Pray for Everything

We pick up ‘The Gospel of Jesus Christ’ the book of Mark next week.

Read: Joshua 9 NLT – The Gibeonites Deceive Israel – Now all – Bible Gateway

“So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the LORD.” Joshua 9:14 NLT

In a fallen world there are many forms of deception. I believe in the 21^st century where we are living, we have seen the most ingenious methods to deceive even the most intelligent unsuspecting candidate. Most, if not all, scammers are one step ahead of many of their victims. They have nothing to do all day but to plan their next great deceptive scheme. There have been tragic results over the years of people losing everything they ever own by deception. Some were naïve in trusting what they thought they knew, others were taken in by scams that gave the impression they are from creditable, even official government sources, and then there are those who are taken in by their own greed looking to make that fast buck in a ‘guaranteed’ investment. The greatest tragedy is not having consulted the Lord God in prayer about any decision no matter how small it is thinking you can handle it on your own. The Lord wants you to confide in Him in prayer as He continually directs you in your new territory.

Joshua and the leaders of Israel failed to consult the Lord on a matter they thought they were able to handle without His guidance. They forgot the Lord God was leading them, and He was the one in charge. Joshua was leading the people, but God was leading Joshua and the nation of Israel as a whole. Perhaps overconfidence played a part due to their recent victory at Ai when they were approached by a delegation from Gibeon six miles down the road presenting themselves as coming from a foreign nation in a far distant land. They had come to seek a peace treaty with Israel after Jericho and Ai were destroyed and figured they were next. Their deception was well thought out. Joshua 9:12-13 describes the great lengths they went to deceiving Israel, “This bread was hot from the ovens when we left our homes. But now, as you can see, it is dry and moldy. These wineskins were new when we filled them, but now they are old and split open. And our clothing and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.” (nlt) Israel fell to the deception by what they saw. They felt no need to ask God for His guidance after observing their clothing, food rations and speaking with the delegation. However, not everything is as it seems.

Failure to pray about every situation that comes into our lives will have devastating consequences, especially when we are still adjusting to our new space. Don’t forget, God brought you to your current place and He is not done leading you, nor will He ever be. Israel forgot that and made a treaty with the people of Gibeon who they were to destroy. “Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath. Three days after making the treaty, they learned that these people actually lived nearby!” (Jos. 9:15-16 nlt) Israel was deceived.

After Joshua found out the truth of who the Gibeonites were and they were neighbors, he made them servants tend to carry water and woodcutting. Since the treaty was made in the name of Jehovah, it was sacred and could not be broken. Joshua honored the treaty allowing them to live.

Some Bible passages are hard for us to understand, but if we ask for the Lord’s help as we search the scriptures He will give great insights. We have seen many insights we can apply to our lives from Joshua and Israel conquering their new territory. Today see the importance of praying for everything. There are a lot of matters we handle ourselves without falling into a trap of deception. With that being said, in conclusion I leave you with an excerpt from a yesteryear devotional from the late Dr. Robert A. Cook;

“Pray your way through the day. Pray when you wake up so you won’t greet the family with a snarl. Pray on your way to school or to work. Pray before you tackled the first job of the day, whatever it may be. Pray before you answer the phone…. .Pray before you open a letter…… Pray before you make a decision. Pray before you hire a person and before you fire one, if you have to. Pray before you enter a business deal……Pray your way through the day.” (1)

Praying our way through the day makes good sense, that way we cover everything both large and small. Remember you haven’t been here before, allow God to make decisions for you. ‘Pray for everything’. He will make it clear what to do and you won’t be deceived.

(1) Cook, Robert. Today With The King, Wheaton, Scripture Press, 1985.