2 Chronicles 20:3-4 – Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord. . . .(NIV)
Have you ever felt spiritually stuck? Have you ever felt that your life is frozen and you can’t grow? Now comes the big question. What can you do?
God has given us numerous spiritual disciplines to help draw us closer to Him, such as prayer and fasting.
In many accounts of the Old Testament, we saw God’s people using the discipline of fasting and praying when they needed direction, to seek His will, in times of repentance, great distress, and the need for deliverance that only God could give.
We see fasting and praying in full effect when a group of nations threatened to conquer Judah and Jehoshaphat went into overdrive. The rivaling army was huge, and it was only the power of God that could have kept Judah safe. King Jehoshaphat, recognising that the nation needed to return to God, declared a fast and led the people in prayer, saying, “O our God,…nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” (2 Chronicles 20:12). God then revealed to the nation through a prophet that He would fight on their behalf, for the battle was the Lord’s.
As we humble ourselves before the Lord with fasting and praying, the God of Jehoshaphat Who kept Judah will fight on your behalf in ways you cannot even fathom. All the diabolical plans of the enemy’s inhuman or spiritual form will disappear.
When we embrace practices or routines of following Christ, it is through God’s power that we can grow, serve, and praise the Lord again.
So today we encourage you to embrace fasting with prayers and say like Jehoshaphat, Father, ‘ we do not know what to do but our eyes are on You.”
God rules over all nations and over our hearts. Power and might are in his hands. He can rescue and restore us.
Read: 2 Chronicles 20:1-15 (NIV)
Bible Reading Guide: Psalm 10:12-18; Matthew 13:18-35; Genesis 36; Genesis 37
