Prayers when you are outnumbered and powerful forces are against you: Learning from 3 Kings of Judah

Exploring the prayers of 3 Kings of Judah - Hezekiah, Asa, and Jehoshaphat - who battled overwhelming enemies, Judith Kambia Obatusa, JKO, focuses on how to pray when faced with challenges from people, situations, or systems that are much more powerful than us.

If you’ve ever been helpless before a formidable hater, this episode will teach you how to ask God for help to overcome and emerge victorious.

Nuggets of Wisdom in this episode

Even the most righteous and faithful can face adversity.

The battles we face, whether with people or overwhelming situations, are not ours to fight alone. God is our defender.

Just as God fought for Hezekiah, Asa, and Jehoshaphat, He will fight for you if you trust in Him and pray.

Trusting in God is more powerful than any force that comes against you

Worship is a powerful weapon in times of difficulty—when we shift our focus to God, He gives us victory.

References in this episode

2 Kings 6:8-17

Outnumbered by Lakewood Music featuring Tauren Wells

Isaiah 59:19

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Thank you so much for listening.

Music Credit: https://indiefy.me/wanted-carter

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to this episode of Messy Can't Stop Her. I am your host, Judith Kambia Obatusa, J K O. In the last couple of weeks, we've been talking about praying over ourselves with the Word of God. We've had people come on the podcast to speak God's Word over us. And we have also learned how to use the scripture to pray over ourselves.

Sometimes in life, we have situations where we Have people that are powerful forces that are powerful situations where we are like the weaker person and we don't have any way to get out of that situation. Today, we're going to be talking about that. What kind of prayers do you pray when you are faced with powerful bullies?

So we're going to look at what three [00:01:00] kings in the Bible did and the prayers they prayed and learn from them and pray over our own situations. 

Hezekiah King of Judah - 2 Kings 19:14-19 (The Message) 

The first king we're going to be looking at is Hezekiah. He was a king of Judah. You'll find his story in the book of 2nd Kings. His prayer that we're going to be looking at in chapter 19 of 2nd Kings verses 14 to 19.

According to the Bible, Hezekiah was a king of Judah. put his whole trust in the God of Israel. There was no king quite like him, either before or after. He held fast to God, never losing his grip, and obeyed the letter, everything God had commanded Moses. And God, for his part, held fast to him through all his adventures.

So Hezekiah was a God fearing person. In the days of Hezekiah, Assyria was the [00:02:00] superpower. They had captured many nations, and in fact, they had already captured Israel and deported its people to other parts of the world. The first time the Israelis Assyrians came against Judah, Hezekiah paid them off by stripping the temple and the palace treasuries of valuables, of their valuables, and, you know, trying to make the Assyrians not bother Judah.

So one thing we can learn from that is doing your best, becoming subservient does not make a difference to those who seek to mistreat you. Those who want to do you harm, those who want to hurt you, they don't care how good you are. In so many cases. Despite the payoff Assyria was not satisfied and they came back after some time.

So, you know, like orcas, how they toy with their prey? So an orca can want to [00:03:00] actually kill that animal and eat it. But will, first of all, play with the animal, even let it go and the animal will think I've escaped only to catch it back again. So they deceive you that all is well, and then they come back.

for the kill. Another thing that the Assyrians did was something human resources called a constructive dismissal. So in the job, they're taking every responsibility from you. And when they feel that they are done with you, they don't need you anymore. They let you go. So, something like that. So, either toying with you or taking everything they feel is valuable before they pounce on you and treat you how they really wanted to treat you all the while.

Just like that, the Assyrians first laid siege to Jerusalem, cut off the water supply, and then they told Hezekiah. Look at the irony that God [00:04:00] sent them to come against Judah. So the God that Hezekiah put his whole trust in, sent his enemies, Assyrians, to come and capture the person who has been worshipping him.

They then went on to tell Hezekiah that no God has ever delivered their people from their hand. So, Hezekiah should know that his so called God cannot deliver him either. And the way they gave him this information was to read it as a letter to Hezekiah. They read it to him while the people of Judah could hear, and then gave him a copy afterwards.

So Hezekiah knew this was a situation he had no power over, but he knew someone who had power over it. So he took the letter from the envoy, read it, Again, then went to the temple of God and spread it out before God and prayed. The message [00:05:00] translation said, and Hezekiah prayed. Oh, how he prayed. Hezekiah prayed, God, God of Israel seated in majesty on the cherubim throne.

You are the one and only God, sovereign over all kingdoms on earth, maker of heaven and earth. Open your ears God and listen. Open your ears and look. Look at this letter Sennacherib has sent. A brazen insult. Insult to the living God. The facts are true oh God. The kings of Assyria have laid waste countries and kingdoms.

Huge bonfires they have made of their gods. They are no gods handmade from wood and stone. But now, oh God, our God, save us from raw Assyrian power. Make all the kingdoms on earth know that you are God, the one and only God. God responded with an assurance to Hezekiah that he will [00:06:00] defend Judah and save it from the Assyrians.

And then he proceeded that night to send his angel to strike down 185,000 soldiers of the Assyrian army in their camp, in the camp they had set up around Judah. When this situation happened, in the morning, the king of Assyria retreated and went back to his land. And while he was inside his temple, the temple of his idol, worshiping his own sons, two of them came and they killed their father.

What does this tell you? Even when your enemy is bigger than you, greater than you, mightier than you, the truth is that there is no God like your God, and there is none as powerful as Him. Even if you tried to help yourself, you [00:07:00] tried to be as good as you thought they would want you to be, or you even made a mistake, God will still help you. When you call on him. 

Asa King of Judah - 2 Chronicles 14:11

The second king that we want to learn from today is Asa. He was another king of Judah. His story can be found in the book of Second Chronicles, Chapter 14. Asa was a good king. He did things right in God's eyes. But he was faced with an enemy that was formidable. Asa had two enemies. A 580, 000 strong army, 300 of those men had shields and spares, and 280, 000 of them had shields and bows.[00:08:00] 

But then Zerah the Ethiopian came against him. With an army of a million men and 300 chariots in those days, the armored tanks were the chariots. Asa did not even have one chariots. But he went with his 580,000 men to the battleground, and there he cried out to God. In verse 11 of 2 Chronicles chapter 14, Asa said, Oh God, you are not impressed by numbers or intimidated by a show of force once you decide to help.

Help us, O God. We have come out to meet this huge army because we trust in you and who [00:09:00] you are. Don't let mere mortals stand against you. In response, God fought on behalf of Judah, and they won. They also carried off much spoil. Not only was Judah delivered, they were also enriched by this God. This God that they worship.

Remember what they said about Asa. He did things right in God's eyes. If you do things right, if you obey him, if you love him, if you serve him, if you do That does not mean that evil things, bad things can come against you. People can look at you despite how good you are and still want to do terrible things.

They'll be so cruel to you and you'll be like, what did I do to deserve this? But let me tell you something. This same God[00:10:00] will still help you. Let this be an assurance to you. 

Jehoshaphat King of Judah - 2 Chronicles 20:6- 12 

The third King that we're going to talk about is King Jehoshaphat, King of Judah and Jerusalem. His story can be found in the book of Second Chronicles, chapter 20. And the prayer that he prayed was in verses 6 to 12. But the story of Jehoshaphat, who he was, started long before chapter 20.

If you look at chapter 17 verses 3 to 6a, this was what the Bible was written about Jehoshaphat. God was on Jehoshaphat's side because he stuck to the ways of his father Asa. Asa was Jehoshaphat's dad. He didn't fool around with the popular Baal religion. He was a seeker and a follower of the God of his father and was [00:11:00] obedient to him.

He wasn't like Israel at that time. Israel wasn't listening to God, but Jerusalem was with Judah and God secured the kingdom under his rule under the rule of Jehoshaphat. God gave him a firm grip of the kingdom. Kingdom of Judah and Israel and I'm, I'm sorry, Jerusalem and the city of Jerusalem and everyone in Judah showed their appreciation to the King by bringing gifts.

You know what the Bible says Jehoshaphat ended up very rich and very much honored. He was single minded in following God. Verse 6a says he was single minded. In other words, he was totally focused, honed in, all in. In following God, but did that protect him from bullies? Did it protect him from people hating on him?

Did it protect him from people [00:12:00] who wanted to see him destroyed? No, in fact, three nations, the Bible does not give us a number, but it says a great multitude from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, also called Edom, they came against Judah. You know, when it comes to numbers, there was no way that Judah could battle these three nations victoriously.

And Jehoshaphat didn't know what to do. So he proclaimed a fast in the land. And he came to the temple with all of the people and he cried out to God. His prayer As I said, it's in chapter 20, verses 6 to 12. Oh God, God of our ancestors, are you not [00:13:00] God in heaven above and ruler of all kingdoms below?

You hold all power and might in your fist. No one stands a chance against you. And didn't you make the natives of this land leave as you brought your people Israel in, turning it over permanently to your people Israel, the descendants of Abraham, your friend? They have lived here and built a holy house of worship to honor Usain when the worst happens, whether war or flood or disease or famine, and we take our place before this temple.

We know you are personally present in this place. When we take our place before this temple and pray out our pain and trouble, we know that you will listen and give victory. And now it's happened. Men from Ammon, or Amon, Moab, and Mount Seir have shown up. You didn't let Israel touch them when we got here at first.

We detoured around them and didn't lay a hand on [00:14:00] them. Now, they've come to kick us out of the country you gave us. Oh, dear God. Won't you take care of them? We're helpless before this vandal horde ready to attack us. We don't know what to do. We're looking to you. Did you notice something about his prayer?

He said, come to kick us out of the country you give us. So God can bless you, bless you with a new job, bless you with a marriage, bless you with children, bless you with an opportunity. And the people. People can come to kick you out of it, and you can actually be helpless. You can fight, but when this man, this king, stood in that temple with all of his heart and cried out to God, in response, God told him and the people of Judah, through the mouth of a prophet, [00:15:00] Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat, thus says the Lord to you.

Do not be afraid or dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

In fact, in verse 17, it says, you will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed. Tomorrow, go out against them for the Lord. Is with you and you know what? Did not look down on those words the next morning He displayed the faith that we all need to exhibit when we hear the word of god He told his people hear me.

Oh Judah and you [00:16:00] inhabitants of Jerusalem Believe in the lord your god and you shall be established Believe his prophets and you shall prosper. He set up praise and worship to god at the battleground Can you imagine how foolish he looked? People are coming against you to fight you. A multitude, three kings are coming against you.

And instead of you to carry bow and arrow and, and, and fight, you started to sing praises. And as they began to sing and praise, the three nations in alliance against Judah and Jerusalem began to fight against one another. Indeed, The people did not need to fight, but God gave them the victory. See, I would like you to know the place of worship as you pray over yourself with the word of God.

Most of the songs we sing In worship and praise to God and also from the Word of God. These are the things that we sing. We sing these songs [00:17:00] sometimes even to remind ourselves of who we are, of how powerful our God is. Songs like Lakewood Music's Outnumbered reminds us that though we may be outnumbered by forces, people and situations that are mightier and more powerful than us.

God still gives us the victory. Hear this:

Are You not the God who is in Heaven?

The One who reigns forever?

My eyes are on You

My eyes are on You, Lord

You fight the battle, You get the glory

Here come the angels, here comes the victory

The enemy is outnumbered, outnumbered, outnumbered

You [00:18:00] fight the battle, You get the glory

Ohh

You know, this song reminds us just like a servant of Elisha said, Look at the king's army has surrounded us. And Elishae, pray to God, open his eyes so he can see. And when he looked, he saw that the army of God around the army that was around them outnumbered that army.

And then he knew that they had the victory. 

So I want to, I want to sing this again to you from that song Outnumbered:

When the battle comes, I will remember

You're my Great Defender

My eyes are on You

My eyes are on You, Lord

You fight the battle, You get the [00:19:00] glory

Here come the angels, here comes the victory

The enemy is outnumbered, outnumbered, outnumbered

You fight the battle, You get the glory

Ohhh

You get the glory 

God gets the glory. These battles are not for us to be scared. They're not a place for you to throw in the towel and bow to what the enemy wants for you. It's a place to say, God, I trust you. I know that you are my great defender. I know that I won't lose this battle because you've done it in the past. You will do it for me. I don't know how you're going to do it, but you're going to do it.

On the ship of life, inside the [00:20:00] storms, When you are buffeted, the word and worship are your anchors. 

I want to challenge you to not throw in the towel when they come against you. Bible says that when they come against you like a flood, the Spirit of God raises a standard against them. 

In the name of Jesus, I pray for strength of heart for you. That like the kings, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Asa, you will talk to God when you are buffeted. You will hold on to him. And let me assure you that when you do this, messy won't stop you. 

Thank you so much for listening. See you next time.