When King Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he called together 180,000 of the best soldiers from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah. He intended to go to war and restore his control over the northern tribes of Israel. But the Lord told the prophet Shemaiah to give this message to King Rehoboam and to all the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin: “Do not attack your own relatives. Go home, all of you. What has happened is my will.” They obeyed the Lord’s command and did not go to fight Jeroboam. – 2 Chronicles 11:1-4 GNT

What a sight to see when prayer is neglected. I cannot imagine gathering 180,000 soldiers together and then telling them to all go home because the game plan changed. Of all his faults, King Rhoboam had two things going for him – his pride did not rule his life and he honoured the word of God.

How many times will I do something, put my plans all together, and then God says no — and unfortunately I move forward with my plans. While I am still blessed in the sense that I am successful, I can sense the presence of God favours me, just not what I am doing. What I am doing is not the best thing for me and it is taking me away from giving my best to God.

I pray more these days before going forward, but there are still times where I have to back away because God has said no. While it is still hard, and my pride is definitely afffected, I prayerfully back away because it is what He has asked me to do.

The earnestness that we work up in the energy of the flesh is a repulsive thing. The earnestness wrought in us by the power of the Holy Spirit is pleasing to God. Here again, if we would pray aright, we must look to the Spirit of God to teach us to pray. – R. A. Torrey