Thoughts for another day 

February 8, 2011

Today's verse: 2 Chron. 20:6. And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? (KJV) 

(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)                                                                                    

How should a desperate heart pray?  An example is the prayer of Jehoshaphat. The Moabites and Ammonites ganged up against Judah and came to fight along with the Meunites.  It was a great army and it melted the hearts of the people of Judah because defeat loomed certain upon them.  They didn't have the capacity or the staying power to handle the multipronged attack of the enemy.  But they had the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and they could look up to Him.  The man for the occasion was Jehoshaphat who had a great zeal for God's Word.

Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly in the house of the LORD and made a prayer that's not only a direct heart-to-heart communication with God imploring His intervention, it's also a bold provocation for God to act.  And even as the prayer was uttered, it hammered God's heart such that God immediately sent His Word through a person in the midst of the assembly.  Our Scripture today is part of that prayer and I'd encourage you to go and read it fully to understand how prayer can move the heart of God and find favor in His sight.

The great thing about this prayer is its vividness in placing God atop.  Don't you love it when it says, 'art not Thou God in heaven?'  It's a prayer from the heart and may I daresay, a challenge to God who loves when we say this.  An example is the Centurion who tells Jesus that even if He commanded from a distance, his servant would be healed!  Prayer that's right before God is one which exalts and lifts Him high.  And then I also like when Jehoshaphat utters, 'in Thine hand is there not power and might so that no one is able to withstand Thee?'  Oh how wonderful and powerful this prayer is.  I pray today as we communicate with God, our lips will utter His glorious greatness just as in the prayer of Jehoshaphat.  And surely even as the sun rises in the east, God will answer that prayer.  So if you've prayed like Jehoshaphat, relax, wait for God's answer, it may be delayed, but it will come.  Amen.