This Battle Belongs To God | Jabin Chavez | City Light Church

Gonna get right to work, 2 Chronicles. This is a story about a man named King Jehoshaphat who was, him and his nation, Judah, are being surrounded by three enemies. And God gives him a unique instruction on how to win the battle. Everybody out loud say, this battle belongs to God. Say that out loud, this battle belongs to God. Look at this, 2 Chronicles 20. It happened after that that the people of Moab with the people of Amon and the others besides them came to battle against Jehoshaphat. So there's these three armies coming against him. Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, a great multitude is coming against you beyond the sea from Syria. Jehoshaphat feared, look at this, verse three, Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord. He proclaimed to fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord. From all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord. Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jehaziah. A Levite of the sons of Asaph in the midst of the assembly. And he said, listen, all of you Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem and you King Jehoshaphat, thus says the Lord to you. Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude for the battle, watch this, the battle is not yours, but God's.

Let's say that phrase together, everybody. For the battle is not yours, but God's. So when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord and who should praise the beauty of His holiness. And as they went out before the army, they were saying, praise the Lord for His mercy endures forever. Notice this, they didn't go out with swords and with spears. They did not go out with bow and arrows. They went out before the Lord. They went out before their enemy with instruments. Watch this, they began to sing. And as they began to sing praises, verse 22, the Lord sent ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah and they were defeated. Verse 15, the battle is not yours, but God's. The battle is not yours, but God's. I wanna preach for just a few moments from this subject. This battle belongs to God. This battle belongs to God. Give at least 30 people a high five. No, make it 45 people a high five. Tell them this battle belongs to God. Come on, tell somebody this battle, this battle belongs to God. Come on, everybody out loud say this battle belongs to God. Amen. King Jehoshaphat was in a battle and he needed a miracle.

It was one nation against three nations and he needed God to fight for him. He needed a miracle. A miracle is the divine intervention of God in the affairs of men. It's when God gets involved in your life. And friend, we're all gonna face moments in life. We're all gonna face enemies. We're all gonna face situations that are bigger than us. And in those moments, do not be afraid. You need a miracle. There's gonna be moments that life is bigger than you, but not bigger than God. Let me just declare this. The mountain might be bigger than you, but it ain't bigger than God. Goliath might be taller than you, but he ain't taller than God. The storm might be greater than you, but it ain't greater than God. Come on, if you need a miracle, you're in the right place. This battle belongs to God. Amen. Moses needed a miracle as he faced Pharaoh. David needed a miracle as he faced Goliath. Elijah needed a miracle in famine. The Shunammite needed a miracle when she could not get pregnant. Samson needed a miracle when he was bound by his enemies. The disciples needed a miracle in the storm.

Paul and Silas needed a miracle in the prison. And I've got good gospel news for you. The same God that broke in and broke through for all of those people is alive and well today. Jesus is the same. Yesterday, today, and forever, this battle belongs to God. This battle belongs to God. That we don't read the Bible, that we don't read about the miracles that God did in Scripture and go, good job, God, must've been nice. No, we read the Bible to find out who our living Savior is. That what he did, he's still doing. What he said, he's still saying. How he moved, He's still moving, this battle belongs to God. So I wanna declare this battle belongs to God, this healing belongs to God, this breakthrough belongs to God. We're declaring 2026 is a year of miracles, signs and wonders. Friend, we need more miracles in the church. Paul said, I didn't come with persuasive speech, I didn't just come with a good sermon. I came in the demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit. I understand how good this church is, I understand how excellent this church is, but I don't want the testimony of 2026 to be, that was a good song, that's a good kids ministry,

that's a good preacher, that's good parking, well, parking ain't good right now, it's gonna get good, amen, praise God. Those are good seats, well, the seats are good. I don't want people leaving this year saying, what a song or what a building or what a sermon, I want the testimony of 2026 to be, what a God, what a God. I got my miracle, I got my answer. I was one way when I walked in, I was another way when I walked out. We believe in the miracle working power of God. I just heard a testimony just now, out in the lobby of a pregnant woman. She said, I came to church and the day before I took a pregnancy test and I was not pregnant. I came to church that day and you were doing baptisms and I wasn't ready to get baptized and my family wasn't here and I wanted them all around, but the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, this is your moment, you need to get baptized, so I got baptized. The next day, I just felt like, I should probably take another pregnancy test, I don't know why, I just felt it. I said, that was God, she said, I guess so. She said, I don't really have language for this, I'm new to all this, but I just felt like, I should probably take another pregnancy test, I don't know why.

She takes another pregnancy test 24 hours later as she's pregnant and she's got a belly out there going, I'm about to have, what a God. I said, this battle belongs to God. I said, God still does miracles in the lives of his people. Can I get somebody to praise God with me? Come on, don't let me shout alone today. This battle, this healing, this miracle belongs to God. One more time, everybody say, this battle belongs to God. All right, so how do I give my battles to God? Number one, you gotta get close, you gotta get close, get close, get close. Jehoshaphat feared and he set himself to seek the Lord. Jehoshaphat feared and he set himself to seek the Lord. I want you to see this in verse three, because in verse three, you see two realities happening at the same time. He feared and he sought the Lord. Put this up for us, because I want you to catch this. There's fear and faith in the same verse. See, a lot of you beat yourself up for being fearful. And a lot of preachers will say things like, fear and faith can't coexist. Well, it did right there. The fact that you need faith proves that you're gonna get in some fearful situations. And the fact that you're fearful proves that you need faith and they're happening simultaneously. It's not a question of, you know, is it wrong to fear? It's a question of what are you gonna do with it?

Talk to me, everybody, y'all tracking me? He feared, comma. Don't put a period where God put a comma. What you do after the feeling of fear really matters. Fear is real, fear is an emotion, fear is, you're gonna feel it, don't give into it. See, we have a whole thought in our culture that is finally being reversed, thank God. But there's been a whole thought in our culture over the last few years of, if you feel it, you must be it. Just because you feel something, don't, I don't trust my feelings. Oh my God, if I trusted my feelings, I'd be in prison. I'd have shot somebody by now, come on, somebody. I got anger issues. I can't give into my feelings. I can't, just because you feel it doesn't mean, he felt the fear, watch what he does, and he sought the Lord. That's it. That word there, he set himself to seek the Lord, that word set in the Hebrew language is to yield. Y'all know about yield? Know about yielding to oncoming trials? Y'all know about these things in Summerlin, come on, somebody, these roundabouts, yield. Anybody ran anybody off the road beside me? I have. Few months ago, I was in one of those roundabouts. I didn't realize Amanda El-Takrori

was coming around the corner. Amanda's in our church. And she was supposed to go, but she stopped. So then we were kind of both at a stop and I didn't know it was Amanda. I'm just gonna tell y'all my business. God's still working on me. And I did one of these. I didn't cuss, I didn't flip nobody off, relax. But God's still doing the work. And so I went, and then we caught eyes and I saw that it was Amanda. And she's so innocent, like it's her fault that I have anger issues. And she goes, I'm sorry, pastor. I could read her lips. And I go, no, I'm sorry. No, so I grabbed my phone, I call her right away. I go, I'm so sorry, God's still working on me. Yield, yield, to give way to, to let somebody else lead, to give somebody the right of way. Watch that, he felt the fear, he yielded to God. Don't yield to the fear. Don't yield to the feeling. Don't yield to the emotion. Yield to the Lord. And he sought the Lord. And how did he seek the Lord? The Bible said he proclaimed to fast.

That's why we're gonna pray for three days and we're gonna fast for three days. Jabin, what should I fast for three days? Food. You wanna know something crazy? For you that like Bible nerds, the word fast in the Bible means to close your mouth. The strongest muscle in your body is your jaw. So for, amen, we're not fat, we just work out a lot. Amen, ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. That's funny. Relax. Don't laugh at my pain. For three days, we're gonna relax that muscle. We're gonna rest that muscle. We're gonna close the mouth. And for three days, we're gonna work the faith muscle. We're gonna work the spiritual muscle. We're gonna work the hope muscle and the grace muscle. And we're not gonna eat. Now, I understand you might have medical conditions, other things you can't fast for three days. I get it, but people have been asking, what are you gonna do? I'm gonna do water and coffee, okay? Because I'm not that saved, amen. Amen. I can't do no coffee. Okay, you can.

You're more spiritual than me. The Lord has not told me that yet, amen. So I'm gonna drink my coffee. But he called a fast. See, fasting creates space. Fasting simplifies. Fasting separates. It's more than the food, it's the separation. It's the change of pace. It's the focus on the Lord. It's quieting every other voice so that you can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 17, Jesus answered them. Here's the context. His disciples are trying to heal a boy. They're trying to cast out a demon, and they can't. Jesus responds to them and says, you are a faithless and perverse generation. Now, I want you to catch this. This means I could be a Christian, I could be a follower of Jesus, but still be faithless and perverse. That word perverse there, don't just think perverted. It's distorted. It's out of sync. It's not locked in. It's fuzzy, it's foggy. There's a distortion there. It's not clean and clear. And then he says this.

Jesus rebuked the demon. It came out of him. The child was cured from that very hour. The disciples came to him privately, so they're embarrassed. And they go, what's up with that? Why couldn't we cast it out? Jesus said to them, it's because of your unbelief. For surely I say, if you had faith like a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it would move, and nothing would be impossible for you. However, now watch this, this kind, this kind of spiritual level, this kind of spiritual victory does not go out except by prayer and fasting. Here's where you fast. You fast wherever there is spiritual defeat in your life. That could be addiction, that could be insecurity, that could be fear, that could be gambling, that could be sex, that could be alcohol, that could be drugs, wherever there is spiritual defeat in your life, it could be, it could just be insecurity. It could be whatever that is, wherever that kind, and see, by the way, your struggle is not my struggle and my struggle is not your struggle and your struggle is not their struggle because your kind, that thing, it came from trauma, it came from generations, it came from thinking. I mean, there's so much that we carry

into our spiritual life, and now you'll find that there's an area of your life where there's defeat. What you do with that area of defeat is you pray and fast for that thing. Does that make sense? So wherever you lack spiritual authority is where you pray and fast. By the way, just a side note, that's why we don't judge people who are struggling with different things than us. Because you've got your own demons. And if you're judging everybody because you don't think you have any, well you need to pray and fast about pride. Amen. Okay, so he says faithless and perverse. Faithless and perverse. So the faithless part we address in prayer. The perverse part we address in fasting. Here's why. Prayer connects us to God, but fasting disconnects us from the world. Leave that up for a moment. See, we wake up, our alarm hits, boom. We open up social media. And then we eat food. And then we get in the car and we listen to a podcast. We listen to the news and we get all fired up about whatever we're fired up about. Because Democrats listen to Democrat news and Republicans listen to Republican news. And they're telling us who the enemy is. And we're all mad. It's alright. I listen to the news too. Amen. And then we eat lunch and we listen to another podcast. And then feed, feed, feed, feed, feed. And then we get home and we turn on Netflix and we turn on ESPN and we turn on whatever. And the noise never stops. And we're so connected to the world. So for three days we push away the plate and we turn off the news. And we turn off the podcast. And we turn off the music. And whether that's Morgan Wallen or whether that's Kendrick, it doesn't matter. We turn all that off. We turn off the Eagles. Whatever you like. Whatever kind of music you like. We turn all that off and we worship and we pray and we get in the Word. And we disconnect from the world and we connect to God. Say amen everybody. For to be carnally minded is death but spiritually minded is life and peace. I just want you to know as a Christian we can go all carnal. Everything is five senses. Everything is circumstance. We approach everything from the natural.

And Paul said when you live your life that way it's going to lead to spiritual death. But there's a different way to live and you can go spiritual. Where you actually consult the Lord and you actually seek the Lord. And you actually ask for God's opinion. And let me tell you the fruit of that is life and peace. Now watch what happens when you fast. This is Acts 13 2. One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting. I want you to notice what happened. The Holy Spirit said. What was the response to prayer and fasting? God started speaking. Now I'm going to just submit something to you. I think God's always speaking. But life gets so loud that we can't hear Him. Why? Because the Holy Spirit whispers. And He's not going to speak louder to match the American culture. So I've got to get quieter. Because He doesn't shout. What did the Bible say in the Old Testament? He wasn't in the earthquake. He wasn't in the fire. He wasn't in the wind. He was in the whisper. So in prayer and fasting I turn all the noise off. I push away the plate and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit. See I wouldn't do anything big without fasting. Because see there's a lot of big decisions you're going to have to make in life that you're not going to have a Bible verse for. Who to marry. You don't open up the book and Jabin, Mary, Shannon, Chambers. It's not there. Take this job. Buy this house. Sell that house. Go into business with them. Do this. You're not going to have that. So you're going to need the inward witness of the Holy Ghost. You're going to need the leading. You're going to need the Holy Spirit said. You're going to need this leading of God that's going to help you make decisions. It happens in fasting. Look at this Isaiah 58. God says in response to fasting. Read the whole chapter. We don't have time today. But when you read the whole chapter.

In response to fasting your salvation will come like the dawn. Your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward. The glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. And when you call on the Lord he will answer. Look what he says. Yes I am here. He will quickly reply. So the word quickly is used twice in those verses. Quick. Quick. When you fast things get quicker. What's quick? Quick is quicker than if you didn't fast. Amen. That's why I'm the pastor guys. You're welcome, I'm here to serve. I don't know what quick is, but I know it's quicker than if I didn't fast. And so I pray, and I fast, and I fast throughout the year, and I take seasons throughout my year where I get away, and I quiet the noise, and I push away the plate, and I hear, and God gives me direction. I just want you to know, and I don't talk about it a lot because I don't want to be the hooky spooky guy in the hooky spooky church. I'm just telling you though, this church has been built on a word from God. God told me to buy this land. And God, when the city said you'll never get that land, you'll never get it approved, you'll never buy it. When our lawyer, our aviation attorney who we had hired to to turn it over, dropped us as a client because they said we're stealing your money, the Lord told me you're going to get that land. The Lord told us to move to Las Vegas. We didn't move here for the weather. We didn't move here because we like sunshine. We didn't move here because we knew people. We didn't move here because Shannon's sisters. We moved here on a word from God. I just want you to know there's a better way to live y'all.

Hallelujah. It's not carnal. It's spiritual. It's life and peace. Okay. Number two, connect your faith. So Judah gathered. Judah gathered. They gather and the prophetic word is released. The Bible said in the midst of the assembly, in the gathering. When you're in a fight, don't fight alone. Don't fight fair. Eddie Hood people in, jump the devil. Come on somebody. I see all the way at the top girl. You're my girl right there. You need to be sitting down here next week. Jump the devil. Call all your spiritually ghetto friends and say I need you to pray with me. Fast with me. I need you to call on God with me. I can't fight this. I need the gathering. I need some people in my life. I can't do what God's called me to do alone. Jehoshaphat is in a fight, but he calls for a gathering. Oh, an isolated Christian is in trouble. An isolated Christian is going to be a deceived Christian and a defeated Christian. Jesus said in Matthew 18 20, where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. Midst. In the middle of them. Same word that Jehaziel gave. He was in the midst of the congregation. That's why you got to be in church. Home girl wasn't pregnant. Came to church. Got a miracle. In the midst of the church. Not at church. Amen. But you get what I'm saying. God heard her prayer at church. You just want to clarify? So if you're in a fight, don't fight alone. Don't fight fair. Find you some faith friends. I didn't say fake friends. I said faith friends. Somebody who will pray with me, praise with me, talk with me, encourage me, laugh with me, cry with me, rejoice with me, mourn with me, eat with me, fast with me, go to church with me, remind me of God's goodness,

lay their hands on me, push me to take a step of faith, dream with me. I need somebody. Connect your faith. What we can do together is so much more than we can do alone. And in a very spiritually isolated city, we got to have the gathering. You got to have a pastor. Friend, you need a pastor. I'm just telling you, you need a pastor. If I'm not your guy, let's find you the right guy. But you need a pastor. And I know I'm not everybody. I get it. I get that I'm not for everybody. I tell people that in the lobby sometimes. Literally last week, I put my hand on some guy's shoulder. I said, brother, this isn't going to work. Let me help you find the right church. I get it, but you need it. I need a pastor. I have pastors in my life. I have men of God who speak. They know the junk in my trunk, and they call me out. I got a call yesterday morning from one of my pastors, Jacob Baranza. I said, hey man of God. He said, hey man of God. He said, what you doing? I said, I'm getting ready for church. He didn't go, oh praise God. What are you preaching on? He goes, how's your marriage? I was so mad. But I was in bed with Shannon. And I looked over, I go, I'm kinda killing it right now. I'd say, oh, not always true, but I said, I'm kinda killing it, because I was preaching this week in Louisiana. I said, I sent flowers to the girls, they loved it. Took them on a dinner, took them on a date, loved it. She actually, she did a post for me on Instagram, when this woman posts about you, it's deep. She did a post about me, I said, I'm kinda killing it right now. Taking her on a date tonight, one more date before the fast, I'm kinda doing it. Now he goes, well, things get better or what? I said, yeah, because, you know, a couple of weeks ago, we talked, I wasn't killing

it, you know what I'm saying? So I said, pastor, I'm trying, I'm working hard. And then he said this, he said, Jabin, never forget it, never forget it. He said, are you listening to me? I said, I'm listening. He said, are you listening? I said, I'm listening. He said, here's the goal, you wanna be a good pastor and a great husband. And I went, I'm working on it, and he said, let's pray. So he prayed for me, and then he started praying over the church, and then he started praying over you, and then he started praying over where God's taking us as a ministry, why? Because I need the gathering, because I need a pastor, because you never know what happens, watch this, in the midst of the congregation. The prophetic word goes out, it hits your spirit, you're never the same. Last time, I'm gonna have the team come, here's the last, here's the last thing, watch God work, watch God work. So they pray, they've been afraid, they fasted, they've gathered, and now they worship, because what do I do when I've talked to God? What do I do when I've already asked God? What do I do when I've been believing God, and, well, now I thank Him. I thank Him for what's to come. I thank Him that answers are on the way, and here's what God told them to say, it's so crazy that God actually gave them a song, in verse 21, praise the Lord, His mercy endures forever. Let's say that out loud, everybody, praise the Lord, His mercy endures forever. One more time, everybody, praise the Lord, His mercy endures forever. God had to give them a phrase to keep them in faith. I just want you to catch this, praise will protect you from discouragement, praise will protect you from depression, praise will protect you from hopelessness, praise will protect you.

Again, I'm not a hooky, spooky guy, I'm really not, but my wife will tell you, when I'm in the battle, when I got stuff going on in my life, God is my witness, I'll be walking around the house, glory to God, hallelujah, thank you, I'm doing the dishes, thank you, Jesus, I love you, mighty God, you're amazing, God, glory to, and I get a little preachy, no one's hearing me, but glory to God, I start getting a little churchy, and my wife, she'll go, are you stressed? I go, super stressed, glory to God, hallelujah, amazing, because that praise is putting a barrier between me and my enemies, that praise is like a shield of faith around me, protecting me from darkness, and protecting me from, this is how I fight my battles. This is how I fight, I fight it with praise, I don't fight it in the natural, I don't fight it with my hands, I don't fight it with my feet, I fight it with my voice, I fight it with a song, it may look like I'm surrounded, but God, I'm surrounded by you. This is how I fight my battles, this is how I fight my battles, this is how I fight my battles, this is how I fight my battles, this is how I fight my battles, this is how I fight my battles, this is how I fight my battles, this is how I fight my battles, this is how I fight my battles, this is how I fight my battles, this is how I fight my battles, this is how I fight my My song is a weapon, my song is a weapon. it may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by you. It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by you. It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by you. It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by you. This is how I fight my battles. This is how I fight my battles. This is how I fight my battles. This is how I fight my battles. This is how I fight my battles. This is how I fight my battles. This is how I fight my battles. This is how I fight my battles. My praise is a weapon,

against the enemy. My praise is a weapon, against the enemy. My praise is a weapon, against the enemy. My praise is a weapon, against the enemy. Thank you Lord. Against the enemy. Against the enemy. My praise is a weapon, against the enemy. My praise is a weapon, against the enemy. My praise is a weapon, against the enemy. Thank you Lord. And so they praise. And here's what happened. The Bible says, and the Lord sent ambushes against the enemy. They didn't have to pick up a sword, pick up a spear, pick up a bow and arrow. God did, what they could not do. This battle, belongs to God. Can I just say it over you one more time? I might say it about 10 more times before we dismiss. This battle, belongs to God.

This battle. Somebody shout it out. This battle, it belongs to God. And God's gonna do what we cannot do. God's gonna fight when we cannot fight. Because this battle. And then here's what's crazy. And on the fourth day, the day after the fast, see when you're fasting, you got a headache. You got dry mouth. You're mad at the pastor for calling a fast. You're dreaming about in and out. Better go tonight. But on the fourth day, when you're fasting, you're tilling, and you're grinding, and you're fighting. The breakthrough comes after. And on the fourth day, they gathered in the valley of blessing. The valley of blessing. Which got its name, that day. That the people praised and thanked the Lord there. It's still called blessing today. Their praise,

their fasting, their prayer, their faith, renamed the valley. I just want to say, your praise can rename a year. Your praise can rename a teenager. Your praise can rename sickness to health. Poverty to provision. Sin to righteousness. Addiction to freedom. Loneliness to family. Abandoned to accepted. Cursed to bless. My praise is renaming, because my praise is a weapon. My praise is a weapon. My praise is a weapon. My praise is a weapon. All right, slow, slow, slow. And from this day, it's still called blessing. Joel, in the book of Joel, let the weak say, I'm strong. That's not lying, and that's not denial. That is choosing God's promise over how I feel right now. And I declare it over you in the name of Jesus. May this be a year of breakthroughs, of suddenlies, of miracles, signs, and wonders. In the name of Jesus, amen, everybody.