Sometimes we think God stops working because the battle shifts to unfamiliar ground. He helped us through that one thing, but this? This feels like a different category.
In this Easter episode, Rachel unpacks a surprising story from 1 Kings 20 where Israel’s enemies called God a “hill God” — powerful in some places but limited in others. God’s response? He won the victory in the exact place they said He couldn’t. That’s what happened at the cross.
You’ll discover:
- What the Arameans got wrong about God and why we make the same mistake
- How we accidentally shrink our prayers when the battle moves to new terrain
- Why the cross as the ultimate valley became the place of the greatest victory
- How Easter changes everything about the way we approach God in prayer
If you’ve been holding back in prayer because you’re not sure God works in your current valley, this episode will remind you: He is not only a hill God. The resurrection proves it.
Resources Mentioned:
- The Hope Circle (founding membership rate ends 3/31) https://rachelwojo.com/the-hope-circle
- Desperate Prayers book: desperateprayers.com
Transcript
Welcome to the Untangling Prayer Podcast. I’m Rachel Wojo, and each week we unravel life’s knots through prayer. Here you’ll find practical wisdom and prayer encouragement to guide you through life’s hardest seasons. Join me as we untangle life’s messes together, one prayer at a time.00:33Speaker 1
Hey there, I’m Rachel, and I’m so glad you’re here today. Happy Easter Week. Friend. I have a question for you. Have you ever seen God come through for you in one area of your life and then something totally different comes along and you think, I don’t know, I don’t know if He works over here like he showed up when you needed courage. He absolutely was there, But now it’s a money thing, or a health thing, or that feels like a whole different category. I’ve done that more times than I’d like to admit. There’s a story in One Kings twenty that wrecked me when I read it last week because it’s about exactly that, and it connects to Easter in a way that I wasn’t really expecting. So before we get into it, I want to tell you about the Hope Circle. It’s a community I’ve built for women who want to grow deeper in friendship and faith. We were never meant to do life alone, and I’ve taken some hard hits along the road of life. My heart is to link arms with other women who could use encouragement from the experiences that I’ve walked through, and we’re going to share joy along the way through recipes, fresh ideas, and more. I can hardly wait. I’m offering a founding membership rate of just nineteen dollars a month right now, but it ends March thirty first. That’s just days away. So if you’ve been thinking about it, go to Rachel wojo dot com slash the Hope circle. The link is in the show notes. Okay, let’s get into this week’s question. In Hard Places, the first segment of the podcast is always a question, and this week’s question is if Christ already won the victory, why does my life still feel like a battle. In First Kings, Chapter twenty, Israel had just won this battle. God gave them a very clear, decisive victory. Nobody was confused about who showed up. But the Arimenian official go to their king and they come up with this theory. They say their gods are the gods of the hills. That’s why they beat us. But if we fight them on the planes, will win. I think this is so interesting because they didn’t say God wasn’t real, they didn’t say God wasn’t powerful. They said God is limited. He’s a hill god. He only works up there. Get him on the flat ground and he’s got nothing. And I read that and I thought, oh no, because I’ve done that. Not with those words exactly, but I’ve looked at a new struggle or something I hadn’t faced before and thought, well, I know God showed up last time, but this is different. How can he come through here? And you know what that is? That’s making God a hill god, that’s saying he only works in certain places. Verse twenty eight of First King’s twenty explains that a man of God comes to the King of Israel and says, because the Aramenians think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver that’s this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord. He didn’t just win, He won despite the fact that he said he couldn’t. He showed up in the exact place where they said he wouldn’t go. Now, think about Easter. What is the cross? Although the Cross of Calvary was on a hill Mounts Golgotha, metaphorically was in the valley. I’m sure that the apostles in Jesus’ friends and followers felt the cross was the lowest place imaginable because it looked like the enemy had won. It looked like death had won when the body was removed and placed in the tomb. But what happened. God had won the victory for all mankind right there, right in that place that looked like total defeat. So, if your life is looking like a valley right now, if the battle has shifted to ground, you don’t recognize and you’re not sure if God is working he is. The valley is where he proves it. The resurrection is proof. Every battle has an expiration date. Thank you for listening to this second of Questions in Hard Places. Will be right back after this brief word from our sponsors. Thank you for allowing that word from our sponsors. And now I’m diving into the podcast segment that we call Pray More worry Less Encouragement and this week’s prayer principle is. God does not change based on the place of your battle. I want to stay in this passage of first Kings because there’s something here about how we actually pray. Think about the Armenians, what they were really doing. They weren’t just making a battle plan. They were making a statement about God’s character. They were saying this God has a limit, He has a jurisdiction, and we can get outside of his jurisdiction. A God’s answer was basically, I’m going to win this one because nobody, not Israel, not the Armenian’s not anyone can question whether or not I work in the valleys. What does that mean for us? When we pray? Sometimes we pray about big things, and we’ve got faith for things we’ve seen God do. We’ve been on that hill before. But when the battle shifts, when it’s something new, something we’ve never navigated, our prayers tend to shrink. We get careful about how we pray, We start hedging. And I’m not saying every bold prayer gets the answer that we want. That’s not what I’m saying. Because I’ve had prayers that went unanswered and I won’t know the answers until heaven. But I am saying we don’t have to pray like God might not show up. He’s not pacing the sidelines wondering if this valley is too big. He made the valley. The cross proves that Jesus didn’t avoid the lowest place. He walked straight up Galgatha and into the dark valley, and the Resurrection says there is no place, none, where God’s power doesn’t reach. So what’s the valley for you right now? What’s the thing you’ve been praying small about because you’re not sure if God works there. Maybe it’s a relationship, a diagnosis, a sin or addiction you fought for years, a dream that died. Take it to the Lord. There are no boundaries. He does not say, Well, maybe bring it to him. Knowing that the God who won the victory in the lowest valley in history on a cross in a tomb is the same God listening to you right now. He is not only a hill God. There is no valley outside of his reach. The battle is the Lord’s. For our final segment of the podcast, each week I share an answer prayer story, and last week my husband finally went to get an X ray of his hip us fully expected for him to be in the position of needing a hip replacement. The last time we walked a few miles together a few weeks ago. He was limping by the time we returned home, and I had been praying for him, and we knew it was time for him to get the X ray since joint replacements have been commonplace in his genetic line. We were expecting the worst, but praying for the best, hoping that now wasn’t the time, that this issue was something more manageable. Maybe, And on Thursday night at our small group, during our prayer request time, my husband wanted to share a praise. He doesn’t need a hip replacement. There are other solutions for the problems he is having right now, and I am so grateful. I know that some of you listening right now have gone through joint replacements or maybe are going through them or some other surgeries, and my heart goes out to you. I had to share the hope that we have felt in the valley of despair before my husband had the X rays and we knew what the outcome was, because that hope is available no matter where you stand. If that story remind you of anything, I hope it’s that God doesn’t have a limited jurisdiction. Whether you are on the mountaintop or in the valley today, wherever you’re standing, God is there and He is able. Hey, this is the reason I started our new community, The Hope Circle, because you need people around you who will remind you that God is at work in our lives. And we want to be warrior women who will pray with each other and point one another back to truth when the battle feels too much. The founding membership rate ends March thirty first. If you’ve been wanting a community like that, go to Rachelwojo dot com slash the Hope Circle. I’ll put the link in the show notes. Thank you for joining me on the Untangling Prayer Podcast. Happy sir, friend, the enemy looked at the valley and said God doesn’t work here. But God looked at the valley and said, watch me work. He’ll do it in yours too. Until next time, remember God sees you, he hears you, and he knows your needs. Thanks for joining me on the Untangling Prayer Podcast.10:31Speaker 2
If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who could use a little hope, and be sure to subscribe for more. Until next time, keep seeking, keep trusting, and keep praying.