Written by: John Sernaque
Call to Worship
2 Chronicles 14:11
14:11 And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, [it is] nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou [art] our God; let not man prevail against thee.
God Will Work With Us When We Trust Him—
[2 Chronicles 14:11 quoted.] This is an appropriate prayer for us to make. Our prospects are anything but flattering. There are vast numbers arrayed against the truth, whom we must meet in presenting the light to others. Our hope is not in our knowledge of the truth, and in our own ability, but in the living God ...There should be... living faith for the mighty God to manifest His power, else all will prove a failure. God defeated the enemies of Israel. He put their forces into disorder. They fled they knew not whither. Who can stand before the Lord God of Israel? {3BC 1131.10}
Now we are not warring against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. The Lord would encourage us to look to Him as the source of all our strength, the One who is able to help us. We may look to men, and they will give us counsel, and yet this may be defeated; but when the God of Israel undertakes work for us, He will make it a success. We want to know that we are right before God; if we are not right before Him, then we want to make an earnest effort to come in right relation to Him. We must individually do something ourselves. We are not to risk our eternal interest upon guesswork. We must set everything right; we must follow out the requirements of God, and then expect God to work with our efforts. 2 Chronicles 20:15. God works in us by the light of His truth. We are to be obedient to all His commandments. {3BC 1132.1}
Oh, that we could take this point into consideration, that the work in which we are engaged is not our work, but God’s work, and we as humble instruments are laborers together with Him; and with an eye single to God’s glory, not mistake the beginning of the Christian life for its consummation, but see the necessity of training upon the earth to prepare us for doing God’s will! We are not to lift up ourselves, not to be self-confident, but to trust in God, knowing that He is willing and able to help us. God will work with His people, but we want to be in that position where our trust and confidence will become firm in Him (The Review and Herald, May 10, 1887). {3BC 1132.2}
Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord. He took away the altars of the strange gods, the high places, broke down the images, and cut down the groves. Asa commanded Judah to seek the LORD God and to do and follow the law and commandments of the LORD God of their fathers. He built fenced cities in Judah and had no war as the LORD had given him rest. They built and prospered because they sought and obeyed the LORD and given rest on every side. Then came Zerah the Ethiopian and his army to make war against Asa. In the name of the LORD, Asa and his army went out against them. Asa, in total faith and dependence on God, cried unto the LORD for help. Therefore, the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. Asa and his army pursued them unto Gerar, the Ethiopians were overthrown, destroyed before the LORD, and they carried away very much spoil. They also smote all the cities round about Gerar, for the fear of the LORD came upon them, and they spoiled all the cities, for there was exceeding much spoil in them. They smote also the tents of cattle, carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem. Today, we are not warring against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. However, just as Asa, we want to be in that position where our trust and confidence will become firm in God, and to look to Him as the source of all our strength, the One who is able to help us.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
We come into Your presence, to the foot of Your throne, in thanksgiving, praise, and prayer. We come in total faith and dependence on You. We thank You for being our God and for giving us the privilege of being heirs to the Royal Family. We thank You for hearing and answering our cries for help. We come to You as sinners, and pray for Your forgiveness. We are sorry we have hurt You and repent of our sins. We pray for the continual outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us, that we may be like You, and reflect Your light unto this dark world. We pray to be an example unto others and a source of strength to them as You are for us. For today, we are not warring against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. Help us dear Lord to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For he knows he has but a short time and there will be much persecution for Your children that profess Your name. As Asa cried out to You, we go out in Your name against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God, let not man prevail against thee. We put all our trust in You and pray that You will work in us in the battles of spiritual warfare. There are many who are against us and we cannot overcome them by our own strength. We pray for You to manifest Your power to help us and be our source of strength, for who can stand before You? We pray that we are right before You in Your requirements and in obedience to Your commandments. We pray that You use us as Your humble instruments to carry out Your work given to us for Your glory. We thank You for hearing and answering our prayers, in the name of Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
