Hear Pray Obey - Sermon TITLE Empty

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.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court,
6 And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
7 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,
9 If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;
11 Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
13 And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
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.
16 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.
18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.
19 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.
22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.

Introduction

The keys to achieve God will in earth are evident. This does not mean that it is easy. Sometimes the issue that present themselves to us mount up like the foes of Israel. We have combed through this passage in bible study , Sunday school and Sunday service.  Rehearsing the word of God its been said read a passage once for familiarity a second time meaning and third for clarity or something like that. My goal is to expose the strategy behind the strategy - Repeat HEAR.PRAY.OBEY. 3x Times.

Point 1 - What has he said? -HEAR

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Lord. Holy spirit awakens the word in our hearts and burns withing us the one thing he desires of us. What has he said to you out of what you heard.

" Take your positions, Praise God, Stand and Watch Enemies Turn on themselves, Reap the spoils."

Hearing God is principle in accomplishing his will. His spoken word informs our prayers.

Roman 10:13-15 (believe is a command).

Point 2 - What are you saying? - PRAY

Prayer indeed has mean flavors just like the food we eat. There are prayers of thanksgiving, guidance, declaration and petition. A glimpse into the text today should give us enough energy to see how prayer cycle works. Its not just speaking but it is speaking in a certain manner see - v6-12, interwoven in this text is building up of God a magnifying of the Lord and reminding really for Him but to the Lord. A prayer of thanksgiving and then prayer of petition.

Psalm 91:2 , Psalm 119:13, Proverbs 18:20,  James 3:8-14 , Matt 6:31-33 ( Take no thought saying...but rather take thought seeking.)

Prayers can be and usually are consistent with what believe to be true....we pray based on what we believe. 

The wisdom of God in Matt 6 through the lips of Christ is that we affirm the truth of God as we speak, as pray and as how behave because these are all one...they do change a different paces but they are one.

Point 3 - Whats the move? - OBEY

Jehoshaphat was given very specific commands to carry out and he embellished a little bit because God did not command them to sing...but being who they were it almost seems as if the environment from which the God spoke was what he wanted to God back to. 

Sound Familiar - You can come back...You can put yourself in remembrance of His word.

They followed intently the word that came through Jahaziel. * Leaders note: Gods word will back up the leader."

#3 times the point of emphasis we see a scripture quoted " the just shall live by faith" 

Romans 1:17,Galatians 3:11,Hebrews10:38 contextually the emphasis in each quote rest on a different word roman is faith, galatians is just and Hebrews if Live. The quote in its totality sums up where we are...this is our actions are motivated by our faith out of right relationships with God. Justification if in this sense is positional as having been justified and as result I live consistent with what caused my justification.