Cried out and the Lord helped

In 2 Chronicles 18 there are two contrasting personalities.  Ahab was the King of Israel and Jehoshaphat was the King of Judah.  Jehoshaphat sought God for the most part.  Probably the worst thing he did was marry off his daughter to the son of Ahab only to have an ally.  Ahab wanted Jehoshaphat to go to battle with & him Jehoshaphat agreed.  However, Jehoshaphat wanted to seek God first. He asked if there were any prophets in Israel?  Ahab said only Micaiah but he only said bad things about him.  Ahab brought all of his yes-men and they told him what he wanted to hear. When Micaiah came the other yes-men wanted him to agree with what they said.  But Michiah said he would only say what God told him to say. When Micaiah only told bad prophecies about Ahab, Ahab told Jehoshaphat I told you so.  Ahab had Michiah put in jail and said when I come back I will deal with him.  Micaiah said if you return back then I did not speak the words of God.  Ahab disguised himself as one of the regular soldiers while Jehoshaphat dressed as a King.  Ahab was killed.  Jehoshaphat cried out to God and the Lord helped him.

There is so much but I think I can learn from this passage. Number one I don't mean yes-men in my life. I need people that will tell me the truth. I may not always like the truth what is the Bible says the truth will set you free.  I think that it is a problem in our world today is that we only want to hear what we want to hear. The second thing that stood out to me that stood out to me is how Jehoshaphat did his best to seek God in everything.  When Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to go into battle Jehoshaphat said let us seek God first. The last thing I noticed was how Jehoshaphat cried out to God for help and didn't try to do things on his own. 

How often do I try to do things on my own only to have it fall apart in front of me? This past week I really attempted to ask God what to do and everything.  I've been trying to ask which direction to go on the road, what time to leave, what to read, what to listen to, what to watch, etc. I wonder if I truly seek God in everything and cry out to him how much different my life would be? It sure can't be any worse. That is not to say my life is bad. What I mean is I've tried to live my life my own way and I'm always crying out to God for help. I want to follow him first and see if I can avoid many stupid mistakes.