The NIV 365 Day Devotional
Answers to Prayer
How’s this for an incredible story? Joshua prayed, and the sun actually stood still in the sky for about a full day. And why not? The God of the universe is the God of the sun and sky. But imagine what it must have been like for the troops in Israel. What must they have thought as the hours wore on and the sun didn’t set? Those who heard about Joshua’s prayer must have felt emboldened to pursue their enemies even harder. And put yourself in the place of the enemy troops—what a nightmare for them, with no place to hide and no setting sun to provide a respite.
What would you do with an extra 24 hours? Say you’ve had one of those days at work—too much to do, too little time to get everything done. So you pray, “God, please give me a few extra hours so I can complete this task.” If only that could happen.
Your work deadlines may not move, but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t hear your prayers. Nearly every day we miss opportunities to receive answers to prayer. Joshua prayed and got an answer. When we pray earnestly and honestly, we align our purpose with God’s, and we can expect answers too.
Of course, we don’t know how God will answer. He might heal someone, restore a marriage, or end the pain of someone who has suffered for decades. Or, for reasons we can’t understand at the moment, God might not heal someone, restore a marriage or end someone’s pain. However, those outcomes are still his answers.
As amazing as this story of answered prayer is, God can and still does even more astounding things for his people who come to him with their praise and petitions. Join God’s prayer team. Pray fervently even when you don’t know what answer you want or need to hear. Pray for answers aligned with God’s purposes. And be sure of one thing: God will answer.
Taken from the NIV Men’s Devotional Bible.