Part 6: Great Things Happen When God's People Pray! Series

Great Prayers of the Old Testament

Part 6: Great Things Happen when God's People Pray!

Judges 6:1-40; Judges 7:2-7; Judges 7:12-22; Judges 8:10

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared October 26, 2024)

BACKGROUND:

*Please open your Bibles to Judges 6. Here the Bible begins to tell us the story of Gideon, and the miraculous victory that God gave to Gideon's tiny army. But before we look at the Scripture, it's important to understand the background to this Book of Judges.

*J. Vernon McGee tells us that "Judges takes its title from 12 men and 1 woman who served as judges in Israel after the death of Joshua." Bible scholars I saw estimate this period lasted 325 to 450 years, until the days of the Prophet Samuel. "None of these judges were national leaders as Moses and Joshua had been. So for this period, God gives us a partial account, using local judges in different parts of the nation."

*But there is a common theme in the Book of Judges. William MacDonald explained that the Children of Israel had failed to completely drive out the ungodly inhabitants of Canaan. In fact, they had mingled with these pagans and were worshiping idols. As a result, God repeatedly delivered His people into the hands of pagan oppressors. In short: God's people rebelled against the Lord, bringing God's judgment on His people. Then when they repented, they were forgiven and rescued by God. "The Scofield Bible summed up the theme of Judges as 'Defeat and Deliverance.'"

*Arthur Cundall wrote: "There is much in Judges to sadden the heart of the reader. Perhaps no book in the Bible witnesses so clearly to our human weakness. But there are also rock-solid signs of God's compassion and long-suffering. And the lives of these human saviors can help point to the heavenly Savior who is able to give us perfect deliverance for all eternity." (1)

*Judges 6:1-10 describes one of the cycles of rebellion and repentance. Here God's Word says:

1. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,

2. and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains.

3. So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.

4. Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey.

5. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it.

6. So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.

7. And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD because of the Midianites,

8. that the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage;

9. and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.

10. Also I said to you, "I am the LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed My voice.'''''

*In vs. 6, the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. And in vs. 8-10, the LORD sent a prophet to preach the truth to them. Preaching God's Word is always a crucial step to get God's people where He wants them to be. But the LORD wasn't finished yet. He was about to use Gideon to deliver His people again. And his part of the story begins in vs. 11-16. Here Gideon shows us some of the wonderful things that happen when God's people pray. Please think about this, as we read Judges 6:11-16.

MESSAGE:

*What happens when God's people pray?

1. FIRST: WE INVITE THE LORD'S INVOLVEMENT.

*When God's people pray, we invite the Lord's involvement in our lives. Gideon is a great example of this truth, and we see this in vs. 11-12:

11. Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree (Church: That's a slow growing but large tree that can live a thousand years, and looks much like an oak. And this tree) which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.