More Than You Can Ask or Imagine | More Than We Can Ask Or Imagine - #5 | Pastor John Lindell

[Music] This is a special time in the life of the church. This is a time when God is doing some things that are going. We're gonna look back on this and we're gonna see things happen in the months to come. We started the year talking about more, that there is more. And then to be right now in a place where we're talking about more than we can ask or imagine. Honestly, Debbie and I have this anticipation in our heart that God is going to do more than we can ask or imagine as a church. That God's going to do that not only corporately, he's going to do it individually. But if we're going to see God do it corporately, then the church has to pray. Honestly, what moves the church forward is prayer. The church moves forward on its knees. So when you and I pray, God works in response to that. So if you knew today, we're in a season, in fact, for a weekend to a twenty day, 21 day season of fasting and prayer. Well, we just know God's going to work in an exciting and a supernatural way. So this is going to be really a great time for you to jump in.

Now, maybe you don't know what fasting is. Fasting is something every Christian ought to do. So maybe you've never fasted before. You're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's something that you need to do. It's something Jesus assumes we will do. In fact, it's one of three duties that Jesus mentions in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 6. The first one he said, "When you give." So giving, you're something every Christian ought to do. When you give, it's not if you give, it's when you give. Then later in the chapter, the second thing he talks about is, "When you pray." So every Christian should pray. And then in verse 16 of Matthew chapter 6, he says, "When you fast." So fasting is something every single believer should do. You say, "Well, what is a fast?" And I realize on a Sunday, more though for some of you, this is like old stuff. You like, "I've already know all about that." For others, you're coming in and you're saying, "What is a fast? What are we talking about?"

Well, the Bible talks about three kinds of fasts. Number one, there's an absolute fast where you would abstain from food and liquid. You wouldn't have anything. Can only be done for a very short amount of time, but it is a fast that you see in the Bible. Second fast would be what we might call a normal fast, and that's where you abstain from food, but you would drink water. And a fast like that can last from one day, three days, seven days. It could go to twenty-one days, could go to forty days. But during that fast, you're just saying, "I'm not going to eat. I'm going to drink liquid, but I'm going to use that time to pray and to seek God." So fasting isn't just going without food. That's dieting. Fasting is when you say, "I'm gonna go without food for the purpose of using the time I would spend eating to seek the Lord."

Another fast would be a type of fast, be a partial fast. And probably the most typical one would be a Daniel fast. You find that mentioned in the Book of Daniel. And Daniel abstained from eating certain kinds of food. So we're talking about animal products, so meat and and dairy and eggs, not having any sugar, not having any caffeine. That would be in general terms a Daniel fast. There's a liquid fast where somebody says, "I'm gonna have juices and I'm gonna have broth." And so that would be a partial fast, a liquid fast. Then another kind of partial fast would be to say, "I'm gonna fast one meal a day for 21 days," or "I'm gonna fast two meals a day for 21 days," or what some people have said is, "I'm going to fast from sunrise to sunset and then I'll eat after sunset." So that's a a partial fast. Now, it's not a partial fast necessarily if you fast from sunset to sunrise. That's not that's not really what we're about here. So the Lord, oh, give you grace to figure that out. But that's what a fast is. And we've got resources at every single campus that books on fasting that will really encourage you.

I'd like you to for just a moment, grab that brochure that's by your seat, and I want to, I want to show you some things I'm asking you to join us in fasting for. And you can see our prayer list. We've listed seven things we're asking God to do. Obviously, there are things that you'll be fasting for yourself. And and the Lord understands that. And and I understand that. I'm excited for you, whatever it is you need personally. Men, now's the time to ask the Lord to seek Him. But as a church, there are seven things we need God to help us with.

Number one, we want to pray that the people of James River Church should be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. I'm fasting for you. We're all fasting that we can grow in our strength, that we will grow in our understanding of the Lord. Pray for the church.

Number two, we're praying for the growth of the prayer meeting. As I said, we're looking forward to the day when at every single campus, the prayer meeting is full. And honestly, I can't think of a better time to come on Wednesday night than during this season of fasting and prayer. If you've not come, please come on Wednesday night. Watch what God will do in your life. We're believing that the prayer meeting is going to grow. And that as the prayer meeting grows, Charles Spurgeon said, "It's a grace ometer. It's a way by which you measure God's grace in a church." If God be near a church, Spurgeon said this, "It cannot help but pray." If God be not near a church, one of the first signs is a slothfulness in prayer. So I'm just telling you, the church's gonna pray. We got, we want to encourage you to be here. It will make a massive difference in your life.

Then we've got the launch of the James River Church Joplin campus. Come on, that's that's coming up really fast now too. So exciting. Fact, I was just talking to Justin, who did the announcements, and he was saying that he met a couple from Massachusetts who's moving to that area. They're going to be a part of it. And and it's just very, I can't wait to see what God's going to do. One of the things I'd ask you to praise, not only for the launch, but to pray that God would give us a permanent home for our Joplin campus. And I'm believing for more than we can ask or imagine that God's gonna do something very supernatural on that.

Then we want to pray for the Design for Life Women's Conference. Not only as our own women and women in the area, but women from around the country and indeed around the world. It is one of the premier women's conferences in the world on the planet. And it's in Springfield, and it's a part of what God's doing at James River. Come on, that's pretty exciting, isn't it? We need God's help. We can't assume all they know how to do it. It'll all work out. No, we want the grace and the presence of the Lord in such power that that it will be amazing.

Then a spiritual awakening in Missouri and in the country. I mean, can you imagine it? If if there would be a third Great Awakening, and it would start out of Springfield, Missouri, and it would spread across Missouri, and then spread across the country, and then spread around the globe. Come on, that's going to be something awesome. Let's pray it starts with people praying and fasting.

And then finally, we're praying for our schools. You know, it's back-to-school time. So we've, what we want to pray for our school leadership, our superintendents. We want to pray for their, their teams, their staff, the faculty, all of the teachers and the students as they go back, that the hand of God would be on them and with them and watch over them. I don't want to see anything about then from the news about something happening at a school. I'm praying safety over our schools. I'm praying grace upon our teachers. I'm praying God would watch over our schools.

So those are things that we're fasting, praying about. And let me just say this, as you're fasting and praying, obviously there's other things you can give up to the Lord. But a biblical fast, when people are fasting in a biblical sense, while you could fast TV, and I think that's great. Debbie and I are doing that, social media. In a biblical sense, fasting is saying no to food. It's saying no to our bodily appetites. Oh, I'm diabetic, I can't. Well, there's things you could give up food-wise. You could do a partial fast. But it's giving up food and saying, "My spiritual appetite is greater than my physical appetite. I want spiritual energy more than I want physical energy. I want God to move in a powerful, powerful way." Listen, if what you give up means something to you, it will mean something to God. That's why we're calling everybody to a fast. It's a little different than we've done in the past. And honestly, Debbie and I just feeling from the Lord that God has wants to do something that will require the church to fast. So we are calling you to a fast.

Fasting releases the power of God in our lives. Fasting as a church releases God's power in the church, in the lives of the people who are in the church, and through the ministries of the church, in a way nothing else will. Fasting is a hunger strike against hell. Fasting causes us to seek and see vertical answers to horizontal problems. Fasting fast tracks our prayers. Fasting breaks the yoke of bondage. Fasting releases God's supernatural power. There are some things Jesus said that only come by fasting and prayer. Fasting brings favor. People fasting brings divine wisdom and insight into the perplexing problems of life. Fasting humbles our heart, brings us to a place where we recalibrate the compass of our life and the focus of our priorities and purpose. Fasting brings about miraculous supply and provision. Fasting brings heaven's answer and hell's defeat.

So what I'd like us to do, if you have your Bible or you have your your phone, pull up, if you would, Second Chronicles. Second Chronicles chapter 20. There's a lot of stories on fasting in the Bible. This is really one of the great stories in the Bible, one of the records of a king of Judah who called the nation to fast. And you're gonna see in this story how he calls them to fast corporately, and God does something corporately to bless them that was more than they could ask or imagine. Here's this king, his country's being being invaded. His name's Jehoshaphat. It's being invaded by three other countries. He's told there's a large army that's coming. They've already crossed the border and they are making their way to the capital city. This king calls the country to fast and pray. The people respond. And as you're gonna see in this chapter, God does something so incredibly supernatural, it's absolutely more than they could ask or imagine.

I want to set the stage for you, because sometimes we have the idea that, you know, and the enemy loves to do this. He loves to psych people out. He loves to cause people to say, "Well, you know what, if that person fasts, well, then God's probably going to do, you know, John and Debbie fast, guys, come, I'm gonna do something really amazing. But if I fast, will it really work in my life in an amazing supernatural way?" Here's the, and this, this is a scripture out of Chronicles. "The eyes of the Lord range to and fro throughout the earth, seeking to strengthen the hearts of those who are fully committed to him." Because we're gonna see one of the things fasting does is fasting affects our devotion to the Lord. Then when you start fasting, you'll find yourself becoming much more dialed in to the things of God, the purpose of God, the prompting of the Lord in your life. That's going to change you. It doesn't matter if up to this point, maybe at one time you were serving the Lord better than you are serving the Lord today. That doesn't matter. Serve the Lord today.

In fact, when you read this story of Jehoshaphat, it's kind of interesting because the writer of Chronicles, probably Ezra, as it comes to the story of Jehoshaphat, it's really a bit of a mixed bag, if you will. Because on the one hand, he does some really good things, but on the other hand, he does some other things that are a little bit like, say what, say what do you mean? He is a guy who wants to, on the one hand, walk with God. On the other hand, he's a person who hangs out with the wrong company, and his life is less because of it. Remember we talked in our series on wisdom, "He walks with the wise becomes wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm." Doesn't say if you hang out with foolish people, you will become a fool. It says when you hang out with the wrong crowd, it hurts you. That's his story. Loves the Lord, but he just hangs out with fools. He hangs out with people who don't love the Lord. In fact, in chapter 20 and 19, right before this chapter, we read about it. Look at it, 2nd Chronicles chapter 19, verse 2. "Jehú the seer or the prophet went out to meet him." What goes out to meet the king? Here's what he says to him. "And King Jehoshaphat has just come back from hanging out with the wicked, godless king by the name of Ahab, one of the worst kings in the history of Israel. And here's what the Prophet says to him, 'Why should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Jehoshaphat, what's going on? You, you want to, you act like you want to follow God, but what's happening is you're helping wicked people and you're loving those who hate the Lord. Because of what you've done, the Lord is very angry with you. Even though there is some good in you.'"

I mention that for two reasons. First of all, because some of you are feeling like, "You know, I wonder how fast is gonna work for me because I'm not, I'm not as dialed in as I need to be." And I'm saying, a fast is exactly what you need. I say it as well, because there are some of you here today, and what we just read is a prophetic word to you in your situation, because you want to worship God, that's why you're here. It's just that in the balance of your time, in the balance of your life, you're hanging out with the wrong crowd. You love people who don't love the Lord. Hey, we want to all be lovers of all people. I'm talking about you're in close relationship, you're making alliances like Jehoshaphat did with people who hate God or people who do not love God. Some of you are dating people that don't love the Lord, and it displeases God. Some of you are are planning to get married to someone who does not love the Lord, and I'm telling you, it displeases the Lord that you're doing now, and it will not help you. It will not go well with you. You will for harm. And I would encourage you to take a timeout and use this fast. All of us need to use the fast for this too, as we come before the Lord, as we spend time with the Lord, to say, "Lord, help me to be more devoted to you. Help me to be more wholehearted in my service of you. Lord, help me to to make sure that I'm living my life in accordance with your plan for my life, your purpose for my life, and the promises you have for me in my life." And if you do that, you'll see God do more than you can ask or imagine.

So let's pick it up in chapter 20, verse 1. "After this, the Moabites and the Ammonites and with them some of the Meunites who are probably from the land of Edom, might be the the place where Esau, they would be descendants of Esau, came against Jehoshaphat." So there's three nations that came against Jehoshaphat for battle. "Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, 'A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea.' So it's across the Dead Sea. They've now crossed the Dead Sea and it says they are in Hazazon-Tamar, that is En Gedi." So now they're on his side, Jehoshaphat's side of the Dead Sea. "Then Jehoshaphat was afraid." It's a very normal response. He's overwhelmed. Sometimes that's what moves us the fastest is we're overwhelmed by by either opportunities or by problems in our life. Listen, anytime in your life that you're facing a problem and you don't know what to do, that's a good time to fast. Don't wait till we call it 21 days time of fasting and prayer. You fast, you call on God. Whatever it is, when there's a problem and you can't get a breakthrough and you can't get an answer and you don't know what to do and you're overwhelmed and the odds are against you, it's a great time to fast.

So he calls a fast. What look at it, verse 3. "Then Jehoshaphat was afraid. He set his face to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord. From all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord." I want you to notice a couple of things. And I highlighted this. They're going to fast, but would you notice three times, what's the purpose of the fast? To seek the Lord. That word "seek" is a very interesting word because you see it used in the story of Jehoshaphat's dad, nine different times in three chapters, and it's used throughout Chronicles. And here's the idea of that word "seek." The idea is not just, "Well, I'm in big trouble, I need to ask God for help." No, the idea of seeking is not, "Why, I need wisdom, so I'm gonna ask God to show me what to do." The idea of seeking is to face-to-face, with a whole heart, devote yourself to God. Not, not for the for the duration of the problem, not just who you receive a solution, but to say, "No, I'm gonna get on my face, I'm gonna come before God, I'm gonna, I'm gonna evaluate how my life is positioned, I'm gonna, I'm gonna evaluate my priorities, I'm gonna re-prioritize, re-prioritize my life during this season of my, not just during this season of my life, but for my duration of my life." To seek God with all of my heart. And when you do that, powerful things are going to happen. It's the idea of a wholehearted devotion. And when you follow that word there through the story, especially in Chronicles, here's what you find. Three things happen. Number one, success. Remember we said, "The eyes of the Lord range to and fro throughout the earth, seeking to strengthen the hearts of those who are what? Fully devoted to him." God's looking out to help those who are looking to him for his help. Success. Peace. That, that, you know, "When a man's way," the proverb says this, "When a man's ways are pleasing the Lord, he makes even his enemies be at peace with him." So there, when there's a wholehearted seeking of God, there's a peace that settles. It you're gonna watch it settle on the land here. Third, life, life, just this idea of vitality and life.

So as we approach fasting, what am I? Sometimes we can get so caught up in the "doing without food" then we forget the deeper, more spiritual thing that God is wanting to do in our life. And it's not make you hungry, let's make you hungry for Him. It's it's causing you to say, "I'm gonna live my life according to priorities and a devoted mindset in a way maybe I wasn't there." Some of you today, and you're not what you were five years ago. You're not as excited about the Lord. You're not doing what you were doing for the Lord. I'm not talking about a works/righteousness. I'm talking about the direction, the priority of your life has somehow things have gotten really, it's not good, it's not helpful, and it's not benefitting you. And you would say, if you evaluated your life, absolutely, that's true. Fasting then becomes a way of bringing us back to a clearer alignment of priority that leads to the blessing of God.

So here's Jehoshaphat. He calls everybody together, and they're gonna fast and pray. And he himself leads out in prayer. And his prayer becomes again, a great model of prayer as we approach God. Let's look at it here. The first thing he does is he recollects who God is. If you were with us a couple Wednesday nights ago, we talked about when you come to the presence of the Lord. And hey, I get that, you know, if you're in the woods and embarrassed chasing, "Help Jesus, help me." That's a really good prayer. And and you just got to get it out. Right? But as a, as a general rule, Jesus said this, when the disciples said, "Lord, teach us to pray." Said, "When you pray, say." He didn't say, "When you pray, all of a sudden start asking all your needs." This is, "When you pray, say, 'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be the name.'" In other words, be the early church fathers and even the Puritans called it recollection. Recollect who you're talking to. Why? Because it honors God and it changes us. Because the more I think about who my God is, how big my God is, how much my God loves me, the more it gives me confidence He'll help me, right? Changes my whole faith. Watch what he does here. "O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven?" This is so much like the Lord's Prayer. "Our Father who art in heaven." I mean, are you not that God in heaven? "You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations." These three, these three nations that are coming against me, guess what? They may have kings, but they are not the ones in charge. You got or the one. Or all of a sudden, you, you, you can tell how that would change your perspective. "And in your hand are power and might." God, I'm powerless. I don't know what to do. But I know you have all the power. You have all the might. And that means nothing is impossible for you. Nothing is too difficult. It's recollecting who God is that we're not just talking to a friend, though He is a friend, He's our Father. We're not just talking to somebody we hope can help. We're talking to somebody who really can help. Somebody who's incredibly powerful beyond our ability to imagine or conceive. He says, "So that none is able to withstand you."

Number two, watch what he does. He remembers what God has done. This would be like Thanksgiving. You remember the Bible says, "Enter his courts with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise," right? So when you come before the Lord, there's this, there's this thanking the Lord. "God, you thank you for what you've done for me. You helped me here, and you helped me here, and you helped me here, and you helped me here." In other words, when you're when you're waiting on the Lord, come before Him with Thanksgiving. Enter His gates and say, "God, you did this, this, this, this, and this." And that's what you have here. He says, "Did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land?" So he talks about God, "You gave us this land."

Then number three, he recites scriptures, promises for every problem. You and I face. God has a promise. Here's what will happen as you're reading the word, as you're as you're spending time on this fast and you're thinking about your problem, God's going to give you a scripture that will strengthen and encourage your heart. Recite it back to God. Pray, pray the Word of God to the Lord. He loves it when His children remind Him of His promises. He said, "They've lived in it, and it built for you a sanctuary for your name, saying, 'If disaster comes upon us, a sword, judgment, pestilence, famine.'" It talks about this house that was built, and if they prayed, you'd hear. You know what he's doing? He's quoting, if you will, or paraphrasing 2nd Chronicles chapter 7, where the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night after Solomon built the temple and said, "I've heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. And if my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray," and there's that word again, "seek," wholehearted devotion, "my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I'll hear from heaven, I'll forgive their sin, heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place." And Jehoshaphat's saying, "Hey, you said if I made a prayer to you from this place, you'd do something significant. I need your help."

And then he makes the request, and he lays it out. And he says, "Now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab," and he, he explains to the Lord what he needs. Look at it in verse 12. "O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless." You know, one of the things fasting does, it reminds us again of the limitations of our humanity. You know what sometimes, and I, this is the enemy of all prayer, this sense that somehow it would be great if God would help us, but if He doesn't, we're still gonna make it. For for some this morning, and I can find myself in this, where I say, "Oh God, I need your help." And and then I'm thinking, "How am I gonna solve the problem?" But but what God is looking for is for us to understand how desperately we need Him. Not just when our backs are against the wall, because every now and then God lets every one of us have our back against the wall so we can so like there's no way out but God. So it's a reminder that only God is, is God is all we need. Because you don't know God is all you need until He's all you have. Honestly. So, you know, yes, our back against the wall, we're like, "Oh God, I just gotta have Your help." Guess what? When your back's not against the wall, you need His help. When you think everything's going your way, you need His help more than you can possibly know. He's fasting has a way of causing us to acknowledge our dependence upon God. "God, I have to have Your help. God, I have to have You go before me. God, I need You." He mentions this great horde that's coming against them. And then I think one of the most beautiful confessions in Scripture: "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You."

Some of you are in that situation. You don't know what to do. You don't know what to do with your teen. Some of you don't know what to do with your spouse. Some of you in this time of greater economic prosperity nationally, you're in financial deep water and you don't know what to do. Some of you are trying to figure out what you're gonna do emotionally because you're really stretched to what you would consider a breaking point. You're thinking about, you're saying, "Man, I just need either need to take some pills, take more pills, or I need that." And there can be a place for all of that. But you don't know what to do. Fasting is a way of putting your eyes on Him, seeking Him.

Now watch what happens. Verse 13. "I love this. 'Meanwhile, all Judah stood before the Lord, and with their little ones, their wives, their children.'" You say, "What's, what's that mean?" They're waiting. They prayed. Now they're listening. You know, the mistake a lot of times, they're praying, right? They're standing in the presence of the Lord. Is the same as praying? We have a tendency to have the idea that we're only praying if we're talking. But after you've recollected the goodness of God, after you've given Him thanks, after you've presented your request, a part of prayer, don't leave His presence at that moment. Wait. A part of prayer is listening. What's He gonna say? You've asked Him to help you. You've sought Him. Now listen. Give Him a chance to speak. A.W. Tozer said, "God speaks to the man who listens." To whatever person, man, woman, boy, or girl, who listens, God speaks. They didn't leave. They waited on God. And while there, while they're waiting, God speaks. Watch this. This is so cool. "And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, and he said, 'So now God's speaking to them. Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat, thus says the Lord to you: Do not be afraid.'" That is almost only how God starts His address to people who are in a difficult situation. In fact, you know what's interesting? That phrase, "Do not be afraid," as it's translated here, "Do not fear," appears in the Bible 365 times, as if God is saying, "I have enough help for every single fear you could encounter on any day of the year." You don't need to be afraid. I'm with you. I'm gonna help you. That's good news, isn't it?

Look at it in verse 15. "Thus says the Lord, 'Do not be afraid.'" He says it again. He'll say it again in verse 17. "'Do not be afraid.'" Can I pause this long enough to say, but I can't help but feel in my heart, there are some people listening right now in this campus, at the West Campus, at the North Campus, maybe watching online, and you're up against it to such a degree, you're you're afraid. And that's not wrong, it's understandable. The Lord is saying, "Don't be afraid." "Do not be afraid," says, "Do not be afraid. Do not be dismayed. Don't get discouraged. Don't let your situation so overwhelm you that now it's affected you emotionally and the way you talk to others, the way you feel about yourself, or the way you feel about your future." It's a great word. "At this great horde, for the battle is not yours, but God's." So anytime you and I fast, we're immediately inviting God into our situation, our life, in a way that brings about a greater demonstration of His power than then you and I can imagine or then we could see in any other way. Fasting makes our battle His battle. It's like God says, "Okay, in in fasting, we are depending on Him." And God says, "If you're depending on Me, then I'm gonna help you." Fasting brings us that moment of saying, "God, I can't do it." And God's saying, "I'm so glad you recognized that. Scoot over. Get out of the driver's seat. I got it now." Fasting takes our battle, makes it His battle. And when your battle is God's battle, victory is. I had a man. Well, that's exactly what happens. You can tell I'm really, I just love this. I just think it's so cool.

So what happens is, now the battle, the armies now. So you've got Jerusalem about four miles away. You've got Bethlehem about six miles. From Bethlehem, you've got the pass of Ziz. That's the, so you're talking these armies are now ten miles away from your capital. This is this is so amazing. "Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz." Ten miles away. So the prophet's saying that God is saying, "Listen, they're gonna be ten miles away. You will find them at the end of the valley east of the Wilderness of Jeruel. And you will not need to fight in this battle. The battle is God's." He's the one who's gonna do the fighting. You know what happens to us when God speaks? And I believe God does speak. He speaks through His word. You might hear His, the still small voice of the Lord speaking to your heart. You might have a friend who just starts talking to you about something, and they don't know it, but God is speaking through them to you about your situation. But here's what throws a lot of people. A lot of people that they say, "Well, you know, I could just believe God if He told me how He's going to do it." Then, first of all, where's the faith? And second, if He told you, you probably wouldn't believe it anyway. If it's more than you can ask and more than you can imagine, can you believe? If God tells you something that is more than you can imagine, wouldn't it be really hard to believe it? So God says, "Listen, it doesn't matter. The details don't matter. What matters is you're depending on Me, and I won't let you down." You don't need the details. They don't get the details. He doesn't. He does not tell them how He's going to do it. He just simply says, "You've asked Me to help you. I'm going to. The battle is not yours. The battle is Mine. You'll not need to fight this battle."

Now, here's, here's the test of whether you and I are really believing God. How do we respond when that happens? Do we say, "Well, you know, God, I, I just, I hope so"? Or, "Well, I kind of think God's gonna help me"? Or, "You know, well, pastor said"? Or, "Wow, if God's just give me more detail than I'd really be able to trust Him"? All of those are signs of a weaker response and God would desire or deserve. Here's the mark of whether you've really come a place of resolve and rest in the Lord. "Lord, I thank You. I don't understand. I don't know how You're gonna do it. I just know You said You would." You know, I can't help but, as even as I'm just doing that right now, thanking Him, of October 1997, when this land was a hayfield, and we didn't have enough money, and I couldn't see how we were gonna do it, and Y2K was looming, but the Lord had spoken to my heart and said, "I'm gonna, I'm gonna do what you can't see because I'm the God who takes things that are impossible and makes them possible. I'm the God who calls things that are not as though they were." And and the Lord spoke to my heart and said, "I want you." I was out of town. I want you when you get back, the who's gonna fly back on Monday, on a Tuesday morning, I want you to go out, I want you to park your truck where the auditorium is going to be, and where the altar is going to be, and I want you to lift your hands and praise Me." And I can remember that morning, about 7:15, cars going behind 65 highway, saying, "God, I don't understand it. And I can't see it. But that doesn't matter. You're the God who takes things that are not and calls them as though they are. You God who does the impossible. And God, I, I worship You." To the next 15, 20 minutes, just worshipped Him, standing on grass, I believe at the very place where this altar is, and you're sitting in the answer from a God who does the impossible.

Here's what's amazing to me. You know, because sometimes we have an encounter with God, and the next day it doesn't seem quite as real, or maybe a few hours, we don't sense His presence as strongly. Or one, like, "Is that really me? Or is it not?" Watch what happens here. This is amazing. "And they rose early in the morning and they went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, 'Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! This is really, really important. Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established. Believe His prophets, and you will succeed.'" Something very interesting in the Hebrew. And the Hebrew, this phrase, "you will be established," is the word "believe." Same word. Translators did it, just kind of break it up, which I think is a bit unfortunate. Here's where Jehoshaphat did. He got up the next morning, when maybe we'll want people were wondering if it was real or not, and here's what he said: "Believe, believe, believe, and God will give you success." And the word of the Lord today is, "Believe, believe, believe, and God will give you success." If you're fasting, believe, and God will give you success. If you've heard from Him, believe, and God will give you success. If you haven't heard, believe, and God will give you success. If you're hungry, and you're tired, and you're a bit cranky, but you're doing it because you want His help, you need His help, believe, believe, believe, and God will give you success." That's what He said. He said, "Listen, He's gonna do it."

Now, faith has filled their hearts, and what would have been a battle cry has been turned to a song of praise. "And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise Him in holy attire, and they went out before the army." Man, this is really interesting. I mean, you got to think, here's, here's he's taken the Levitical choir and the Levites and the priests, and in any ancient society, would have been really the brain trust. They would have been the well-educated, they would have been the influential, they would have been the people who were the nobility. And so he puts them in priestly garments. He doesn't give him a spear, he doesn't give him a shield, he doesn't give him a sword, he doesn't give him a bow and arrow. He sends them out there. And and what does he do? He says, "Dress in your priestly robes and just go ahead and sing." The army is less than ten miles away, and they're going into, he doesn't put them, the army in front of them, he puts them in front of the army. I mean, I admire their faith so much to go into battle totally unarmed, to go into battle without knowing, only knowing God said, "You see, you and I don't need to know everything. We just need to know we've heard the voice of God. We just need to know that God's Word is true, and He honors His promises." And then we need to demonstrate that by worshiping. And that's exactly what they do. "Give thanks to the Lord, it's what they start doing. For His steadfast love endures forever." Just began to praise. You know what? God speaks to you. God tells you what He's gonna do. God, God lets you, maybe He doesn't tell you, just simply gives you that sense, "I've got this. I've got it." Begin to praise. Because when you and I begin to praise, what happens is powerful things start to happen. I'm a NASA worship team to come. Powerful things begin to happen. As they began to sing, I want you, I want you to think about this for just a moment. You know, there's some of you, and you're like, "Man, you know, as long as I get there in time for the announcements and hear the sermon, then I feel good about it because I love singing. I don't really, you know, like I'm not got a real good voice, and and you know, or I like this style of music, I like that some music, whatever." You know what? This isn't, this isn't the voice. You don't have to sing great for God to love it. And you don't have to sing great for it to be effective. And it doesn't matter what styles any of us prefer, don't prefer. What matters is that we sing. And when you, when when you sing, you're beginning God's activity in your life, in your situation. When we sing as a body, we're beginning God's activity in this church at service. Don't be late. Get in here as much as you can. Arrive. Sometimes there's reasons, whatever. But as much as you can, because what happens is, as you begin to sing, you're beginning the work of God in this church and in your life. That's true. And we could go through the scripture and show you the truth of that. Paul and Silas imprisoned, sang, and amazing things happened. I mean, it's all over the scripture. When they began to sing and praise the Lord, "set an ambush against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah." It literally, the word is "ambushes." And a lot of scholars speculate what we're talking about there are angelic beings. The Lord of Hosts, another way of saying that, God of Angel armies. He sends angels to do battle on your behalf, on my behalf, on their behalf. And the angels all of a sudden started doing fighting. And so, yeah, it, yeah, Ammon and Moab, and they were dropping to the ground, and they're yelling at the people here, and they're like, "Hey, stop shooting arrows!" "That is, we didn't, you're shooting arrows at us. We got 20 guys dead." And they're like, "No, you did." And all of a sudden they start fighting one another. The God of Angel armies sets an ambush so that the enemy was routed. Verse 24. "And when Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde." They looked toward that area. So here are the priests, and they're singing, and the Levites, they're singing, and all of a sudden they get to this valley, and they're stunned. They didn't know what to expect. They just knew God was going before them. But everyone, no one escaped. Everyone is dead. Amazing.

And verse 25 kind of gives us an epilogue. "He and his people came to take the spoil." The battle lasted, we don't know, maybe a few hours. It took them three days to carry all the plunder, to carry all the blessing. Give me the next panel. "And on the fourth day, they assembled in the Valley of Beracah." Beracah, the word blessing. They assembled in the Valley of Blessing. The valley of battle became the Valley of Blessing because when you fast and pray, it turns those battles into blessings from the Lord because God does what only He can do. Listen, I'm telling you, if you'll fast, if you'll seek the Lord, oh, you may not feel like it, you may not know much about it, but if you'll do it and you'll begin to look to Him, I'm just telling you, He will do miracles. And that area of battle will become a place of blessing. So much blessing. And it's a double blessing. Why do I say that? It mentions it twice. Valley of Blessing, Valley of Blessing. It becomes a place of double blessing. And what happens? God gives peace and rest. In the last verse, verse 30, "Peace and rest all around." Listen, do you need a breakthrough? Do you need God to do something amazing? Do you need God to do something supernatural? Fast and pray, and then just praise Him and believe that God's going to do it. Maybe you've started the fast and you're saying, "I haven't seen the answer yet." Keep it up. Maybe you've not jumped in. Start now. I'm just telling you, God is calling this church to 21 days of seeking Him. And His response, like His response there, is going to be more than we can ask, more than we can imagine, to the praise of His glory. More in this church, more in your life, more of His blessing. That area of battle is going to become an area of blessing in Jesus name.