DAY 5 | Without God

Joshua’s first military defeat after their conquest of Jericho. Why? Someone stole some expensive things from the plunder which violated an important covenant with God. God was angry since he promised Joshua that he will go with him and still some people would take it likely and commit things abominable to the Lord. And Joshua dared to ask God why he did it to them. We fail to realize that God’s nature of love and faithfulness won’t change. He won’t tempt us because only the devil does that. And in this scene, Joshua dared to ask God why he did it. God can’t change. God won’t change. Another reason of their failure would be going into battle without consulting God. How many times have I been guilty of such things?  In this scene, Joshua’s army got defeated by their enemies because he believed the spies he sent and went on his way without asking God’s direction.

It is obvious that God wants to get involved in every area of our lives. In this season of prayer and fasting, my hope and my prayer is that we may find a special place for him inside our hearts and let him direct our steps. It’s just that, when success comes, we tend to easily go on our own way forgetting about God.

Another obvious reason of their failure is the sin of one can cause misery to all. It’s funny how a concealed sin of an individual can affect the entire article of a nation. Look around. We may be living a harsh life because of someone else’s mistake. But God in his awesome mercy caused them to repent and restart again with a right standing with him. Let us make use of this time of prayer and fasting to repent and disown the things that hold us back.

Great thing, the Apostle Paul provided guidelines on how we can prevent ourselves from experiencing such. ¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 

 ¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. [Ephesians 6:10-18]