Pray for the Impossible

Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel, “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation avenged itself on its enemies . . . (Joshua 10:12-13)

I’ve often heard that God is willing and able to give us so much more than we could ever imagine; we just never ask. What surprises me about Joshua chapter 10 is that God has already done so much for Israel and Joshua asks for more. The Lord has already promised Israel victory over the Amorite kings; He’s already thrown hailstones down from heaven, killing more of their enemies than the Israelites did themselves. He’s answered their prayers, and victory seems within their grasp.

Yet Joshua prays for the sun to stand still. Not because he was filled with desperation. Not because the Israelites were losing. But because he had faith enough not to settle when God had more in store.
 
Some of you may know that my dad is battling cancer. We’re facing a bunch of Amorite kings, if you will, and there’s not much we can do about it. But God has made us a promise that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28) We’re never alone, and He is with us always.

As we began to pray for healing, we saw the cancer shrink. God was working a miracle inside of my dad to cure him of the disease that threatened his life. Before we received the results from each latest scan, we prayed that the cancer would shrink a little more. And it was. God was fighting for us in ways that we could never do ourselves.

I’m incredibly grateful for the healing that God has already brought about. There’s so much hope, knowing that the God of the universe is on our side. But as I read Joshua’s prayer, my own feel lukewarm. I sought God desperately at first, but as things began to look up, my prayers slowed. I was already receiving small answers to small prayers; surely that was all I needed. But what if I prayed for more?

What if we all prayed for more?

Our everyday prayers are heard by a sovereign God, and He answers. We should always be grateful for that and never belittle what He does for us. But why should we stop at okay, when he’s willing to give us a miracle?

I think a mistake we make often is consolidating gratitude with acceptance. We assume that being grateful means asking no more of God. When He answers our first prayers—God, will you please let this next CT scan have good results?—we settle and never ask for more. We don’t pray like Joshua. We don’t ask for the miracle. God, will you completely heal my dad of cancer?

It’s time to be like Joshua. Let’s not settle for less when God is ready to give more. We can pray for the hailstones, but why don’t we pray for the sun to stand still? Jesus told us that our faith can move mountains. So let’s pray like we believe it. Let’s pray for the impossible.