Key scripture- “After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” that is, Engedi.” (2 Chronicles 20:1-2).

Every Christian will face a crisis. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it will happen. The type of crisis I am talking about is the one where everything in your life is changing, where you can hardly see the future, and you can barely see tomorrow.

This is the type of crisis where you get a phone call and you are told that somebody in your family is being taken to the hospital, and you need to get there now. When you ask “What is wrong?” All they say is “I can’t tell you, just get to the hospital as fast as you can”. It is the situation where everything has been awesome in your life for the past few months and you’re in the shower one day and you find a lump the size of a baseball underneath your arm, and you think “When did I get that? How did I not feel that before now?” It is a situation where you have been in business with somebody for years who you trusted completely, and one day you come in and everything’s been cleaned out, including the bank account. It is the type of situation where your health has changed for the worse and none of the doctors can fix it.

If you are in a crisis then you need a breakthrough prayer. These are the type of prayers that change everything, where all it takes is one prayer and that does it. These type of prayers are tense, faith filled, fully passionate, and are where you get a hold of God. You will never pray this way and not see a breakthrough.

The story in 2 Chronicles 20 begins with a great multitude of armies coming against Jehoshaphat and his people. “After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” that is, Engedi” (2 Chronicles 20:1-2). This great multitude, was about 14 million coming against 1.5 million people and when Jehoshaphat received the news the armies were only about 20 miles away. Jehoshaphat and His people were out numbered 10 to 1 by their enemies who were just on the other side of the hill. Their crisis was right there in their face, and about to take place. It was right on top of them.

In this story we will learn the four things that we have to do for a breakthrough in our crisis.

The Bible said when Jehoshaphat heard this he was afraid. “Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.” (2 Chronicles 20:3). Look at what he did when he was afraid, he “set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.” He also got God’s people to do the same. “And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord” (2 Chronicles 20:4). When you are afraid, what you do next is one of the most important things about you, because what you do next is everything.

The first thing that you do in a crisis is FAST. When the crisis hits, you fast, from food, from TV, or from other entertainment. Jehoshaphat had a choice when his crisis hit, he was afraid and he could have run, he could have hid, or he could have acted like it wasn’t really a problem and put it off until the last possible minute. We have all panicked and done those things when a crisis hit. But Jehoshaphat did not do anything like that, because he knew they had to get to God and get to him in a hurry. So when you need to get to God in a crisis and in a hurry the first thing you need to do is Fast.

Fasting is the denial of the bodies desires for a season in order to heighten the desires of the Spirit. On our best days we do not hear our spirit that clearly and the reason why is we have desires for success, desires for comfort, desires for rest, desire for leisure, and desires for our family. When you have binged on all of those desires there isn’t much desire left for God because all of your desires have been satisfied.

A desire for God grows in the soil of self-denial, so when you need to get to God and you need to do it quickly, you cut off those other desires like food (not water) and TV for 24 to 48 hours. You turn down the satisfactions of the flesh in order to turn up the passions for God. You do this because you need God, you need Him now, and you need help from Him like you’ve never needed Him before.

The next thing that you do in a crisis is PRAY. “And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court” (2 Chronicles 20:5). First you turn up the intensity with fasting and then you begin to pray. If you are thinking, “What do I pray?” Just look at what Jehoshaphat prayed, because in a crisis you need to have the right pattern for your prayer, which is:

A). When you pray, you need to right size God’s power. If God is on your side, you immediately have a majority, and you are going to win this battle because God is on your side. God has gone out of His way again, again, and again to show us that with God we are always in the majority. That is what Jehoshaphat was saying when he said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you” (2 Chronicles 20:6). The word “power” means great strength, and “might” is the capacity to prevail. Jehoshaphat is saying, “What God wants, happens every time on time because He is God.” God will use everything, you’re sin and others sin, to make His purposes prevail.

B). You need to remember God’s provision. You need to think back about what God has done in the past. “Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend” (2 Chronicles 20:7)? Like Jehoshaphat you need to think back about the times when God has taken down mighty armies in the past. When God has had you experience great victories. God is not any different today than He was in the past. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

C). The next thing you need to do is recite God’s promises. Look at verse 8. “And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying” (2 Chronicles 20:8). Jehoshaphat is telling God, “God here we are, we have made some promises to you here in the sacred place, and You have promised us some things and we need You and Your promises right now.” You need to go back over the promises you have made to God and the promises that He’s made to you in His Word.

I want to make sure you understand you cannot get to this prayer with a fake or distant relationship with God. You have to already have a thing with God to get to this place in prayer. You cannot call on God’s power if you don’t know what His power is. You can’t go over the promises God has made to you in this type of situation if you don’t know them. But if you have followed the Lord, and sought to be faithful to the Lord, and you know the promises of the Lord, and the power of the Lord, then you can pray like this.

What Jehoshaphat said in Verse 10 to God was very bold. “And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy (2 Chronicles 20:10). He is telling God, “The people you did not let us destroy are now coming to destroy us. You let us kill all the other armies, but you would not let us kill them.” You can bring up how God’s faithfulness and your obedience to Him has gotten you into this place where you are now facing a crisis. You can tell God, “It is your grace that got me here and I need your help with; the spouse you blessed me with; or these children you’ve blessed me with; or this job you blessed me with. Let me hear from You. I need you to be faithful to me and preserve me so that I can be faithful to you.”

D). The next thing you need to do is review your powerlessness. “Behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chronicles 20:11-12). He tells God, “We are powerless and we do not know what to do,” and you need to do the same by getting on your face until you taste the dirt and say to God, “I am powerless and I do not know what to do. I have nothing, I can’t do this. I can’t change this. I can’t fix this. I can do absolutely nothing about this God, I need Your strength and direction.” When you do that, that is the moment that the grace of God starts flowing. As people, we all hate getting to that place but God loves it when we are at that place. We are all stubborn, we resist, we hold on to everything else and all the time God is pushing us so that we will get to this place. So humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up.

The next thing you do is rivet your eyes on God. “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chronicles 20:12). All you need to do is keep your eyes on God. This is so easy to say but it seems to be so hard for us to do, because we keep taking our eyes off of God and focusing on the crisis. When you catch yourself doing that stop and go back to focusing on Him.

The third thing that you do in a crisis is, STAND. Look at Verses 5, 9, 13, and 17. “And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court” (2 Chronicles 20:5). “If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save” (2 Chronicles 20: 9) “Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children” (2 Chronicles 20:13). “You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you” (2 Chronicles 20:17). This is a beautiful beautiful picture, because these people are surrounded by their enemies who are coming to kill them, they are outnumbered 10 to 1, and the armies are close enough that they can hear them. But instead of running away the people of God are fasting, praying, and standing. This is a picture of no retreat.

As God’s people we stand. We don’t run, we don’t cower, we don’t shrink back, we don’t hide, we don’t faint, we don’t quit, we don’t fall, and we don’t give up. We stand and we stand tall. We stand together. We never retreat. We are here, whatever it cost, we are not going to back down, we are going to stand. We are not going to back up, we are not going to shut up, we are not going to do anything but stand.

When you are in a spot where you can’t punch your way out and you can’t pay your way out, all you can do is fast, and pray your way out, and when the praying is done you get up and you stand. You hold your place and you declare to whatever your crisis is; “This marriage is not over, I will fight for it; I will fight for my children and not let the world have them; the people who are trying to destroy me at work will not win; I will fight through this health crisis. I will not give up, that is not going to happen, not on my watch, not while I have breath, not while I can still fast and pray, not while I still have strength. I am a God man or God woman and I am going to stand.”

Standing is so important because look at what God told Moses to do in Exodus 9:13, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.” God told him to stand before his enemy. When you are in a place where you need to stand, if there is going to be any talking that happens it needs to be the Word of the Lord. You can start out by saying what Moses said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord… Don’t say it in anger or unkindly, you want to say it as graciously and lovingly as you possibly can. But you leave with God the effect that it will have on the person who heard it. You stand for God and what needs to be said and leave the rest to Him.

No matter what has happened in your life, no matter what you are done, no matter what you wish you could redo, God is able to make you stand. God is the one who gives you strength to stand. God is the one who gives you wisdom to stand and the capacity to stand in spite of the things that the enemy has accomplished. God is able to make you stand because God is still great, and He that is in us is greater then he that is in the world.

Look at the closing prayer in Jude, “Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (Jude 1:24). That is a beautiful wonderful thought that God will keep you from falling. Do you have faith to believe that God is able to keep you from falling and instead He will give you the strength to stand?

The idea of standing is so important that Paul told us in Ephesians 6:13 “take up the whole armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the day of evil, and having done all, to stand.” He tells us again in 1 Thessalonians 3:8 to “stand strong in the Lord.” Our goal in this life should be that we string together 12 months of standing, with no retreat. Think about it, start out with 12 months of standing in the strength of the Lord and standing on His promises, and watch what that leads to, 12 more, then 12 more, then 12 more, and on and on.

So when you have made the decision to fast, pray, and stand, the next thing you do is BELIEVE. I pray for the Holy Spirit to witness this to everyone who is reading this Key scripture and that is, “That you believe”. It is so simple and so powerful. Look at what happened after they fasted, prayed and were standing: “And in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite from the line of Asaph. And he said, “Pay attention all Judah, and those dwelling in Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear, nor be dismayed because of this great army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chronicles 20:14-15). Did you get that, “The battle is not yours it is the Lord’s”. That right there is someone’s Word who is reading this Key scripture. The Word that the Lord wants you to here is “The battle is not yours. You are not supposed to fix this. You are supposed to fast, and pray, and stand, and believe, and understand that the battle is the Lord’s, it is not your battle”.

Did you notice that this Word did not come through the worship leader until after they fasted, prayed, and were standing. That is very important because everyone wants a Word from God but no one wants to fast, pray, and stand. Look at the Word that they got from God “You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:17). That is absolutely awesome because God is telling them and telling us, “Stand firm, don’t be afraid or discouraged, go out and face them with confidence, because the Lord is with you.”

Upon hearing that Word from God, “Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 20:18). Then they stood up to praise the Lord with “a very loud voice”. (2 Chronicles 20:19). Did you notice that it said they praised God with a loud voice. So the next time you’re singing in church and praising God don’t sing with a whisper, sing loud, because volume matters to God. Sing to him with the same passion that people have when they go to a sporting event and they are cheering for their team.

The next verse says “And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” (2 Chronicles 20:20). Now you know there were some people there who were probably saying “What does all this have to do with the swords and spears that the enemy is going to use to kill us?” And the answer is, “It has everything to do with it.” Is anything too hard for our God, NO! The Lord our God is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and they are safe. The Lord our God is a sun and shield. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk up rightly. It says in the book of Nahum 1:7, “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.” As God looks down upon this earth He knows who is trusting him. Don’t you think God knows whose eyes are upon him? Don’t you think God sees you fasting, praying, standing, and believing? Don’t you think His heart of compassion is moved for people who act like that?

Verse 22 says when they began to sing and praise the Lord He set an ambush against their enemies. “And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.” (2 Chronicles 20:22). The Lord then routed their enemies and caused them to turn on each other and destroy each other. “For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another. (2 Chronicles 20:23). Think about that, the three armies all came thinking “We are going to kill everyone of Judah. We are going to wipe them out for good,” and instead the Lord rerouted them, had them turn on each other and they all ended up killing each other. I want you to lift up your voice right now and say “Only God did that.” And He will do the same for you.

I challenge you to never forget this message, because if you don’t need this message today, you need to hang onto it and keep it close because you will need it, and you need to have it to share with others who are in a crisis.

Remember the breakthrough for a crisis is: FAST, PRAY, STAND, BELIEVE. If you do this God will move on your behalf.

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, thank You so much for this message. Thank You for showing me through Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah what I need to do in a crisis which is; fast, pray, stand, and believe. Father, I will not waver when I am weak, I will not cower when things take a turn for the worse. My enemies may come at me one way, but I know that they will flee seven ways. Whenever I face a crisis I am not going to handle it like I did in the past because I now know how You want me to handle it. I will fast and pray like I have never prayed before, then I will stand, I will not retreat, flee, run, cower or hide, and I will believe in You and Your promises. I will not doubt. I pray this in the Name of Jesus, Who is the Solid Rock that I always stand on, Amen.