The walls of Jericho had just fallen. God’s name was honored in the land. Then someone sinned, the Israelites were defeated at Ai, and the hearts of the people melted.
Here’s some of what Joshua prayed: “O Lord God, Why? What will happen to the honor of your great name (Joshua 7:9)?”
Consider God’s honor as you suffer sin’s consequences.
People kept the law to be “separate from their uncleanness (Leviticus 15:31).”
But Jesus is able to remove our transgressions from us, “as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).”
Thanks be to God, who separates us from sin through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I listened as he prayed for his people. Almost every sentence of this Christian leader’s prayer began with “thank you.”
If you want to pray with thanks, keep saying thank you.
As you thank God for what He does, also thank Him for who He is.
God knows all things (from John 21:17).
God is kind (from Romans 11:22).
God is love (1 John 4:8).
God is good (from Jeremiah 33:11).
God is wise (from Romans 16:27).
God is strong (from Psalm 24:8).
Dr. John Fuder wrote, “It is also our hope that this Chicago Neighborhood Prayer Guide could rally a similar prayer focus across other cities in our nation and around the world. May God give us tears for our cities.”*
Click on this link to see how people are praying for Chicago. https://www.prayercast.com/chicago77.html
*John Fuder with Elizabeth Koenig, Chicago Neighborhood Prayer Guide, p.2.
When Moses stood in the breach for the people, I notice he implored the Lord based on His promises and His reputation.
What do you notice?
“O Lord!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’?
Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people! Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the starts of haven. And I will give them all the land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.'”
So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people (Exodus 32:11-14).”
Learn to move men by God though prayer. ~ Hudson Taylor
To learn how God moves men, pray, then watch and wait.
David’s prayer began: “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me (Psalm 13:1)?”
Though he still waited for God to answer, his prayer ended: “I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me (Psalm 13:5-6).
Pray with cheerful expectation.
In deep anguish, crying bitterly, Hannah poured out her heart to the Lord.
After this time of prayer “She was no longer sad (1 Samuel 1:18).”
Next time you’re in anguish, try praying like Hannah did.
When King Solomon dedicated the temple he prayed, “When a foreigner comes from a far country, for your name’s sake . . . and prays toward this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you (1 Kings 8:41-43).”
People who know of Solomon’s prayer come from all over come to pray at the Wailing Wall; some tuck their prayers into the wall. God sees them. He hears.
But as we left the Wailing Wall, I felt grateful that God answers prayers no matter where we are. You don’t have to travel to Jerusalem to pray.
A Blog on Prayer 