POSITIONED FOR VICTORY!!

Text: 2 Chronicles 20: 1-3; 14-15

1 It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.

3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation;

15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

Victory is overcoming an opponent; triumph; mastery; winning.  It doesn’t just happen, nor is it by chance.

It’s like a growth process.  Growth stretches you, and it’s not always easy.  In fact it can be painful and uncomfortable, but the end results are rewarding.

Are you willing to persist through fear, rejection, disappointment, setbacks?

As you journey toward growth and success, you’re probably experience one if not all of these tests.

You must be confident to stay in the game, that is, if you expect to win.  Victory requires a carefully executed plan of action.  It comes through being in the right position for victory.

POSITION is a way of regarding something, behavior, or attitude.  Position is how something is viewed or seen.  It comes through the organ of sight (EYE).  2 Corinthians 5:7  For we walk by faith and not by sight.

If you expect to triumph over your opponent, then position yourself for victory.  

In the sports arena, it doesn’t matter the sport - skiing, basketball, tennis, hockey, etc.  The player(s) must get in the right position in order to win the game.

Examples:  

SUPERBOWL - I’m sure the Denver Broncos’ and Carolina Panthers’ goals were to take the Lombardi Trophy home as Champions of the world.  In order to win the game, there had to be an executed plan of action.  There is no doubt that the Denver Broncos had done their homework and carefully executed a plan of action.  Their defense team had to be in the right position to block every man on the opposing team and had two men blocking the linebacker. Their plan was so tight that the opposing team couldn’t touch them nor could they get a breakthrough to score effectively, and the end results for the Broncos gave them total victory, “the championship of the world”.

CHILDBIRTH - Babies cannot come through the birth canal in any kind of position.  They have to be in the right position with the head down and the back of the head positioned slightly toward the front of Mom’s tummy for shorter, easier, and safe delivery.

If this is true in the natural, then what about in the spirit realm?  Ecclesiastes 1:9 lets us know

9 there is no new thing under the sun. 10 … it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

Whatever situation, circumstance, or crisis that’s standing in your pathway, I declare unto you, “POSITION YOURSELF FOR VICTORY”!

Our text opens revealing that three nations are plotting to battle against Jehoshaphat, the fourth King of Judah.  He has been informed of this plan via other folk and assured that the information is true.  Jehoshaphat is a man of character, integrity.  He is a man who walked in the footsteps of his father ASA, who did what was right in the eyes of His Lord.   He now faces the greatest crisis of his life.  The scripture says that He feared.

Is there anybody who can relate to this King?  Have you ever had anything to happen to you, or a loved one which caused fear to grip you, and your life begin to flash before you?  People on your job, family members, and church folks are seemingly coming against you.  Legal problems are hanging over your head.  Maybe the doctor has given you or a loved one a bad report, and you find yourself in a valley of decision.  You began to question, “What’s going on?  Why is this happening to me? How did I get here?”

To add insult to injury, when a crisis arises in your life, the devil has a plan too.  He comes to amplify the crisis in addition to the real problem.  His goal is to cloud your judgment so he loads his gun and shoots you with fear and doubt.  He leaves you dazed, numb, and wandering in despair.  Your mind is racing with thoughts of what to do next.  The devil has just “sucker punched” you with one of his best shots called distractions.  You haven’t yet realized you’re under attack.  You’re left battling with your emotions because we’re natural beings with natural feelings and thought patterns and a will.  We’re walking the floor at night when we should be sleeping.  All you can focus on is that big problem facing you and no thought of fighting back at this moment.  How do you respond to an attack like this?  How do you bounce back or recover from a gunshot wound such as this?

How many of you sought out your close friends, co-workers, neighbor, or anyone who would listen for an answer to your problem?  It’s not a sin to seek out human means to solve your problem, but it is a sin to trust them more than God, or to leave God out of the problem solving process.

We live in a culture filled with moral depravity and sin inducing pressures.  Today’s pressures make it easy to ignore or forget what God has done for us in the past.

Viewing the history of the Israelites, they were faced with trials on every hand, but God delivered them out of them all.  Jehoshaphat, the King, was no different.  Hearing the news of a great alliance coming against him paralyzed him.  That’s what fear does.  It paralyzes you so you can’t think clearly.

At first the King tried to figure within himself, what can I do to master this problem?  At ground level, there’s no way we can stand against these nations.  Maybe I can talk to them and say something to change their minds.  Maybe I can do something to appease them.  Whatever the cost, I need a way out.  In the face of incredible odds, he met a seemingly impossible circumstance in an exemplary manner.

I want to share three spiritual disciplines that he used (fasting, prayer, praise) to put them in the right position for the greatest victory he ever experienced.  He set himself and positioned himself to seek the Lord.  He carefully executed a plan of action.

FIRST DISCIPLINE:  “PROCLAIMED A FAST THROUGHOUT JUDAH”

What better way to position yourself than seeking the PRESENCE of God?  He didn’t call his army together.  He didn’t call friends for their opinion.  He learned his lesson in the past when he sought human alliance by connecting with evil Ahab and almost lost his life.  He was sure to make the right connection through calling on God.  There’s no safer place than in the “arms of God”!  God will reveal Himself to those who seek Him earnestly (Deuteronomy 4:29).  He desires us to seek him, and when we do (I’m a witness), he will show up!!!

Jehoshaphat calls the nation together for a fast because he realizes this is not a one man show Deuteronomy 32:30:  How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?  The King was fearful and didn’t care who knew it.  At current, a “NO FEAR fad” was baloney.  A man who does not know fear is unsafe and unsound.  He is a menace to himself and to others.

The first step to overcoming fear is facing it.  Facing that fear led him closer to the Lord.  The tribe of Judah gathered themselves together to ask the Lord for help.

Fasting is a faith move.  It’s not about what you’re giving up; it’s about what you’re making room for! It’s an exchange of what we need to survive for what we need to live (more of God).

Refraining from food intake slows the digestion process and detoxes your spirit.  It breaks the power of flesh, and it kills unbelief.  Fasting aligns us with God.  It redirects our focus to God and not the problem and enables us to hear God’s voice.

SECOND DISCIPLINE:  PRAYER  

James 5:16:  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Fasting and prayer is one of the most powerful spiritual combinations in the earth.  In

2 Chronicles 20:5, Jehoshaphat stood to speak to the congregation.  He had been knocked down, but not knocked out!  He had come to himself!  He had collected his faculties!  He began to pray openly before the nation.  The King was openly acknowledging God of His Sovereignty, Might, Power, and Lordship!  He was letting Judah know that His God YAHWEH alone is God - not just of the heavens, but of all nations of the earth!  Then, he takes a glimpse into the past and reminds God of His promise to Abraham (to give the prosperous land of Canaan to him and his descendants).  Did God need this reminder?  Absolutely not!  But, Judah did.  They needed a reminder of their legacy.  Sometimes, we forget where we came from and who was responsible for bringing us through.  They needed a reminder that surely they could stand on the promises of God.  For He is a promise-keeping God, and He fulfilled that promise to Abraham.  He prayed about the Holy Temple built by King Solomon as a dwelling place for God and repeats the prayer of Solomon remembering that God was pleased with Solomon’s prayer.  By no means was this prayer for God’s benefit.  God’s memory didn’t need refreshing.  Wayward Judah’s did because they had turned from their first love, but God is always faithful to fulfill every promise.  He didn’t use eloquent words or familiar phrases. He talked to God like he was talking to his best friend.

That’s what prayer is all about.  Not vain repetitions or selfish requests.  It is about being in right standing with God.  Jehoshaphat had a relationship with God, and he was specific with God.  He knew exactly who God was and what He could do.  He also knew who he was in God.  All Jehoshaphat had to do was tell his story.

God already knew his dilemma.  Prayer is not the result of the person praying.  It’s the power residing in the God who is being prayed to. 1 John 5:14  This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.  (Verse 15)  And If we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

No matter the person praying, the passion behind the prayer, or the purpose of the prayer, God answers prayers that are in agreement with His will.  Despite being King and a man of authority, Jehoshaphat cast his cares upon the Lord.  He admits his inability to act to the threat at hand, stating, “We do not know what to do”.  He rendered himself helpless and powerless, like a defendant in a court room making his last plea and he throws himself on the mercy of the court. The king throws himself on the mercy of the MAKER, confessing complete dependence on God. Not his army, not his friends, not even himself.

Can you imagine the king praying aloud before the nation of Judah?  What if you turned on your TV and heard the PRESIDENT OF THESE UNITED STATES saying these words to the Almighty God before the nation?  What humility!  What confidence in God!  What leadership!  Here in

2 Chronicles 20, the life of the king and his nation seemed disastrous and defeat was knocking at their door.  But the King of Judah turns to the King of the Universe in faith!  “POSITION YOURSELF FOR VICTORY”!

When you are at your lowest point in life and you seek God with your whole heart - revealing He’s your only focus and your only hope, victory is at hand!  Psalm 46:1: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  God immediately responds because His ear is open to you.  God prompted His prophets to encourage them.

2 CHRONICLES 20:15:  BE NOT AFRAID NOR DISMAYED BY REASON OF THIS GREAT MULTITUDE; FOR THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS, BUT GOD’S.  (Verse 16)  TOMORROW GO YE DOWN AGAINST THEM”.  God told them exactly where the enemy would be.  (Verse 17)  YOU SHALL NOT NEED TO FIGHT IN THIS BATTLE:  SET [POSITION] YOURSELVES, STAND YE STILL AND SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD WITH YOU.

That’s what the Presence of God will do for you.  That’s the secret place of the Most High. That’s abiding under His shadow.  Psalm 91:7  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.  POSITION YOURSELF FOR VICTORY!

Only a few can find this place.  It’s called the Holies of Holies in the Tabernacle.  It’s a place where a man could be in the very Presence of the El Shaddai; God Almighty; The All Sufficient One!  It’s the very center of God’s presence among men.  What an awesome place to be.  What an awesome experience in God.

2 Chronicles 20:16:  TOMORROW, GO OUT AGAINST THEM.  Verse 17  For the Lord will be with you.  I declare unto you, our God was not pacing the floor, biting his nails, wondering what in the world to do.  He always knows what to do, and He always works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His Will.  Ephesians 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.  At ground level for us, the view is appalling, but there is no panic “above”!!!

Verse 20  The next morning, they rose up early.  They marched toward the battleground.  I’m sure the devil was on the scene because Jehoshaphat stood to encourage himself and the people.  Let me remind you, the devil doesn’t give up.  He will continue to harass you, reminding you of your impotence and inabilities to act.  He’s attempting to break your trust in God.  “Has God really said”? (That’s what the devil will say to you).  But the King remembered what Paul said in Ephesian 6:16: Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  Verse 17  Take the helmet (shields the mind, thoughts) of salvation, and sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

THIRD DISCIPLINE:  PRAISE  

2 Chronicles 20:21  He appointed singers unto the Lord.

Jehoshaphat’s positioning of the praise team on the frontline to lead the army to battle was not by chance.  Genesis 49, Jacob prophesied that Judah is the ruling tribe and the scepter (rulership) belongs to them and will not depart from them nor the ruler’s staff (a lawgiver).  Judah’s name means “Praise”.

The Judahites had many talents, but two outstanding “marks” were:  (1) Their “HANDS”:  It is the hands that hold the scepter.  Judahites talk with their hands, work with their hands, rule with their hands, and play musical instruments with their hands.  It’s with their hands they hold the WILL of the enemy so that he might change that will into the will of God.

(2) Their MOUTH/VOICE:  Moses said of Judah, Deuteronomy 33:7:  And this is the blessing of Judah:  and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah.  They are known by their voice. They are a combination of all kinds of voices.  The human voice is one of the most powerful forces in the universe.  As a lawgiver, they had the power to decree things into existence.  Their mouths worked with their hands in bringing to pass their decrees of both righteousness and unrighteousness.  The ruling HAND of Judah is confirmed by his decreeing MOUTH!!

JUDAH was always in the vanguard/front of battle.  Although Judah in the natural, was Leah’s fourth born son, spiritually, his scepter and lawgiving position moved him into Reuben’s position as firstborn.  Judah was the first stone on the breastplate of the high Priest!  In the Tabernacle of Moses, Judah was the first tribe to lead out.  Judah was the tribe camped by the door (or entrance) of rhe tabernacle, facing the East, the rising of the Sun!  In Judges, they were the first tribe to go to war.  “POSITION YOURSELF FOR VICTORY”!!!

All of us have a part in the Tribe of Judah because we are in Jesus Christ, and He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah!  Jehoshaphat carefully executed his plan of action and positioned his praise team on the frontline!!

Prayer and praise must never be separated.  They are the two wings by which our souls mount into the heavenlies.  If one is neglected, we fail to mount up with wings as eagles (Isaiah 40:31).  Praising God gives you the eagle’s vision, and by the eye of faith, you see the victory ahead!

When the praise team began to sing praises unto God, they began to march forward leading the army into battle.  They were making some noise!!!  Singing makes war against the enemy.  The scripture says the LORD set ambushments against their enemies (2 Chronicles 20:22).  I’m trying to tell you that’s all God was waiting for -- to hear the voices of His Children!  It was sweet music to His ear, and not only that, but it enlisted all of the resources of heaven.  The angels of God POSITIONED THEMSELVES to win the victory for God!!!

When Praise combines with the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17), it’s a two-fold attack!!! Satan cannot and will not survive.  “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal (or physical), but mighty through God (2 Corinthians 10:4).  When they reached the battleground, all they could see were dead bodies.  The armies turned on each other and left no survivors (2 Chronicles 20:23-24).  God’s children did not have to fight in this battle (2 Chronicles 20:17)!!!

My question to you is this:  “When you find yourself battling with the enemy, who or what goes out first before you in battle?  Do you enter the battle alone griping and complaining, or do you let Judah go out first”?  Galatians 5:17  The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh:  and these are contrary the one to the other:  so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.  So the flesh and the Spirit are constantly at war with one another.  Praise is not an act of the flesh.  It is a weapon that will confound and confuse the enemy.  When the dust was settled, Judah’s enemies were defeated, and Judah did not have to fight!

David knew well that Saul was out to kill him, but he continued to exalt God and chose to keep praises in his mouth.

The Hebrew boys faced certain death in the fiery furnace.  They never stopped exalting God’s name and trusting Him for deliverance!!!

Paul and Silas was arrested, beaten, shackled, chained and imprisoned for the gospel. They had every reason to be angry, depressed, and defeated, but they chose to praise God.  Praise shifts your focus off your troubles and puts God to work on your behalf!

In the midnight hour, Paul and Silas began to make some noise!!  The noise reached the ear of God and summoned a violent earthquake that shook the foundations of that jail.  When the foundation is tampered with, nothing is secure.  All the doors flew open and all the prison chains loosened because they sent up Judah!!!

I want to challenge those of you who may be neck-deep in battle right now.  “Let Judah go up first”!!  In your midnight hour when everything is dark, send up Judah!!!

“Problems on your job/ No job at all, send up Judah”!!!

“Somebody may have gotten a bad report from the doctor, send up Judah”!!!

“There may be trouble in your home, send up Judah”!!!

“You’ve been mistreated and misunderstood, send up Judah”!!!

“You must shake off doubt and unbelief, complacency, and self-pity, send up Judah”!!!

POSITION YOURSELF FOR VICTORY!!!  PUT YOUR FEET IN THE STIRRUPS, PUSH, AND SEND UP JUDAH!!!  

AND I DECREE AND I DECLARE, YOU WILL BIRTH VICTORY!!!

~ Minister Brenda Hansley

(This message was given at the You Can Rebuild Conference in Myrtle Beach, SC on February 26, 2016.)