Last time we read about how King Jehoshaphat faced an unexpected event in his life and how we can apply that to our lives. This time we will continue from where we left off.
Jehoshaphat and the people had gathered together and now we will take a look at Jehoshaphat's prayer. We will look at the first few verses of his prayer and see how we can apply that to our lives.
5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD before the new court, 6 and he said, "O LORD, the God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens ? And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations ? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You. 7 "Did You not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever ? 8 "They have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary there for Your name, saying, 9 'Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your name is in this house ) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and deliver us.'
2nd Chronicles 20:5-9
I enjoy reading the different prayers that are recorded in the Bible. We get to see how others called out to God in their situations. It also helps us to develop a prayer vocabulary. Though we don't just want to recite words over and over from memory with no thought behind what we are saying, we can use the words of the prayers that are in the Bible to teach us how to pray.
In verse 6 we are seeing how great God is. This is always a good place to start when we are facing a tough time. When we are in the midst of a fearful situation it is encouraging if we reflect on how great God is. Though we don't want to deny the reality of our problem, sometimes we can make the mistake of magnifying the problem over God. But Jehoshaphat starts out: and he said, "O LORD, the God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens ? And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations ? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You.
Notice, he hasn't mentioned his problem yet. He is just ackowledging who God is right now.
In verse 7 he begins to tell of some of the ways God had come through in the past: 7 "Did You not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever ?
When we are in the midst of a challenge and not sure of what to do, it is a good idea to reflect on ways that God has come through for you in the past. Often when we are in a challenge all we can think about is the past. So we need to remind ourselves of how God has been faithful to us in the past. One way to help you remember is to keep a notebook. When the challenge comes and all you can think about is your problem, you can go back to your notebook to remind yourself of what God has done for you in the past.
In verse 9 the prayer is basically saying that if anything were to happen to them, they would cry out God in their distress and God would hear them and deliver them. 8 "They have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary there for Your name, saying, 9 'Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your name is in this house ) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and deliver us.'
They are an example to what we should do. Should anything come upon us, we will: Go to God, cry out to Him, and He will hear us and deliver us.
So we see from this prayer:
1. Let's magnify our God above our problem.
2. Let's remind ourselves how great our God is.
3.Let's remind ourselves of ways God has come through for us in the past.
4.Go to God with our problem.
5. He will hear us.
6. He not only will hear us, but He will deliver us.
Troy
A place where you can find encouragement as you go through life. A place where you can connect and grow in your relationship with God. A place where you can grow spiritually while still being human.
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Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Unexpected Events
All of us have experienced unexpected events. Sometimes they are positive, such as when you receive that unexpected check in the mail, a promotion at work, a pay increase. Sometimes they are negative. You get told you have lost your job, and unexpected illness, an unexpected tragedy. The list could go on and on in either category.
There is a story in the Old Testament that I have always thought was a good text to learn from when we experience negative unexpected events in life. I have preached on this text many times. Instead of writing out a whole sermon I think I will just take a few verses at a time and present the chapter in different parts.
In 2nd Chronicles we find these words: 1 Now it came about after this that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. 2 Then some came and reported to Jehoshaphat, saying, "A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of Aram and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi )." 3 Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to seek help from the LORD ; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the LORD. 2nd Chronicles 20:1-3
Jehoshaphat, who was king at the time, woke up and probably expected a day like any other day. But he is told in verse 2 that a great multitude is coming against him. This is what I referenced earlier. You start your day like any other day and then you get the news. Some unexpected event has come up. It's not good news. How do we respond? What do we do?
Notice that at the beginning of verse3 that Jehoshaphat was afraid. I find it comforting that a great king was afraid. So many of us try to put on a brave face and act like there is nothing wrong. Or we can have others try to make us ashamed for being afraid, but fear is a natural reaction. I think it's ok to be afraid as long as we don't get paralyzed by our fear and remain fearful.
Jehoshaphat didn't let his fear paralyze him. We are told that in the midst of his fear he turned his attention to seek the LORD. Do you know what our natural human reaction is? We try to fix the problem on our own. Think back to how many times in our lives when you or I have experienced unexpected bad news that our first option was to try and fix the problem on our own? Probably the majority of the time. But the Bible is showing us that our first option can and should be to seek the LORD. We should go to God to see what He wants us to do. I also see in this passage that since Jehoshaphat went to seek the LORD as to what to do, that means that God wants us to go to Him. It also implies that He will give us direction if we humble ourselves and go to Him.
We learn how to tell the difference between our own thoughts and what God is actually trying to say to us by experience. Though we may not get it right 100% of the time, we can learn how to tell when it is God speaking to us and giving us direction.
So in those unexpected events let's remember:
1. Unexpected events happen to everyone
2. It is ok to have that initial fear.
3. Let's seek God in the midst of our fear.
4. God desires for us to go to Him.
5. God will give us direction.
Troy
There is a story in the Old Testament that I have always thought was a good text to learn from when we experience negative unexpected events in life. I have preached on this text many times. Instead of writing out a whole sermon I think I will just take a few verses at a time and present the chapter in different parts.
In 2nd Chronicles we find these words: 1 Now it came about after this that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. 2 Then some came and reported to Jehoshaphat, saying, "A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of Aram and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi )." 3 Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to seek help from the LORD ; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the LORD. 2nd Chronicles 20:1-3
Jehoshaphat, who was king at the time, woke up and probably expected a day like any other day. But he is told in verse 2 that a great multitude is coming against him. This is what I referenced earlier. You start your day like any other day and then you get the news. Some unexpected event has come up. It's not good news. How do we respond? What do we do?
Notice that at the beginning of verse3 that Jehoshaphat was afraid. I find it comforting that a great king was afraid. So many of us try to put on a brave face and act like there is nothing wrong. Or we can have others try to make us ashamed for being afraid, but fear is a natural reaction. I think it's ok to be afraid as long as we don't get paralyzed by our fear and remain fearful.
Jehoshaphat didn't let his fear paralyze him. We are told that in the midst of his fear he turned his attention to seek the LORD. Do you know what our natural human reaction is? We try to fix the problem on our own. Think back to how many times in our lives when you or I have experienced unexpected bad news that our first option was to try and fix the problem on our own? Probably the majority of the time. But the Bible is showing us that our first option can and should be to seek the LORD. We should go to God to see what He wants us to do. I also see in this passage that since Jehoshaphat went to seek the LORD as to what to do, that means that God wants us to go to Him. It also implies that He will give us direction if we humble ourselves and go to Him.
We learn how to tell the difference between our own thoughts and what God is actually trying to say to us by experience. Though we may not get it right 100% of the time, we can learn how to tell when it is God speaking to us and giving us direction.
So in those unexpected events let's remember:
1. Unexpected events happen to everyone
2. It is ok to have that initial fear.
3. Let's seek God in the midst of our fear.
4. God desires for us to go to Him.
5. God will give us direction.
Troy
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Give People A Chance
Many years ago one of my mentors, Pastor Hollis told me,"If people won't allow you to fail, they won't let you succeed." He was speaking in terms of ministry. He was trying to say that your congregation has to allow you to make mistakes so that you can learn and eventually succeed in what you are doing. I believe that principle works for any area of life. We have to let people be free to make mistakes and not feel that that is the limit of their potential or become close minded to their ability just because they make a mistake.
We often judge a persons ability based on their mistakes. I find that fascinating. Why do we expect perfection from people when we aren't perfect ourselves?Why do we feel superior to others when they fail in a certain area of life that we seem to have a good hold on? Why do we want others to extend grace to us and be understanding toward us when we make mistakes, but we don't want to extend that same grace to others or be as understanding to others when they make mistakes? Isn't it a double standard? Didn't Jesus say something about treating others the way we want to be treated?
I'm not saying that we shouldn't use wisdom. If someone isn't gifted in a certain area we need to try and direct them into an area where they are gifted. I'm also not talking about the issue of forgiveness right now. Or for example, someone borrowing money from you and time after time they never pay you back. Then you wonder should you loan money to them again.I'm simply saying that we need to give people a chance and see their potential.
Many years ago when I got the opportunity to start playing with some of the best musicians around, I didn't play perfectly, but they encouraged me, they saw my potential. With their understanding and patience they helped me to grow into a better musician.
When we read the gospels we see the disciples continually messing up, but instead of giving up on them, Jesus kept believing in them and teaching them. In fact, if you and I were to think about it, hasn't Jesus done the same with us? Even though we may gifted or talented in certain areas, Jesus has been patient with us as we have developed our talents. Maybe we should do the same to others.
Finally, let me add that if you have a talent or gift in a area but it seems like you keep failing at it, don't give up. Continue to develop your talent and gift. At some point you will see the fruit of your efforts and persistence.
Troy
We often judge a persons ability based on their mistakes. I find that fascinating. Why do we expect perfection from people when we aren't perfect ourselves?Why do we feel superior to others when they fail in a certain area of life that we seem to have a good hold on? Why do we want others to extend grace to us and be understanding toward us when we make mistakes, but we don't want to extend that same grace to others or be as understanding to others when they make mistakes? Isn't it a double standard? Didn't Jesus say something about treating others the way we want to be treated?
I'm not saying that we shouldn't use wisdom. If someone isn't gifted in a certain area we need to try and direct them into an area where they are gifted. I'm also not talking about the issue of forgiveness right now. Or for example, someone borrowing money from you and time after time they never pay you back. Then you wonder should you loan money to them again.I'm simply saying that we need to give people a chance and see their potential.
Many years ago when I got the opportunity to start playing with some of the best musicians around, I didn't play perfectly, but they encouraged me, they saw my potential. With their understanding and patience they helped me to grow into a better musician.
When we read the gospels we see the disciples continually messing up, but instead of giving up on them, Jesus kept believing in them and teaching them. In fact, if you and I were to think about it, hasn't Jesus done the same with us? Even though we may gifted or talented in certain areas, Jesus has been patient with us as we have developed our talents. Maybe we should do the same to others.
Finally, let me add that if you have a talent or gift in a area but it seems like you keep failing at it, don't give up. Continue to develop your talent and gift. At some point you will see the fruit of your efforts and persistence.
Troy