2 Chronicles 20:12 (NIV) “Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah were literally between a rock and a hard place as three nations joined together to come against them. The armies that had amassed against the people of God were too powerful for the army of Judah. They had no chance of survival and King Jehoshaphat knew it. So he did something that the majority of the kings that had reigned over Israel and Judah didn’t do. He called a fast and began to call on the name of the Lord. He didn’t try to figure out a way around this huge trouble and he didn’t go running to the Egyptians or the Arameans as some of the other kings that had reigned before him had done. His first inclination was to run to God.

King Jehoshaphat not only fasted and prayed himself but called on all the people to do the same. The people came from all over Judah to seek the Lord by fasting and praying. This godly king inspired the entire nation of Judah to consecrate themselves to the Lord and seek His help. Then as they were gathered at the temple, it was the king himself who led the prayer before the people. He could have had the high priest or one of the other priests lead the prayer, but this king had no problem leading the people in prayer. Even though the Word of God doesn’t mention that Jehoshaphat was a man of prayer, it was obvious that he was by his reaction to the great danger of this insurmountable army coming against them, which was to run God. He obviously knew how to call on the Lord. You can tell when someone is familiar with praying to God by how they pray (you can read Jehoshaphat’s prayer in 2 Chronicles 20:6-12). In addition to this, King Jehoshaphat demonstrated his humility and dependency on the Lord by stating in front of all the people that they didn’t know what to do. Here is the king of a once-great nation admitting that he had no clue how to deal with this problem. But because he and the people humbled themselves and cried out to the Lord, God delivered them without them even having to fight the battle. God did it Himself because Jehoshaphat depended on Him and Him alone.

Let’s learn a lesson from this good and godly king who had no problem admitting what is true in many circumstances of our lives. What is true is that most times when troubles or difficulties come, we don’t know what to do and usually when we don't know what to do, we try to do something anyway and we make matters worse. Let’s humble ourselves and seek the Lord at all times and even more so when trouble comes. Let's ask for His help, admit to Him that we don’t know what to do and then trust that He knows exactly what to do and that He will do it to perfection and to the praise and glory of His wonderful name.

Pastor Joey Vazquez