Jehoshaphat's Prayer of Helplessness

Illustration of Jehoshaphat's Prayer of Helplessness

In the Old Testament account from 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat of Judah faced an overwhelming coalition of invading armies from Moab, Ammon, and Mount Seir that threatened the nation's survival. Rather than relying on military strength, he gathered the people to seek divine help through a public prayer that openly confessed Judah's powerlessness and complete dependence on God for guidance and deliverance. God responded through the prophet Jahaziel, assuring victory without combat, and the enemies ultimately destroyed one another, leaving Judah to collect the spoils. This episode stands as a scriptural model of faith-driven prayer in crisis, illustrating how acknowledgment of human limitation can lead to divine intervention and reinforcing themes of trust that recur throughout the Bible.

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Details

Category
Distress
Prayed by
Jehoshaphat

Key Passages

The Prayer

2 Chronicles 20:6-12

A6nd said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

7 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? 8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, 9 If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. 10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; 11 Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. 12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

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Did You Know?

1

When a great multitude came against Judah, Jehoshaphat prayed a national prayer of dependence on God.

2

He confessed, 'We have no power against this great multitude.. nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.'

3

God answered by causing the enemy armies to destroy each other before Judah even had to fight.