“You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it” Jesus in John 14:14.
Yes, another promise in prayer that makes it a perplexing exercise sometimes! The topic of prayer is a huge subject so all I want to do is give an observation from my current readings out of the book of Joshua.
“You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it” Jesus in John 14:14.
Yes, another promise in prayer that makes it a perplexing exercise sometimes! The topic of prayer is a huge subject so all I want to do is give an observation from my current readings out of the book of Joshua.
After the death of Moses, God had called Joshua to lead the people and in the beginning of the book promised to honor him as He had honored Moses. Imagine the people’s perception of their new leader as the walls of Jericho (photo I took there last June) collapsed and a decisive victory was won! The next place to take was Ai and as it seemed a small place they took only a few men and were soundly defeated, with 36 of their number killed. All of a sudden the leadership of Joshua was under question and so he had a talk with the Lord. “Why did You even bring us here? Was it to hand us over to our enemies? What will surrounding nations say of us – and do to us?? How on earth does this kind of thing lift up Your name?” The prayer of a very exasperated and beset leader.
The Lord replied that He hadn’t changed at all but there was sin in the camp against his express requirements for war. Achan had taken plunder – this was the cause for the Ai defeat.
Joshua thought the problem was with God, while God showed him that the problem was with Israel. Our side – God’s side. There are always reasons for why prayers aren’t answered the way we want and when we want!
I write out my prayers and then go over them to see what God has answered yes and what He has answered no. I love the yeses and I suppose I can take the noes, but I also see many of my prayers which to this point have no answer. There are many reasons for this that I may not know, but at the core, the issue is always on the human side – not God’s side.
Jesus told the parable of the woman persisting with the unrighteous judge so she could receive an answer (Luke 18). He did this in order to encourage us to pray and not give up. “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?” (vs. 7).
What prayers seem stalled in your life? Perhaps the Lord will show you what needs to be corrected in your life before the answer comes. Perhaps there are big issues at work that you can’t know about at this time. Perhaps the answer is around the corner. Let’s continue to bring our requests to the Father – to not give up! That’s Jesus’ advice!
Pastor Leon Throness
