Jehoshaphat's Vital Need

Excerpted from The Battle Belongs to the Lord: Overcoming Life's Struggles Through Worship
By Joyce Meyer
Jehoshaphat knew that unless he heard from God, he was not going to make it. That need was what The Amplified Bible calls his “vital need.” There are some things we can do without, but others are vital. Jehoshaphat knew having God's direction was vital.
You may be in a similar situation to Jehoshaphat's. You too may need a word from God. You may feel that, like a drowning man or woman, you are going under for the third time. You may desperately need a personal word from the Lord if you are to survive.
God wants to speak to you even more than you want to hear from Him. Seek Him by giving Him your time, and you will not be disappointed.
Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast in all Judah, and Judah gathered to seek the Lord for help, yearning for Him with all their desire.
And Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord [yearning for Him with all their desire].
And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court.
And said, 0 Lord, God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In Your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand You.
2 CHRONICLES 20:4-6
Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast to show his sincerity to God. Missing a few meals and taking that time to seek God is not a bad idea. Turning the television off and spending the time you would normally spend watching it with God is not a bad idea either. Stay home a few evenings and spend extra time with the Lord instead of going out with your friends and repeating your problem over and over to them. These things and others show that we know hearing from God is vital. I have learned the word seek means to pursue, crave, and go after with all your might. In other words we act like a starving man in search of food to keep us alive.
I would also like to add that we need to seek God all the time not just when we are in trouble. Once God spoke to me that the reason so many people had problems all the time was because that was the only time they would seek Him. He showed me that if He removed the problems, He would not get any time with the people. He said, “Seek Me as if you were desperate all the time and then you won't find yourself desperate as often in reality” I think this is good advice, and I highly recommend that we all follow it.
TALK TO GOD ABOUT HIM
Instead of immediately presenting the problem to the Lord, Jehoshaphat began to talk to the Lord about how mighty the Lord is. He turned his focus on the Lord instead of on his fear of the problem.
And said, 0 Lord, God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In Your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand You.
2 CHRONICLES 20:6
Instead of talking to God only about our problems, we need to talk to Him about Him. We need to talk to Him about Who He is, about the power of His Name and the power of the blood of His Son Jesus, about the great things we know that He can perform and has already performed. After we have praised and worshiped Him in this way, then we can begin to mention the problem. I would not like it if my children only came to talk to me when they had problems - I want them to fellowship with me.
I can think of a few people right now who only call me when they have problems, and it hurts me. I feel that they don't really care about me, but only what they want me to do for them. I am sure you have experienced this and feel the same way. These people may call themselves friends, but in reality they are not. Friends are for times of trouble, but that is not all they are for. As a friend, we need to show appreciation and spend time encouraging those we are in relationship with. We must avoid being the type of people who are what I call “takers.” Those who always take but never give.
I want to be the friend of God. He called Abraham His friend, and I want that also. The Lord is not just my problem solver. He is my everything, and I appreciate Him more than I know how to say.
“NOW, LORD. BEHOLD OUR PROBLEM”
Did not You, 0 our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend?
They dwelt in it and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your Name, saying,
If evil comes upon us, the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You -for Your Name [and the symbol of Your presence] is in this house - and cry to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.
And now behold, the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom You would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they turned from and did not destroy -
Behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.
1 CHRONICLES 20:7-11 These are fighting words. If we will listen to what the Lord is saying to us through them, we will learn something that will change our battle plan forever and give us victory after victory.
After starting his prayer by acknowledging how great, awesome, powerful and wonderful the Lord is, Jehoshaphat then began relating specific mighty acts the Lord had performed in the past to protect His people and uphold the promises He had made them. And in finally presenting his request, He began by expressing His confidence that the Lord would handle the problem. Jehoshaphat said in so many words, “Oh, by the way, our enemies are coming against us to try to take away the possession that you gave us for our inheritance. I just thought I would mention this little problem. But You are so great; I know You already have it all under control.”
When we do ask God for help we should realize He hears us the first time we ask Him for something. We don't need to spend our prayer time asking Him for the same thing over and over. We may keep talking to Him about our needs until we have assurance in our hearts that we have a breakthrough, but we don't have to do that to move God.
God has a plan for our deliverance before the problem ever appears. God is not surprised when the enemy attacks. He is not in heaven wringing His hands trying to figure out what to do. Our part is to focus on Him and His mighty power, worshiping Him and praising Him for the manifestation of His solution and listening for a word or direction from Him.