Month: May 2022

Seek God for Assistance (May 5)

Jehoshaphat institutes a nation-wide
scripture study program which
God blesses with peace & prosperity.
But he also institutes a peace
treaty with the king of Israel. And
it causes Judah being entangled
in a war between Israel and Syria.
But his reaction to divine rebuke,
his appointment of judges to rule
for the Lord and his Godward
response to crisis point to the
day-by-day reality of his faith.

Lord, we Seek Your Assistance:
Jehoshaphat set himself to seek
the Lord and proclaimed a fast…
Are You not our God, who drove
out the inhabitants of this land…
and gave it to the descendants of
Abraham… And here are the pple of
Ammon, Moab & Mt Seir…O our God,
won’t You stop them? For we have
no power against this great multitude
…nor do we know what to do, but our
eyes are upon You (2Chron 20:3-12).
Then the Spirit of the Lord came
upon Jahaziel a Levite. And he said:
Do not be afraid nor dismayed…
for the battle is not yours but God’s…
Position yourselves. Stand still and
see the salvation of the Lord (v14-17).
Jehoshaphat said: Believe in the Lord
your God & you shall be established…
Now when they began to sing and
to praise, the LORD set ambushes
against the people of Ammon, Moab
and Mt Seir & defeated them (v20-22)

Lord, sometimes I feel so over-
whelmed, all I can say is “Help”.
When I don’t know what to do,
but I am looking to You for help.
Please help me to fully trust You
instead of focusing on the situation.
When trouble comes, help me
to keep my eyes solely on You;
for the battle belongs to the Lord.
In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.

Father God, when at our wits end,
we come seeking You for assistance.
We look to You for we don’t know
what to do but our eyes are on You.
We call on You for we know Your
almighty power & promises to us.
We depend and rest on You Lord,
trusting we will see Your salvation.
And we believe in You Lord and
trust we will be established. Amen.

In heavenly armour
we’ll enter the land
The battle belongs to the Lord.
No weapon that’s fashioned
against us shall stand
The battle belongs to the Lord.
We sing glory and honour
Power & strength to the Lord (x2)
When your enemy presses
in hard do not fear
The battle belongs to the Lord.
Take courage my friend,
your redemption is near
The battle belongs to the Lord.
We sing glory and honour
Power & strength to the Lord. Amen

Prayer for Protection & Deliverance

Jehoshaphat knows the key to
spiritual revival in the nation is a
renewed interest in law of the Lord.
He institutes a nation-wide scripture
study program which God blesses
with peace & prosperity. In contrast
to his predecessors, Jehoshaphat
manages to make peace with the
king of Israel but becomes entangled
in a war between Israel and Syria.
His reaction to divine rebuke,
his appointment of judges to rule
“not for man but for the LORD” and
his Godward response in the face of
crisis all point to the reality of his faith.

Lord, we Seek Your Protection:
Ahab king of Israel said to
Jehoshaphat king of Judah:
Will you join me to attack Ramoth
Gilead? Jehoshaphat replied: let’s
first find out what the Lord says…
And the Lord said: Go ahead…
Now Ahab said to Jehoshaphat:
As we go into battle, I’ll disguise
myself, but u wear your royal robes.
When the chariot commanders
saw Jehoshaphat, they turned
to attack him, but Jehoshaphat
cried out and the Lord helped
him & diverted them from him…
An Aramean soldier however
randomly shot an arrow at the
Israelite troops & the arrow hit
the king of Israel (2Chr 18:3-33)

Lord, we are certainly not perfect.
And we note Jehoshaphat, king
of Judah made several errors,
including building an alliance with
Ahab, the wicked king of Israel.
And he asked for a prophet of God
but didn’t really listen when he came.
But one choice Jehoshaphat made
was spot on. Help us Lord to be
like Jehoshaphat even in the heat
of battle to cry out to You. Amen.

Lord, remind us that prayer is
not something that only happens
in the quietness of a moment.
Remind us that taking to You should
be part of every aspect of life,
the battles as well as peace times.
Remind and prompt us to cry
to You in our desperate moments
For protection and deliverance can
often be only a prayer away. Amen.

Lord, help us not merely ask for
Your direction but also to Follow it.
Strengthen my faith so that I will not
give up praying even in heat of battle.
For I realise the very next prayer
may be the one to bring deliverance
from the strongholds of the enemy.
Enable me to stand strong in prayer
and worship, giving thanks for Your
presence and delivering power.
In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.

Be Committed to the LORD (May 3)

Abijah, king of Judah, is used by
God to discipline Jeroboam, king of
Israel. During their battle, 500,000
Israelites fall, a shattering defeat
from which Jeroboam will never
fully recover. What Abijah achieves
in the military sphere, Asa attempts
to duplicate in the spiritual realm.
He removes all traces of foreign
religion from the land & commands
the people to return to the careful
observance of God’s statutes.
But towards the end of his reign,
Asa faces a threat from Baasha
(king of Israel) & seeks an alliance
of protection with the king of Syria.

Lord, we aim to Be Committed to You:
Then they entered into a covenant
to seek the Lord with all their heart…
And the Lord gave them rest from
their enemies on every side… Although
he did not remove the high places
from Israel, Asa’s heart was Fully
Committed to the Lord (2Chr 15:12-17)
Hanani the seer came to Asa
king of Judah, and said to him:
Because you have relied on the
king of Syria and have not relied
on the Lord your God, therefore
the army of the king of Syria
has escaped from your hand…
For the Eyes of the Lord search
the whole earth to Strengthen
those whose hearts are fully
Committed to Him. In this you have
done foolishly; therefore from now
on you shall have wars(2Chr 16:7-9)

Lord, we learnt that decisive
and whole-hearted Commitment
pleases You and results in peace.
Help us Lord to always remember
to pray to You in the good times
as we do in challenging times.
Enable us Lord to always keep
our hearts open to Your high
purpose; and to what You’re doing
in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Lord, it is so comforting that You
God longs to support us thru the
struggles and challenges we face.
Although we may not yet be fully
committed to You but we want to be.
So Lord, grant us the grace to do
so while we are yielded and still.
Lord, I give You my heart, remold
it after Your will and Your way.
In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Lord, I earnestly thank You for
Your precious promises of blessing.
And I stand on Your promise to
strengthen those who are fully
committed to You for whatever
assignment You have for me.
And I purpose the weaker I feel,
the harder I will lean on You Lord.
And I trust the harder I lean on
You, the stronger I will be. Amen.

Seek God to Bless Nation (May 2)

Great quantities of men & materials
plus seven years of Solomon’s life
are invested to complete the house
of the Lord. Solomon in dedicating
the Temple praise and thank God
for His Unchanging character and
unfailing promises on behalf of
the nation. When Solomon finishes
his prayer, the glory of God fills
the Temple. But in the night,
God appears to Solomon to warn
him that if the nation fails to
remain true to God, He will uproot
the people from their beloved
homeland and will destroy the
magnificent temple which they
have laboured so long to complete.

Lord, we will Pray for Our Nation:
Thus Solomon finished the house
of the Lord and the king’s house…
Then the Lord appeared to
Solomon by night & said to him:
I have heard your prayer and
have chosen this place for
Myself as a house of sacrifice…
If my people, who are called by
my name, will humble themselves
and pray and seek my face and
turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven,
and I will forgive their sin and
will heal their land. Now My eyes
will be open and My ears attentive
to prayers made (2Chron 7:11-15).

Lord, thank You for the reminder to 
pray for our country & its leaders.
We realise no country is perfect;
we know our leaders are human
and therefore invariably have flaws.
And You God promise that when
Your people humble themselves
and pray, You will hear from heaven.
So we ask that You Give our leaders
wisdom & sense of Your justice. Amen

Lord, we come humbly before You
and confess the sins of our nation.
Pray that we as a people will turn from
self seeking ways and seek Your face
so that You will hear our prayers,
forgive our sins and heal our land.
We need Your hand of blessing;
pour out Your Spirit on us and
work Your righteousness in us.
In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Lord, Inspire the people of this land
with the spirit of justice and love,
that in all dealings with one another
that we show forth our brotherhood.
Free us Lord from oppressing the
poor and bring about social justice.
And prosper all efforts to make
known Your truth so that many
may learn their need of You Lord
and Your love for them. Amen.

Inquiring of the Lord

The ark of covenant is mentioned
more than 40 times in Chronicles;
and the events surrounding the
journey of the ark to Jerusalem
consume three full chapters in 13-15.
The lesson is clear: The right action
must be done with the right motives
and carried out in the right way.
When the ark is at last installed
in Jerusalem, David then leads
theLpeople in national celebration.

Lord, we’ll Inquire & Hear from You:
The Philistines had arrived in the
valley of Rephaim and raided it.
So David ASKED God: Should I go
out to fight the Philistines? Will You
hand them over to me? The Lord
replied: YES, go ahead. I will give
you the victory… But after a while,
the Philistines returned and raided
the valley again. And once again
David ASKED God what to do.
DO NOT Attack them straight on,
God replied. Instead, circle around
behind them and attack them near
the balsam trees (1 Chron 14:9-14).

Lord, I ask You concerning my
situation that I’m facing & I don’t
want to run ahead of Your plan.
Help me follow David’s example and
seek Your wisdom first in the matter.
For only then can I be truly sure
that I will be following Your plan.
And guide my actions O Lord
by Your wisdom and truth. Amen.

Lord, You are the one who knows
everything whilst I don’t know all
the questions of what, how & when.
And I need to learn to Seek Your
advice in life’s important decisions.
So lead me down the path to recovery
and into a life of purpose and destiny.
Rescue me Lord from inner turmoil
and lead me to regularly ask questions
that begin with: Should I Lord? Amen.

Lord, pray that I will always inquire
of You first before taking action.
For I can’t assume that just because
You had instructed in a certain way
before, that You want the same way
each time with a similar situation.
And I don’t want to mistakenly think
of having all the answers when only
You have all the answers for my life.
In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Seeking God thru Biblical Prayers

The purpose of 1 Chronicles is to unify
God’s people, to trace the Davidic line
and to teach that genuine worship be the centre of individual & national life.
This week we see the importance of
Seeking God and fully Trusting Him.
On Monday, we learn from 1 Chr 4
on Boldly Ask Spiritual Prosperity.
On Tuesday, we learn from
1Chr 14 on Inquiring of the Lord.
On Wed, we learn from 1 Chron 17
on Trusting Promise of the Lord.
On Thu, we learn from 1 Chron 21
on Repenting Before God In Prayer.
On Friday, we learn from 1Chron 28
on Being Courageous, God With You.
On Sat, we learn from 1Chron 29
on Giving Thanks & Glory to God.
Let us humble ourselves and pray
and seek His face…In Jesus’ name.