And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord. And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

II Chronicles 20:18-19 (KJV)

And when he [Jehoshaphat] had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for His mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

II Chronicles 20:21-22

And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the Lord: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.

II Chronicles 20:26 (KJV)

It’s interesting to note that there are three places where there was praise or blessing was given unto the Lord. The first was after God spoke. The second was at the time of the battle. And the third was after the victory.

Praising God for His Word

There are times when God clearly speaks a Word to each of us. It may be spoken to us by somebody. It may be spoken to us in a dream. A particular portion of the Scripture may come to life. But God has always spoken, does speak and He will always speak to His people. If we are sure that God has spoken, it is actually the same as if He has done it. This is why the Levites praised God after the prophecy of Jahaziel. The answer to Jehoshaphat’s prayer actually arrives in verses 14-17 when God said through Jahaziel: “

Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord…”

II Chronicles 20:17

When Judah heard this, they fell on their faces and worshipped, beginning with Jehoshaphat, and the Levites praised the Lord. If only we could have this kind of faith in His Word, that after we have heard It, we praise Him just as if it had already happened. That we would praise Him in advance of the victory. That we would praise Him because we have heard His Word and we believe Him. This is what Mary told Elizabeth after the angel Gabriel had visited her. Remember, Jesus had not been born. Perhaps she didn’t feel anything in her womb yet. She had only a Word. But she praised Him anyhow:

My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is His Name. And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with His arm; He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath holpen His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy; As He spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

Luke 1:46-55

Praising the Lord at the time of battle

Let’s turn the camera to the camp of the Ammonites and the Moabites and the Edomites. The time is early in the morning (verse 20). Soldiers are buckling on their armour. Swords are being placed in scabbards. The generals are assessing the lay of the land, and finalizing strategies for attack. There is adrenalin in the camp. And then… wait, what’s that sound? Is that music I hear? Singing! The people of Judah are singing!

And so we see that praise is one thing we can do in the midst of battle. It sounds counter-intuitive, but imagine what it must look like to the devil when we praise the Lord in the midst of trouble that he (the devil) has orchestrated.. I’m quite sure he cannot stand it. There is an attitude I like to call a “Hallelujah anyhow” attitude. Those Ammonites are numerous, but hallelujah anyhow. They came with the Moabites too, but hallelujah anyhow. The Lord hasn’t healed me yet, but He said He would, so hallelujah anyhow. Hallelujah! Anyhow.

Blessing the Lord after the victory

The third time that Judah thanked the Lord, the Bible says they blessed the Lord. The Swahili word baraka is actually related to the word Berachah quoted in this Scripture. The word baraka in Swahili is Arabic in origin (e.g. Barack Obama) and Hebrew and Arabic share some words. The Bible says that after the enemy finished slaying one another, it took Judah three days just to collect the loot. On the fourth day, they said “Folks, we better bless the Lord.” Now, it is not good to be an ingrate. It is not pleasing to God to forget the things He has done for us or be ungrateful. Seems to me I can hear the hurt in the Master’s voice when He said:

“Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?”

Luke 17:15

God does not withhold the blessing because He knows we will be ungrateful. No, God’s heart is too big for that. But the least we ought to do is find time to thank Him and bless Him after He has done for us things we could never have done for ourselves. The people of Judah blessed God until that site was named the Valley of Blessing ever after. It became a memorial because of how they blessed Him. I like that. We too, ought to learn how to bless Him until our blessing of Him becomes memorable. Whether in song, or dance, or thanksgiving, offering, testimony or praise – it ought to be memorable, somehow.

In summary, we ought to remember to praise Him after He speaks, to praise Him during the battle and to bless Him after the victory.

Thank you for reading through these articles. I trust they have been a blessing to you. Remember, they will mean nothing to you or to me until we get down to it and pray. If there’s any way I can help you, feel free to let me know. May the Lord God bless you, and give you the faith and strength you will need on those early mornings and on those hungry afternoons/nights. And may He receive the glory that is due Him out of our lives as He answers our prayers.

Let us pray.

And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

II Chronicles 20:13 (KJV)

Many of my own prayers have been mixes and matches of the previous 5 steps. ESPECIALLY Step 4. And God has answered many of them. But I see another step that has been missing. And that is to stand before Him until the answer comes (II Chronicles 20:13). The Bible talks about having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13). Remember, to this point, we have:

1. Set ourselves;
2. Reminded God of His goodness and the great things He has done in the past, especially for us;
3. Found a legal (Scriptural) basis for our petition and rested our case upon it;
4. Honestly stated the problem, including examining ourselves; and
5. Confessed our shortcomings and weaknesses, professing ourselves to be dependent on Him.

Having done all this, the hour comes when we must stand. Amen.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t physically move, although such situations may arise. It means remain in an attitude of waiting for an answer until one comes. After presenting your case,behave as if you have been heard. Remain expecting His answer! Too many of my prayers have ended when I got up off my knees, or after the amen, when they shouldn’t have. No doubt many an answer would by now have been received if we had got to the point where “all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives and their children.” The Bible says all Judah. Not just some of Judah. It’s got to be all. It’s got to be all of me, it’s got to be all of you. When all of us and everything we are is to be found in an attitude of expectant standing, wholly given over to waiting in faith for the answer to the dilemma, we shall receive what we ask for. It might, as in Daniel’s case, take 21 days. For Judah, I don’t think it was that long until the Spirit of God fell upon Jahaziel and he prophesied. But God help me henceforth to stay right there expecting, listening for Him to answer until He does.

In another place the Scripture commands us, when we pray, to believe that we receive what we have asked for (Mark 11:24). This is the same attitude. Our prayers may come to an end, but like Judah, we dare not cease to believe when we cease to pray. Believing can not, must not end with the prayer. Believing must go on past the “Amen” up to and even beyond the point where the object of the prayer is made reality. Like how Abraham believed for Isaac. Even after Isaac was born (reality), when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac, that old patriarch climbed Mount Moriah believing that God would raise Isaac from the dead, because he still believed Isaac to be the son that God had promised (Hebrews 11:17-19). How’s that for standing!  Oh, may God give us the faith to make His Word live. When the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth?

Let us “walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham”  (Romans 4:12);  having done all, let us stand.

…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.

II Chronicles 20:12

Here is a word especially for us men. You know, there is that part of prayer that is a humbling of self. Let us cast pride, self-confidence, abilities (perceived or real) and ego to one side and allow ourselves to appear before God the way we really are. Sometimes in the midst of prayer, one becomes acutely aware of the magnitude of one’s inadequacies to deal with the situation. Powerlessness. Despair, even. Deep, unpretentious prayer can and should unclothe me, unmasking what really lies beneath all the bravado, the confidence and the image that I have projected out into the world. For “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.” (Hebrews 4:13)

Let’s take a closer look at King Jehoshaphat. Here is the king of a great nation, confessing his inabilities. Was it that he lacked an army? No. Judah at that time had an army of 1,160,000 soldiers (II Chronicles 17:14-18). In 2011, that would be one of the top 5 largest armies in the world. Yet, close your eyes and listen to this king praying: “We have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do…”  I imagine if the kings of the Moabites had been strolling by at that moment, he would have thought, “Boy, this’ll be a walkover. Look at the guy! On his knees, whining to his God…” Don’t worry about what it looks like. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty (I Corinthians 1:27). Confess your weaknesses and inabilities, and be honest with God. After all, what might have we against cancer or AIDS? Against sin? Against many of the situations that we find ourselves in? It would do us a lot of good sometimes to put trying aside and say “Lord, I have no might against this great thing.”

Linked to this is confessing dependence on Him. Jehoshaphat did not stop at confessing weakness. He also prayed: “…but our eyes are upon Thee.“(verse 12) Surely there can be few better ways to conclude a prayer. “I don’t know what to do, but I’m depending on You, Lord. I could do this and that and the other, but Father, but really I’d just be guessing. I’m lost and I don’t know what to do. My eyes are on You.” In your prayer, go back where you began – go back to Him. Amen.

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; Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of Thy possession, which Thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt Thou not judge them?

II Chronicles 20:10-12

Finally! “And now behold, Lord.” This is perhaps the step in which I have most experience, because unfortunately this is where too many of my prayers have begun. Indeed, many of us should have no problems here. But it cannot hurt to say – turn God’s attention to the problem and thoroughly describe it; give the background and state the current situation. In the verses above, Jehoshaphat describes where the problem began and how things have got to the current point. He reminds God that when the Israelites were marching to the Promised Land, they were warned of God not to distress the Moabites (Deuteronomy 2:9). Now, Jehoshaphat prays, this is how they are rewarding us. That’s really stating the case, beginning with the background and all the way up to the present. He wasn’t blaming God for lack of foresight, either. He was saying the error was with them for repaying Israel’s kindness with evil.

Internal or external?

Let’s remember to get our prayers up out of the clouds and state what the issues really are. You know, we might be surprised. More often than we think, the problems may be internal and not external. A lot of our prayers need to change from “Avenge me, O Lord! Didn’t You say ‘Vengeance is Mine?’ ” to “Lord, help me to pray for my enemy like You said I should. I’ve tried and I just can’t. Give me real Godly love in my heart for them. I want to be like You.” We have got to thoroughly understand the problem, including whether or not the problem is us. Let’s make sure our motives are right, and that we are not pursuing selfish agendas while appearing to be piously on our knees. Christianity is not some kind of white, right magic to make our enemies (whether tribal, political, economic, office-related, or neighbourhood-related) disappear in a puff of smoke. The whole essence of the matter, as stated in the Lord’s Prayer, is for God’s will to be done. God’s will for our lives is perfect. It is not God’s will for you to be sick, or in sin. So He wrote His Word to tell you that you can be free. As earlier stated, find His stated will in His Word and make sure your motives are pure, then you can define the problem clearly and honestly before Him.

I’d like to go back to the Apostles’ prayer in Acts 4. Let’s look at the background a bit. Peter and John had been brought before the same High Priest that had been involved in Christ’s crucifixion a short while earlier. They were having to answer for having healed somebody (religiosity is bad, friends). They told the priests that they were not going to listen to them or stop doing miracles in Christ’s Name. So they were threatened and released. When prayer time came, did they ask God to descend upon the priests with a fistful of lightning bolts? Far from it. They said:

And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto Thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak Thy Word, By stretching forth Thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the Name of Thy Holy Child Jesus.

Acts 4:29-30 (KJV)

In other words: “Yes we have been threatened. Yes these are the same men that condemned Christ and caused His crucifixion. But whether or not we are being threatened, the Gospel must be preached. We are Your servants. Grant us boldness to preach, Lord.” No wonder God shook the building. Rather than call for a removal of the problem, they asked for the ability to overcome it. They pointed the finger at themselves and asked for boldness. That’s really mature prayer.

So, even as you define the problem, check: are my motives right? What really needs to change, is it me, or is it the situation? The right prayer at times seems so opposite to the way one would normally pray. At times we are going to need God’s help in understanding life’s issues the way He sees them before we can pray the kind of prayer that He wants prayed. Some of the time, it’ll take the illumination of His vivified Word which discerns the thoughts and the intents of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12) to guide us in the way we should pray or we are going to miss it. Let’s ask for His help in that too. However, once we are sure of how we need to pray, once we are sure we are in His will, let us not be afraid to turn Almighty God’s attention to the problem and say: “Lord, now behold.”

What would you have Him do?

Having turned God’s attention to the problem, it is also important to say what we would like Him to do about it. What a great and effectual door has been opened to us in this. Both Jehoshaphat’s prayer and the Apostles’ prayer in Acts 4 had this feature. Jehoshaphat asked God to judge the Ammonites, the Moabites and the Edomites. The Apostles asked God for boldness to preach the Gospel. We too may ask, and likewise receive.

It seems to me that at this point in his/her prayer, the Christian stands where the blind son of Timaeus stood in Mark 10:51. You have cried out. An unsympathetic, un-understanding, graceless crowd has bid you stop your shouts, but your desperate cry has rung on, ceaseless, oblivious. At last, your desire, your desperation, your cries have attracted His attention. The great Master stands still (amen – Mark 10:49). The recently vehement multitude is now quiet, for He has commanded that you be brought to Him. I can hear your shuffling, stumbling steps in the great silence. Seems to me that in the stillness, I can hear the Master’s Voice as He asks a question that reverberates from His lips all the way through two thousand years or so right down to this moment as I write these words:

“What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?” 

What do you want Me to do for you, Samuel? What would you have Him do for you, this morning? This evening? This month? This coming year?

“Lord, that I might receive my sight!”  

So simple.

Per the Scriptures in James 4:2-3 the lack of blessing is correspondent to a lack of correct asking. So brethren, let us ask. Let’s ask God to heal. Let’s ask Him to soften stony hearts. Let’s ask Him to open barren wombs. Let’s ask Him to forgive. Let’s ask Him to bless. Let’s ask for His Presence, His protection, His in-filling, His baptism, His provision, His encouragement. Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you,”exhorts the Lord in Matthew 7:7/Luke 11:9.

At long, long last, let us simply, humbly ask.

And they dwelt therein, and have built Thee a sanctuary therein for Thy Name, saying, 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.

II Chronicles 20:8-9 (KJV)

When one is praying, one needs to find a legal basis on which to stand his/her petition. This simply means: find an appropriate Scripture and hang your case on it. Amen to that. Jehoshaphat’s legal basis for coming to God for help was the prayer that Solomon prayed when he was dedicating the temple (I Kings 8:22-53/II Chronicles 6:12-42 especially 28-31). II Chronicles 6:28-31 says:

If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be: Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all Thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house: Then hear Thou from heaven Thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest; (for Thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:) That they may fear Thee, to walk in Thy ways, so long as they live in the land which Thou gavest unto our fathers.

II Chronicles 6:28-31

After Solomon’s prayer the Bible says that the fire fell on the sacrifices and offerings and consumed them, and God’s glory filled the temple, showing that God had heard his prayer. God also confirmed to Solomon that He had heard this prayer, and He said to him at night:

“…Mine eyes shall be open, and Mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.”

II Chronicles 7:15

That was enough for Jehoshaphat. He found somewhere to base his petition. In other words, Jehoshaphat prayed: “God, when You gave us this land, You chose to place Your Name here. We Your people have built a sanctuary unto Your Name in this land. And when we built it, Your servant King Solomon prayed and asked that if we’re ever in trouble, if we should pray in this place, this temple, You would hear and help.” Jehoshaphat didn’t have a full Bible like you and I. He only had what had happened up to that time. But he still found somewhere to hang his case. We are so fortunate to have the whole blessed Book, numberless examples and promises!

A lesson from Jesus’ job description

I love Luke 4:17-20, I call it Jesus’ job description. The Bible says of Christ:

And there was delivered unto Him the Book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the Book, He found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down.

Luke 4:17-20

That, my friends, is the lesson, right there. Christ found a place where it was written about Him (Isaiah 61:1-2) and quoted it. So ought we to open the Book and find the place where It’s written about us – and quote it back to God. “About me?” you ask? Sure! Pray a “God, You said…” prayer. If you’re sick, find where It says that He “healeth all of thy diseases.” (Psalms 103:3) If sin is the problem, find the place where It says that He “forgiveth all thine iniquities”. (Psalms 103:3) If you’re in trouble and you can find one place where God promised to help those who are in trouble, stand your prayer upon It because He has said He doesn’t change. Find the place where It’s written! And then point it out to God. Base your case upon It. Rest your petition upon the written Word of God.

One thing’s for sure, we can’t pray based upon our own goodness or virtue. We don’t have any. We have absolutely none. The Bible says “…we do not present our supplications before Thee for our righteousnesses…” (Daniel 9:18) Friends, few if any prayers would be answered based on our own standing. We’re a lot like Isaiah, if we were ever to see God, we’d say “woe is me”. We can’t pray based upon the fact that we deserve the things we ask for, either. We don’t.

No friends, except our prayers be founded upon Scriptural Promise – what God Himself has promised to do about situations like ours – there is very little hope for them. But thanks be to God, there will be many Scriptures that apply, especially if it is character that we seek, for it is written: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature… (II Peter 1:4)

Find the place where It is written – about your problem.

…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? 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?

II Chronicles 20:5-7 (KJV)

Speak to God of His greatness, and remind Him of what He has done in the past – for you.

“Wait a minute,” you say. “I thought we were praying! When do I get to tell God all MY problems, and everything they did to me? Doesn’t that come first?” Yes, I used to think so too. But we’re looking at the pattern of an answered prayer. The time for petitioning will come.

You and God have a history 

So – speak to God of His greatness. Now, it’s got to be personal. Some prayers, only you can pray, because what God did He did only for you. That’s partly why you can’t always be prayed for; because only you can tell Him, in your own special, personal way, the things that He has done for you.

Many times in His dealings with the children of Israel, in the Pentateuch, God refers to Himself along these lines: “I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 20:2, Exodus 29:46, Leviticus 11:45, Leviticus 19:36, Leviticus 22:33, Leviticus 25:38, Leviticus 25:55, Leviticus 26:13, Numbers 15:41, Deuteronomy 5:6.) Rather than refer to Himself as the Creator of heavens and earth (which He is) or the Captain of the hosts of heaven (which He also is) God repeatedly reminded them of a momentous event in their own lives during which they had personally seen His Power. That’s it.

In other words, if God was writing to me about Himself, He would say: “Samuel, I am the God that saved you that Saturday evening in Campus, and visited you in your room in Hall 7 the following evening.” Blessed be God forever. Away with a nebulous and hazy understanding of God! God would have us remember the reality and the Power and the Majesty of “Him with Whom we have to do.” He that cometh to God must believe (a) that He is, and (b) that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) Don’t guess at it, friend, for you do not have to. He has done things for you in the past. Remind Him of these things. Did He not save you – bring you out of Egypt and the house of bondage – too? Has He not blessed you in many, many ways? Recount these things to Him. Perhaps you should not be surprised if you find yourself saying “Thank You, Lord,” and getting up, after this step! Our problems seem to shrink when set beside God. In any case, remind God about what He’s done for you in the past. You and He go way back. There is a history. Draw on it. You’ve got to start somewhere, and it will increase your faith.

The Lord’s Prayer

This pattern of beginning prayer with God and not us is repeated in the Lord’s Prayer as well. I imagine things went a little bit like this. The disciples, future Apostles, overheard Jesus pray (Luke 11:1). Man, I’d have liked to hear Him pray. There was something about His prayer that was not like other men’s prayers.  Amen, have you ever heard a prayer like that? Sure, I have too. The prayer of somebody who is connected. I like those kinds of prayers. The prayers that you know are getting heard. So the disciples heard Him pray and they began to feel like their own prayers were inadequate. I am acquainted with that feeling. So they asked: “Lord, teach us to pray.” That kind of humility is worth learning from. They saw their failings, and they asked for help. That was prayer, too. So Jesus answered their prayer (amen). And He said:

“After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father which art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy Name.

Thy Kingdom come.

Thy Will be done in earth, as it is in heaven…“

Matthew 6:9-10 (KJV) 

It is so unfortunate that too many of our prayers have precisely the opposite format:

“Jehovah Lord, Righteous Redeemer

It’s been a while since I last told You what I want  spoke to You, but I’m sure You understand. We had a fight with my spouse – no, no - auditors/exams/visitors/office deadlines and it’s been so busy. It wasn’t my fault, as I’m sure You saw.

So Lord, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the heart of the matter. Make my name great. Make me great! Let others see, Lord, let them see. I’m tired of being small. When will things change?

May my destiny/job/house/car/wife/husband/child come. I know You can do it. You said You would give me the desires of my heart, anyway.

Let my will and desires be done; first things first, Lord.

Gotta go Lord, it’s time for [insert relevant TV programme here]. Thank You for listening. I know You’ll answer.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.”

Ok, I admit this is a bit extreme, but it is not entirely made up, either. It is not wrong to ask God to help us. But you see, Jesus said: pray after this manner. Not pray these words (this is vain repetition and is to be avoided as per Matthew 6:7), but use this format. The first four statements He said after saying that are not even requests, they are about God – His Fatherhood, His Name, His Kingdom and His Will. Not so much as a whisper about our needs, though these immediately follow. But that’s how we should pray folks. Not those shallow “gimme prayers”. Let’s pray prayers that concern themselves with the Almighty, first. That’s it – that is how to start a prayer. Begin at the right place, with the right Person. You will find that Person isn’t me, or you (or them, for that matter). It’s Him.

The Apostles’ prayer in Acts 4

Let’s look at the prayer of the Apostles in Acts 4, a prayer they prayed when they got into trouble with the priests for preaching the Gospel. The Bible says when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken. How did this building-shaking prayer start? Did they say: “Now, O great Jehovah, look these priests! Enemies of the Gospel and of You. They even got Jesus killed. Now move O God! And move them preferably…” Er… not quite. They said:

“Lord, Thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said…”

Acts 4:24-25 (KJV)

In other words: “Lord, You’re God. You’re the Creator. You made all things. And this is what You said…” In fact they said a very great statement later on in the prayer: that everything that happened to Jesus Christ was actually in fulfilment of whatsoever God’s hand and His counsel had determined before should happen.

Let’s make our prayers less about us and more about God. Let us start with Him. His greatness. What He’s done for us, personally. His will. His plan for our lives. Then we can go on into Step 3.

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

II Chronicles 20:3-4 (KJV)

Be serious and sincere when praying. Stop what you’re doing, and pray. Too often prayer (if it happens at all) is an unwanted interruption, a brief interlude in the stream of our busy lives. Not Jehoshaphat’s prayer. The Bible says Jehoshaphat “set himself” to seek the Lord. I like that. Setting ourselves! Every time we pray, we have an audience with Jehovah. Let’s stop playing with God. Don’t just hit pause on that movie, Samuel. Shut down the laptop/computer and pack it away. Close the door, and lock it. Switch off that phone. Get the kiddies to bed. Get up early, when it’s quiet. Sing some, or listen to some good Gospel music. Get ready, get quiet and then start praying. Set yourself to pray! The idea is not to launch into a barrage of Christian-ese. Remember, there are those that Jesus said “think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” (Matthew 6:7) That’s a bad place to be, thinking that you’re being heard, when you’re not. Get ready to pray, then pray. What we need is prayed prayers, not said prayers.

Fasting

The Bible says that King Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast throughout Judah, so fasting must receive mention here. Fasting seems to have become extremely unpopular among us these days. I heard of one man who was fasting in that he was only eating a banana at mealtimes. Many times I fast by going the whole day without food, but then at suppertime all hell breaks loose. The concluding prayer is made with the aroma of a Steers takeout wafting in my nostrils. Well, maybe it has worked up to now. But I get the feeling this is not the kind of fast that Judah was observing. This country was facing dangers such as imminent destruction, the ravishing of their wives and daughters, the killing of their little ones and slavery or at least taxation (called tribute in those days). They were in trouble! Now, it is not practical to fast every single time that we pray. However, in times of crisis, we ought to fast. Let’s fast like we were fasting to God. Some things cannot shift without fasting, and that is Scripture (Mark 9:29). Fasting is hard, but remember this is not modern Christianity. This is a back-to-the-Bible treatise on prayer.

Corporate prayer

In response to the king’s call, Judah “gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord”. What a righteous nation. In other words, nationwide activity ground to a halt. If it was planting time, they stopped planting. If it was harvesting time, the harvest was left in the fields awhile. An entire nation stopped what it was doing to pray! Judah really got serious with God. So we see that there is much to be said for corporate prayer. Remember it is also written

“…If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.“

(Matthew 18:19)

One may not be able to gather the whole nation to pray for their own needs (nor is this necessary). But find a trustworthy friend or two. Then confess your faults to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. Amen, that’s good Scriptural strategy for prayer (James 5:16).

Getting away

This morning [12 December 2011] my attention has been caught by the phrase “even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.” We pray in secret, in our rooms, in our closets and this is effective. But there are times when we may find it useful to go “out of the city” and there cry out to God. Remember, there were few men as prayerful as the Lord Jesus. Though He was God on earth, though He had the fullness of the Godhead in Him, He too, was in the habit of setting Himself to pray. He would send the multitude and His disciples away and pray (Matthew 14:22-23). Or else He Himself would depart into a solitary place, and pray (Mark 1:35). The night before He chose His disciples, He went out into a mountain and continued all night in prayer (Luke 6:12). If the Master required to set Himself to pray in this manner, how are we ever going to make it without a similar commitment to personal prayer?

I remember when the time came for me to leave my former workplace. The conviction that it was time to leave was so strong that I took leave from work and “left the city” to pray for three days. God heard my prayers, and the rest is history. Since then I have continually seen what God can do when we pray. He’s taken me places I would never otherwise have visited, blessed me beyond what I deserve… Only five months ago, in July 2011, He surpassed my wildest expectations and took me to visit Israel. I spent my birthday in the Holy Land, on a 5-week assignment and therefore free of charge. I have been known to call myself “God’s spoilt little boy.” I say this not to boast, but to move away from theory and give a real-life, modern, current, “live-live” example that these things are true and they are effective and God is alive and well and ready to listen to you. I am in no way special or more deserving than anybody. But if we are willing to give God a chance, we shall see what He can do.

Early-morning prayer

Although the Bible does not say what time Jehoshaphat prayed, I’d like to reserve a special mention for early-morning prayer. There’s nothing quite like it. There are numerous mentions of this habit in Psalms, the most well-known of which, perhaps, is found in Psalms 63:

“O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is…”

(Psalms 63:1)

I know for a fact that God has been encouraging me to do this. God can speak all the time, but I know from Scripture that He speaks early in the morning, for in Jeremiah (a book that made me wonder whether God cries) the following statement appears:

“I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not…”

 (Jeremiah 7:13) 

Do you know how many times this statement appears in Jeremiah? This phrase appears no less than 11 times (Jeremiah 7:13, 7:25, 11:7, 25:3, 25:4, 26:5, 29:19, 32:33, 35:14, 35:15, 44:4). Guess what, friends. Maybe God waits for us every morning and then we don’t show up.

Let’s be serious with God. Let’s set ourselves to seek Him. The Bible says if we will draw nigh to Him, He will draw nigh to us (James 4:8). Let us pray.

I was reading the prayer of King Jehoshaphat in II Chronicles 20 on the night of Monday 21st November 2011 and I saw things I have not seen in it before. I was going to post a simple status update, but somehow it grew into a 6,300-word piece and I will not be surprised if it grows some more. Some of the material is remembered from Alan Redpath’s book Victorious Praying, which teaches about prayer from the Lord’s prayer. Because the article is so long, I will release it in 7 parts, on weekdays, with the first one appearing Monday December 12th 2011.

Please remember, I myself am an audience of my own writing. God needed me to get this too. I pray others will also receive help. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Let me begin by congratulating Mr Barack Obama on his election as the next President of the United States. His rise to the pinnacle of American, and by extension, global politics, is at the very least inspiring. I shall not spend time here detailing what numerous others have said, about how he has overcome historical hurdles, generations of racial discrimination and resource constraints to become the first Black President of the United States. There appears little doubt even after the election that he appears to have what it takes to lead America. But today I would like to argue along a different tack.

I shall begin by positing that Mr Obama is the kind of leader we need in Kenya as well. And I’m not saying this merely because he is Kenyan. I say this because of his “break from the past” brand of politics, his grasp of issues, and his ability to inspire others to believe in his vision for change. If there is anything Kenya needs, it is a break from a far from glorious past. This post pre-supposes that such is the case, and I will not be arguing any further about whether or not Mr Obama is a suitable candidate for the President of this nation.

So if we agree that this nation needs a leader in Barack Obama’s mould, one would hope that he would actually win in Kenya. But would he actually win?

I cast my mind back to the speech Mr Obama made in 2006 at the University of Nairobi. That speech showed Mr Obama to have a remarkable grasp of the problems bedevilling Kenya’s progress towards a vibrant and stable economy, and good governance. That same speech however, was vilified by a section of Government, who probably felt that the speech pointed fingers at their own leadership. Leading the pack was the indefatigable Dr Alfred Mutua, a man who at the height of post-election violence gave press conferences saying there were “scattered incidents” of unrest. Mr Mutua took out several Advertiser’s Announcements in local dailies in which he was at pains to explain exactly why Mr Obama’s speech was wrong in so many ways, as well as giving an official communication on the speech. One of the arguments he put forward was that “Senator Obama also trivialized the harmony and peaceful co-existence that exists between different ethnic groups and races that live in this country, and chose to magnify tribalism as a major problem in this country.” It is to be hoped that the events of January 2008 made it clear to Dr Mutua that tribalism is indeed a major problem in this country.

Next in the queue was Mr Joe Wanjui. In his speech, Mr Obama had pointed out that in the early 1960s, Kenya’s Gross National Product was not very different from that of South Korea’s. In the intervening period, however South Korea has grown to have an economy 40 times the size of Kenya’s. Mr Obama’s speech tries to examine why this disparity exists. Mr Wanjui’s argument was that the two economies should not be compared from 1960, but from 1906.

The then about-to-be ambassador to the United States, Mr Peter N.R.O Ogego also felt it necessary to inform Mr Obama that “We as Kenyans, therefore, take great exception to being lectured by you sir on the merits and demerits of corruption or even what to do about it…” That corruption has merits in and of itself is surprising to me.

Based on this, I would not put it past the Establishment in this country to paint Obama not as a great leader, not as a Kenyan, who has risen from circumstances of considerable lack, to the pinnacle of American politics, not as a person whose brand of leadership is sorely needed in this country, but rather as a man whose father was born in Siaya. The issue would cease to be what Mr Obama can or cannot do for this country and would begin to be where he is from. From this point the Establishment would then insidiously hammer the point that he has roots in the Western part of this country.

But the Establishment is something we must live with. It is something we must tolerate. What we must subject to objective scrutiny, though, is what our response (as the voting public) to such drivel and electioneering would be. The Establishment’s line of attack is based on politics. Your response, dear reader, should be based on principle. I have spoken with several people about whether they would mind if Barack Obama were to be Kenya’s President. One went so far as to say: “In the US it’s fine; here, no.” I was amazed. Let me put it another way: if Mr Obama were currently running against President Kibaki for the presidency of the United States, this nation would most likely be a divided one as we speak. Or wouldn’t it?

At this point I began to wonder whether the mass support Kenyans accorded Mr Obama (myself included) was based entirely on the facts of his campaign, and what he had to offer Americans, or whether it was actually based on the fact that he has Kenyan roots. Even allowing for natural allegiances, perhaps we supported Mr Obama simply because we know that we can identify him as having had a Kenyan father. Pitted against Mr McCain, then, Mr Obama appears to we Kenyans to be a much more palatable choice. Is it true that many of us would be hard-pressed to list three things that Mr Obama promised to do for America? Could it be that our support for Mr Obama was/is really a broader form of the ethnic troubles that bedevilled our nation earlier this year?

It took me a while to publish this story; I wrote it in September last year, and have finally found a way to finish it that is in keeping with my great respects for this gentleman. Mr. Z, you are part of the reason I write the way I do. Here’s to you!

I have regaled you with a tale from my primary school lore. We must move on today; perhaps we shall return, perhaps not. But the events of today’s discourse linger on the personage of one of our secondary school instructors.

Necessity and respect invite me to camouflage his identity behind the pseudonym Mr. Z, but there can be no doubt to those who know him that Mr. Z is, in fact, a most fitting moniker for this man. There’s a finality, a certain decisive ring to it. Mr. Z himself would be quite proud to hear himself called Mr. Z.

For Mr. Z’s was a conclusive sort of character. He gave no quarter, and brooked no levity during his lectures. From his decision there was no appeal. That things would end up the way he wanted them to end up was for the most part inevitable, at least as far as his students were concerned, and his decisions, once made, were irrevocable. The word by which we most remember him is “No”. And it became quite a different syllable when pronounced by Mr. Z, for it was said with total, jaw-clenching doubtlessness. How the poor vowel of the word ever escaped out from behind his gritted teeth is more than I can fathom. But we were never in doubt as to the implication, if not the elocution, of what he had said.

The paths of Mr. Z. and our class crossed in that hallowed period of secondary school, Form Two. Hallowed, I hear you ask? Undeniably! Those were the days when Form Two was just the year to be in school. Form One, and its insufferable bedfellow, bullying, were just past. The Form Four exam was just far enough out of sight as to be legitimately ignored (I add legitimately, for many students continued – indeed continue – to ignore the growing spectre of the Form Four exam, with disastrous results). Yes, Form Two availed the rapidly growing adolescent schoolboy with a pleasant limbo, a period of respite in which to cultivate (to the horror of his parents and anyone apprised of the contents of end-of-term report forms) the enjoyment of various distinctly non-academic pastimes such as sports, and that most tantalisingly exciting pursuit of the secondary schoolboy – secondary schoolgirls.

To bring home to you the force of personality that Mr. Z had, I must introduce our Form Two class; ours was a class to bring new meaning to the term “terrible twos”. Once, a poor trainee teacher was having such a bad time of it that the noise from our class attracted the puzzled attention of the passing head of secondary section. Opening the door and unexpectedly coming face to face with an instructor apparently involved in the difficult process of instructing, the head-teacher asked “Er, are you teaching?” On yet another occasion, the students were making noise in class (with the teacher in attendance) when the teacher stopped and said: “Please, you can make any noise in class, but not that noise.” (I believe it was the miaow of a cat that was prohibited.) It was the wrong thing to say, for bedlam followed. Cows lowed plaintively in their stalls. Barking dogs gave chase to sheep reluctant to be caught. Said sheep found time and breath in the course of their pursuit to give voice to their anxieties. Wolves howled insults at yodelling cats. Horses neighed in fear. Suffice it to say that long-stifled class noisemakers achieved nirvana during those few moments. It would not have been difficult to convince a passer-by that simultaneous auditions for an expanded cast of an “Animal Farm” scene were being carried out.

But under the firm steerage of Mr. Z, we rowdy Form Twos became as meek lambs. Perhaps it was his early style of dress that convinced us that this was no man to trifle with. For when Mr. Z. joined the institution, he had in his wardrobe a number of very short-sleeved shirts. The line between vests and Mr. Z’s early shirts was very fine indeed. As an aside I may add that his trousers were of the same variety, that is, rather short-sleeved. But that is not the point. Mr. Z’s shirts revealed large, supple biceps that went on into sinewy fore-arms. Mr. Z was wont to compound the problem by leaning on the table, hands facing left and right. Those forbidding arms would be shown off to best advantage. It did not seem advisable to make noise with those arms staring you in the face. After a while Mr. Z availed himself of a fine, double-breasted coat, and some long-sleeved shirts. By then, however, we were as the dogs of Pavlov. The sight of Mr. Z walking into class was enough to strike us dumb.

BUT, dear reader! – and it is a colossal but. It is a but to stop the world turning on its axis. For the day came when our eyes witnessed what our minds had assumed impossible. It was two years before we saw it happen, but happen it did. And as with a great many great events, there was no warning.

It was the lesson right before lunchtime or a lesson after lunch, one of the two. I must add by way of explanation that in those days, events were related as having happened either before or after lunch. A casual storyteller had only to begin “It was two lessons before lunch…” and there would be immediate nods of understanding among his audience. Lunchtime was the great reference-point in time. Nay, I must be honest, for old habits die hard; there are those of us for whom lunchtime is still the great reference-point in time.

Where was I? Ah, yes, it was an English lesson around lunchtime. The exact facts of the case escape me at present, but I seem to recall that the task that had been set before we lunch-crazed pupils (it did not matter whether lunch had been eaten yet or not: our thoughts were often on it) was to convert a passage written in past tense into present participle. Yes, I believe it was something along those lines.

Well the lesson was bowling happily along until we came to the sentence:

“Mary lay in hospital, bedridden.”

Now, the task of converting this sentence to present participle fell to the class clown, who shall at this point remain unnamed. Suffice it to say that I have met few men as naturally funny as this particular gent. His taunts tended to be unforgettable, and I am yet to see a finer imitator of his instructors as this chap. I have myself been the butt of a few of his jokes, and 9 years later the memories are yet fresh, and the wounds are yet raw. That is a story for another day. On this occasion, he quickly sized up the situation, judging whether it was prudent to play his ace, and then with the assured confidence of the practised card player who knows he has the winning card, he said:

“Mary is in hospital, bed-riding.”

There was a brief, thunderclap-like pause while the sheer idiocy of the statement sank in.

We were wondering whether we could laugh or not (this was Mr. Z’s class, remember) and so we chanced a glance at the implacable Mr. Z. And right then, dear reader, the first fissure in Jericho’s wall appeared, for the Integrated English Book Four (Teacher’s Edition) in Mr. Z’s hands began to twitch. Goodness gracious, could it be… was that a… no, no. But yes! We looked at each other in muted disbelief and wonder. A smile was playing about Mr. Z’s lips! And there was a dimple in the middle of his left cheek that we had never seen before! It was not long before the fissure became a crack, the crack became a cleft, and with a final great release, once again the mighty walls of Jericho caved in before a seemingly innocuous onslaught. Mr. Z let go and silently, but heartily, laughed and laughed, the textbook joining rhythmically in his mirth. I cannot be sure, for the mists of time now drift between me and the memorable scene, but I believe I see a tear behind those darkened lenses. From time to time he would pause and say in unbelieving, child-like wonder, to himself as much as to the class:

“Bed-riding?”

And then the textbook would be merrily on its way again, escorting the silent guffaws. We ourselves took the opportunity to have a right good belly-laugh, and I can assure you, part of it was the joy of seeing Mr. Z laughing, and not really the joke itself, if you understand what I mean.

Dear reader, let us not point fingers at Mr. Z. There is a bit of him in all of us. But – happier truth! – it is all a façade. Somewhere deep inside, the Mr. Zs of this world are just like you and me.