Have you ever had God smack you between the eyes as you are reading? I have, and the most recent occasion was while I was reading Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick. In case you aren’t sure where you have heard that title before, it was in a prayer of Joshua, that God would make the sun stand still in the sky so the Israelites could win the battle they were fighting.
My word for 2015 is “persistent prayer,” and I have dedicated a portion of my devotional time to reading books on prayer or about prayer warriors for the entire year. I had no idea how much blessing I was going to derive from that commitment. Less than two months into the new year, and I have read some wonderful books that are challenging me and changing me. Sun Stand Still is one of them.
I got that smack between the eyes about nine days ago, thanks to Steven Furtick, when I read this:
“So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal.”
(Joshua 10:9, NASB95)
Joshua doesn’t pray his “sun stand still prayer” for several more verses. Before he prayed and asked God for the miraculous, he and his army marched all night and surprised the enemy. They marched all night in unknown territory, carrying all of their weapons of war. Joshua and his army took the natural steps and trusted God for the supernatural.
© Dusan Kostic / Dollar Photo Club
Am I willing to march all night while trusting God to fulfill a promise? Am I willing to keep moving forward in faith, no longer how long it takes, no matter how dark the night, no matter how fierce the enemy?
Those are the questions I am asking myself as I pray for God to move in situations in my life and in the situations in the lives of others. I hope you’ll do the same. Stop standing in hope and start marching in faith … all night if necessary.
~robin
Robin Lee Hatcher
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Prayer is powerful. I like the phrase March in Faith. When you sincerely pray you can rest assured that God hears you. Have faith in Him to answer your prayers. Remember that God’s timing is always perfect.
Amen.
Thank you for these words of wisdom, Robin. They are just what I needed this morning.
You’re welcome, Lynn.
Great reminder, Robin. We are called to “walk by faith” not to sit on our faith. To be bold not only in our prayers but in our lives as we pray. It reminds me of Daniel who not only continued to pray after Darius signed the edict forbidding such action, but did his praying in front of the open windows in his room where he knew he’d be seen. I don’t think he did this to dare the officials to take action against him. I don’t think he wanted to be thrown to the lions. Instead, I believe it spoke of his commitment, he wasn’t going to hide. And I believe he prayed openly in order to encourage any other Israelite captives who might observe his faith in action to remember who they truly served.
Amen. Great example, Karen.
Ohhhh…. So good, Robin. So convicting. Thanks, sister. Another title or two to recommend from those you’ve read these last few months?
Love to recommend. 🙂
The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
Before Amen by Max Lucado
Pocket Prayers by Max Lucado (prayers that go with what you read about in Before Amen)
George Muller: The Guardian of Bristol’s Orphans by Janet Benge, Geoff Benge
Thank you!
We start out by faith, Robin and it’s faith all the way. We walk out as Christian babes and learn to walk, by walking, by falling, by lovingly guided by Him. Josiah was like that. He had faith from the very beginning but look at what happened at Ai! He was devastated. But again he inquired of God and God told him what to do.
We study the word by doing it even when it’s hard. We pray on by doing it even when we don’t feel like it. Amen. Thanks for the reminder.
Amen, Sandy.
Robin, how beautiful! Thanks for the moving article.
I’m working on contentment this year, though I don’t do the one word thing. I’ve just been so unsettled the last several years, and I need that to stop. I’ve prayed and prayed and listened and listened for God’s guidance in my daily work. I’m in all the right places, according to what He’s telling me. The thing I keep coming back to is being unsettled. Which means I need to learn how to be content. So I’m reading books on being single and what letting God write your love story should look like (in general terms; He’ll guide me in more specifics as the time comes). Since I’m 27, single, and struggling to deal with those two facts, I figured prayer and books on the subject, along with determination to learn how to be content in this season of life, would be the perfect thing to work on this year.
The first book up for me is When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric and Leslie Ludy. Then I’ll be reading Elisabeth Elliot’s Passion and Purity. Not sure what’s up after that, but I’ve got a whole list to work through. Any suggestions on books on the subject of contentment? I found a ton on “being single” and stuff, but had the hardest time tracking down some on “contentment”.
Blessings,
Andrea
Thanks for sharing, Andrea. I don’t know any titles for contentment off the top of my head, but I’ll let you know if I come across anything.
I love this story of how God directly and intimately intervened.
Me, too.
Wow…thank you for this post. I am writing it in my GOD NOD journal. I am to move forward in faith. I needed this today. Thank you. Blessings to you.
I love the way God speaks to us when we need to hear something!