Find & Follow Jesus, Quarter 2Sample

Devotional:

“So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.” Joshua 6:6

Notice that in this passage the Lord instructs Joshua to send the worship leaders out ahead of the army. This is utterly counter to how we think an army must be strategically launched into battle. And yet, the worship leaders are instructed to be at the front of the procession, marching seven times around Jericho.

It’s too easy to let our prayer time with God be all about the needs in our lives and in the lives of others we care about. There is room in prayer for that quick “help” thrown up in need. But focusing all our prayer times instantly on the needs around us is like looking at life through a microscope—we notice all the little things that need God’s attention.

What if we started our prayers by looking through a telescope? What if we started by worshiping God? What if we started with words of adoration, lifting our eyes to our Creator who is fully aware of every minute need and big enough to step into each and every one of them? Maybe God told Joshua to let the worship leaders lead them into battle because He wanted them to focus on His greatness and ability to fight for them rather than how big the wall around Jericho was.

Prayer:

Try starting your prayers with one or two sentences of worship or adoration. Maybe it’s as simple as “God, I want to worship you for being bigger than anything I bring to you today.” Measure your needs against His ability to provide, and when you feel like you have the bigger picture in focus, go to “battle” with those needs. God loves hearing you come to Him with needs but He also loves when you come in the confidence of who He is.