Second Chronicles, Chapter 20. Tonight we conclude a series, a long-running series through the Shorter Catechism. Next week we'll start a new series, a series on God's strength in difficult times. And Hunter gets to decide what leads off that series. So you'll find that out next week from Hunter. So tonight we're going to read Second Chronicles, Chapter 20. I've noticed in the larger catechism, a lot of the proof texts, these last couple lines of the catechism, as they describe what the Lord's Prayer is teaching us, a lot of what they say is based on Chronicles. It's not a book I know that well. So I thought we would read one of their examples tonight, because of all the context. I hope you understand that Jehoshaphat is the Kingdom of Judah, just Judah. In fact, Judah and Israel are separated. So it's a small country. It's a weak country. They are very aware of it. So it's about 850 B.C., and so we read this. 2 Chronicles, Chapter 20. Please keep your attention to the Word of God. After this, the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Menunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. So men came and told Jehoshaphat, a great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea. And behold, they are in Hazazan Tamar, it is from Gedi. Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord from all the cities of Judah that came to seek the Lord. Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court and 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. 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? And they have lived in it, and it is built for you, and it is a sanctuary for your name, saying, 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 say, 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. 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 horror that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." Meanwhile, all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives and their children. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jehaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Phaniah, the son of Jehiel, the son of Mataniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, Listen, all Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat, Thus says the Lord to you, do not be afraid, do not be dismayed of this great horde, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of the east. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. 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.' And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshipping the Lord. And the Levites, the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. 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, an inhabitant of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established. Believe His prophets, and you will succeed. And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were singing to the Lord and praised Him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and said, Give thanks to the Lord, for His steadfast love endures forever. And when they began to sing in 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. 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. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, he looked towards the hoard, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground. None had escaped. Our main question tonight is this. When we pray that last line of the Lord's Prayer, for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, why are we praying that? What does that do? What does that add to the prayer? And what are we to learn from it? Because the reason we spend so much time on the Lord's Prayer is not just so that we would understand the Lord's Prayer when we pray it together. It's so that we'd understand how to pray. Jesus gives us the Lord's Prayer, both to be a prayer and to be a model and an outline to show us. These are the kinds of things to pray for. This is the way to pray. Pray in this manner. Say. So He teaches us the kinds of things to pray for and how to go about doing it. So He gives us the basic tune and we can pray the tune or we can harmonize or expand on different areas. We need to learn how to pray. you could say, in our own key and according to our own circumstance. So, what's this conclusion do for us? Or, rather, what does it do in the prayer? Well, we're doing two things. We're praising God. Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory. That praises God when you say that. And, we're also explaining why we're asking Him for these things. In fact, You could say that we're giving Him reasons for why He should hear us and answer us. That's because the word for means to cause. You can interpret that as to cause. Because yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory. It's as if, if God were to ask, why are you asking me about temptation? We're going to say, well, because you have the power to deliver us from it. And if He wanted to say, well, why are you asking me about bread? You're our King who provides for us. And if you were to say, well, why are you asking me to hallow my name? We're saying because you are rightly glorified. So this conclusion teaches us, when we pray, we ought to praise God, and we ought to give Him reasons why we're appealing to Him and why He should answer us. And you might say, really? We're supposed to give God reasons? This sounds terrifyingly arrogant. Let's look at what Jehoshaphat did here. You could have gone to some other examples, but Jehoshaphat is a very good one. Notice how Jehoshaphat prays. He begins to pray, there in verse 6. What does he say? He says, Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? That's praising the Lord, saying that you are the God in heaven, not one of twelve, or one of a hundred, or even one of two. You are the one and only God in heaven. He's praising Him. But along with praising Him, that becomes the foundation for the appeal. Since you are the only God in heaven, please act like it and defend us, since we are yours. He goes on to say, you rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, in your hand are power and might. In other words, he basically said, yours is the kingdom and the power. Again, that's praising God to say that you have this power and yours is the kingdom. It's a praise. It also functions as the basis for the appeal. Defend us because you can. And as the king, you should, right? As he goes on to say, verse 7, didn't you drive out the inhabitants and give us this land? Again, that's praise of God. He's not saying, well, we did it with you and it was a 50-50 split. No, He's saying, you did it. You're the God. It's praising God as an away from us. It wasn't because we were so strong. It's because you are the God who gave it to us. That's praise of God. At the same time, it's an appeal. If you gave it to us, God, who are these guys to take it from us? He comes back to that again in verse 11. Behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession which you have given us to inherit. And there's this praise that you gave us this, and that's the basis of the appeal, so don't let them take it from us. Make your decree prevail, great king. Just as the way the Lord's Prayer concludes, Jehoshaphat praises God in ways that then give reasons that God should answer. Who could have done that from Daniel 9? Your city and your people are called by your name. So hallow your name by delivering it. Even Jesus in the garden says, all things are possible for you, so remove this cup from me. Yours is the power, please remove this cup. He goes on to complete the Lord's Prayer by saying, but your will be done. So yes, as in the Lord's Prayer, and as with Daniel and Jehoshaphat and Jesus, When we pray, we are to praise God and make that praise the basis of giving reasons why He should give us a favorable answer. Now, crucial question. What kind of reason should we give God? That's an important question. This is where we have to deal with presumption and arrogance and maybe blasphemy. What kind of reason are we to give God why He should answer our prayers? Just be very, very careful. You probably want to stay away from bargaining with God. And saying, God, if you do X, then I will do Y. You probably want to stay against that. He was asked, he said, you know, God, you better think about that. God is in heaven, you're on earth, let your words be few. I'm not completely saying that you can't do it, because there are examples in scripture of people doing it and being blessed. So Hannah doesn't. And it says, Lord, if you give me a son, I will dedicate him to you, and that son is Samuel. There's a blessing there. In Christian history, Martin Luther is caught in a thunderstorm. He's in law school. He figures he'll... I'm not sure if he said, God help me, I'll become a monk, or Saint Anne help me, I'll become a monk, but he was saved from the thunderstorm and he became a monk. And there was a blessing in that. But be careful. Don't be foolish. Don't vow anything that would be sinful. It would be sinful, of course, to vow not to keep. But if you vow any other vow, you are to keep it. Be careful of arrogance. God doesn't need us, so we shouldn't speak as if He does. So what kind of reasons? I don't want to discourage bargaining. I definitely want to discourage any argument that you deserve it. We're not to plead our own worst. You'll notice that Jehoshaphat pleads, we are your people, but he's pleading the relationship. He's not pleading because we're so good. We don't have to plead the worth of any creature. We don't have to say, Lord, answer me because Grandma deserves it. It's no better than saying that you deserve it. You can't really say that, neither can you say it about Grandma. You might say, Lord, glorify your name by answering my grandmother's prayers for me. But again, then you're putting the glory on God and not on grandma. So far I've told you all the things not to do. Don't give God reasons that are bargained. Don't give God reasons that are based on how much you deserve it or any creature deserves it. So what are good reasons? What kind of reasons are we to give God when we're pleading with him in prayer? Well, reasons that are based on who God is. Notice again what Jehoshaphat was pleading. Are you not God? Don't you rule the kingdoms? Don't you have power and might? Aren't we your people? Didn't you give us this land? He's pleading who God is, that He's Almighty, that He's the King. Almighty, so you can do this. You're the king, so appeals should go to you. And when you confess sin, in Daniel 9, you see he appeals to God's compassion, and God's mercy, and God's love. When you confess your sin, flee His grace and His slowness to anger. So what are the good reasons? The good reasons are the ones drawn based on God's character. and God's covenant promises and God's glory. You might ask another question. If God knows everything, and if God is wiser than we are, why would I give him reasons at all? Indeed, I don't think you need to, but this ending here does point out that God's people like Jehoshaphat often have. So why would it be good to give reasons? Not mandatory, but why good? Why helpful? Well, first, because the right kind of reasons double as praises. Because yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, and the mercy. The right kind of reasons double as praises. It's always good to praise God. And secondly, as we praise God, our own heart is strengthened. As we remind ourselves that He is the only God in heaven. This should strengthen us and turn our faith to Him more strongly. It renews our hearts. So here's a second reason why it's good to give reasons. It's always good to praise God, and that's what you do with the right kind of reasons. And secondly, it strengthens our faith, strengthens our heart. And thirdly, you could say it shows that we really need it, that we really are praying with artery. I think of my daughter who wanted a cat. I said no. So she said she wanted a cat. I said no. So she came up with reasons. She did research. She put together presentations. She did it on a low-tech basis. She did it on a high-tech basis. Because she really wanted it, she was giving reasons. And if we really want what we're praying for, we'll scarcely be able to not give reasons, because we're involved as whole people, wanting the things that we are praying for. And remember, what kind of things should we be praying for? That's the whole beginning, the whole rest of the prayer is telling us what kind of things we ought to be praying for. Things that pertain to God's glory, His kingdom and His will, and to our spiritual state before Him. Deliver us from evil, Lord. Keep me from temptation, forgive me, and give me the things I need for today." If we really want these things, we're going to want to give reason. And if we don't really want what we're praying for, then we've got to stop about praying about those trivial things and figure out what the important things are that we can really pray with a whole heart. God's reason shows that we're really praying. We're really into it. And finally, giving reason shows, you could say, a genuine faith. God, I'm coming to you, not just from habit, or from despair, but because I really believe that you are my Heavenly Father, and that you'll listen to me. I really believe what you said, that I am accepted and counted righteous because of Jesus Christ, and that you care to hear my little grasping at reasons, all of which He knows. But we're saying, I believe that you are pleased by me praying. Roger's catechism puts it this way. The conclusion of the Lord's Prayer teaches us to enforce our petitions with arguments. Which might be a little over your head. But it means to back up your requests with reason. Back it up then. do it in such a way and with such reasons that they simultaneously praise Him. Remember, to argue who He is and His promises and His relationship and His goodness to us. And then the prayer ends with Amen. And what is Amen doing today? Amen is an old word. It's in the Greek New Testament. In fact, it's in the Hebrew Old Testament. You can look it up and find it. How to write it in Greek, how to write it in Hebrew. When Jesus would say, Truly, truly, I say to you, or, Verily, verily, I say to you, it's literally, Amen, Amen, I say to you. Which tells you what Amen means. It means truly, or verily. So when you say Amen to something, you're putting your seal on it. Whether it's yours, or whether you are endorsing what someone else has said. There are two ways that you might say, truly. One is to say, that was true. Last week I warned the single people that getting married does not remove all sexual temptation. It's part of God's answer to it. But we still have to strive against temptation. And a married man here told me that at that moment he wished our church tradition was a little bit different. Because he wanted to stand up and say, truth! Listen to him! That's what our man did. Truth! Listen to that. That was true. And the other way that you can say amen at the end of a prayer is, yeah, I pray that too. That goes for me as well. That's not so much saying that's a true statement as saying that's truly what I want. It's truly my request as well. In 1 Corinthians 14, the saying Amen becomes a reason why prayers offered in the assembly need to be in a language that we know. It says, how will the one who doesn't speak that other language say Amen, if he doesn't know what you're saying? Which we see that saying Amen in prayer is something that we should be doing. And the Bible ends that way. Jesus says, I'm coming quickly. You say, Amen, come quickly. It says, the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. Say, Amen. It's fitting and good to end with an Amen, to join in with an Amen, whether it's the Lord's Prayer, the public prayer, or your own prayer. The Lord's Prayer, we learn, what excellent prayer. Brief and comprehensive. That's hard to do. Jesus manages to be brief and comprehensive with this prayer. But He means also to teach us how to pray. The kinds of prayers that are pleasing to God and are right to lay before Him. What we learn tonight from the conclusion is that the all-knowing, all-powerful God is so gracious with us, His children, that He invites us to reason with Him and tell Him why. You should look with favor on our requests. Take care to ask Him for good things and advance His kingdom and glory. Take care to give good reasons and acknowledge His glory and thus praise Him even as you ask. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before You tonight because You are the Great King. Because you are the only God in heaven. Because you can hear and you can grant the requests. And so Lord, we ask that your Spirit would be with us. That you would be delivering us from temptations. That you would be delivering us from evil. Lord, deliver us from the evil of evil habits. and the sins we fall into again and again. Lord, glorify Your name as You redeem us, Your people. And Lord, we pray that You would so work in our lives that we would live for Your glory and be to Your glory. We pray that You would build Your kingdom, that we would more and more do Your will as the angels do in heaven. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.