Pray, then Decide
by Katherine Kehler
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“They did not inquire of the Lord” (Joshua 9:14).
While reading through the book of Joshua, I read a verse that I have been reflecting on since then. The Israelites had entered the land of milk and honey and had destroyed several cities with all their inhabitants. The kings surrounding them were very frightened and met together to plan a strategy against the Israelites.
One group of people called the Gibeonites decided to deceive the Israelites by pretending to be from a distant land. They asked Joshua to make a treaty with them–offering to be Israel’s servants rather than be killed. It sounded like a very good offer. The Israelites fell for it and signed the treaty.
The key verse that impressed me was “…but they did not inquire of the Lord.” Joshua 9:14 If they had asked the Lord for direction before they made the decision, they would not have been deceived. But they choose to rely on their own wisdom instead.
Because they did not “inquire of the Lord,” they unwittingly broke a very important command that God had given them: to kill all the ungodly people in the land they had conquered, so their people would not be infiltrated by the ungodly thinking and living of people who worshiped idols.
With the passing of time as they married and inter-married, the Israelites began worshiping the gods of the Gibeonites. They drifted from their love and obedience to their God (the only true God). The grandchildren of this generation no longer followed the true God all because they did not take the time to “inquire of the Lord.” One bad decision can greatly affect many generations thereafter.
~Father, please remind us to check with You before making decisions. Thank you that You will guide us. Amen.
Questions: Do you encounter situations today where you are tempted to compromise? What are some situations that you struggle with? How can you remain alert at all times and not be deceived?
About the Author: http://talk.thelife.com/experience/devotionalforwomen/authors/katherine-kehler/
Loreli,
As I have been reading prayer needs here, in reading yours, reminded me of something that was spoken at a women’s conference last week….regarding women’s ministries.
” We need women’s ministries working together like bubbles (that never break), merged iridescence, coming together…not forced but treating one another with tenderness and respect, until the lines of distinction of who is doing what are blurred.”
Praying for you and your women’s ministry….that any and all anger will be resolved so the Lord can work through these ladies…that they will sense in their hearts to do what is necessary to let the Lord work individually in their lives. Where there is anger, I pray will become love, so that His Glory will be the be the focus.
Wow Patti, what a beautiful testimony. I is so good that you felt well enough to get back on the blog. You have been missed by everyone because you bring so much to it.
I am sure that there is probably something that we all need to let go and let God. And I am going to pray about that and listen to His still small voice. Loving you all on here, Hannah
Thank you dear ladies for your prayers. I know I have been bathed in prayer and it has given me a peace as well as the grace to wait on the Lord..for whatever His will is for me.
I will be reading the blog here and will lift each one of your needs to the very Throne of God.
I attended a woman’s conference last week…..am so thankful I was able to go, but there was something the Lord kept bringing to my spirit. Over and over, I was sensing the Lorda saying to me….”Let go, my child, let go and let Me. Trust Me, for I will not let you go. I have plans for you…so let go and let Me.”
This has been on my heart so deeply…and tho it is hard, I am learning to let go of my own will and look forward to what He will do in my life.
I pray the same for each of you as you seek His Glorious Face and will in Your life.
[...] Devotionals: Set an Example ~ The Sacrificial Kingdom ~ Pray, then Decide [...]
I’m just shutting down the computer until next Tuesday and want to say AMEN to all the prayers for Loreli and Patti.
It is wonderful to have SO many people praying for needs as they arise in our lives. This is an example of how Body Life works in Christ isn’t it? Where two or more are gathered in HIS name comes to my mind as I read the prayers being lifted up for all the gals who have requests and I know that when it’s needed in our lives you’ll all be there for us as well. I praise HIM for how HE works in our lives to bind us together!
Be blessed everyone
Thank you, Katherine, for today’s devotional.
So simple “They did not inquire of the Lord” (Joshua 9:14)., but, yet, so easy to do. I pray to be in God’s Will and to be obedient to the Holy Spirit. I am sure there are many times in the past where I did not inquire before I knew the Lord and, also, after. To my dismay.
I liked what you wrote, Doris. How true!
I too would like to lift up Patti in prayer. When I read that she was having problems with her speech that was a signal to me about a stroke. I am a stroke survivor. With issues like that she should be in a hospital and not resting at home waiting for her cardiologist.
Also, I pray for Loreli in your new co-ordinator position and Jamie for your sister in law. Loreli, Gail Rodgers did a great devotional on Col 3:12. I thought of it when you shared about the issues you are dealing with.
Lord I lift up these women and ask you to be with them, direct them, cover them and encourage them. I pray for healing, spiritual for Jamie’s sister in law, physical for Patti. Pour your wisdom and understanding out upon Loreli. May your healing be upon the hearts of the women. Let there be forgiveness and love. Thank you Father. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, my savior and Lord. Amen.
Our most Gracious Heavenly Father, I come to you Praising you for all and who you are and Praising you because you are so worthy of it. You love all of us unconditionally. I ask you to forgive me for things I do that displease you. I love you and thank you for all you have ever done for my family.You get us through all of the tough times and give us Peace through them.
Father, God, today I am asking for our wonderful friend Patti to have Your Peace with what she and her family are all going through with her health. Lord, Please make her heart stronger and stop these TIA’s she might be having. Help her to get the rest she needs and give her Dr. your Divine Instructions for her care and make sure she has the right meds. We thank you for being The Great Physician and as our 4 and 1/2 yrs old grandson says,” God can do anything He wants to do.” In Jesus Precious Name, Amen, Hannah
Jamie,
It is good that we can share our experiences of God for it is in this past history that others are encouraged so I am praising HIM that my sharing has given you hope and encouraged you to pray for this wandering sheep.
Ladies, Patti is very sick. Possible she’s having some small strokes [TIA's] that could lead to a larger one. Sounds as if phone calls should be limited and PRAYER is essential for her and Joe and the family’s rest and peace while they move thru this difficult time. All prayers are coveted for them now, as HE leads you to pray.
As of tonight I’m away until late Sunday; so will check back in on Tuesday next. Blessings to all!
Andi
Andi,
Your words and testimony are such an encouragement to me! Thank you for renewing my hope in the outcome of this situation! I have been reading a lot in the Bible in my devotions these last couple days specific verses (unintentionally) pointing out the fact that basically, in the end it is each individuals choice to trust and follow God. No one can make or form that belief for them. I really hope that is what she is doing right now.
May thankyou so much for your sweet prayer and everyone else. Please know that I do not always get back on the same day to thank everyone for their prayers due to the crisis schedule I keep with clients. Sometimes I check it in the middle of the night when I am up still. YOu are all special and I love being a part of your lives. I usually prayer this prayer, Lord thankyou for the ladies on the blog (he knows each one of you by name) and meet the desires of their hearts, heal their wounds and let their scars remind you of your love and grace that keep them going, bless their marriages and kids, grandkids and friends, help them to be your hands and feet in a lost and broken world. Amen
Ladies if you can inspire just one each day you have done more than half the people in the world. You can inspire people with a smile, hug or a simple prayer. Love and blessings to all. Thanks again for your sweet prayers!!!!!!!!!!
For me it is putting on the armor of God on a daily basis. I ask God to help me to be a good representative of him. I find that when I stop and pray before we do something that things tend to go better! I am reminded of the song I sang in Sunday School. Whisper a prayer in the morning, Whisper a prayer at noon Whisper a prayer in the evening to keep your heart in tune!
Hi Loreli, I did not mean to leave you out while ago. One of my friends asked me the other day to pray for the Ladies meetings at the church she attends that they would conduct themselves in a Godly fashion.It is so sad when we are in God’s house and the ones like you and my other friend are so willing to lead and not feel like you are getting anywhere with your lesons or the way that you are leading and I know you are doing a great job because I have read your posts on here and know your heart. And I feel you have asked God for His Guidance in your leading.
I pray that God will guide them with His Divine Intervention and let their conscience let them know that something is not right with their actions in His House.( or probably anywhere else and that might not be right for me to say that as it might seem like judging them, but we know they are not acting Godly.) I will continue to pray for you daily as you lead this group and may God Bless you for your efforts. Lovingly, Hannah
Thanks for the reminder to put into writing that we are praying for the gals who request prayer. We are human as you say and I thank you for reminding us to be faithful in our prayer life to ALL the gals who request prayer on the blog.
Amen to all the prayers lifted up for Patti today. We will be away until late next Sunday so I’ll not on line after this post.
Loreli, I do pray for you and your group as you step into the position of co-ordinator. May God be close to you; may you hear HIS voice alone as you submit to HIM and lead and guide this group in HIS ways; may you find HE blesses you in helping to root out the ‘unresolved anger issues’ that NO bitter root will be left in anyone’s hearts, minds and spirits; may HE bind you all together in mutual love and support seasoned with HIS mercy and grace for each one of the women in this group in the mighty name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ………. Amen
Talk to you next week ladies. Everyone be blessed!
Hi Hannah — thank you for your update on Patti, I will surely try calling her again this evening. I have emailed you, hoping that my email comes through to you! I’m sorry that yours bounced back, for some reason. :/ Please don’t let that discourage you, as hearing from you is a blessing!
Hi May! It is surely our privilege as Christians to pray for one another, so thank you for reminding us of God’s calling on His children to lift each others burdens before the Lord! Our precise words are not so important, but that our hearts desire to minister and encourage.
Heavenly Father, we ask that Your Holy Spirit move through the hearts of those women in Loreli’s group, who harbor bitterness towards others in their church. Turn Your searchlight on, that they might see the roots of unforgiveness there, and seek Your weeding! Plant Your seeds of love and grace in their freshly turned hearts, and may it sprout like a well-watered garden! May Your blessing be upon their ministry, Lord, as Your Holy Spirit teaches the women how to trust You with every aspect of their lives! In Your most holy Name, Jesus, Amen!
Great Devotional! Doris I just love what you said, Right On! I have experienced that in my own life many times, Letting go and Letting God!!!
Dear Heavenly Father I just come to You right now asking Lord that You would minister to Patti. Jesus You see her every need and I just pray that You would reach down with Your Healing Hand and touch her body and make it every bit whole. Also Lord I pray for Loreli that You would answer her request, You see her hearts desire and I just pray that You would allow her to fulfill this position. I just ask all these things in Your Name I Pray, Amen! Hugs Linda!!!
Jesus I also pray for Patti just touch her Lord you know all what is wrong with her and I just pray that you will make her completely well and we will give you all the glory in advance Amen.
Hi, I have been reading the devotional for several months now and I am just curious if anyone else has noticed how some people ask for prayer and ladies pray for them but they never come back and thank those ladies for praying for them, then there are others who ask for pray and get NO response whatsoever. That came to my attention when someone requested prayer for one of the very faithful ladies on the site and there was not one single person who stepped up to the plate to pray for her and I am just as guilty I have to admit, but it just seems strange to me. I think people should be thankful when others step out of their comfort zone and publicly type out a prayer for someone, just as I think we too should step out of our comfort zone and pray for those who ask for prayer as that is not an easy thing for some people to do.
So in light of this: Jesus I just pray for Loreli and ask you would meet her desire to become coordinator of her women’s group. You know what is the best answer in this situation so I just pray that, that is what will be done. Thank you Jesus that we can bring all our concerns to you and also have the privilege of praying for one another Amen.
Marilyn, what a beautiful prayer for our Patti. I have been so unable to really express my feelings so I ask HIm to Pray for me.
I did talk to Pati a little while ago and she asked me to email you and for you to call her that she was resting, bu she must have wanted to tell you something. I emailed you, bu it came back.
I don’t mean to ignore anyone else on here. You are all speciial to me and this was a wonderful devo today. It is hard for us someimes to wait. We just want to jump right in and do things our way and you all know what happens when we do that. It just doesn’t work out right. And you are right Marilyn, it doesn’t fool God. Love In Christ, Hannah
Amen, Doris! God knows our hearts, even better than we do. We can actually go through the pretenses of seeking His will, as we forge our own, never quite understanding why things aren’t ‘working out.’ As we are impatient by nature, we don’t like to ‘wait upon the Lord’ for answers, instead plowing ahead with His imagined blessing, only to be stumped by the obstacles and disappointments along the way! We may be fooled, but it doesn’t fool God! Great devotion! :)
Great Devotional, please pray as I have become the coordinator of our women’s group along with four other members. We want the Holy Spirit to lead us as we teach women how to rely on God. We have had our first meeting but have some with unresolved anger towards other women in the church. I need your prayer help Friends!!!!
Powerful, almighty Father, to whom all glory and praise is due, we come to You on behalf of our dear sister Patti, asking for Your divine healing and grace! Sustain her, we pray, as her family seek medical attention for her. Give them the wisdom and discernment to make proper decisions, and comfort them in their fears and uncertainty. May Patti be surrounded by Your calming Presence, that Your peace would soothe her. As she is evaluated medically, may Your divine care be administered through her doctors and nurses. This we pray in the precious name of Jesus, Amen!
thank you for a great devotional
Jamie, once over 30 years ago I ‘ran away from God’ to all appearances of man; but in actual fact my faith had been built upon the faith of others and so I said to God, “I will come back when I know that it is YOUR voice alone I hear and not that of other men.” HE took his hand from off my life during that year and it was dreadful. I pray that your sister-in-law will learn that in ‘running away’ there is no place to hide and that Father God will find her and help her to thus ‘find herself’……..in HIM we have our being!
Doris, Amen to everything you’ve written. The response of someone who is mature in the Lord and has laid their lives at HIS feet as not [just] Saviour but LORD! HIS will not ours be done.
Ladies, please pray for Patti over the next week. She is on bed rest as her heart is not good once again; she is weak and apparently was not ‘making sense’ at work today. The cardiologist is away on holiday. She’s taking all her meds and feeling in limbo until he can see her; she is learning a deeper walk of faith thru this trying time of serious possible life-threatening illness.
Wonderful article. I would just add that sometimes, even though a person may “think” they are “inquiring of the Lord,” they truly are not. We can very easily delude ourselves. IF our heart is set on something, we can be praying, asking God to reveal to us His direction, wisdom, understanding and then pay absolutely no attention to His answers. We can tell ourselves we are “hearing wrong.” We can justify, rationalize away all of God’s responses, God’s guidance and direction, because it is not what we want to hear. Our “self desires” rule in the depths of our own heart. We become spiritually blind. Please, make sure you have laid down “your” desires, plans, hopes at the foot of the cross first. It is not “my will” be done, but “God’s will” be done. Always and foremost. Blessings!
I couldn’t help but think these words apply to myself in areas of my life in the past… but right now more importantly to a good friend I have. She is actually (or was?) my best friend, but also my sister-in- law. We married brothers and she came to know Christ through myself and our family. However, this summer she left. She is “finding herself.” She needs to figure out what she wants in life cuz she’s “not happy.” It’s so sad. I have no arguement against couples taking time to seperate to work out their problems, but she has left her Christian friends, family, church, all of it, and is not running TO God but FROM Him! Girls, please don’t make a decision that will affect your life without asking God about it first! And by the way, you can’t know what God wants you to do unless you are in tune with Him! You have to be in His Word, meeting with Him in Prayer, and connecting with Him to be able to know His will for your life.