War is a way of life. It is a part of this world. As along as prideful hearts beat within the chest of men that lead, there will be war. Wars are started by men of power, but they are fought by regular men and women. And many times, those men and women find themselves in the throes of battle, wondering what will become. I watched an excellent series a few years back called Band of Brothers. It followed a platoon of World War II soldiers and their waging of war in Central Europe. War was fought very differently in the mid 1940’s, but the human mind did not fight war differently. The human mind handles the stresses of war the same regardless of the year, the decade, or the millennia in which it wages that war.
I heard this term years before watching Band of Brothers and the viewing only drove the point home further for me. The foxhole prayer. You see, claiming ground in WWII was slow, arduous, and deadly work. Gain a few hundred yards on the enemy, and then entrench. And entrenching meant foxholes. A foxhole being a hole dug deep into the ground to protect you from bullets, shrapnel, grenades, and mortars. While watching the intense scenes of men in battle, you realized the full spectrum of what happened in a foxhole. A foxhole was the unknown. A foxhole was harsh and brutal. The foxhole you dug that day could be your grave that very night. Men would sometimes sleep for days in their foxhole, not knowing if they would emerge to fight another day. And it was in those foxholes that countless men cried out to a God that until that day, they had not spoken to.
When all hope and promise of life fades away, we cry out to God. It’s just how we are built. We will attempt to survive no matter the circumstance. And when death calls, we try all angles of survival. And for some that is crying out to a God they did not want prior to inhabiting the foxhole. Take the harshest God denying man and toss him in a foxhole with mortar and artillery exploding within feet of his head, and he will instinctively cry out to a power higher than himself in hopes of being saved. Even when he doesn’t understand that higher power.
But the foxhole prayer is not just for war. It doesn’t just happen during fierce battles and intense wars. It can and does happen in regular life. As lives encounter intense moments where all control is taken away, foxhole prayers are thrown up. As lives spiral out of control and all options seem to have been removed until only uncertainty is certain, foxhole prayers are sent up. And as lives seem to be facing death, where the next breath is no longer a guarantee, a foxhole prayer will go out into the universe. You see, all lives need God, but unfortunately for some, it takes a foxhole experience to recognize that need.
Today we see just such a situation as the two kings of Israel unite to fight a common enemy. Jehoshaphat feared God and was king of the southern tribe of Judah. Jehoram was the son of Ahab and Jezebel and as you can imagine did great evil in the eyes of the Lord just like his folks. (Have you noticed the glaring message of bad parenting in God’s Word? Bad parents make bad kids, bad kids don’t just make themselves) Jehoram controlled the northern kingdom of Israel and was the 9th consecutive evil king to rule. And in an alarming stat, out of 19 total kings in the North, there never would be a Godly one.
As Jehoram takes the throne, the city of Moab decides to no longer pay taxes as it had done to his father Ahab. Jehoram knows that he needs help in this fight, so he recruits the help of king Jehoshaphat. In order to utilize the element of surprise, they traipse all the way around the Moab through Edom, a seven-day march through desolate, dry desert. And it is here that the two kings find themselves in a foxhole. They underestimated the march, their need for water and the lack of it along the way. They are stuck. Their water is gone, there is none to be found and it is too late to go forward or backwards. Death by thirst is a horrible way to perish.
Situations like this in life will get your attention, quickly. Situations where all you can do is sit in a foxhole and look to one that is in control, as you are made hyperaware that all of yours has been taken away. The moment in life where control was not given but taken. An unexpected illness like cancer claims a loved one, leaving you alone to deal with the loss and anguish. Your marriage finally cracks under the pressure, nothing you can do to salvage the years of sweet yet distant memories. A job that you put your heart into for ten years, gone with a simple dismissal from H.R. A life that you cherished and nurtured, gone in a vicious smashing of metal and glass. The life that you carefully planned to be one of great success and joy, taken from you by addiction to drugs, alcohol or pornography. You see, regardless of what you think about God today, tomorrow can bring about situations that will force you to seek Him. When all of your options are taken away, when life has beaten you, when hope has seemed to fade to black, when your best was not good enough…God will be there.
The two kings find the prophet Elisha and God has mercy on them in their foxhole prayer. They didn’t deserve it, they had gotten themselves into a fine mess without ever a mention of God, yet they needed God to get them out. The mercy of God is one of the biggest miracles ever to exist. Today, we should all get on our knees and praise God for his mercy. In His mercy He sends water in a most unusual way, read it for there is an entirely different lesson that lies here concerning our preparation to receive the blessings of God. The water comes, lives are hydrated and saved, the enemy is confused, and the victory is given. The problems that confuse and confound men are to God as nothing but an inhale.
Folks, today are you in a foxhole? Do you find yourself crying out to God for His help as you never have before? Have you gotten yourself into a spot that you never thought you would be in? As you do throw up that foxhole prayer, just make sure it is the right prayer. You see, most foxhole prayers simply ask God to fix the symptom not the disease. They’re asking God to put a band-aid on a broken leg. The real question is, as you’re hunkered down in that hole crying out to God for immediate deliverance is…do you really know the one you are crying out to? Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, or are you simply crying out to a power that feels to you as random and distant as a cloud in the sky? You see, God is real, He is alive, and you can know Him. Call out to Jesus from that foxhole. Admit that your sin has created a barrier in your life. The guilt, pain and regret of your sin continues to grow into a forcefield that causes you to shy away from God. No more. Cast that sin upon Jesus and claim his unconditional mercy and grace. Call upon Jesus Christ today and begin a personal relationship with the one that you are crying out to.
Instead of waiting for yourself to stumble into the next foxhole, be in prayer to Jesus each and every day. You see, he will not only save you while your in the foxhole, but He can help you avoid the situations that will put you there. Daily prayer to Jesus and daily study of His Holy Word will bless you with the Godly wisdom you need to avoid many of life’s pitfalls and snares. For God is not only there when we have an emergency, but all the time. To guide us, protect us, enrich us and allow us an abundant life through Him.
If you’re reading this, your journey is being prayed for.
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12
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