“Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time and the men of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers.”
– 2 Chronicles 13:18
What a verse. And the meaning here is clear. The deciding factor in this battle between the men of Israel and the men of Judah, the deciding factor in this battle was reliance upon the Lord. Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. Jeroboam was fighting against God and Abijah was fighting in dependence on God, in reliance on God. Everything hinges in 2 Chronicles 13:18 on trusting God, on seeking God, on worshiping God, on honoring God, on looking to God.
Everything hinges in 2 Chronicles 13:18 on trusting God, on seeking God, on worshiping God, on honoring God, on looking to God.
So the simple takeaway from 2 Chronicles 13:18 for you and me today to pray according to and to consider in our lives is are we relying on the Lord today? Are we looking to God, trusting in God, seeking God, worshiping God, glorifying, honoring God? Everything in our lives today hinges on the answer to that question. Are we dependent on God?
2 Chronicles 13:18 Reminds Us to Trust God
So let’s just pray very simply based on 2 Chronicles 13:18, amidst everything going on in our lives today and amidst everything going on in the world around us. Oh God, we say together in prayer right now, amidst everything in our lives and everything in the world around us, we rely on you. We depend on you. We need you. All our trust is in you God. All our hope is in you. We can do nothing without you today.
We know this from Jesus’ words to us in John 15:5. So we confess this in prayer today. This is in a sense the foundation for why we are praying to you oh God today because we need you, because we can do nothing without you. We need your help. And we need your guidance. And we need your strength. Oh God, we need your joy and your peace. In each of our lives, God, I pray this over every single person listening right now, obviously not knowing all that they’re walking through, but knowing that you know all that they’re walking through, they need you, oh God. Please provide all that they need. Please provide the wisdom they need, the strength they need, the joy they need, the peace they need.
This Verse Leads Us to Remember Spiritual Battles
God, even as I pray for all these things in my life, amidst all kinds of spiritual battles raging around us today in light of Ephesians 6, really in light of all of scripture, we know that we are battling today against spiritual force of evil in the heavenly realms. And we know that the battle hinges on relying on you, on depending on you.
We don’t want to work against you. And we don’t want to work, God, in our own strength and our own power. We want to do everything in total dependence on and desperation for you knowing that if you don’t help us, if you don’t provide for us, we can do nothing good, nothing of eternal value. That we will fall flat on our faces apart from you. So may it be said what was said of the men of Judah on that day in 2 Chronicles 13:18, that we relied on you today. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.