Doubt-filled Questioning Prayer

“Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”

“If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about?”

“Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel. I am sending you!”

“Me? My clan is weakest and I am the least in my entire family.”

The Lord said to him, “I will be with you.”

“If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that is is really the Lord speaking to me (from Judges 6:12-17).”

The Lord gave him a sign, answering his doubt-filled questions.

Cry Out to the Lord for Deliverance

When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer (Judges 3:9).

Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliver (Judges 3:18).

God delivered them again. And again. And again.

God still delivers. Cry out to the Lord.

Our Merciful Savior

The people did evil, abandoned the Lord and provoked Him to anger. The hand of the Lord was against them for harm and they were in terrible distress.

The Lord heard their groaning, was moved to pity, and He saved them (see Judges 2:11-18).

Our Lord is a merciful Savior.

Sincere, Faithful Prayer

Fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness (Deuteronomy 34:9).

Prayer is service.

Pray with sincerity and faithfulness.

On Faith in Prayer

Stories of answered prayer encourage us to pray. But they don’t increase our faith.

Faith is the evidence of things not seen—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses (from Hebrews 11:1 AMP).

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

Faith in prayer is based on who God is and what He is like.

Always Pray; Don’t Give Up

Her story was intended to encourage prayer, but it discouraged me. It seemed God answered all her prayers. Doubt crept in.

Some of my most fervent, persistent prayers have not been answered.

The next day I was substitute teaching. The students were completing a project but we could not find the work they had done. We looked everywhere. I breathed a silent prayer, and immediately found what we were looking for. God heard me!

He hears you.

Will he not answer all our prayers in a way that brings Him glory?

We should always pray and not give up (Luke 18:1).

The Lord Always Knows

When their brothers misjudged and accused them, they said, “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows (Joshua 22:22).”

Their story ends well (read it in Joshua 22).

The Mighty One, God, the Lord always knows. And He always listens!

When Planning for Your Future

Consider how or if your plan will help you, “to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul (Joshua 22:5-6).

And don’t forget to pray. God knows the plans he has for you, to give you a future with hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

When You Don’t Know Where to Live

Here’s a story to consider. God’s people had not yet moved to the land He had for them. Joshua told them to “go up and down in the land and write a description of it (Joshua 18:3-8).”

They did that and Joshua asked for a specific place and by command of the Lord they gave him that city (from Joshua 19:50).

The God who made the world and everything in it . . . determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live (Acts 17:24-26).

God Gives Exactly What We Need

The descendants of Joseph came to Joshua and asked, “Why have you given us only one portion of land as our homeland when the Lord has blessed us with so many people?

Joshua replied, “If the hill country is not large enough . . . clear as much of the land as you wish, and take possession of its farthest corners (Joshua 17:14-18).”

Ask God to give what you need.