Bright Night
When you prepare yourself for special purposes by separating yourself from the patterns of the world, you will see special things come to pass by the Hand of God.
“So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem appealed to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish and Debir king of Eglon. “Come up and help me attack Gibeon,” he said, “because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites...The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. The Lord threw them into confusion...As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them...On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped...The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being...All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.”
Joshua 10:3-42
There is a battle that goes on in your heart before you ever decide a course of action. The battle is whether you will live by fear of what might happen or by faith in God. God knows how we are feeling when we face pressure. He knew that the natural way of thinking if several of the armies around you band together to fight you is fear. Notice that before Joshua ever prayed or asked for anything from God, God was already giving him the encouragement he needed. God said do not be afraid, I will fight the battle. What would happen if we trusted God with the outcome every time we came against a battle? What if rather than reacting with a fight or flight response, we relaxed and listened to the voice of truth?
Spending time with God gave Joshua the balm to calm his fears and boldly pray one of the most outrageous prayers recorded in scripture. Can you even imagine praying the prayer for the sun to stand still? How bold are your prayers? Take time to consider how the size of your prayer reflects the size of your trust in God. Ask yourself which type of prayer honors God more. Small prayers or bold prayers. Both are good, but one reflects a belief that says that my God can do anything. What is your sun stand still prayer today? What prayer do you hesitate to ask because of how small the odds seem?
“Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth. He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.”
Psalms 47:1-4, 6-8
When and where do you most feel like singing a song? Is it in the car, the shower, or on stage? Do you prefer individual or corporate worship? Why? David says you were made to worship and have many reasons to sing praises to God. David doesn’t just say sing. He says sing, sing, sing, sing, sing. It is almost like a parent talking to a teenager who feels the need to repeat themselves. What song will you sing to praise God today?
The truth is David is probably right to repeat himself. If you examined how much of your day you spend singing, it is probably a pretty small percentage of the words that come out of your mouth or thoughts you have in your head. God wants you to have a song of praise in your heart and see all that He has done for you. He wants to lift you up so you can let out your song. Praise is food that God dines on. What can help you sing more freely? David says that recognizing that God is sovereign and reigns over everything. Fear wants you to believe that God is not powerful or personal enough to solve your problems. Faith tells the problems you have that your God can make the sun stand still with a simple prayer. Which will you believe? Faith or fear?
“We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. How right they are to adore you!”
Song of Songs 1:2-4, 15-17
People might not spend a lot of time studying Song of Songs, but there is great wisdom in the chapters of this book written by Solomon. The bible is a love story as is what Solomon writes. Love is often measured in emotional or physical terms, but Song of Songs speaks to the Spirit. Deep calls unto deep.
Jesus said that people will know you follow Him by how you love. Before He sends you to love others, He wants you to know how loved you are. The words Solomon wrote were to a woman that he loved, but they represent the words of our very souls longing to be one with our Creator. There is something so special about the love of Christ and how unconditionally He loves us. His grace and love is meant to produce in us songs of rejoicing and a heart that becomes bold because of the strength we have received. Joshua does not pray sun stand still if he feels unworthy or unloved. Joshua prayed boldly out of a place of receiving love and believing God would answer because God is worthy of our praise. Solomon said how worthy they are to adore you. Why would you tell others that they should adore God? Have you shared why you love Him?
“Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips…for in you the fatherless find compassion.” “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them…Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.”
Hosea 14:1-4, 8-9
We live in a cancel culture world that loves to label things as good or bad. If you were to open the newspaper, open a news site on the internet, or scan social media, how long would it take before you saw something negative about a child of God? How many stories would you find of people sinning or failing? What is the world’s response to people when that happens? It is typically to cancel or crucify them. What negative words or labels has the world called you that is not from God?
Ask Jesus what He calls you. Close your eyes and ask Him. Let go of the names or labels of others and hear the voice of God. It is hard to have bold prayers if you have a bad image of yourself. God wants you to believe in Him and He wants you to believe in who He made you to be. In the world, when we mess up we can be thrown away. In the kingdom, God forgives, redeems, and restores.
Knowing that you are a sinner does not disqualify you from being bold in prayer, if anything it gives you more power. Jesus said the one forgiven much, loves much. He says that the one who was forgiven more will love more. He is saying that God wants to make you right so that you can rightly understand the power of God at work in your life. Truth says the rebellious stumble, but that is only if they won’t listen and return. God says turn back to me so that I can strengthen and embolden you to believe I made the stars and control the rotation of the sun.
“You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
Timothy 2:1, 3-5, 11-16, 20-22, 24
Paul says be strong in grace. Is grace your strongest strength? How do you grow in grace? If you want to be physically stronger you go to the gym. Look at how Jesus was strong in grace. When He encountered someone, the first thing He did was make sure they knew He understood them, not labeled them. Is that our approach? Our natural tendency is to want to be strong in truth. We love to fix things. The problem is there is truth to the old adage people do not care what you know, until they know you care. Jesus led with grace and we should as well. Grace is something you can grow in as daily follow the practices Jesus modeled for how to love others well.
Paul says the soldier pleases the commanding officer. Our commanding office wants us to use our words for prayer and encouragement. Paul says avoid ungodly chatter and flee evil desires. Why? Slander or gossip might not seem like a big deal, but have you ever had a time where you prayed a bold prayer after gossiping? God wants to help us align our hearts with His heart and He wants to prepare us for our special purposes. Part of the process of purification is ridding our hearts and mouths of the ungodly chatter that is common in the world around us.
Paul says as you pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace you will find how special God is. Jesus said blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. How? You will see God do the miraculous and see Him. You will see Him help with the simple and you will see Him. All creation points to the Creator and God wants all signs to spur you on in your faith. Joshua was not the only one to pray incredibly boldly. Jesus said to His disciples that if they had faith the size of a mustard seed that they could move mountains. God wants you to be bold because He wants you to see that He is able. He is able to do what no man can do. He is able to overcome addiction, depression, bankruptcy, brokenness, and death. There is nothing that He cannot do. All things are possible as you believe including suns that stop so you can do the special purposes God has prepared in advance for you. Today is a day to look up and believe that God is greater than anything you might be facing. His ways are better and His thoughts are higher than you could ever ask or imagine so be bold, believe in Him, and belt out your own sun stand still prayer. Jesus said blessed are those who believe.