Joshua: The Posture Of Prayer Series

Joshua: The posture of prayer

Joshua 5:13-5:15

When we think of the name & the man Joshua, our mind may go back to the song “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling’ down”. Joshua’s place in history was much greater than that one episode. He was the son of noble parents. He was enslaved in Egypt, but was never enslaved inwardly. Once he had tasted freedom he looked forward to crossing into the new land.

Here are some other facts on Joshua: 1. Joshua was Moses’ right hand man. 2. Joshua was a soldier. 3. He was a spy. If you’ll remember 12 spies were sent into the promise land to case it out but only he and Caleb brought back a good report of the land of milk & honey. 4. Josh. 1:5 we read that he was blessed with the presence of God. 5. Josh. 1:8 tells us he was a student of the Word of God. 6. Num. 32:12 says he was obedient to the will of God. But most of all Joshua was a man of prayer. Prayer was important to him and when it comes to the Christian life we all should be men and women of prayer and prayer should be important to us. It’s a vital part of our relationship with God. It’s what helps keep it vibrant. How can you call yourself a Christian if you don’t pray?

SOMEONE HAS SAID IF WE WANT TO BE MUCH FOR GOD, WE MUST BE MUCH WITH GOD. What that means is that if you want to be a servant of God’s and want to be used by him in great and mighty ways then we need to have a strong relationship with Him, but in order for that relationship to become strong one must spend time with God the Father.

Tonight we are going to take a look again at the Battle of Jericho. If you will remember several months ago we looked at this event in a Series I did entitled “C.O.D.” which stood for challenges, opportunities and decisions. So tonight we are going to look at it again but from a different perspective.

This evening we are going to be looking in Joshua 5:13-15. While your turning there let me catch you up to where we will be reading. Most of you know the story but I will give you the TM version. Remember the children of Israel because of disobedience had to wait 40 years before entering into the Promise Land. They had to wait for the Moses generation to die off. The Moses generation of Israelites had all passed and it was now time for the new generation of Israelites to enter into the promise land. So Joshua and the children of Israel had the task of crossing the Jordan River to get into the Promise Land. However, in order for them to cross the Jordan River they were going to have to cross it at flood stage. To make a long story short the Joshua Generation crossed the Jordan River on dry ground. They reach the other side and they build an altar on the other side of the river out of 12 stones to remind them of what God had done and now they are getting ready for the battle of Jericho. Now it is the night before the battle and Joshua has headed out to look at the walls of Jericho. I believe he is out trying to make battle plans. So while Joshua is out looking at the walls he comes in contact with someone.

Now in the Book of Joshua the storming of the walls of Jericho is only one of the many episodes in the life of Joshua, but this episode teaches us volumes about his prayer life, which in turn shows us how our prayer life should be as well as how we are to approach God when it comes to prayer. So tonight we are going to look at Joshua: The Posture of Prayer. Read Joshua 5:13-15.

First off I want us to notice his…

I. Perception (v.13)

The word perception means: the awareness of objects or other data through the senses. When you read this story you can see that Joshua was very aware of what was going on around him. Verse 13 starts out by saying “When Joshua was by Jericho…” When you read this you get the idea that it was very likely that Joshua had gone to Jericho to check things out. He went there to look at the task that was before them so that a battle plan could be laid out. Now I’m sure that while he was there he was contemplating the strength of the place, and probably reflecting on the extreme difficulty of reducing it. I believe that as Joshua stood before the great obstacle of the fortified city of Jericho He came to realize his inability to complete his mission.