God will never turn away whoever turns to Him in faith.

The people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the , the God of their ancestors. 2 Chronicles 13:18

As the convoy waited to roll out, a young marine rapped urgently on the window of his team leader’s vehicle. Irritated, the sergeant rolled down his window. “What?”

“You gotta do that thing,” the marine said. “What thing?” asked the sergeant. “You know, that thing you do,” replied the marine.

Then it dawned on the sergeant. He always prayed for the convoy’s safety, but this time he hadn’t. So he dutifully climbed out of the Humvee and prayed for his marines. The marine understood the value of his praying leader.

In ancient Judah, Abijah doesn’t stand out as a great king. First Kings 15:3 tells us, “His heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God.” But as Judah prepared for war against Israel, outnumbered two to one, Abijah knew this much: Faithful people in his kingdom of Judah had continued worshiping God (2 Chron. 13:10–12), while the ten tribes of Israel had driven out the priests of God and worshiped pagan gods instead (vv. 8–9). So Abijah turned confidently to the one true God.

Surely Abijah’s checkered history had caused grave damage. But he knew where to turn in the crisis, and his army won soundly “because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors” (v. 18). Our God welcomes whoever comes to Him and relies on Him.

I know that prayer isn’t a good-luck charm. But I come to You now, Lord, because there’s no one better to talk to. I trust You with all of my circumstances today.

上帝永不会拒绝信靠祂的人。

犹大人得胜，是因倚靠耶和华他们列祖的上帝。-历代志下13章18节

军用车队正准备出发，一名年轻的海军陆战部队士兵赶紧跑去拍中士的车窗。中士摇下车窗，问：“有什么事吗？”“你忘了做一件事。”士兵回答。“那是什么事？”中士又问。“呃，就是你常做的事啊！”士兵回复。

这名海军中士终于明白了士兵的要求，因为他总是为车队的安全祷告，但他这次却忘了。于是，他即刻下车为海军士兵们祷告。这名海军士兵深知，有一位愿意祷告的长官是何等宝贵。

古时犹大王亚比雅并不是个好国王，列王纪上15章3节记载：“他的心不像他祖大卫的心诚诚实实地顺服耶和华他的上帝。”然而，当他预备跟北国以色列争战，面对多出一倍的敌军时，他知道在犹大国里，依然有许多人全心地敬拜上帝 (历代志下13章10-12节)，但以色列国的十个支派却驱逐上帝的祭司，并敬拜偶像 (8-9节) 。因此，亚比雅满有信心地转向独一的上帝。

虽然亚比雅因不顺服上帝而对国家造成伤害，但他知道要倚靠谁才能化险为夷，故此“犹大人得胜，是因倚靠耶和华他们列祖的上帝” (18节) 。我们的上帝喜悦人们寻求祂，全心倚靠祂。

主啊，我知道不是开口祷告事情就能立刻解决。
然而，主啊，我现在只能来到祢面前向祢倾心吐意，
并将我的处境完全交托在祢的手中。

2 Chronicles 13:10-18NIV

10 “As for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the Lord are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. 11 Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the Lord. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the Lord our God. But you have forsaken him. 12 God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. People of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.”

13 Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah the ambush was behind them. 14 Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets 15 and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands. 17 Abijah and his troops inflicted heavy losses on them, so that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel’s able men. 18 The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

整理：于姊妹