“The Miracle of Prayer” Joshua Ch.10
Pastor Bob Hunter
We’ve been studying the book of Joshua in the O.T. Last week we talked about the peace treaty Israel signed with the Gibeonites. That was in Ch. 9. So Just when you thought maybe things would settling down a little bit, chapter ten comes along. With it Israel is faced with yet another battle. This time they must face a coalition of kingdoms that are coming against their new found neighbors, the people living in Gibeon. Things are about ready to get ugly, so lets see what happens... Are you ready to hear about this? (Dramatically read story in Joshua 10:1 ff)
I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard and personally witnessed some pretty ridiculous and unbelievable prayers in my life. Sometimes, I wonder if God knew what he was doing when He told us to pray unceasingly; that is to ask anything in His name... God has given us a pretty wide open invitation, hasn’t He. In fact, I’ve heard kids pray for pet fish. Adults pray for favorites sports teams. Pastors pray for lightening to strike. And lay people pray for same thing, and for it to strike their Pastor preaches. Some people have constipation of the brain and direahea of the mouth when it comes to prayer. There’s no limit to the ridiculous nature of some prayers.
Today I want to shed a little light on this subject, and talk to you about the miracle of prayer. By all estimations Joshua’s prayer, in the presence of all Israel, was pretty unbelievable. He was definately laying it all on the line. I would even hazard to say that some people probably thought it was ridiculous. But interestingly enough God took seriously. At first glance it appears unrealistic and naive. But God responded to it.
The story begins to unfold with Joshua facing the 5 Amorite Kings. Who at the time were Israel’s enemy. The kings and their armies were coming after the Gibeonites. Joshua wasn’t about to let that happen. The Gibeonites were now Israel’s un-welcomed allies. It was God’s will for Israel to put the Amorites in their place. That’s what chapter 10 tells us. But in order to do it, Joshua needed a little extra help. So he asked God to do something unheard of and unprecedented. Joshua asked God to make time stand still. Now I know that pushes the limits of our imaginations. But without any hesitation, Joshua publicly prayed for this in the presence of all Israel. And when he prayed, he asked God to make the Sun stand still and the moon to stop so he could finish the job and defeat the Amorites. If there was a list of top ten most unbelievable prayers in the Bible this one would probably be in the top three. I mean how often does God bring time itself to a screeching halt just because we ask him to? Hun? It just doesn’t happen. In fact, the Bible says this request was unprecedented. Nothing had ever occurred like it before. Asking God to suspend the laws of nature, that’s a pretty big request. Praying for God to halt the entire solar system? Now that’s a pretty tall order.
But miraculously, God saw the importance of this request. The moment Joshua completed his prayer, God answered without any delay or hesitation. And for the first time in the history of the universe, the Sun, the moon and everything in the Solar system quit moving for almost a whole day! Everything froze in place so Joshua could continue his work defeating the Amorites and defending the Gibeonites.
Now without question this miraculous event is a stretch of the imagination. It ranks up there with Jonah being swallowed by a whale, and Moses parting the red sea. But consider this if you will? The laws of nature cannot be easily defied. Unless your the God who made the laws in the first place. And thats what we are dealing with in Joshua 10. In order for their to be a law, there must be a law giver. In order for the law to effectively govern and operate there has to be someone wise enough and strong enough to enforce the law. That person is God. And if God made the law, then He certainly has every right to suspend it, amend it or rescind it. That’s what we’re dealing with here. Joshua prays to the God of the universe, the soveriegn creator; he’s praying to the law giver himself. And for a period of about a day, the laws of nature were suspended on Joshua‘s behalf. Only a God can do that. And when God temporarily, suspends, amends or recsinds a law, miracles take place! The sun and moon standing still can only be explained as divinely miraculous. God was responsible for it.
Now a God given miracle usually produces proof. God doesn’t need to prove himself. But what He does in the world is no secret. God doesn’t mind leaving behind a little bit of evidence so people don’t forget or reason it away. That’s why I believe we have things like the dead sea scrolls, ancient artifacts, and other kinds of historical evidence. God doesn’t mind letting us have proof. Well take heart, there’s proof, I’m told of this extraordinary long day in the annuls of history. For example, the Chinese have a legend of an extraordinary long day. The Incas of Peru have in their history a very similiar account of a day being stretched out. The Persians’ record a long day, the Babylonians have record of it and so do the Egyptians, that just about covers everybody on the planet at that time!
Additional evidence exist among noted astronomers, calculations and study of ancient calendars show that somewhere in the course of history there was a entire day of sunlight that got squeezed into the record. And when you think of it, it’s hard for something like that to go unnoticed. Especially when time was kept using a Sundial. It would seem to me awful hard not to notice any movement on the Sundial for about a day. The only valid explanation for this occurance remains to be Joshua Ch. 10.
But you know what? We don’t need a historian or an astronomer to give us proof. As people of faith we accept it, because we know the God of the Galaxies and we have faith in that God. We have faith in the prime mover, the one who put it all into motion in the first place. The same God that made the Sun and Moon and held them still for Joshua is the God we serve today. Historical proof is nice, but faith is better. So do I believe this happened? You bet I do. I guess you could say I’m a literalist when it comes to the miraculous. I have no problem believing God flooded the earth, parted the red sea, and sent a whale to swallow Jonah. I have no problem with that whatsoever. Some preachers and theologs today are telling us we need to re-examine the Bible and interpret these occurrences metaphorically and figurately. They are telling us we need to re-examine the Bible. To quote Adrian Rodgers who I credit with some of these insights, “I don’t think the Bible needs to be re-examined, I think they(those preachers & theologs) are the ones that need to be re-examined.” Think of it... if a quote un-quote spiritual leader doesn’t believe that God can wonderfully and miraculously amend, suspend and rescind the laws of nature, then what’s the point of life? Then who is God anyway?
What the Bible says happened in Joshua 10, I believe actually occurred. And what an encouragement this ought to be to our hearts. Think of it, the God of universe stopped everything to take care of Joshua’s needs. Thats the kind of God we serve. We serve a God who hears and answers prayer, and if necessary he’ll stop time itself to take care of his children. God will put everything aside in order to respond to cry of one of his followers. That’s whats so amazing about this account, the God of the universe listened and responded to the prayer of a mere mortal man. Joshua’s plea for time was granted. You see, Joshua wasn’t afraid to ask God for something big. I mean after all, He’s a big God isn’t He? God can handle it. He can handle a big request. What’s the worst that can happen when ask God for something big? It might not come to pass, and if it doesn’t come to pass, then guess what, thats usually because God has something better for us anyway. But what is so amazing about this account is that it actually happened...
I’ve got a good explanation as to why. You know why I believe God acted so swiftly and promptly on Joshua’s behalf? (And this will help you pray for miracles in your life.) When Joshua prayed to the God of the Universe, the content of his prayer was consistent with God’s will. Look at verse, 10. God’s purpose was stated in no uncertain terms. The Lord spoke to Joshua and said, “Don’t be afraid of them, I have given them into your hands, Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” Joshua’s prayer and the nature of His request, was lodged in a promise that had already been given. In other words, his prayers were in harmony with God’s will. Joshua knew what God had promised from the beginning. And it was out of that understanding of God’s will and submission to God’s plan that he made this unbelievable request. Joshua saw the answer to his prayer because when he prayed it was for something to happen within the revealed will of God. And what he prayed for wonderfully came to pass.
Notice the reassurance given in verse. 14, “Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel.” God takes credit for it! The things that God promised, came to pass. God did the very things he said he would do. And even though it meant suspending the laws of nature and causing time itself to stand still; thats something God is completely capable of and will do when we line ourselves up with his goals.
Now I want to leave you with one more thought. It’s true that God put time on the clock for his servant Joshua, He extended the day according to His will. But I want to tell ya, thats a miracle that is not likely to be repeated. God is not always going to give us a fifth quarter. God doesn’t always call a time out. There’s a need my friends in the Church and in our homes to make the most of the time we have. Most of life is lived in the ordinary. Jesus reminded us of this fact, he said in the Gospel of John Ch. 9:4. Jesus said, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day, for night cometh when no man can work.” When I read that verse it sends chills up my spine. Because it reminds me, that time is short! And when there’s a battle to fight and war to win, its important to act. We need to sieze our opportunities now! We need to labor for the harvest now, not later. We need to start praying for miracles before the Sun goes down. Jesus said, “there is coming a time when no man can work.” In other words, the Sun is going to fade and night is going to come and we need to be ready. We need to seize our opportunities now.
Folks, there’s a lot of work to be done. There are some battles to be fought and we need to engage in our warfare. God has given us some awesome challenges. Here at Springwater Church we have some hurdles to cross, and I don’t know how much time we have, only God does. But I’m praying for a miracle, because that’s what it’s going to take. I believe in the miracle of prayer. So don’t be fooled, by a foolish prayer. A prayer offered in faith according to God’s will is heard. And I believe that God is going to deliver an answer. And before the day is done and the Sun sets we’re going to see victory. Remember, God is for us not against us, we are the Church we are chosen, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. All things are working together for the good of those that love God. God has promised to bring about a good ending.
The Sun is setting and night is coming, what are you going to do about it? I dare ya, to pray! Pray like Joshua did, he prayed fervently and faithfully and as a result he saw miraculous things come to pass.
Prayer:
Gracious God, how you do it is so amazing! What you do Lord, is so incredible. Lord, sometimes we can only stand back in awe. The cool part about Lord, is that you invite to get in on what your doing and participate in your plan. Lord, we are honored with the invitation. Prepare us, equip us, raise up a generation of people that will pray like Joshua prayed. Lord, we believe that just as you fought for Joshua, you will fight for us and that we too can be triumphant and victorious when we put our faith in you. Send us strongly and boldly into the mission field. May we represent your Son well. Amen.
