On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord
in
the presence of Israel:
“Sun, stand…So
the sun stood still, and the moon stopped…
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 (emphasis added)
Scottie and I talked after small group
Sunday about praying specific prayers. “Yeah, some of my friends asked me what
it would take for me to settle down,” he said. “I told them, ‘Oh, a redhead,
about 5’9” with blue or green eyes.’” He tilted his head toward his gorgeous
redheaded wife and smiled.
I’ve always shied away from what I
view as “telling God how to do things” when praying (which I do too much as it
is). But following the advice of a divorce recovery book I’d been reading, I
gave God my wish list for the kind of man I wanted. It came in handy when my
girlfriend convinced me to give E-harmony a try. I knew I wanted an honest,
family oriented, fun, hardworking, gentle man, who is wholeheartedly committed
to God.
I put my height preference as
5’10”even though I hadn’t previously given it much thought. When Kelly and I
were matched and I read his profile, the first thing I noticed was his height:
5’10”. I had to smile. Maybe God does want us to be specific after all.
 |
| My 5'10" husband on our honeymoon |
I emphasized the words “in the
presence of Israel” in today’s scripture because I think it’s important that
Joshua asked God for a miracle in front of other people. That’s bold prayer!
It’s one thing to pray specifically in private and if God chooses not to give
an affirmative answer, we can comfort ourselves. “Well, I guess it wasn’t His will.”
But it’s a daring step to make specific requests of God in the presence of our
spouse, prayer partner, or small group. It takes faith—in the ability and desire of our God to show He is Lord over all.
Joshua was brave, you might even say
reckless, to pray the sun would stand still so they’d have time to win the
battle. But he knew it was God’s will for the Israelites to take over the land.
God had repeatedly instructed them to do that and promised He would give them
the strength.
The wonderful thing about specific,
shared prayer is that when God answers, we can rejoice together. And He gets the glory, because we’re not the only one who
knows what we asked for. It’s obvious it wasn’t a coincidence or an accident
that the answer came about in that particular way.
I’m beginning to pray more specifically
and can almost hear God chuckling when I give Him an opportunity to show off. Especially
when it looks like there’s no way it’s going to happen, and then everything comes
together at just the right moment and ta-da! He made it happen. I believe our God
loves showing His children how much He loves and cares for us, even, and perhaps
especially, when the situation looks impossible.
I encourage you to pray with a prayer partner
for something you believe is God’s will and give Him a detailed request. For instance,
that God will send a friend into the life of an unbelieving child or friend you’ve
been praying for, who will speak to them about Jesus. Or, that God will meet a need
in a specific time frame or in a specific way. Check your heart to see whether you
are praying selfishly, or in reverence and trust. And see what God does.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil
with good.
Romans 12:21
#specificprayer #Godindetails #boldrequests #prayerwalking
#spiritualwarfare #claimingterritory #Joshua10 #Rom12:21 #halloweenandChristianity
#AllSaintsDay
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment