The prayer of Jehoshaphat
Jehoshaphat “reigned subsequent to the death of his father, Asa, (17:1) as King of Judah. Jehoshaphat begins his reign in 872 B.C.—a time when God’s people were divided into two kingdoms, with Jehoshaphat reigning in Judah, and Ahab reigning in Israel.
Over the course of Jewish history, Israel and Judah had some good kings and some bad kings. About Jehoshaphat we read in 2Chr.17:3 and following, “the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of his father David . . . therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah gave presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had riches and honour in abundance. And his heart took delight in the ways of the Lord” (17:3-5). 

Jehoshaphat was a good king; he was a faithful, and godly king. Yet, this did not mean that Jehoshaphat was free from trouble. A large army stood against Jehoshaphat; three nations came together to destroy Judah. And what was Jehoshaphat’s response? His response to this threat was to pray.  “And Jehoshaphat was afraid”.

Fear is the one thing that drives us to our knees in prayer. For most of the other problems, we may try to solve them ourselves or turn to our friends but not fear. When everything in our life is OK or manageable, our dependence on Elohim is very less or sometimes nil. But when the storm clouds gather, when the obstacles before us appear huge, people of faith are irresistibly drawn to God in prayer.  Jehoshaphat was afraid and so he turned his attention to seek the Lord; and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. (20:4).

The first thing Jehoshaphat does in his prayer is he initiates praise; secondly, he identifies the problem, and thirdly, he asks God for help. 
 Firstly, Jehoshaphat initiates praise. He praises God for who He is: “art Thou not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Thy hand so that no one can stand against Thee” (20:6). Jehoshaphat then goes on to praise God for His mighty acts accomplished in history: “Are you not our God who drove out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and gave it to the descendents of Abraham Your friend forever?” (20:7).
 We can see here that Jehoshaphat did not turn to his friends in trouble. Throughout his reign he was faithful to the Lord. Jehoshaphat might have thought that such faithfulness would exempt him from any trouble. But now, three nations stand against him, ready to destroy him and his people. 

Jehoshaphat did not begin his prayer by complaining or grumbling against God. Many of us when a faced with any threat are tempted to grumble or complain. We are tempted to save our praises for happier days and in our troubles we immediately start our list of complaints. It so happens in the even in our churches that we treat such faithfulness as a joke. While being sincere in his praises, Jehoshaphat is aware of the challenges before him.

Next, he identifies the problem. In v10 and 11, Jehoshaphat identifies the external problem that three nations are seeking to wage war against him. In verse 12, he confesses: “we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do”. “We are powerless”. Remember who is speaking here. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, a godly man, a wealthy man, a powerful man, a man who has earned the respect of his people, confesses that he is afraid.  He also confesses his inability to even know what is to be done. Jehoshaphat prays, “nor do we know what to do” (20:12).
Jehoshaphat was right in his assessment of his abilities—he was powerless find a solution to his problems. Jehoshaphat had learned the principle “apart from the Lord you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5).
Answers to quiz::  king david,  in a dream,  understanding,  wisdom,  knowledge,
queen of sheba,  amazement,  baby,  temple,  false idols.

The third principle of prayer is very clear, we are to beg God for His help. God is the Almighty One, and He understands our dreadful dilemma, we are right in asking for His help. This is exactly what Jehoshaphat did. After initiating praises, after identifying the problem of his powerlessness, Jehoshaphat begs the Lord with the words, “our eyes are upon Thee” (20:12).

Some may say that if He knows what is good for us, and if He is able to fix things, why doesn’t He just do it?’ God does sometimes fix things without our ever calling upon Him for help. The Bible explains that God has ordained prayer as one of the primary means by which He conveys blessings to His people. For this reason God’s people have to ask Him for help. 

This is something like a child who feels he or she can do anything but after some time realizes that it cannot be done and so runs to the father for his help. The question is not whether or not we need help, but when will we realize that we need help? Our nature should be like that of Jehoshaphat. We should understand that we are powerless, and that we need to look to God for help.
Jehoshaphat turned his eyes upon the Lord, and he was subsequently delivered from the hands of his enemies. If we were to read the passage, we will see how the Lord made the enemies of Judah to turn against one another. As a result, the people of Judah did not even have to go to war. The people of Judah were powerless, but they worshipped, and sought after, a God who was all-powerful; a God who would fight on their behalf. 
The enemies to the Christian faith come in many forms. For some, faith is faced by the threat of a deadly disease or a physical ailment. Most of us find that our faith decreases as we allow Christian priorities to be pushed back by worldly temptations. We are powerless against our enemies. But the Lord will guard our faith, He will keep our souls if we only call upon Him.