New Year’s Resolutions

Part One: Prayer

Happy New Year, everyone!! I pray that 2009 will be a blessed one for you and your families.

The past year has been a difficult one for our country in many ways.

The economy has taken a big hit, and people everywhere have felt the effects of what has happened nationally.

Many of us, myself included, were dismayed at some of the shenanigans that took place during the election season and are still very concerned about what clearly seems to be corruption and dishonesty in the corridors of power.

The lies and deception perpetrated by the mainstream media are nothing short of disgraceful. As a Christian, it is painful to see so much of what we value being trampled in the dust by godless people who despise what we regard as precious.

All that being said, as believers we can look forward to 2009 with hope and expectation.

At a time when people are no doubt making the usual New Year’s resolutions, I thought it might be interesting to see what resolutions are found in the Bible. Here is what I came up with.

Using the New International Version, I found that the word “resolved” appears only four times in the whole book. In other versions it is translated “purposed,” “set himself” or “determined.” They all mean “resolved,” so for the purpose of continuity I will use the NIV.

I plan to address each use of the word, one by one, over the next four weeks, and I trust the studies will speak to the hearts of all who read them. Space won’t allow for detailed expositions, but I think the significance of each review will be easily understood. (I will expand these scriptural examples considerably in a book I am developing, which I aim to finish in the next few months.)

The biblical resolution we will look at this week is focused on prayer.

In 2 Chronicles 20 we have one of Scripture’s most outstanding examples of God’s people seeking His help and the mighty way in which they were answered. “Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD” (2 Chron. 20:3, emphasis mine).

Praying is not easy, but throughout Scripture God’s people are reminded to apply themselves to the task. We should be as resolved to do so as was this great king of Judah.

The greatest example of someone faithful in prayer, of course, was the Lord Himself. Over and over we read of Him coming aside to talk to His Father. It’s significant that the only thing the apostles asked Jesus to teach them to do was pray. That’s astonishing, really, when you think of the phenomenal acts they witnessed. There was something about the prayer life of the Master that amazed them, and they wanted to emulate it.

But returning to King Jehoshaphat . . .

The people of God found themselves threatened by the approach of a “vast army.” The Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites (whoever they were) had assembled with the sole intention of destroying the people of Judah. They were coming to “make war.”

The odds were overwhelmingly in favor of this multitude, and Jehoshaphat was alarmed.

In this desperate situation the king resolved to pray—to inquire of the LORD. “And he proclaimed a fast for all Judah” (20:3).

Space does not allow us to discuss the event in detail. But the outcome was that the Lord fought for Judah, and their enemies were wiped out.

“The Spirit of the LORD . . . said, ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s” (20:14–15). That realization was life-changing for them—and it will be for anyone today who simply receives it by faith and walks in the light of its truth.

We make a great step in our Christian lives when we recognize the active faith of Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah. The Israelites, in their day of peril, saw the evidence of God’s deliverance—but only after Jehoshaphat had resolved to “inquire of the Lord” through prayer.

Here too is a great lesson for pastors and Christian leaders. The call to pray came from the top. It was the king who made the resolution, and the people followed. We cannot expect those we lead to become praying people if we do not set the example and resolve to take the initiative in this most vital area of ministry.

The battles we face still belong to the Lord. Certainly we are called to play our part in resolving them, but before we do anything, we must “inquire of the Lord” as Jehoshaphat did.

Only He has the answer, only He has the power. And He has promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).

Paul put it like this: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God” (Phil. 4:6).

What a difference would be made in the coming year if all God’s people made a New Year’s resolution to practice this all year round.

Next week we will look at the second biblical resolution, which has to do with our speech. It was made by another king, the greatest of all—King David.

God bless you.