On Failure
"All of our failures are prayer failures.” I first heard this statement as a young college student at Liberty University and the adage has stayed with me. That’s what happened to God’s people in Joshua 9. The book of Joshua brings an exhilarating closure to the Exodus. After wandering for forty years in the wilderness, finally Israel is entering the Promised Land! Reading the book we anticipate victory after victory but that is not how the narrative progresses. Joshua leads the people to a great victory at Jericho but the sin of one man leads the whole nation to defeat at Ai. Eventually, Joshua conquers Ai. What should be a chronicle of further victory turns once again to defeat.
In Joshua 9, word had spread to the various peoples of the land that they were under God’s judgment and their days were numbered. The inhabitants of Gibeon cleverly devised a strategy to save themselves from annihilation. They sent envoys disguised as if they had journeyed from a far-distant land. They clothed themselves in rags and patched sandals and took moldy bread for their provisions. They approached Joshua and proposed a peace treaty between the peoples. They explained that they had heard of the fame of the Lord even in their far-away land and their elders had sent them to seek an alliance with the people of God. They told Joshua that their bread had been warm and their clothes new when they departed from their land.
In spite of some suspicions, after looking at their clothing and provisions, Joshua and the leaders of Israel were convinced and agreed to a covenant of peace with the inhabitants of Gibeon: “So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the Lord” (Joshua 9:14). The second half of this verse foreshadows what Joshua is about to learn and highlights an important lesson for us. A few days later Joshua discovers that he had been deceived and that these Gibeonites live just down the road. They failed because they failed to pray.
All Joshua had to do was ask the Lord what he should do and this whole mess could have been avoided. We can’t be too hard on Joshua because all of us have done the very same thing. We often neglect to ask the Lord for His counsel. We think we know the answer. We think we have things figured out. We think we know what to do. So we don’t pray. When we don’t pray and seek God we miss out on several blessings:
First, we miss out on God’s direction. We presume God’s direction to our detriment.
Second, we miss out on God’s help. By prayerlessness I am communicating to God that I don’t need or desire His help. God never forces His work in our lives. If we are content without God’s help, God will oblige.
Finally, we miss out on God’s presence. When we don’t pray we communicate with God that we are content to keep at a distance from Him. This isn’t healthy in our human relationships and it certainly doesn’t help us in our walk with God.
What is the remedy? Pray! Talk to the Lord every chance you get. Meet with God in the morning to start your day and when you lay your head down to sleep. Pray over your family. Pray over decisions. Ask God for His help. We pray to a God who hears and is ready to help. I think all of us would be surprised at what we miss because we fail to pray. Lord, help us be people of prayer!