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 20:12b

The vast enemy army was bearing down. Things looked bleak. Annihilation loomed dark and heavy.

King Jehoshaphat and the people gather to fast and pray and cry out to God. The prayer they pray is one of the classics in all the Bible.

Why? Why do they fast and pray and call out to God? In a word, they are desperate. Their situation is hopeless – unless God intervenes.

They pour out their hearts to God. Then King Jehoshaphat concludes the prayer by saying: “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.”

The king is expressing their desperate situation and their utter dependence upon God. Specifically, they lack power (“For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us”) and they lack wisdom (“We do not know what to do”).

King Jehoshaphat is teaching us how to pray when we face overwhelming problems:

Lord, we have no power in ourselves to take care of this problem. Lord, we don’t know what to do. But Father, our eyes are on you. Lord, we’re looking to you. Lord, you do what we cannot do.

That’s how to pray! That’s dependence. That’s desperateness. That’s humility. That’s trust.

Do you have an overwhelming problem in marriage? With parenting? At work? With in-laws? With finances? With health? With mental illness? With addiction? Trying to reach a lost friend? A stubborn habit?

O Lord, I have no power to solve this. I don’t know what to do. But my eyes are upon you.

This is how to pray. This is the prayer that God loves.