Prayer puts our eyes on God, not on our circumstances, and puts our faith in God, not in our resources.
As the people of Judah crowded into the temple precinct in Jerusalem, “Jehoshaphat stood…in the house of the Lord, before the new court” (2 Chron 20:5), and began to pray. Imagine if our leaders prayed like this today! He began with five rhetorical questions: 1. “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven?” You are the preeminent One, far above all our little problems. 2. “Do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations?” You are the sovereign One, and can intervene how and where You choose. 3. “In Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?” You are the omnipotent One, and Your power is made available to those who want You to be strong on their behalf. 4. “Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel?” You are also a personal and proven God who has often come to our aid before. 5. And didn’t You give this land “to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?” (vv 6-7). You are the covenant-making and covenant-keeping One who was not only Abraham’s God but is our God as well. How’s that for an intro to a prayer request? But there’s more. He recounts the building of the temple, and Solomon’s request that wherever Jews might be, in whatever trouble they faced, if they looked Godward, He would aid them. This was such a time. He recalls that these nations, because they were related to Israel through Esau and Lot, were off-limits during the conquest (v 10), but now the time had come for battle. The king has one more question: “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude…nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You” (v 12). So how would the Lord respond?