Coming To God With "The Big Ask"
Saturday July 25, 2020
The Big Ask
At the moment in my morning prayer time I’m reading through the book of Joshua and all the stories of how God helped His people actually enter into the land He promised to them hundreds of years beforehand.
Yesterday Joshua and the other leaders were duped by some people from a place called Gibeon. You can read about it in Joshua chapter 9. Then today in Joshua chapter 10 as they go out in battle against a strong enemy they experience an amazing victory. Yesterday they struggled, why? They listened to what people said. They looked at what was in their circumstances and “they did not inquire of the Lord.” In today’s story of victory, after Joshua had listened and gotten a word from God, in the long battle Joshua prayed an amazing prayer in front of his people. He prayed
Yesterday Joshua and the other leaders were duped by some people from a place called Gibeon. You can read about it in Joshua chapter 9. Then today in Joshua chapter 10 as they go out in battle against a strong enemy they experience an amazing victory. Yesterday they struggled, why? They listened to what people said. They looked at what was in their circumstances and “they did not inquire of the Lord.” In today’s story of victory, after Joshua had listened and gotten a word from God, in the long battle Joshua prayed an amazing prayer in front of his people. He prayed
“Sun, stand still over Gibeon and you moon, over the Valley of Aijalon”
What happened?”
“The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and
delayed going down about a full day.
There has never been a day like it before or since
when the Lord listened to a human being.”
I’m not making this up. Joshua’s prayer impacted the created order. God intervened when requested by a faithful, but not perfect man.
Here we are in the middle of a long battle that seems to have all kinds of twists and turns. Areas where initially success was noted in containing the COVID-19 virus are seeing upsurges in cases and having to increase their lockdown measures in various ways.
I’m asking myself these days, what are we asking of God? Are we just “going with the flow” about what’s happening. It has been going on for quite a while hasn’t it. How fatigued are we with doing what needs doing to take precautions and protect ourselves and others in the community? How filled with faith are our prayers as we come to God seeking His deliverance from this virus and all the harm it is bringing so many families, communities, and countries.
Do we still believe God will speak to us, will act on our behalf? Are we still taking time to listen for His voice, get out and do what we believe He is guiding us to do, and then calling out to Him for the supernatural help we need as the going gets tough?
Call to me and I will answer you and
tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
Jeremiah 33:3
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves
and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin
and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13
These are very familiar words to people who have walked with God for a while. What are we doing with them?
Loving God, we too easily get distracted by circumstances and challenges around us. Time wears on us and the journey seems long sometimes. Forgive us for the times we just slide through situations without consulting you and end up like Joshua and his people getting caught in agreements that cause problems for a lifetime.
We feel like we’ve been in this COVID-19 battle for a long time and we don’t see the end in sight yet. We pray God for grace to continue to do the things You’ve called us to do, no matter the challenges. We want to seek Your heart. We want to allow the good news of the Gospel to impact our hearts with faith and joy. We want to seek out ways to get out and share who You are and all You are offering to people who ae lost and dying without You.
With grace and kindness we want to call people to repent for not seeking Your face and together humble ourselves and call out to You for deliverance not just from the virus but from the deadly disease of sin and rebellion that will ultimately result in death and separation from You forever.
Oh God, You are not far away.
You are not deaf.
You are not unconcerned with what’s going on around us.
You are wanting us to humble ourselves and look to You,
to seek You with all our hearts.
We need you every day of our lives. We need you when things are going along just fine and when they are so out of control as they seem to be in this time of the pandemic.
We need to turn from our self-reliant ways, our reliance on human government or the economy or even the health care system to have the solutions for the problems that we confront. You’ve raised up these institutions to be a help and support but along with us, all of them come up short in meeting the need.
We are grateful today that we serve the God who created the heavens and the earth and who is still in control of every single thing going on in our world today. And so in the middle of it all, whatever our “make the sun stand still” need is, we pray to have faith and to call out to You, knowing that You are the one – the only one – who can do what’s needed today.
As Joshua and the warriors did their part, so we will faithfully seek to do what we can but when what we need is beyond what we can do, we pray to have the faith and take the opportunity to call out to You for “the big ask”, the unimaginable, the supernatural, knowing that You are willing and able. Amen
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