Are you looking to find victory in some area of your life? I think that is a dream within the heart of every person. All of us would like to know that we are experiencing victory with God. I read about a pastor who had a five-year-old daughter. The daughter noticed that every time her dad walked to the pulpit to preach he would bow his head for a moment before preaching. The little girl noticed that he did this every time he got up to preach. One day after the service she asked her dad, “Why do you bow your head right before you preach your sermon?” “Well Honey” the preacher answered, “I am asking the Lord to help me preach a good sermon.” She looked up at her father and asked, “Then how come he doesn’t do it?” (Contributed to Sermon Central by Dan Cormie) That little girl was not sure that her daddy’s prayers were connecting.
Victory is something that all of us desire! Each of us have struggles through which we would like to find victory. For some it may be a habit. For some it may be a family situation. For some it may be a health issue. For some it may be a job. Regardless of the issue, victory is the goal. In the spiritual realm, prayer is the key that unlocks the door. We are going to look at a man who found victory through prayer. The text is found in II Chronicles 20. I want you to see the before and after of the story. The before is found in verses 2-3. “Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; already they are at Hazazon-tamar” (that is, En-gedi). Jehoshaphat was afraid; he set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.” The after is found in verse 30. “The realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.” Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah found victory through prayer.
Before dealing with this text I would like to make an observation. Jehoshaphat was afraid because of conditions in his country. That is true in our country today. I am not here to plant seeds of fear. However, I would not be truthful if I did not recognize the presence of much fear in our country. We have just celebrated our nation’s birthday. I believe you would agree, our nation is facing significant trials. We need prayer. In this passage we learn some important lessons. A proper understanding of prayer is vital in our finding victory.
Joke: The story is told about two men who were walking through a field when they spotted an enraged bull. They immediately ran toward the nearest fence. The bull ran after them in hot pursuit, and they realized that they were not going to make the safety of the fence. Terrified, one man shouted to his friend, “Say a prayer, John. We’re in trouble” John said, “I’ve never prayed out loud before. I don’t know what to say. “But you have
to” yelled his companion; “The bull is catching up to us.” “All right,” said John, as he ran with all his might; “I’ll say the only prayer I know. My father used to say it at the table: Oh Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful.”
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Jonathan Busch) They had a lot to learn in their theology of prayer.
Follow the text as we discover some keys to finding victory through prayer.
1. Look at verse 3. “And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.” What is the truth? Jehoshaphat and his people were in trouble. They were surrounded by their enemies. Immediately they went to God in prayer. They made prayer a priority.
• If we are going to find victory in prayer it must be a priority in our lives. It should not be a last ditch effort.
Ill- I once heard about a church that was having many internal problems. The pastor spoke to the deacons about the issues. He told the deacons they needed to proclaim a church wide season of prayer. One deacon said to the pastor “Has it got that bad?”
Unfortunately we sometimes we treat prayer as a last ditch decision. It takes something horrific to bring us to our knees.
• When prayer becomes a priority we will display fervency in practicing it. Prayer is our key to victory; therefore, it must be practiced with fervency. The people of Judah turned to God in prayer and fasting. Fasting is a sign of fervency. When a person gets broken they will fast as they seek the face of God. One of the things you rarely hear mentioned in churches is the concept of spiritual warfare. Paul discusses this extensively in Ephesians 6. Whenever you and I understand that we are in a war we will get serious about prayer.
2. The first key to finding victory is found in verse 3. The second key is found in verse 12. There is a little phrase that tells the story. “We have no power against this great multitude.” Jehoshaphat came before God and admitted his inadequacy. God cannot help an arrogant, self sufficient person. The Bible says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Jesus discussed humility in His Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5 we find the words of Jesus, which are called the beatitudes. There are some phrases in the beatitudes that seem foreign to our minds; however, they summarize the concept found in II Chron. 20. Jesus said “blessed are the poor in spirit”; “blessed are those who mourn.” Those phrases may seem weird. This was Jesus way of saying that those who admit their inadequacy will find strength through prayer.
A father, walking past his 5 year old daughter’s room one night, proudly noticed she was on her knees in prayer. Listening in, he heard this curious prayer- "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"- repeated several times. When she was finished, he asked her what it meant: "God is really smart," she said, "when I don’t know what to pray about, I just say the alphabet and He figures it out for me"
(Contributed to Sermon Central by David Deborde)
Sometimes we get too cocky in our relationship with God. In those situations we need to be brought back down to earth. When Jesus was nearing the cross He told Simon Peter that he would betray Him during the time of His death. Peter quickly and boldly denied such a prediction. Peter thought he was strong enough to avoid such a fall. He was not as strong as he thought. He fell.
3. A third key to victory is found in verse 12. “Our eyes are upon You.” Keep your eyes on the Lord. Victory requires that we be God focused.
Illustration: In the mid 80’s I served a church in Lamar County, just west of Hattiesburg, Ms. We had an interesting experience in that church. Two of our church members were involved in an accident. One member, named Lawrence, ran another member, Carolyn off of the road. He did not do it in anger or to be mean. He was fighting a red wasp in the cab of his pickup. As he fought that wasp he topped a hill and there was Carolyn. Carolyn had to take to a ditch to keep from hitting Lawrence. The moral of the story, keep your eyes on the road.
Illustration: This past week I read from I Samuel 17. That chapter contains the story of David and Goliath. One part of that story always fascinates me. I am captivated by the way God’s people were affected by sight. That was the primary difference between the majority of the soldiers and David. The majority of the soldiers trembled in fear at the mere sight of Goliath. After all, he was over nine feet tall. That is the way fear works. The sight of the enemy often paralyzes us. I once gave you a definition of fear. (F-false;
E- evidence; A- appears; R- real) Satan will try to paralyze us by what we see.
4. A third key to victory is found in verse 17. “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.’’ My paraphrase of this verse is relax and trust God. I like the phrase “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” That is not easy to accomplish. However, that is where faith comes in. We trust God that everything is going to be okay.
Dr. R.G. Lee said, "If you trust in administration; you will get what administration can do. If you trust in hard work; you will get what hard work can do. If you trust in your sparkling personality; you will get what personality can do. If you trust in prayer; you get what God can do."
Illustration: One of the modern day heroes of faith is George Mueller. George Mueller started many orphanages without raising the funds to do so. He simply trusted God to do the work and keep it going. On more than one occasion God provided for those orphans in a miraculous way. On one occasion they had no food to feed the orphans and yet George gathered all the orphans around the table and began to thank the Lord for the food. At the end of the prayer, he said, “Amen”, and that’s when they heard a knock at the door. A truck with milk and food had broken down just down the road and all the food was going to spoil so the driver gave it to the orphans. All because George Mueller believed that God would take care of His children. Do we have that kind of faith, where we can take all of our problems and trust the Lord to take care of them?
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Tom Osterkamp) George Mueller trusted God.
As Jehoshaphat prayed, notice what he included in his prayer.
• He reminded himself of God’s character. In verse 6 notice the words “"O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?” It helps to remind ourselves of God’s character.
• He remembered God’s deeds in the past. Notice verse 7. “"Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?”
• He reflected on what might be in the future. Notice verse 12. “"O our God, will You not judge them?”
Jehoshaphat covered all of time: past, present, and future.
Jehoshaphat poured out his heart to God. His prayer is recorded in verses 5-12. After concluding his prayer a spiritual leader, named Jahaziel, was moved by the Spirit of God to challenge the people. The essence of his sermon is found in verses 14-17.
Notice his instruction.
• Do not fear. (vs. 15)
• The battle belongs to the Lord. (vs. 15)
• Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. (vs. 17)
Jehoshaphat and the people accepted the words spoken by Jahaziel. They put their trust in God. In fact, they began praising God before the victory was realized. That is trust! That is the example we must follow.
