TEXT: Joshua 6:1
TITLE: Praying with Excellence - BECOMING A CIRCLE MAKER
SERIES: Being the Church with Excellence
TOPIC: Prayer
OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, March 3, 2013
PROP. As we circle our “Jericho” in prayer, we need to trust God’s promises and Be Specific in what we want God to do.
INTRODUCTION: Good morning! Today, we are continuing to learn about being the church with excellence. Today…our attention is once again focused towards PRAYING with excellence. The first church that was birthed on the day of Pentecost, was CONTINUALLY devoted to prayer. That’s what (in part) made them excellent!
Would you classify yourself as being continually devoted to prayer? Would you say that you are a person of prayer?
As we are learning to be a church that prays with excellence, it’s vitally important for us learn how to pray. That’s exactly where we started last week…the disciples were with Jesus and they were bold with the right request: “Lord, Teach us to pray!” Luke 11:1
I have recently read a book called: The Circle Maker. It has revolutionized my prayer life in a phenomenal way.
Today, I want to explain what I mean when I use the phrase “BECOMING A CIRCLE MAKER…”
What does it mean to be a circle maker in regards to prayer? To answer this question this morning, I want to take you to the original circle makers found in the book of Joshua. I want to start out in Joshua chapter 6.
Let me set the stage for you. So the children of God (called the Israelites) have been led out of slavery in Egypt by Moses. They were journeying on their way to the promised land…you remember the land that God promised to them don’t you? It was flowing with MILK and HONEY…or by today‘s standards…the land was bountiful with Doritos and Mt. Dew! The land was awesome! It was going to be their home for as long as the world would endure.
But there was a problem…as they were on their way toward this land that God had promised to them, Moses sent out 12 men to go check out the land that God had promised to them (Number 13). So after 40 days of spying out the land, the 12 men came back to give Moses a report on what the land was like…They all reported that the land was filled with delicious fruit and was bountiful with resources. But they also saw giants living in the land. And only 2 of the 12 believed they could conquer the people who occupied the land.
So because they failed to trust and obey God on several occasions, God decided to punish the nation of Israel by forcing them to spend 40 YEARS in the wilderness wandering with no home.
God told the Israelites that the generation that was disobedient would NOT live to see the land that God promised to them.
Well, that brings us to the book of Joshua. Several years have now passed. The Israelites had nearly finished their wandering in the wilderness and are ABOUT to take the promised land that God had told them was theirs! The great and revered leader, MOSES, was dead and gone. Joshua was now the leader of Israel.
And so as Israel was about to cross the Jordan river and enter into the land that God promised to them…
Only one thing stood in their way. It was a city. And it wasn’t just any city. It was JERICHO.
BACKGROUND OF THE HISTORY OF JERICHO:
I need to give you some background on the city of Jericho. Here is Jericho (show modern day picture) Not so impressive right? Well that’s AFTER God destroyed the city.
Here is what the city’s limits looked like: (show border of city)
Listen to one Bible scholar’s comments on Jericho:
Ancient Jericho is located at Tell es-Sultan, a mound scarred with the trenches of archaeological digs. It is next to a natural spring on the western edge of the Jordan Valley, just north of the Dead Sea (which was originally within the city-walls). The site’s excellent water supply and favorable climate (especially in winter) have made it a desirable place to live in ancient times, giving it the distinction of being called the oldest city in the world. The site is strategically located. From Jericho one has access to the heartland of Canaan. Any military force attempting to penetrate the central hill country from the east, as the Bible describes Joshua and the Israelites doing, would have to first capture Jericho.
Jericho is described as a strong fortified city with walls and a gate, built on a hill, so that any attackers had to go up to take it (Joshua 2:5,7,15; 6:5,20). As the door to the whole Land of Caanan, it was a most strongly fortified city.
(here is a cross section of the what the walls of Jericho looked like- )
So first of all an attacker faced a trench and a lower stone Revetement Wall (20 feet high) encircling the bottom of the hill, with a mud brick Wall on top of it. Then there was an earthen Rampart going up to the top of the hill at 35 degrees, and then the Upper City Mud-brick Wall (30 feet higher up) that surrounded the top of the Tel, which was the main City Wall. It must have seemed almost impossible to make a successful attack on this City!
To make this even worse, this steep earthen rampart was covered by a slippery white plaster surface, called a ‘Glacis’ which went all the way up from the lower brick-wall to the upper brick-wall. It was Kenyon that discovered this. She made deep cuttings through the outer slopes of the mound and was able to trace a thin plaster surface sloping down from the top of the trench (see picture below). This slippery slope made it very hard to climb up and so it made you a sitting duck for the archers on the walls shooting at you.
So when God told Joshua that he was going to give Jericho into his hands…you can begin to understand what was going through Joshua’s mind: “Ummm…God, let me get this straight. You are going to have a nomadic people, with limited weapons, who are tired and worn out from walking in the wilderness…capture and defeat the great fortified city of Jericho??? Okkkkkk.”
So let’s read about How God told Joshua to deal with this well defended city of Jericho.
Joshua 6:1-21
Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. 2 The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. 3 You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. 4 Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead.”
6 So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.” 7 Then he said to the people, “Go forward, and march around the city, and let the armed men go on before the ark of the Lord.” 8 And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. 9 The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets. 10 But Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout!”
11 So he had the ark of the Lord taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.
12 Now Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went before them and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while they continued to blow the trumpets. 14 Thus the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did so for six days.
15 Then on the seventh day they rose early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times.
16 At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. 17 The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. 18 But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, so that you do not covet them and take some of the things under the ban, and make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it. 19 But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” 20 So the people shouted, and priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city. 21 They utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
So there you have this huge obstacle in the way. The obstacle was the city of Jericho. No doubt, you have obstacles in your way. Oh they might not be spelled “Jericho”…but you have them. Some of you spell Jericho “cancer”. Some of you spell Jericho “marriage problems” Others spell it “financial debt”.
So what do you do with your Jericho?
T.S.: Three things to do with your Jericho….
If you want to be a circle maker…
I. Trust God’s Promises
That’s exactly what Joshua was doing. In fact, the promise that God gave Joshua can be found in Joshua 1:1-3
Joshua 1:1-3
1 Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, 2 “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. 3 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.
God made a promise. And when God makes a promise, he’s really, REALLY good at keeping those promises. Joshua had been with Moses and had learned how FAITHFUL God was at keeping His word.
And so God told Joshua: “The Promise I made Moses…I am making to you. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you…”
Did you notice something about the language of that sentence? God speaks to Joshua in the PAST tense. “God says, “I HAVE given it to you…”
That which hasn’t even happened, is as good as done in the eyes of God!
And so…
A. Joshua circled because God promised
As Joshua, and the Israelites marched around Jericho day after day…I wonder if Joshua recited the promise that God made to him? I wonder if Joshua looked at the imposing walls of Jericho and thought - “in just a few days…these will fall flat?”
Even when the people may not have understood…Joshua circled. I can guarantee that people were wondering at the “logic” of circling the city. I am SURE there were skeptics. I am sure there were complainers. “Why are we doing this? How is this going to accomplish anything?”
And yet, Joshua was confident that God was going to make good on his promise.
B. God’s promises to YOU
Perhaps you need to be reminded of some of God’s promises to you and the JERICHO you are facing:
For those who are sick…
James 5:15, 16
15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
For those struggling with asking God for anything…claim this promise:
Matthew 7:7-11
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
For those struggling to wonder if God cares about your Jericho?
Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
Or…
Matthew 28:20b
“…I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
THOSE are promises you need to lean on as you circle your Jericho.
TRUST those promises as you circle your Jericho in prayer…
Second thing to do with your Jericho:
II. Be SPECIFIC
I think some of the problems with our prayers is we aren’t specific enough. We pray general thoughts and so the results are general. Do you know what I mean? “Lord…bless them…” “Lord…be with them…” “Lord…I am going to pray very vaguely and obscurely…so just handle it.”
While it is true that God knows what we need before we ask it of Him, God wants us to ask him precisely what it is, we are wanting Him to do!
A. Joshua was specific
He SPECIFICALLY circled Jericho. It wasn’t just any old city. It was the city that concerned Joshua the most. It was the city that God directed Joshua to circle. It was a SPECIFIC city. And it’s the ONLY city that Joshua and the Israelites circled.
ILLUSTRATION: In the book the Circle Maker, Mark Batterson shares the story of Honi. I want to share from his book the story of Honi.
READ PAGES 1-3 of the CIRCLE Maker…
It was the first century BC and a devastating drought threatened to destroy a generation, the generation before Jesus. The last of the Jewish prophets had died off nearly four centuries before. Miracles were such a distant memory that they seemed like a false memory. And God was nowhere to be heard. But there was one man, an eccentric sage who lived outside the walls of Jerusalem, who dared to pray anyway. His name was Honi.1 And even if the people could no longer hear God, he believed that God could still hear them.
When rain is plentiful, it’s an afterthought. During a drought, it’s the only thought. And Honi was their only hope. Famous for his ability to pray for rain, it was on this day—the day—that Honi would earn his moniker.
With a six-foot staff in his hand, Honi began to turn like a math compass. His circular movement was rhythmical and methodical. Ninety degrees. One hundred and eighty degrees. Two hundred and seventy degrees. Three hundred and sixty degrees. He never looked up as the crowd looked on. After what seemed like hours, but had only been seconds, Honi stood inside the circle he had drawn. Then he dropped to his knees and raised his hands to heaven. With the authority of the prophet Elijah who called down fire from heaven, Honi called down rain.
“Lord of the Universe, I swear before your great name that I will not move from this circle until you have shown mercy upon your children.”
The words sent a shudder down the spine of all who were within earshot that day. It wasn’t just the volume of his voice. It was the authority of his tone. Not a hint of doubt. This prayer didn’t originate in the vocal chords. Like water from an artesian well, the words flowed from the depth of his soul. His prayer was resolute yet humble; confident yet meek; expectant yet unassuming.
Then it happened.
As his prayer ascended to the heavens, raindrops descended to the earth. An audible gasp swept across the thousands of congregants who had encircled Honi. Every head turned heavenward as the first raindrops parachuted from the sky, but Honi’s head remained bowed. The people rejoiced over each drop, but Honi wasn’t satisfied The Legend of the Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
Page | 2 © 2011 by Mark Batterson. You are permitted and encouraged to use this outline as the basis for your own preaching and teaching. with a sprinkle. Still kneeling within the circle, Honi lifted his voice over the sounds of celebration.
“Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain that will fill cisterns, pits, and caverns.”
The sprinkle turned into such a torrential downpour that eyewitnesses said no raindrop was smaller than an egg in size. It rained so heavily and so steadily that the people fled to the Temple Mount to escape the flash floods. Honi stayed and prayed inside his protracted circle. Once more he refined his bold request.
“Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain of Thy favor, blessing, and graciousness.”
Then, like a well-proportioned sun shower on a hot and humid August afternoon, it began to rain calmly, peacefully. Each raindrop was a tangible token of God’s grace. And they didn’t just soak the skin; they soaked the spirit with faith. It would be forever remembered as the day. The day thunderclaps applauded the Almighty. The day puddle jumping became an act of praise. The day the legend of the circle maker was born. It had been difficult to believe the day before the day. The day after the day, it was impossible not to believe.
Honi was celebrated like a hometown hero by the people whose lives he had saved. But some within the Sanhedrin called the Circle Maker into question. A faction believed that drawing a circle and demanding rain dishonored God. Maybe it was those same members of the Sanhedrin who would criticize Jesus for healing a man’s withered arm on the Sabbath a generation later. They threatened Honi with excommunication, but because the miracle could not be repudiated, Honi was ultimately honored for his act of prayerful bravado.
The prayer that saved a generation was deemed one of the most significant prayers in the history of Israel. The circle he drew in the sand became a sacred symbol. And the legend of Honi the circle maker stands forever as a testament to the power of a single prayer to change the course of history.
The Power of a Single Prayer
The earth has circled the sun more than two thousand times since the day Honi drew his circle in the sand, but God is still looking for circle makers. And the timeless truth secreted within this ancient legend is as true now as it was then: bold prayers honor God and God honors bold prayers. God isn’t offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less. If your prayers aren’t impossible to you, they are insulting to God. Why? Because they don’t require divine intervention. But ask God to part the Red Sea or make the sun stand still or float an iron ax-head, and God is moved to omnipotent action.
Page | 3 © 2011 by Mark Batterson. You are permitted and encouraged to use this outline as the basis for your own preaching and teaching.
There is nothing God loves more than keeping promises, answering prayers, performing miracles, and fulfilling dreams. That is who He is. That is what He does. And the bigger the circle we draw, the better, because God gets more glory. The greatest moments in life are the miraculous moments when human impotence and divine omnipotence intersect, and they intersect when we draw a circle around the impossible situations in our lives and invite God to intervene.
I promise you this: God is ready and waiting. So while I have no idea what circumstances you find yourself in, I’m confident that you are only one prayer away from a dream fulfilled, a promise kept or a miracle performed.
It’s absolutely imperative at the outset that you come to terms with this simple yet life-changing truth: God is for you.2 If you don’t believe that, then you’ll pray small timid prayers. If you do believe it, then you’ll pray big audacious prayers. And one way or the other, your small timid prayers or big audacious prayers will change the trajectory of your life and turn you into two totally different people. Prayers are prophecies. They are the best predictors of your spiritual future. Who you become is determined by how you pray. Ultimately, the transcript of your prayers becomes the script of your life.
Talk about a SPECIFIC prayer. Talk about knowing EXACTLY what it is, you want from God.
Here’s the truth I’ve come to learn:
B. God WANTS you to be specific
The more I’ve studied about prayer…the clearer it is to me that God wants us to be specific in what we are asking for.
In Mark 10...we read of an interesting encounter that Jesus Christ has with man. It’s an astonishing reminder that God wants us to be specific in what we ask Him for…
Mark 10:46-52
46 Then they *came to Jericho. And as Jesus was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they *called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” 50 Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. 51 And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabbi, I want to regain my sight!” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.
Isn’t it a coincidence that this encounter that Jesus has with this blind man takes place in Jericho? The same city that Joshua SPECIFICALLY circled? No. There are no coincidences with God.
So here in this city that Joshua intentionally was looking for God to do something BIG…450 years later…a blind man stops Jesus by asking GENERALLY “Lord, have mercy on me!” But did you notice what Jesus did? He asked for the blind man to be brought near to him and Jesus asks the blind man a very interesting question. It’s a very POINTED question. I wonder if God asks us the same question: (vs. 51) “What do you want me to do for you?”
And it’s only after the blind man tells Jesus exactly what he wants from him that Jesus heals him and sends him on his way!
This message of being specific in what we ask God for is a message that is reiterated time and time again.
James says: (4:2,3)
You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
So…let me ask you this question that will cause you to pause and think: What EXACTLY do you want God to do with YOUR Jericho?
Do you want your cancer to be healed? Do you want your child to return to the FAITH? Do you want rain to pour from the heavens? Do you want this mountain to be moved?
“You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
BE SPECIFIC.
ILLUSTRATION: Tony Newton. Have you noticed that everything we’ve specifically asked God to do for Tony has happened? His speech. His movement. His life being spared. ALL OF IT. God wants us to pray specific. God also wants us to PRAY BIG!
We will talk more about praying BIG next week.
CONCLUSION: Today, I want you to answer the same question the blind man had to answer: WHAT DO YOU WANT GOD TO DO FOR YOU?
Be specific. Rely on God’s promises. See what happens. Take a few moments to specifically pray about your “Jericho”. And in a few moments, I’ll close in prayer.
