Audacious
The day God gave the Amorites up to
Israel, Joshua spoke to God, with all Israel
listening: “Stop, sun, over Gibeon; halt, moon, over Aijalon Valley.” And the
sun stopped, and the moon stood stock still until he defeated his enemies. (You
can find this written in the Book of Jashar.) The sun stopped in its tracks in
mid sky; just sat there all day. There’s never been a day like that before or
since — God took orders from a human voice!
Truly, God fought for Israel. (Josh. 10:12-14)
When Martin
Luther's good friend, Friedrich Myconius, was sick, Luther wrote to him:
"I command thee in the name of God to live because I still have need of
thee in the work of reforming the church . . . The Lord will never let me hear
that thou art dead, but will permit thee to survive me. For this I am praying,
this is my will, and may my will be done, because I seek only to glorify the
name of God." Friedrich outlived Martin Luther by two months. As John
Wesley was crossing the Atlantic Ocean, howling winds began to blow. Wesley was
reading in his cabin when he became aware of some confusion on board. When he
learned that the winds were knocking the ship off course, he responded by
praying. Adam Clarke, a colleague, heard the prayer and recorded it. “Almighty
and everlasting God, thou hast sway everywhere, and all things serve the
purpose of thy will, thou holdest the winds in thy fists and sittest upon the
water floods, and reignest a king forever. Command these winds and these waves
that they obey thee, and take us speedily and safely to the haven whither we
would go.” Wesley stood up from his knees, took up his book, and continued to
read. Dr. Clarke went on deck and found calm winds and the ship on course.
Wesley never said anything about the answered prayer. Clarke wrote, "So
fully did he expect to be heard that he took it for granted that he was."
How bold are
your prayers? Boldness in prayer is an uncomfortable thought for many. We think
of speaking softly to God, humbling ourselves before God, or having a chat with
God. But agonizing before God? Storming heaven with prayers? Pounding on the
door of the Most High? Wrestling with God? Isn't that irreverent? Even presumptuous?
It would be had God not invited us to pray that way. "So let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive his mercy and to
find grace to help us in our times of need." (Heb. 4:16; emphasis mine)
Joshua did that, but not before he didn't. His prayer life teaches us what
happens when we don't pray, as much
as it tells us how to pray.
In the days following
the Shechem gathering, a group of strangers entered Joshua's camp. They told
him, "From a very far country your servants have come." (Josh. 9:9)
They presented themselves as hapless pilgrims from a distant place. And everything
seemed to fit their story. Their grain sacks, sandals and clothes were all worn-out.
Even their bread was moldy and dry. They praised the accomplishments of God,
and asked Joshua and his men to make a covenant with them. Joshua weighed the
options, and his rulers eventually agreed. Three days passed before Joshua
realized he’d been hoodwinked. These people weren’t from a distant land; they
were from Gibeon, only a day's walk away. Their weathered clothing was a
disguise. They pretended to be foreigners because they knew that the Hebrews
had ransacked Jericho and Ai. Maybe they also knew about God's laws which had a
special provision for any city that agreed to make peace with God’s people would
be spared. So they resorted to deception.
Why didn't
Joshua and the elders detect the ruse? Because "they did not ask counsel
of the LORD." (Josh. 9:14) The practice of the Hebrews was supposed to be
pray first, act later. In fact, Joshua was told to "stand before Eleazar
the priest, who shall inquire before the LORD." (Num. 27:21) But Joshua didn’t
do that. He and his council entered into an alliance with the enemy because
they didn't first seek the counsel of God. We’d do well to learn from Joshua's
mistake.
Our enemy enters
our camp in a disguise, too. "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of
light." (2 Cor. 11:14) He’s crafty. That's why it’s essential that we consult
God in everything. Always. Live with one ear toward heaven. Keep the line open
to God. "Is this opportunity from you, God?" "Are you in this
venture, God?" "Should I take this road, God?" At every
decision. At each crossroads. Acknowledge him, heed him, and ask him, Do I turn right or left? "Trust in
the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He
shall direct your paths." (Prov. 3:5-6; emphasis mine) Our relationship
with God is exactly that: a relationship. His invitation is clear and simple:
"Come and talk with me, O my people." (Ps. 27:8) And what should be our
response? "Lord, I am coming." (v. 8) We abide with him, and he
abides with us. He grants wisdom as we need it.
God will help us
against the tempter. He will disclose the craftiness of Satan. But we must
regularly consult him. In everything. His word is a "lamp unto [our]
feet" (Ps. 119:105), not a halogen spotlight into the future. He gives us enough
light to take the next step. Call it footstep faith. We learn to hear God's
voice telling us to turn this way or that way. "Your own ears will hear
him. Right behind you a voice will say, 'This is the way you should go,'
whether to the right or to the left." (Isa. 30:21) Refer every decision to
the tribunal of heaven. Wait until God speaks before you act. Be patient.
Monitor your impulse. "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you
should go; I will guide you with My eye." (Ps. 32:8) If you feel a check
in your heart, heed it and ask God again. That’s the only way to outwit the
devil's deceit. Consult God in everything, and call on God for great things. Joshua did.
The alliance
with the Gibeonites quickly proved to be a nightmare. The other kings of Canaan
saw the Gibeonites as traitors and set out to attack and kill them. Five armies
bore down on the people of Gibeon. They were overwhelmingly outnumbered. But
since they had an alliance with Joshua, they asked the Hebrews for help. And because
he had given his word, Joshua had no choice but to come to their rescue. “So
Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the
mighty men of valor. And the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Do not fear them, for I have
delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you.’
Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal." (Josh. 10:7-9)
The five kings didn’t
stand a chance. Apparently they didn’t expect Joshua to respond with such
fervor. They turned and ran with the Hebrews hot on their heels. And as
Joshua's army thundered behind them, the clouds began to thunder above them.
"Large hailstones" fell from the sky in a divine carpet bombing. (v.
11) Joshua saw the hailstones falling and anticipated the sun setting. But it
was midday. We need more time, he
realized. Nightfall would give the enemies a chance to regroup. If he had just
a few more hours of daylight, he could win the battle and strike a decisive
blow. So he began to pray. He’d failed to pray about the Gibeonites, but he didn't
make the same mistake twice. So Joshua prayed. For reinforcements? No, he
prayed for the world to stop. Now that’s
praying, or just plain crazy.
“The day God
gave the Amorites up to Israel, Joshua spoke to God, with all Israel listening: ‘Stop, sun, over Gibeon; halt, moon,
over Aijalon Valley.’ And the sun stopped, and the moon stood stock still until
he defeated his enemies. (You can find this written in the Book of Jashar.) The
sun stopped in its tracks in mid sky; just sat there all day. There’s never
been a day like that before or since — God
took orders from a human voice! Truly, God
fought for Israel.” (Josh. 10:12-14) This was a stunning,
unprecedented prayer. The narrator, knowing his readers would be shocked at the
story, referred to the Book of Jashar, an extra-biblical volume that contained
stories of the Hebrew people. He was stating, in effect, "Hey, if you think
that one’s hard to believe, just check it out in the Book of Jashar." But
the verse that really deserves your highlighter is verse 14. "GOD took orders
from a human voice!" God, in his providence, pressed the solar Pause button. He chose to hear and heed
Joshua's request. Might he do something similar for us?
Greg Pruett is
trained as an engineer, linguist and Bible translator. But his most significant
contribution might be in the area of "extreme prayer." In his book by
the same name, he relates how he returned from Guinea, West Africa, to assume
the role as president of Pioneer Bible
Translators. It was 2008. The great recession was sucking dollars out of
the economy and confidence out of the public. The ministry's financial chart was
in a free fall toward a pool of red ink. Greg had no tangible place to cut expenses.
Resources were few, and donors were disappearing. Greg knew of only one
response: prayer. "That's when I began to learn not to pray about my
strategies, but to make prayer the strategy."
So, in July he wrote a half-page letter to his teammates worldwide, calling
them to prayer. He urged them to stand before God's throne with specific and
bold requests. They did, and Greg described the result: “When I saw the
end-of-the-year report, I knew God had heard our prayers. My eyes welled up
with tears . . . If a financial expert were to analyze this graph, he or she
would put their finger on the month of July and say, ‘What did you do right
here? Whatever it was, you need to do a lot more of that.’ I searched in vain for a tangible explanation. I wanted to
find trends to explain how it worked, so we could do it again. I never could .
. . I just know [God] provided. All I had was God and prayer.”
Maybe God and
prayer are all you have, too. Like Joshua, you face battles. Maybe five kings
are bearing down on you called discouragement, deception, defeat, destruction
and death. They roar into your world like the Hells Angels. Their goal is to chase you back into the wilderness. But
don’t give them an inch. Respond in prayer – honest, continual and audacious
prayer. You’re a member of God's family. You come to God not as a stranger but
as an heir. Confidently approach his throne. Earnestly make your requests known
to him – not because of what you’ve achieved, but because of what Christ has
done. Jesus spilled his blood for you, so you can certainly spill your heart to
God. "Ask and it will be given to you." (Matt. 7:7) "If you
believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer." (Matt. 21:22) Yes, it’s
a battle, but you’re not fighting in vain. Consult God in all things. Call on
him for great things. And then bring extra sunscreen because the day of victory
will last long into the night.
Grace,
Randy
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