“Jericho Walls”

Joshua 6:1-7, 10-11, 14-16, 20; Matthew 20:29-34

What is your priority list? What’s on it? How do you order it?

Today, we will be looking at a topic that we need if we are prioritizing God first. 

We want to see today that if we keep circling the promise, God will ultimately deliver on it in His own way and in His own time. Then we will discuss how We are to be specific in our prayers with Jesus.

In this scripture, we see that when we take action by seeking God first and putting Him in the primary position in our lives, God’s promise follows.

If we are going to seek God first, there are a couple of things that are not negotiable. 

The first thing is that we spend daily time in God’s Word. The second thing we are to do is daily prayer which we will look at more in depth today. 

God is telling us to not be anxious in our prayers. I am still guilty of this. I have had some pretty anxious prayer times with Jesus.

Thanksgiving helps us with our anxiousness and helps us understand that God’s got this. That leads us to verse 7 which says, if we pray with thanksgiving, we will experience God’s peace.

Anytime I talk about prayer, I am reminded of the book by Mark Batterson entitled “The Circle Maker.”

In my life, I’ve always believed in the power of prayer and have seen it modeled by great role models in my life.

Have I prayed bold prayers before? Yes. Have I persevered in prayer? Sometimes, but not like I’d like and I’m probably not alone. 

Now, we are finally getting to Joshua chapter 6 and the walls of Jericho! In the book The Circle Maker, the march around the Jericho walls is the backdrop of the book where God delivered on His 400-year promise.

The Children of Israel looked at what God had promised and it seemed impossible. The way God told them to take the city seemed nonsensical.

Have you ever been up against a situation or circumstance that seems overwhelming or impossible?

I imagine the first lap must have felt strange, but with each circle, holy confidence was building in their souls. By the seventh day, their faith must have been ready to pop.

After seven days of circling Jericho, God delivered on a 400-year promise. He proved, once again, that His promises don’t have expiration dates. If you keep circling the promise, God will ultimately deliver on it in His own way and in His own time.

What does Jesus want? For us to be specific in our prayers. 

Jesus asks us the same question, “What do you want Jesus to do for you?”

Why am I supposed to be specific in my prayers? Then we will know when it is answered. 

How am I supposed to be specific in my prayers? Defining your Jericho. 

“What do you want me to do for you?” What is your Jericho? How do you define it?

A big part of having Jesus as our first priority is prayer. Praying about everything and not being anxious about it is not easy. Yet, we are promised God’s peace when we do. The Israelites were faced with an impossible situation. Plus, the solution they were given made no sense at all. I think that with every step around Jericho their faith grew. It grew until they shouted and the walls came down.

We are to define what we want Jesus to do for us. When we do, we know if a prayer is answered or not. We also have some inspiration to pray. What is it that you want Jesus to do for you? What is your Jericho? Let’s define it today, and pray.