How To Pray About the Fight God Left for Later

It seems like we have to learn to pray against things that we did not defeat in the past. This is not always a bad thing- sometimes the Lord lets the fight wait until He is ready for us to follow Him into the fight. Check out the latest prayer with special guest, Lindsay Harris as we travel to 2 Chronicles 20.

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Transcript

PRESS means to apply force. When God said press, prayer reaches every single situation. He gave us permission to apply force to every situation that we will go through. And in this podcast, we are going to learn to apply force to what's applying pressure to us.

Welcome everybody to the press podcast. So glad that you are with us today. We are excited to be continuing in our prayer journey as we go through every prayer in the Bible. We have now made it to the book of second Chronicles and we are in chapter 20. But I have a special guest before we get there today. Special guest say hi. 

Hi, I am Lindsay Harris. I am glad to be here with my aunt. 

I was gonna say this one's even extra special and they're all special, but this is my niece. She has led a press club before and taught in the high schools and taught as we traveled. So she's 16, almost 17, but she has a lot of experience under her belt, actually ministering.

So Lindsay is going to share with us Addis Tech and Chronicles and Linds. I'll let you take it from there. 

Okay well I actually I was excited when I was reading this story because it's actually one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament because I just think it's so interesting. And well for those who don't know the story in 2 Chronicles 20 there was armies going against Jehoshaphat and Jehoshaphat you know when he like had heard that there was people like coming and like trying to defeat him and things like that he was scared and even in that fear he went to God and he sought the Lord and he prayed and like we'll be talking about that prayer but he prayed and he went to God and God fought for him when he couldn't fight for himself and I think that was so crazy how his enemies they even started fighting one another and God just made a way for him even in like the face of adversity and an impossible situation God made a way for him and I just love that story because that relates to us a lot of times.

We don't know like how our situation will play out or it can be too great for us because sometimes we can't handle everything but because we have God on our side and because he's with us we can face anything that comes our way and that's why I just like love this story.

What about you? 

I said let's read it, let's read the fair and get into it a little bit harder. 

Okay, so in 2 Chronicles 20 and 5, it says, And now, behold, the children of Ammon and of Molotov, Whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, Then they came out of the land of Egypt, But they turned from them, and destroyed them not. Behold, I say how they reward us, To come to cast us out of thy possession, Which thou hast given us to inherit.

O our God, without not judge them, For we have not might against this great company That cometh against us, neither know we what to do, But our eyes are upon thee. So I just think that is just great. The way he reverents God and remembered who God was even in his prayer. Are you not the God of heaven or our fathers? He understood who God was and the power of his might. That he wasn't resting in his own strength or his ability that he had, because he understood. In verse 12, it says neither know we what to do. He understood that he didn't have the solution. And I think sometimes what happens with us is we try to find the solution. We try to figure out our situation and figure out, okay, how do I do this? How do I do this? Especially with me, I'm very like a thinker person. Like I try to think and analyze every situation. And sometimes we can just like see how we want to figure it out or how maybe we can solve a situation like this or that. But when we come to terms with we don't know the way that we should take, right? We don't know what's best for us, but when we understand that God is greater than we are and he has more power than we have. And we rest in the fact that God knows the way like even though we don't know what to do, God knows how to help us. So he says, our eyes are upon me. And when he was looking at like the situation is like, I can't do this. Like, I don't know how, but I'm looking to you for help. And I just think this prayer is so humbling. And he wasn't just a humble say and just recognizing that he didn't know what to do. And that's okay to not know that happens a lot. But when we rest in God and like look to him and seek him, it's just like, there's no way that he's going to let us fail when he knows that we need him and when he knows that we're looking to him. So I just think that was great. 

I like that this prayer starts with so many questions because you don't ask every question because you don't know the answer. Sometimes it's just for consideration purposes. It's like a pondering. So he's not asking God, are you this God? Because he doesn't know who he is. He's asking it because he's drawing attention to this is who you are. And so I love the way he approached it. Even going back to we have history. Before there was a me or you when this sanctuary was built, it was ordained that you would meet us here in times of trouble. And so you see the faith of Jehoshaphat, even with like you said, not knowing anything. He knows nothing but faith. And that's kind of a cool concept to actually think I don't have to know a situation I don't have to understand. I just have to know who's in it. And so I like that a lot.

What did you think about the part where he said in verse seven, now behold the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seer whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and destroyed them not. I thought that was interesting because he's like, you wouldn't let us kill them. And yet they're here to fight us now. Has there ever been anything you felt like God almost left for later? 

Yes. Yeah. Sometimes if something happened or God just sometimes he just reserves this this place like you're not going to have to fight this right now.

You're not going to have to you know worry about this and twirl over this right now but like in the right time when it's time to fight the right thing he just leaves that for later and I'm just like okay because sometimes we can just get so caught up in oh well I mean I was supposed to do this and this and that and this this is fighting me that's fine me but like he just like reserves uh-uh you're gonna wait for that it's okay and then you just keep going keep fighting and keep praying and God actually like gives like the right time to fight certain things it's not always the right time to fight everything you know and I think God gives you that time when it's time to fight when it's time to just pray when it's just time to do this you know what I mean so yeah I think that is interesting to me too as I was reading that and I also thought it was interesting when he was talking about it kind of reflected the Lord's prayer a little bit when it said oh Lord our God of fathers are not the God in heaven and and how the Lord's prayer started us with our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name and then he says and the rule is not doubt over all the kingdoms of heaven and in thine hand is not there power and might and I was just thinking like our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come that will be done in earth as it is in heaven and it was actually just referencing who God is and that's what he was doing referencing who God is and he is the God of heaven he has all power and that just kind of like reflected I was like oh it just made me think of like the Lord's prayer like how we have to come to him knowing who he is and like knowing what he can do and sometimes when you're in a situation it's kind of hard to remember everything that God has already done for you when you're in the heat of the battle you're just so caught up on this and like all you see is like what you're going through but to take time and sit and remember who God is and to remember what he did you're the God of heaven like you have all power there was nothing too hard for him and that was just so interesting and encouraging and that's like a good tool to use in prayer is just to come before God knowing who he is and also remembering what he's already done your request doesn't seem so like oh my gosh this is so impossible but like no like just remember everything that God has already done like he has done so much he has this long big resume of things he's already done so anything that we bring to him even in Jehoshaphat situation has something like he's just like oh my gosh like what is going on but and sometimes we can have those situations but just to remember God what he's already done the ways he's already made who he is the resume he already has and when we have that in our minds and we have our requests that request doesn't seem impossible when we remember who he is and his power his might his resume the things that he has done it's not a hard thing for God and sometimes we just have to zoom out a little bit and see the bigger picture because sometimes we have if imagine and you can do this wherever you are well not if you're driving but like put like your hand on your face or something and that's your situation and that's all you see right now but if you just like zoom out and you see the bigger picture say yes I have this situation but God has also delivered me out of this one and that one and all these other things that situation isn't that big and it's not hard for God to do if you just remember what he's already done these things are not that God who did his drive out the inhabitants of this land before that people of Israel and gave us it to the seat of Abraham that friend forever he's understanding everything that God has already shown himself to be and it was reminding me I think this is like a camp scripture that we had is you're my witnesses say of the Lord and my servant whom I have chosen that you may know and believe me and understand that I am him before me there was no God for me there should be any after me I even I and the Lord and beside me there is no savior I have declared and I have saved and I have showed when there is no strange God among you therefore you are with my witnesses say the Lord that I am God and that kind of just says with me a lot because he's already has showed us that he was God we already are witnesses of things that God has done Jehoshaphat he knows he's already a witness of the things that God could do so even in this situation when he's faced with a great multitude and a great army he was already a witness of the things that God can do and the things that God has done so what he just went to God just knowing he could look to him because of what he's already done God has already shown himself so it's just like reassuring that if God has already showed himself to me and like through these experiences that I had what is before me right now is nothing it's not hard for God to do

One way to say that is he used all of his past to testify to his present of what God's gonna do tomorrow. He didn't know how God was gonna do it, but he knew who he was so he understood where he was and he understood that he was with him and that he would be with him tomorrow.

And one of the things I love about this particular prayer is the way God responded. Because we don't necessarily know when we go into prayer how God's gonna respond and neither did Joseph yet. So he went in with faith, but this is one that God responded to practically instantly, at least with the word. Because while he was praying in front of the congregation, I believe it was, there stood a man to prophesy in the middle of church, so to speak. And he told him, this battle is not yours, this one's the Lord's and I just love God because he knows so much about strategy. He knows how to save us, when to save us, what to leave for later, as you said. And I believe God wants us to trust him. How would you encourage somebody today who is not certain what God's going to do next, but they want to follow him and they wanna know how to talk to him about it? 

I've actually been in that situation where I don't know what God's going to do next and I don't know how it's going to work out, but I still talk to God. God knows how we already feel. So if I'm just in this situation, I don't know what's going to happen. I can tell God that I'm scared. I can tell him that I'm afraid, right? And I can go to him and just like lay down my burdens before him and cast my cares on him because he cares for me.

Even if you're in a situation where you don't know what's going to happen next, just I would say take rest and knowing that God has a situation. Even if the outcome may not be what you wanted, the fact that God's hand is on it is enough to know that in the end, everything's going to be okay because God is the one who's controlling it. God is the one who is fighting for me. God is the one who's working this out. If it wasn't anybody else, I would be like, uh-uh, I don't, I don't trust that, uh-uh. But because it's God and because he's the one who has the power, it is literally God. And I know I'm just saying it's God, it's God, but really like he's the one who has all power. He knows all his understanding is infinite and he has our best interest at heart. Even though we can't see it, even though you may not know how your situation will work out, at the end of the day, if we give that situation to God, if we let him have it, if we let him work it out, everything will be okay. And it may not be solved the next day, the next week, the next month, but God's timing is perfect. When he does something and when he fixes it and when he decides that enough is enough and when he changes that situation or he decides the outcome of the situation, whatever his decision is, it is enough. It doesn't have to be, you know, what I wanted, like I said, but it is good at the end because God is the one who decided it.