HealingStrong's Around the Word
Join us around the table with friends who love the Lord and want to dig deeper into God's Word. Hosted by Cheryl Collins and joined by friends of HealingStrong, this podcast is sure to peak your interest in learning more about God's Word, as discussions on each podcast are short, bite-sized morsels that help to go deeper and enjoy God's Word. Cheryl and the podcast team will discuss stories that build trust in God through the history of Joseph, Esther, Jehoshaphat, Daniel, Nehemiah, the Disciples, and of course, Jesus! These episodes encourage our faith in overcoming our fear, and who doesn't need strengthened faith?
HealingStrong's Around the Word
Episode 33 - The Jehoshaphat Series: Seeking God When You're Scared (2 Chronicles 20:3-4 NIV)
We explore the powerful story from 2 Chronicles 20:3-4 where King Jehoshaphat, faced with advancing enemy armies, calls his nation to fast and seek God together. This biblical account demonstrates how fear can be transformed into faithful action when we prioritize seeking God's guidance and unite in prayer.
• Jehoshaphat was "badly shaken" by news of advancing armies but chose to seek God first
• Instead of panicking, he proclaimed a nationwide fast to focus attention on hearing from God
• The entire nation came "from every town in Judah" to seek God together in Jerusalem
• Facing three major armies that could have destroyed them, they acknowledged their dependence on God
• Unity in prayer and fasting became their strategic response to overwhelming danger
Suggested Resources:
BIBLE PLAN - Trusting God's Plan in the Battle: Lessons from the Life of Jehoshaphat
PODCAST - Genesis to Revelation Bible Reading
TOOLS - Refresh Your Spirit through God's Word
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So there was unity in the land already, and then, whenever the armies came, he was able to proclaim this fast and call on his people to come together in unity to seek the Lord and what they should do.
Speaker 2:Hey, my name's Cheryl and you're listening to Healing Strong's Around the Word. We're friends sitting around a table that love God's word and we love digging deep into it. Each day, I'll read a Bible passage and then we'll chat about what we're learning from it. Today, I'll be reading 2 Chronicles, 20, verses 3-4 from the NIV version of the Bible. So join us Around the Word. 2 Chronicles, 20, verses 3-4. Alarmed Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord. Indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. That was our Bible reading for today. So now let's listen in on the discussion that Angie, jeff, susie and myself had around the word. Jeff, how about you open us up with these two short verses?
Speaker 3:Chapter 20, verse 3. Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord. They even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord. They made the Lord the first priority and they even fasted, seeking him.
Speaker 2:Again seek ye, first the kingdom. So he learned from those mistakes. This time he decided let's go to God first on this, because I love how it says he's alarmed. I mean he's scared, he's super scared.
Speaker 4:My translation says he had been badly shaken by the news. I bet. Yeah, I bet. And when you're afraid and you've been badly shaken, and if you've never been badly shaken, then you must be dead, because we're always badly shaken by something. When we're badly shaken, just do what Jehoshaphat did Go to the Lord.
Speaker 2:This is the first time, I think, we're seeing that he's actually proclaiming a fast, you know, and for people listening that don't know what fasting is, what's the briefest definition Like why do we fast?
Speaker 1:We fast for many reasons, but I think here Jehoshaphat wanted to get rid of all things that could be a distraction and just focus on the Lord and to call his people to do the same. So I believe here it probably was a water fast, I don't know. But you know, fasting from food so that you can feast on the word of God and feast on what God you know is instructing you to do. I love this because Jehoshaphat this is the first time, like you said, that he called a fast, but before this he had fortified the land, so there was unity in the land already, and then, whenever the armies came, he was able to proclaim this fast and call on his people to come together in unity to seek the Lord and what they should do.
Speaker 2:And they were pretty desperate. They literally had three major armies that could have taken them out and wiped them out completely. So that is a scary scenario and they knew that they couldn't do this without God.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And my verse four says and the people all across the nation came to Jerusalem to plead unitedly with their king. Oh, I love that. Yeah, Gosh, that would be a good plan for us, wouldn't it?
Speaker 2:Unity, united these are all parts of this story. They came together. They literally came from all parts of the nation to Jerusalem to pray and fast and seek the Lord. What an amazing plan of action when you're in the battle. I hope you are encouraged by that and thank you so much for joining us for Healing Strong's Around the Word. It's my hope that you are going to open up that Bible and check it out. See what it says. Also, if you want to know more about us, healingstrongorg, just go to the website and check out our mission and find out about our community groups. Until next time, remember, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.