2 Chronicles 20:4: “So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.”

October 7th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites joined together to attack Judah. King Jehoshaphat responded exactly as he should, gathering all the people of God together to pray and worship. Notice that the entire nation responded; and according to verse 13, even the children were part of the assembly asking the Lord for help.

All too often the idea of seeking the Lord is our last resort instead of our first thought. When we do come up against a difficult situation, the first thing that goes through our head should not be: “What am I going to do?” That kind of thought is born out of stubborn self-reliance instead of humble God-reliance. Jehoshaphat didn’t say, “Hey, what am I going to do here? I’m the king and it’s all up to me.” No, the first thing he said was, “Let’s go and ask the Lord what we should do.”

I love the morning prayer that says, “Dear Lord, so far today, I’ve done all right. I haven’t gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I’m very thankful for that. But God, in a few minutes I’m going to get out of bed, and from then on, I’m probably going to need a lot more help.”

“LORD, that is our very first prayer this day: ‘Help.'”