The Best Four-Letter Word!

I like words. Sometimes for entertainment I will read a dictionary!  This is a practice I developed after I got my first dictionary in high school; I’d look at all the definitions besides interesting pictures!!  Since then I have compiled a small dictionary collection; besides the one from high school with all the presidents pictured up to Richard Nixon, I have my Mom’s, Fred Stroop’s, and a Webster’s unabridged dictionary given to me by a dear friend who heard I liked dictionaries! I even had my Dad’s Japanese dictionary from WWII--I finally gave it away to someone who had lived there and could read it.

So when it came to prayer I got tired of using the word “help” when praying about specific needs. I didn’t want to get bored, or tire God with my repetitive prayers by repeatedly using the word “help.” So I undertook writing a list of words to use in its’ place. Here is the list I wrote down: 

“guide”; “direct”; “convict”; “enrich”; “strengthen”; “illuminate”; “demonstrate”; “remind”; “renew”; “assemble”; “validate”; “create”; “carry”; “alleviate”; “weigh”; “motivate”; “energize”.

Phew! After all that searching,  I am chagrined  to say that the verb in the English language that I use most when praying is still the word “help”.

Recently I was listening to the book of 2 Chronicles. In chapter 14, Solomon’s great-grandson, Asa, urgently called on the Lord in prayer because an army of Ethiopians had come up against Judah.  The odds were definitely against Judah. Judah and the tribe of Benjamin had 580,000 soldiers between them; the Ethiopians and the Lubim came against Judah with 1,000,000 men, and 300 chariots! “Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, ‘LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You,’”  2 Chron. 14:11.

And help He did. The story continues: God not only routed the Ethiopian army so that those with Asa pursued them, He “shattered” them with the help of His army,” 2 Chronicles 14:3. Note that it says His army. One of the names used of God throughout the Bible denotes that He is “the LORD of hosts” or “the Lord of armies”.

As long as Asa continued to rely on the Lord, the Lord would continue to help him. But when he departed from the Lord later in his life, the Lord did not help him. In the 35th year of his reign he sent for help from Ben-hadad, King of Aram who live in Damascus. The Lord sent word to him by a seer named Hanani; he reminded Asa of the success God granted him against the Ethiopians when he relied on God, and then Hanani reprimanded King Asa for trusting the King of Aram for help in place of the Lord. In 2 Chronicles 16:9a Hanani says: “"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” 

The word “support” in the Hebrew lexicon has many meanings; mainly it implies giving strength and encouragement.  I like that; it reminds me that I don’t have to be a prominent or well-versed person to be heard by God. I just have a heart dependent on Him, ask Him for HELP, and He will “support” me. Sometimes, He still supports believers by employing His heavenly hosts on our behalf, as it says in Hebrews 1:7,14, “And of the angels He says,’WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS, AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE.’ Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”

The issue is not the words that we use in prayer that gets God’s attention, it is our heart condition. Are we relying on God for help, or on ourselves, some thing, or somebody else? Next time you are facing trouble, don’t reach for your phone first, or look in the dictionary for the right word, call directly on the Lord for “help!” He is looking for those whose “hearts are completely His”. He will help you, and you don’t have to search for a fancy word to get it!