship, we have a relationship with our Father which is in Heaven. As the earthly child recognizes that the resource for the living of this life is in the hands of their earthly parents, we too, should recognize that in our Heavenly Father's hands are the resources for all of life's need. Then because He loves us infinitely more than an earthly parent can love his child, because His commitment and devotion to us are limitless, then how much more willing is He to release those resources unto us.

Now as we continue to explore the prayer of this godly king, he begins now to delineate his adversaries. His enemies were distant kindred, the descendants of Esau, the firstborn of Isaac and Rebecca and the twin brother of Jacob.

These enemies were Edomites, who at one time, the former slaves of Egypt, had demonstrated a tremendous act of kindness. He references this incident from the wilderness experience of his ancestors (Deuteronomy 2:4-6) "And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink."

The king reminds God of the obedience of his ancestors in dealing with the descendants of Esau's. "Jehovah, as per your command, we did not invade them, but turned from them and destroyed them not." As he presses forth with his plea, he cries out, "Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession which thou has given us to inherit." It is not uncommon to be the recipient of evil at the very hands of those whom you have shown acts of kindness. Now the initial response of fallen flesh is to retaliate and render evil for evil. Our natural and native tendency when we are hurt is to hurt back. However, Jesus says that our response ought to be just the opposite. We are to bless them that curse us and do good to them that hate us. If judgement becomes necessary, then like Jehoshaphat our cry ought to be, "O our God, wilt thou not judge them?"

A Breakthrough Moment in the Prayer of the King

At this point in the prayer of the king, I saw what I would describe as the beginning of a breakthrough. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines a breakthrough as a person's first notable success. As he stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, the king uttered these words in prayer, ". . . we have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do . . ." (2 Chronicles 20:12b) — And thus the beginning of a notable success. The beginning of a breakthrough.

Our honest admission to our Heavenly Father of our own inability to face the crisis of our lives sets His hand of deliverance in motion. For He has been waiting all along for us to finally admit, "I am at my wit's end." "I have run out of ideas." "I have exhausted my resources." "I simply just don't know what to do any more." "I have hit rock bottom."

Here is what you will discover, when you hit rock bottom, JESUS is the Rock at the bottom. He has been there all the time waiting for you to honestly admit to Him that we have no way to protect ourselves against life's adversities and we don't know what to do.

Once upon a time on my spiritual pilgrimage, I had an image of God as being like the calvary. And like the calvary, in the now politically incorrect movies, would show up just in the nick of time to rescue the wagon train from certain defeat. I have since learned, through my crisis experiences, that He is not a 'nick of time God.' Unlike the calvary who shows up in the nick of time, Our Heavenly Father doesn't have to show up, He is already there. He is there waiting for us to honestly admit to Him that we have no might against this great company, neither know we what to do. And when that happens, we began to experience our first notable success. — A spiritual breakthrough, if you will.

Where Is Your Focus?

After you have made an honest admission of your inability to face the three nations that are coming against you in war, what's next?

Here is what should not be next. Don't focus in on the crisis. Don't center your attention on the great company. The Hebrew word for the adjective great is rab. It means abundant in quantity, size, age, number, rank and quality. A company with those attributes will almost guarantee us a disquieted spirit and a troubled soul if we make the great company a matter of our focus.

Now, not focusing in on the problem does not mean ignoring the problem. Nor does it mean to piously deny the presence of the problem. Ignoring it and claiming that it does not exist will not make it go away. Often it will increase its intensity. Over the years, I have ministered to more than a few cancer survivors and each of them without fail, in addition to giving thanks to God, have used the phrase, "They caught it in time." They accepted the reality of their problem and responded by shifting their focus.

The answer is indeed in the shifting of our focus. Like Jehoshaphat, the child of God needs to proclaim, ". . . but our eyes are upon thee." (2 Chronicles 20:12c) It is not a denial of the reality of the great company, their numbers, their size, their rank etc. It is just that your focus has shifted. The company is still great, but the one on whom you are focusing is Greater, in fact, He is the personification and embodiment of greatness.

When our focus is on our Father in heaven, our attitude toward the great companies of life changes. It evidences itself in our actions and our activities. The evidence of a life focused in on the Father in heaven is found in what the apostle Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (See Galatians 5:22-23) If there is but one lesson to be learned from this prayer of Jehoshaphat, that lesson is to keep our focus on the God of our salvation. He will still the disquieted soul. He will remove the sting of intimidation by the great companies of life. My question to you is this, who are your eyes focused on?