Prayer & Fasting • July 2026

When We Don’t Know What to Do

“So Judah gathered together to seek help from the LORD; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the LORD.”

2 Chronicles 20:4 NASB 1995

There are times in life when the path forward seems clear. We know what needs to be done; we simply need the courage and discipline to do it.

Then there are other times in life when we genuinely do not know what to do:

• A loved one receives a troubling diagnosis.
• Your child or the child of a friend has drifted from the Lord.
• There is a deep marriage struggle.
• We are confronted with ministry challenges larger than our wisdom and resources.
• No one seems to care about the pressing spiritual issue God has laid on your heart.

We search for answers, yet none seem adequate.

That was the type of situation King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah were facing in 2 Chronicles 20. A vast army was advancing against them. The threat was real. Humanly speaking, the situation was hopeless.

What’s remarkable is not the crisis they faced but how they responded to it. Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast throughout all of Judah. Rather than relying first on military strength, political strategy, or human wisdom, the nation gathered to seek the Lord. Their first response was praying and fasting.

As Jehoshaphat prayed, he spoke one of the most honest and powerful prayers in all of Scripture; “For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You” (2 Chronicles 20:12b NASB1995).

What an awesome model for us!

Many of us have been taught that strong faith means having all the answers—this is what God wants to do in my life!—and yet, biblical faith is often expressed by admitting our weakness and fixing our gaze on God’s strength.

ehoshaphat did not pretend to know what to do. He acknowledged his need. He confessed his dependence. He turned his eyes toward the Lord.

Fasting helps us do the same.

When we fast, we intentionally set aside something legitimate in order to seek something greater. Physical hunger becomes our reminder of a deeper need for God. Each hunger pang becomes a call to pray. Each missed meal becomes an opportunity to declare, “Lord, I am desperate for answers. My hope is not in myself. My eyes are on You.”

Perhaps that’s exactly where some of us find ourselves this month.

We don’t know what to do about a burden we carry. We don’t know how God will answer. We don’t know how the circumstances will unfold. But we do know where to look.

As you participate in this month’s prayer and fasting emphasis, bring your uncertainties before the Lord. Tell Him honestly what you do not know. Acknowledge your need. Confess your weakness and inability to take care of the situation. Fix your eyes on God. The power of Jehoshaphat’s prayer was not that he had ability or the answers. The power was that he knew where to take his questions. And that’s still true for us today.

Nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.