Prayer Moves the Cosmos

At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, "Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon." 13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel. (Josh 10:12-14 ESV) 

The world is full of mighty and powerful forces. The bubbling magma that resides deep within the earth’s crust periodically finds its way to the earth’s surface and erupts from volcanoes that send hot, molten lava into the air, burning everything in its path. Deep-sea earthquakes that arise from the shifting of tectonic plates suddenly displace millions of tons of water that coalesce into massive tsunamis that slam into coastal cities, sweeping away everything that its raging waters touch. Category five hurricanes terrify us as they pass through cities, picking up entire buildings and flinging them as if they were rag dolls. The forces of the natural world are indeed powerful and awe-inspiring, yet the Scriptures tell us that prayer is far more powerful than all of these. 

In this account, Joshua was fighting with one of Israel’s enemies as they sought to obey the Lord’s command to conquer the promised land of Canaan. As the battle drew long, Joshua, the astute military commander, realized that the day was quickly drawing to a close and that his soldiers would not be able to continue fighting. In a moment of spontaneity, driven by his great need and also his great trust in the LORD, he cried out a prayer to God in the form of a command. Gazing up at the burning sun that hung in the middle of the sky and the dimly lit day-time moon hanging to the west over the valley of Aijalon, Joshua called out in faith to God for the heavenly bodies to cease their movement—and the Lord God answered and listened to the voice of a man!  

Never before had there been a day like that in the history of the world. Joshua had never seen such a thing in all of his life—no Israelite had. Yet, because of his belief and trust in a God who rules over all things, Joshua prayed. He knew that he was obeying the will of God by conquering the Promised Land. He knew that Israel was not making the progress they needed to defeat their enemies before sundown. He knew that the sun would follow its normal course and set on the day before the battle was over if nothing changed. So, driven by his convictions, he cried out to God for what is humanly impossible—the stoppage of the movement of the heavenly bodies, so that he could accomplish the LORD’s mission. 

How much hope this gives us as Christians! When we stand upon our immovable convictions that are grounded in the Word of God, we have surety as to what direction to take even when the path we must walk is humanly impossible. What should we do when there is no humanly possible way to make our monthly budget? Pray to our Lord who owns the earth and its fullness thereof and wait expectantly for our Father in heaven to send his ravens to feed us even in the midst of famine. What shall we do when we are threatened with death for believing in Christ? We cannot deny him, so we must pray boldly either for the angel of the Lord to defeat our enemies or for divine strength and joy to go to our deaths with a song on our lips and heavenly hope in our hearts. What shall we do when we are fighting the Lord’s battles and waging wars against the powers and principalities over this dark world as we preach the Gospel? Let us ask our Lord to defeat the darkness and to shine light where this is none. 

Christian, do you tremble at the awesome power of the mighty gift that God has given us in the discipline of prayer? Do you realize that prayer not only moves mountains, but the very sun, moon and earth? What obstacle in your life are you facing that is as vast as the sea and as violent as a storm on the sea of Galilee? Can you fathom the thought that your greatest problems can be solved in an instant with divine aid because prayer moves the very heart of the infinite, almighty, and all-knowing God? What a powerful and priceless gift prayer is to the children of God! 

So, when we are faced with what is impossible with man, let us boldly look at the mountainous obstacles that stand in our way as we seek to obey the will of the Lord and say, “Sun, stand still… mountain, be cast into the sea,” and stand in awe of the power of our God.   

Written by: Samuel Chua