March 5, 2016

"On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”So the sun stood still  and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. 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, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!" Joshua 10:12-14

Even when you are in the Promised Land you need to pray. Pray over little things and pray over big things. Pray over everything!

When you forget to pray you can be deceived into making a bad decision and end up in trouble. Even in the Promised Land! Just ask Joshua.

He learned the hard way when he forgot to pray before making a treaty with the men of Gibeon. He ended up with a problem and found himself in a predicament.

What do you do when you are in a predicament because you forgot to pray?

You do what Joshua did. You pray a big bold bodacious prayer. Like you should have in the first place!

Joshua found himself in a fight against the five kings of Canaan because of the unwise treaty to which he had obligated himself with the Gibeonites. 

Had he prayed over that decision he wouldn't have found himself in this dilemma. He knew that. He may have regretted that. He probably would have done it differently if he had a do over. But what did he do in this predicament? He prayed!

What did he pray? He prayed that God would stop the sun so he and his army could have time to defeat the enemies of God! In other words he followed up his failure to pray by praying a much bigger prayer!

How many times have you let one failure, sin or careless moment lead to more failures?

Me too.

Give Joshua credit! He did not do that! He didn't let his failure define his future. Rather than let his past defeat him he let it drive him back to dependence on God!

The lessons from this stirring story are fourfold!

First, consult God over everything!

There is nothing to small to pray over.

Pray first and act second.

Second, call on God every time!

Don't use God as an escape hatch or a parachute. Make Him you first option every time!

Third, prayer works every time it is tried!

Fourth, God's power is not limited by your failure!

So, what keeps your from praying?

Is it a past failure to pray?

Is it a past failure in prayer?

If you fail to prayer or fail in prayer then do like Joshua and fail forward in faith!