Learning from Old Testament Prayers (1)

 

We all have times when we find prayer difficult.  Prayer, however, is a vital part of our spiritual lives, and so we need to do all we can to cultivate our prayer life.  The Old Testament is full of prayers that people made to God, and we can be helped as we read and study them. 

   Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20 had reason to pray to God.  He had received news that a large force of Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites were invading the country. Two things characterized his response to this news.  First, he was afraid.  Then he set his face to seek the Lord.  What is our first response when we face a situation that causes us to be afraid, anxious or worried about the outcome?  Jehoshaphat gives us a good example to follow: he turned to the Lord with his need.  This is ultimately the best place to go, and it is admirable that he did this first.  Why is it that this is often our last port of call?  In response to seeking God for His help, he then made another important decision.  He proclaimed a fast, and all Judah came together to seek help from the Lord.  There are times when we need to include others, particularly in the case of a national emergency.  We saw this in World War II when there was a call to prayer by the leaders of the United Kingdom to pray for the land.  I am sure that was one reason why the outcome was the way it was.  We are now in another national emergency, yet the call to prayer seems half-hearted at best, and there is not a national movement to pray about our present pandemic.  What would happen if we had done so?  We can also say that there are many advantages of communities praying together about things.  It brings a unity of purpose in our praying, and encourages and strengthens us as we do things together. 

            Let’s highlight some things from Jehoshaphat’s prayer.  First, it begins with worship; secondly, there is a claim upon the promises of God; and thirdly, there is a complaint to God for allowing these forces to come against them. 

However, I want to concentrate in this article on the last two sentences of his prayer.  They are: “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" (v.5b-6). In these two sentences we see what prayer is all about.  Firstly, it is the acknowledgement that we are weak and need God to help us in our problems.  It is an expression of faith in God that believes that, although there is nothing we can do, we believe that He is big enough to step in and do something about it. This is a recurring theme throughout the Bible: that God takes pleasure in helping those who are weak and rely upon Him.  Paul sums it up well when he quotes God as saying, “my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).  When we are weak and know it, it is then that we realize our need of God.  However, this shouldn’t be a desperate last-minute plea to God for help.  Rather, we should seek God’s help and empowering in each and every situation, not just when we are out of our depth. 

            The second thing that these two sentences highlight about prayer is that we need to acknowledge that without God’s help and leading we can end up making a mess of life, because we are trying to solve problems with our own understanding and abilities.  If the first point was that our faith in God is expressed in our call to God for help in our need because the situation is beyond us, then this second point is the acknowledgement that because we don’t know what to do, we are looking to God for the answers, for His leading and guidance.  We are not relying on ourselves to sort out problems.  Twice it is recorded in v.3 and v.4 that Jehoshaphat set out to seek the Lord, and the people of Judah did the same.  Their focus in finding answers to their problems was on the Lord, not trying to solve the problem themselves.  This was clearly rewarded, because God not only gave them an answer through the prophet, but also gave them victory over their enemies without them having to do anything.  How amazing is that!

            There is an important lesson here for us to take to heart.  God loves us and wants the best for us, so we can have confidence in giving to the Lord every need and situation we may find ourselves in, whether this is making a phone call to encourage someone, or seeking God’s help when we go food shopping, to the bigger decisions in life like buying a car, where to live, who to marry, and the job to apply for.  Prayer is not just asking for things and for help to be able to accomplish things, but also it is bringing to Him our problems, difficulties, and difficult situations that we may be facing.

But there is one important thing we need to keep in mind.  Jehoshaphat said in v.6, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”   In other words, he was looking to God for the answer, whatever that might be.  When we pray, we need to remember that it is God who will give the answer.  What we have in mind may not be what God has in mind.  As David Jeremiah has said, “If you ask Him something, you must be willing to take what He gives…. People must learn to want what they get.…. When I talk to soldiers about prayer, I try to tell them that they must be adults. God expects us to be men. Only children demand a happy ending to every story. How old must we be before we begin to realize that even prayer can’t get us everything we want, unless the thing we want is right for us to have?” ^[1]  We need to learn to set our minds on the things God wants, and align our desires and prayers with His.

We may not see the answers to our prayers in the way we would like to see answers, yet we can trust God to give us the best answer.  So although we may not see a change in the situation for the better, it will change us.  It can remove anxiety; we can experience the peace of God; it enables us to learn to be content (see Philippians 4:6-7. 13).  Jehoshaphat’s prayer is a good model for us to follow.  Let’s take it to heart and make it our own. 

 

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^[1] Jeremiah, D. (2016). Count it all joy: discover a happiness that circumstances cannot change. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook.