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Issue link: http://magazine.kcm.org/i/1179048
That’s how you pray when you’re in trouble! It’s how you pray when you get into financial difficulties and you’re so deep in debt you don’t know how to get out. Or when you’re being attacked by the devil and only God Himself can keep you from going under. It’s also how you pray when you’re doing just fine. You start by telling God how big and wonderful He is. You worship Him and say, “LORD, You’re so mighty that with You on my side I don’t have to fear anything. You’re so good and merciful, I can trust You to turn this situation that was meant by the devil to harm me and make it turn out for my good. You’re so faithful and You’ve given me so many wonderful promises, I know that if I stand on Your WORD I cannot fail!” Once you’ve given The LORD that kind of praise, you’ll be ready to ask in faith for whatever you need. You can put the problem squarely in His hands and look to Him to provide the solution, just like Jehoshaphat did. He finished his prayer that day by asking God to deal with the people of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir that were about to launch an unprovoked attack against Judah. Reminding God that Judah had never harmed those nations but had left them in peace, he made this request: “Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children” (verses 11-13). A Whole Lot of Praising Going On What happened next? God showed up! (He always shows up when His people praise Him and brag on Him.) He moved in the midst of the congregation. He came on one of the prophets there and gave him a message to deliver to the people: "Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. To morrow go ye down against them…. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord. And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high" (verses 15-19). Notice again at what they did after God spoke. They praised with a loud voice on high. They believed what He said to them and praised Him as if the battle was already won—even before it had started. And they didn’t stop there. The next day, before they set out to meet the enemy, Jehoshaphat spoke to them again and said, “Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever” (verses 20-21). I read those verses for years and came away thinking it was The LORD who told Jehoshaphat to appoint those singers. But it wasn’t. It was the people. Jehoshaphat consulted them and they came up with the idea. 6 : BVOV