DAY 18
THE IMMEASURABLE POSSIBILITIES OF PRAYER
JOHN MACDONALD, LEAD PASTOR, THE WOODS CHURCH
An unusual commitment to prayer will lead to unusual results from prayer. —Steven Shackelford
There is more power in prayer than we realize. Prayer is the arena where our faith meets God’s abilities. And there is never going to be a moment when the audacity of our faith surpasses God’s capacity to respond. Prayer is the greatest tool in building your faith! It also is the key to unlocking the greatest levels of intimacy with the Father.
There are many men and women throughout scripture that we could talk about when it comes to prayer and faith. But one of my favorite people is Joshua. Joshua was the leader who had to follow Moses. This is intimidating in and of itself. Sure, Moses had his flaws as we all do, but he was also the great leader who led his people out of Egyptian bondage with God’s miraculous help. Moses would lift his staff and plagues would hit Egypt, oceans would part, water would flow from rocks and so on — I think you get the picture. The key to Moses’ success and power was his prayer life.
Scripture says in Exodus 33:11, “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.” Can you even imagine the conversations Moses had with God... incredible. But it’s the second part of that verse that always captures my attention. The part about Joshua. Now Joshua was Moses’ protege, or apprentice, or padawan, whichever title you can relate to most. Scripture says that Joshua would remain at the tent even after Moses left. The big question we need to be asking is why. Why did Joshua remain? This is my theory, scripture doesn’t specifically say this, but my theory is that Joshua remained because he longed for greater intimacy with God. There is no doubt in my mind that Joshua could overhear the conversations God was having with Moses. He knew that intimacy with God was the key in order to know God’s heart, will, and desires for His people. He knew that being in God’s presence and conversing with Him brought such joy, peace and direction to the whole nation of Israel. I believe Joshua’s hunger for intimacy with God grew in this season and stayed behind even after Moses left in order to position himself to grow closer in intimacy with the Lord. I also believe that Joshua stayed because he began having his own conversations with the Lord.
It was this intimacy through prayer and conversation with God that gave Joshua and his friend Caleb the faith to say let’s go and take the promised land, even after the other ten spies disagreed and caused all of Israel to doubt God’s faithfulness and direction (see Numbers 13). Four decades later, it would be Joshua who would lead Israel across the Jordan to finally receive the promised land that God would have given them all those years ago if they just would have had the faith to take it.
After the Lord called Moses home and Joshua took command, it was time once again for the next generation to exercise faith and step into the promised land. It was Joshua’s job to clear the land. This meant he would have to follow God closely and lead his people through years of war. As you read through the book of Joshua, you see not only Joshua’s dependence and faith in God, but you see God’s faithfulness to Joshua. This intimacy they had together wasn’t built overnight. This was intimacy that was built decades ago when Joshua would remain at the tent to talk with the Lord. Joshua had an unusual commitment to prayer, to intimacy and to his friendship with God, which led to all of Israel experiencing the mighty movement and acts of God on their behalf.
You see, prayer is the furnace of intimacy. Intimacy is the furnace of faith. Faith is the furnace of friendship with God. Scripture is clear about what happens when we don’t operate in faith.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. —Hebrews 11:6
We can’t please God without faith. But what causes us to operate in supernatural faith all starts with building intimacy through prayer, just like Joshua did.
It starts with carving out a time and place to meet with God in prayer every day. I’m not talking about giving God a five minute time slot. I’m talking about wrapping your life around Him. Making Him the center every day, in all you do. Building any relationship takes time. It’s no different with the Lord. If you have never established a daily consistent time in prayer with the Lord, start with a 30 minute time block. What you are going to find out as you begin to spend time in prayer is that 30 minutes isn’t going to be enough.
There are all kinds of models and formats when you pray to keep you on task but here is a simple one to get you started:
Start with prayers of Thanksgiving and Worship. Thank the Lord for the blessings in your life, for the things He has done and for who He is. Praying the psalms really helps develop this and allows God’s promises to take root in your heart.
Confession and Repentance. Asking the Lord to search your heart daily and reveal anything that might be hindering your intimacy with Him is such a good practice and habit to form in your
life. I call this keeping a “short list”. GIving God permission to hold you accountable each day is a game changer. What’s really special is you begin to understand His amazing grace and His incredible mercy toward you.Provision and Direction. As you begin understanding that you need God in every aspect of your life you now begin to pray for the needs you have and the areas or challenges you need God’s provision and direction in.
Intercession. This is just a fancy word that means standing in the gap on someone else’s behalf. Basically your prayers for others. You take some time to pray for your family, friends, co-workers,
those whom you know also need God’s intervention in their lives.
Listen. 90% of prayer should be listening. What God has to say is so much more important than what I feel like I need to say. Hearing one word from the Lord can change everything in your life. Practice spending time just listening for His voice.
You’ll find just praying through these five areas will easily take you 30 minutes and probably much more. Through your daily times
in prayer, your intimacy will increase and your ability to live and operate in faith will increase. And you will begin to experience the immeasurable possibilities of prayer.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, thank you for desiring to spend time with me. I want to spend time with You. Show me what I need to adjust or even do away with so that I can schedule a consistent daily time with You. As I begin this journey, I pray I begin to see the results of being with You immediately. Give me ears to hear and a heart that desires to honor you in all areas of my life. Amen!
