April 14

 

Joshua 9:14-15   The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.

"No need to pray about this one. We have sampled their provisions and it is obvious that they are telling the truth. Their clothes clearly reveal that they are from a far away city. The bread they have, even a fool can see it is several weeks old."

Have you ever been in a situation which is so obvious that you didn't need to pray?  There are no situations like that in life.  We need to pray about everything.

When the Gibeonites showed up with their Halloween costumes on and carrying moldy bread, they pulled a fast one on Joshua and the leaders. We don't fault Joshua and the leaders for being faced with the original Bernie Madoff scam, but for not praying. The biggest mistake Joshua made in his leadership was not calling his leaders together to pray.

Leaders, and for that matter, all of us need to pray about everything. That was a big slip up. Here is a short list of some of the things I pray for each day:

I pray for my own heart and confess my sins.

I thank and praise the Lord for who He is and what He has done.

I pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit on everything I do.

I pray for God to open my eyes to see Jesus working in my world.

I pray for my attitude and actions, that they would reflect Jesus living in me.

I pray for my family and my church family.

I pray for guidance and direction for the actions I will undertake.

 And then after I pray, I listen. I set aside 10 minutes to quietly wait upon God to put in my mind ideas and direction for the day. I write down these impressions and consider them guidance from God as long as they don't violate the Scriptures.

 God would have spoken to Joshua and the leaders if they would have made time. God, by his nature, is continuously articulate. He wants to communicate with us. It is just that we are too busy or too distracted to hear him. Make sure to set time aside to pray today, or the evil one may pull a fast one on you.