Monday: Praying Down Walls
There’s an expression in English: “to be painted into a corner.” Imagine painting the floor of a room but then realizing that you have wound up in a corner and cannot get out — except by walking over the fresh paint. You have to stay there until it dries!
Sometimes our faith seems to paint us into a corner. We arrive at a situation, and, like the wet paint on the floor, our faith “traps” us. We look at the situation, and either we have to reject God, faith, and everything we have believed in, or our faith compels us to believe what appears impossible.
Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com
God brought the Israelites to a corner. After they had wandered for 40 years in the wilderness, God did not lead His people to empty, peaceful grasslands. God led them to one of the most strongly fortified cities in the whole area. Then they had to walk around Jericho in silence for six days. On the seventh day God told them to shout — and that shouting, together with the trumpets, would bring victory.
Read Joshua 5:13-6:20. What is God trying to teach the Israelites?
Shouting loudly was not going to cause vibrations to trigger the walls to collapse. When God called the Israelites to “shout,” it was the same type of shouting that David writes about in Psalm 66: “Shout for joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!” (Psalm 66:1-2, , NIV). This shouting was praise! After six days of looking at the huge walls, they must have concluded that they hadn’t a chance of breaking them down themselves.
How does this idea help us understand the meaning of Hebrews 11:30?
| When God is on the verge of doing something new in our lives, He may bring us to a Jericho, for He may need to teach us that the power to triumph does not come in our own strength and strategies. Everything we need comes from outside of ourselves. So, no matter what is in front of us, no matter how insurmountable it may seem, our role is to praise God — the source of everything we need. This is faith in action. |
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In light of what the lesson has raised today, do we 'pray down walls' or does prayer bring us into alignment with the One who 'brings' down walls in order to make a Way (Proverbs 3:5-6)?
John 15:5 tells me truthfully that apart from God, I am utterly incapable of doing anything. But if I remain vitally connected with God, I will bear fruit for His Kingdom, for the benefit of others and for His glory. That is the reality I was designed and created for - and that is the reality I want to be part of.
Borrowing the words from Fanny Crosby, "Take the world, but give me Jesus".
Many of us like John 14 where it says:
So, we think that if we add the words, "in Jesus' name we pray; Amen", we are going to get whatever we ask for.
Actually, it is a misquote. It really says:
When I was a student I used to pray for good examination results and never really thought about why I was praying. Deep down it was probably so that I did not embarrass my parents who has paid for my education. It was essentially all about me, how I progressed, and how others perceived me. It took a couple of failures and a bit of maturity to realise that God was still in the process of teaching me and the only way I was going to learn was for me to fail a couple of times. Looking back, I sometimes think that God has a wry sense of humour.
It wasn't fun at the time. I was knocking myself out against the wall when God really wanted me to learn to climb over it. That was much more educational than having the wall fall flat for me.
So walls are not the problems at all. It is us who are the problems.
Our faith should be bigger than our fears. We should not limit our faith, there shouldn't be any boundaries so much that, it can build walls for protection in time of needs and break down walls/barriers to walk in our purpose of what we're called to do, in service to God and others.
Starting the journey of faith is like setting yourself on a trip. When I think of Psalm 23:4 and my heart sink with fear. I wonder, “what kind of a valley will I be through?” Then I pray, “God, whichever valley it will be, may it not be that which makes people blaspheme you because of me. And whatever valley, help me remain in you.”
Maybe the last thing standing between us and God which needs to be removed is our misconception that there is a ‘ritual’ involved when reaching out to Him. Dare I say – “Once saved, always saved?” It depends on what one considers ‘saved’ to mean. Can we say that once we have declared that we will live our life by faith in the Word and Will of God and express this in our daily lives that we are saved?
Faith and talking with our heavenly Father on a daily and ongoing basis is the key evidence of our intimate relationship with Him. Faith and prayer are given through/by the spirit of God and manifest in a heart which is confident and assured that that which will happen next does not take one outside or away from this intimate relationship with the Father. We are always in His right hand whether we have problems or not; He never leaves us, His spirit is ever present in our lives.
Everyday living brings up obstacles of various complexities. Our response to them is always the same – remaining calm - trusting through/by faith – so we can face these circumstances intelligently. First we need to look inside, asking for guidance, before knowing how to deal with that which we face on the outside. Yes, it starts with thanking our Father for His ever present kindness intended to help us bring down ‘walls’ of every size.
Indeed – ‘our secure place is in the ever present praises we direct to our heavenly Father, the source which knows all our needs; This is faith in action.”