Do you know how to pray when faced with a bad situation? 1 Chronicles 17-20

2 Chronicles 20:5-6
"Jehoshaphat’s Prayer
Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court, and he said, “O Lord, the God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens? And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You."

When King Jehoshaphat was confronted with an issue, he turns to God in prayer.   The prayer (and the way it is formatted) is a great example to us on how we should pray and how we should acknowledge God's work in our lives in the midst of a bad situation.  The first lesson is in the above passage:  He acknowledges God's sovereign rule over all of mankind and that power is in God's hands.   The second lesson:  He acknowledges God's faithfulness in the past.  See 20:7

" Did You not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?"

The third lesson:  Like the three Hebrews at the fiery furnace he is willing to stand even if it looks like, feels like, or evil is getting a momentary victory.   See 20:9

" ‘Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and deliver us.’"

The fourth lesson:  He acknowledges his own weakness.  See 20:12

" O our God, will You not judge them? 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.”"

The fifth prayer lesson is in 20:13.  He inspired others to also pray and praise God despite the situation:

" All Judah was standing before the Lord, with their infants, their wives and their children."

The last lesson is that he praised God for the answer even though the answer had not yet come:  See 20:18-19

" Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. The Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel, with a very loud voice."