There is a beautiful story in 2 Chronicles 20 about a king from Judah named Jehoshaphat.
The king and the people of Jerusalem are being invaded by an enemy army, a “great multitude from beyond the sea.”
2 Chronicles 20:3 says: “Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.”
He then goes into the temple and prays this prayer to God.
“O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land. before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?…
“And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy— behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgement on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
After Jehoshaphat prays this beautiful, faith-filled prayer, one of the prophets of Judah says:
“Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them…You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’”
Verse 18 says: “Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. And the Levites, of the Koathites and the Korathites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.”
I just love that last little line. They praised God with a very loud voice!
This beautiful pattern of prayer is something that I think we can still look at as we pray today.
Glorify God for Who He Is, and what He has done.
Admit our need for Him. Admit the futility of our own efforts.
Wait for the Lord to act. Take courage. See the salvation of the Lord on our behalf!
Worship. Praise the Lord with a very loud voice!
Romans 8:26 says:
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do now know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
How beautiful it is that God’s people today have the Holy Spirit within us, who cries out to God the Father on our behalf! Even when we are facing the enemy of sin and darkness, the “great horde”, we can rest in the peace of knowing that the battle is the Lord’s. He fights for us on our behalf, and the victory over sin and death has already been won through the shed blood of Jesus!
As a result, we can sing to the Lord with a very loud voice, with great freedom because of the victory that has already been won as we “stand, and see the salvation of the Lord” on our behalf today!