When you need a big miracle, you must pray a big prayer and believe you are praying to a big God!
Big prayers don’t mean that you pray with a big ego. God is delighted when we pray in humility, confidence and belief. After prayer, God delights in giving us a glimpse of His power and His glory.
Joshua (Chapter 10, verses 12-14) prayed a big prayer. In return, he received “The Big Miracle.”
He prayed for the “sun to stand still and for the moon to stop from rising,” and his prayers were mightily answered.
In her book Believing God, Beth Moore states that in “Some seasons, to gain victory you must give our all in battle, victory sometimes requires different things during different seasons.”
During some seasons, we must be still and know that God is God (Psalm 46:10). In other seasons, as God said to Moses, “Stand firm,’’ and see the deliverance I will bring as I fight for you.’’ (Exodus 14: 13-14).
Yet in other seasons, we must put on the whole Gospel armor and let God see us “wielding the sword” of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:13).
Then, there are seasons like the one in Joshua when God demands greater than 100 percent. We must give it “all we’ve got’’ (10:7-9).
Can you remember a time when you’ve been in a battle with the enemy, and you couldn’t think about tomorrow, because you didn’t know if you could get through the day? In the back of Joshua’s mind was Israel’s first defeat at Ai (Joshua 7). Gibeon was their third battle, and by this time they had unknowingly disobeyed God twice.
The first time was when Achan in Jericho stole and hid God’s treasure, in Joshua (7:20-21). The second time, they let themselves be deceived by the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites told them that, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.” Israel listened and reviewed the evidence of their worn shoes, old clothes and stale bread, and they believed them but didn’t take time to consult with God in prayer for discernment.
In the midst of battle, Joshua realized the mistake, but honored the covenant anyway. Though they had sinned, God said to Joshua (10:8), “Don’t be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.”
This wasn’t a “season.” And it wasn’t a “be-still season.’’ This was a “wield- your-sword-season” combined with a “give it all you got season.’’
God gave them a victory, but He made them work for it. They had marched all night up a 4,000-foot-hill over hard ground, with no rest, before they had to fight five nations, in the heat of the day.
At the end of the day, with the battle still raging, Joshua sensed victory, but needed more time. Tired, hungry and weak, he prayed “the big prayer,’’ not for relief from battle, but for God to give them more time to fight.
Joshua learned that although he had put himself into a mess, God didn’t abandon him. Why? Because, he didn’t adopt a negative attitude. Satan wants us to do that.
One negative attitude he could have had was; “God, this is unfair.’’ He could also have said, “It’s not my fault.’’ Or, he could have said, “I’m so stupid’’ or “I’m tired, I think I will quit.”
Author Beth Moore states, “These mindsets are really invitations to become bitter, mean- spirited and hard-hearted.”
Satan’s specialty, she points out, “is getting us to turn on God (It’s not fair), to turn on others (It’s their fault) or to turn on ourselves (I’m so stupid).”
It is at times like these that we, too, must turn to God, as Joshua did, and pray the “big prayer’’ to a “big God,” and receive “The Big Miracle.”
The Rev. Dr. R. Joaquin Willis is pastor of the Church of the Open Door at 6001 NW 8th Ave., Miami. To contact the church, call 305-759-0373 or email the pastor at pastoropendoorc@bellsouth.net
Pictured above: Rev. Joaquin Willis
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