He Heeded Their Prayer

Scripture:

I Chronicles 5:20 "for they cried out to God in the battle. He heeded their prayer, because they put their trust in Him".

Observation:

In the midst of a long line of genealogies comes this brief interlude with a quick story about the half tribe of Manasseh. All the story really says is that God gave them victory when they cried out to Him. In the midst of the battle, they cried out to God. They then trusted God and He defeated their enemies.

Application:

When the battle gets stronger, our usual reaction is to run the other way as fast as possible. When we go through hard times, it seems easier to run than to face our enemies. Here we see a group that, in the midst of battle, cried out to the Lord and it says that He heeded their prayer because they put their trust in Him. All God is looking for is us to trust Him and cry out to Him in our despair. He wants to work on our behalf, but He wants us to acknowledge our need of Him. He wants us to depend on Him instead of on our own resources and battle plans. Sometimes we have to be in a place of utter despair before we cry out to God. Let's learn to cry out to Him when things are going well and when things are not.

Prayer:

Lord, teach me to cry out to You when trouble arises instead of trying to fix everything on my own. I need you right now in a big way and I cry out to You. You are God over all creation and You have all resources. Nothing is too difficult for You. I need a breakthrough financially for our church, Hearts for the Harvest and our family. I need You Lord and I put my trust in You.

Yours,
Jeff