Remember when Sarai decided that G-d had forgotten His promise to Abram to make his descendants as numerous as the stars.  She looked at the circumstances of her being barren her whole life and her husband being 86. So she took matters into her own hands. Instead of waiting 13 more years for Isaac to be born as promised, she decided G-d needed her help. So she talked Abram into being with their maidservant Hagar, and they had their child Ishmael. Boy what a screw up!  Even to this day that animosity still plays itself out in the Middle East between the descendents of Ishmael and Isaac.  Read Genesis 16:3,4

Rabbi Sha’ul wrote: Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of the things we hope for and certain of what we do not see”.  

Let’s look back at verse 20. Do you understand that the vast army was still in their face about to annihilate them?  Again their eyes told them they were in big trouble but they decided to take G-d up on His promise to hel p t hem. A simple decision. What stops you from talking to G-d when you need help?  Is it pride?  In verse 18 and verse 21 it says they bowed low and then praised loud… EXPECTING G-d to answer!  And then in verse 22, who did the work? 

In verses 25,26 They reaped the rewards but why?  

Did they deserve it? No. It is because G-d made a promise. Jehoshaphat reminded Him of it, they humbled themselves and acknowledged their need and their weakness, they praised Him, and they thanked Him EVEN BEFORE THEY SAW THE VICTORY!!!  This folks is called believing prayer.

What was the result? The result was peace!  Two words seem to stand out in this chapter -  praise and prayer - like twins, they always go together.  One word links them… faith, and the fruit of faith is obedience!

So when you find yourself u p t o your ears in alligators, immediately begin to praise Him. Remind Him of His promise to you. Tell Him your need in a genuine spirit of humility and confidence. 

Do any of you have giants in your land that you are battling?  Then remember that nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of G-d.  Let me repeat that…

Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of G-d.

Let’s talk more about praising G-d. In the King James Translation, it says that King David wrote this:

Psalms 22:3 But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel .

WOW! Did you get that? G-d lives in or comes into the situation when we are praising Him . Let me tell you a personal story . At 46 years old, while working on the fourth printing of my sharing book, I suffered a massive heart attack . I had normal blood pressure, was a perfect weight for my height, had no health challenges, didn’t smoke, and had normal cholesterol levels . Do you think I expected this to happen? One minute I was fine and the next I was in serious trouble, just like that . Remember we discussed that G-d knows the future? On the morning before my heart attack, Leigh Ann , the leader of our intercessory prayer team at Shoresh David, our Messianic synagogue heard G-d’s voice and the following occurred . Within the entirety of Tampa , she and the two women with whom she prays, were led (by the Ruach haKodesh) to go to pray at Tampa General Hospital . She was then led to go specifically to the heliport, and pray for the helicopter and those transported in emergency situations . She had never done this before . That night, I was rushed to my local hospital with chest pains and I couldn’t breathe . When I arrived at my local hospital, they were able to administer life saving drugs, but needed to rush me to Tampa General Hospital , which is the top cardiac hospital in Tampa . Now, guess which helicopter came for me?

The medic flying beside me in the helicopter must have thought I was crazy. You see, the whole time, I was singing praises to G-d. Now, I know you must think I’m nuts too, but I learned and I firmly believe that G-d inhabits the praises of His people, and I needed His help! I needed Him to inhabit this situation and be there for me. Between midnight and 2:00 A.M. , our whole congregation was awakened and began praying. In fact, when I came out of the operating room after 3:00 A.M. , there were at least a dozen people there from our congregation praying for me and supporting my wife Jackie.

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