Are there times that we should not pray?

At the church where I serve we have launched into the New Year with a sermon series entitled responsibility. During this series, we are spending our time together looking at what the Bible has to say about the issue of responsibility and what responsibility looks like in our lives.

This week, I would like for us to look at a temptation that we can all face when it comes to the whole issue of responsibility. And this temptation flows from a tension that we experience as followers of Jesus between a fundamental aspect of our relationship with Jesus and responsibility. The tension I am talking about is the tension between prayer and responsibility.

You see, the Bible clearly teaches that prayer is an essential part of the life of a follower of Jesus. The Bible tells us that prayer connects us with God and that we are to bring all of our requests and concerns to God. The Bible tells us that, as followers of Jesus, we are to pray to God for wisdom, guidance, and direction. But are there times that we should not pray? Are there times that prayer is unnecessary? Are there times that prayer gets in the way of responsibility?

To answer these questions, I would like for us to look at a story that us recorded for us in a letter in the Bible, called the book of Joshua that records such a tension. To fully understand this story, however, we first need to understand the context in which this story takes place. The book of Joshua records the efforts of the Jewish people to restart their lives after forty years of wandering in a literal desert of hurt, pain, and failure as a result of their selfishness and rebellion. Joshua was the leader of the Jewish people who was given the responsibility to lead the Jewish people from Egypt to the land that God had promised them, which was located across the Jordan River and was called the Promised Land.

To take possession of the land that God had promised them, however, the Jewish people would have to conquer several nations that lived in the Promised Land. The first city that the Jewish nation would encounter was the city of Jericho. Now if you grew up in the church or have attended church before, you are probably at least somewhat familiar with the story of Jericho. God commanded the Jewish people to march around the walls of the city one time a day for six days while blowing a horn and carrying the Ark of the Covenant. Then, on the seventh day, the Jewish people marched around the city seven times and then shouted, at which the walls of the city came tumbling down.

God commanded that, with the exception of Rahab the spy and her family, Jericho was to be raised to the ground and all life destroyed. After 400 years of extending grace and the opportunity to change, God chose to use the Jewish people as an instrument to exercise His justice and judgment on the people of the Promised Land, who had refused to change and were left with no excuse or defense for their wickedness.

You see, God made it clear to the Jewish people that they were not receiving the Promised Land because they were especially good; they were receiving the Promised Land because the inhabitants of that land, including Jericho, were exceptionally evil. In fact, most historians and scholars believe that the society of the inhabitants of the Promised Land was the most evil society that ever existed.

In addition, God commanded the soldiers to keep themselves from taking anything from Jericho. Everything except the precious metals were to be destroyed, while the precious metals were to go into funding God’s mission to give the Jewish people that land that had been promised to them. Now with this context in mind, let’s jump into this story together as the Jewish people have conquered and destroyed Jericho and were moving into the Promised Land, beginning in Joshua 7:1:

But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.

This story begins with a word that sets an ominous tone- “But”. Instead of following God’s command, a man named Achan took some things that were to be devoted to and given to God. And as a result of Achan’s selfish rebellion and sin, God’s righteous anger was kindled and burned against the Jewish nation. God was fired up at the Jewish people for this irresponsible act of selfishness and rebellion that was committed by this Jewish soldier. This sets the stage for what unfolds next:

Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." So the men went up and spied out Ai. They returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not let all the people go up; only about two or three thousand men need go up to Ai; do not make all the people toil up there, for they are few."

Unaware of the irresponsible act of selfishness and rebellion that has taken place, Joshua sends two spies on a reconnaissance mission to the next city that the Jewish people would encounter, which was named Ai, so that they could prepare for battle. The spies, upon returning from their reconnaissance mission, explained to Joshua that Ai was relatively small and seemed to be far less fortified than Jericho. As a matter of fact, the spies were so confident in their ability to destroy Ai that they recommended that only two to three thousand men would be necessary to achieve victory.

The spies explain that there is no sense in wearing everyone out, just send a few soldiers and let everyone else relax. Joshua responds to their suggestion by sending the maximum number of troops that the spies had suggested. The spies, however, vastly underestimated the defenses of the city and were vastly overconfident in their ability and strategy, which we see as the story continues: 

So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they fled from the men of Ai. The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent, so the hearts of the people melted and became as water.

The men of Ai responded to the Jewish nation’s assault on their city by launching a successful counterattack. And in the midst of this unexpected counterattack; in the midst of their overconfidence; in the midst of underestimating their enemy, the Jewish army began to flee in order to escape the men of Ai. And in their escape, thirty six Jewish soldiers were cut down in defeat.

As the Jewish soldiers returned to their camp battered and beaten, the hearts of the Jewish people melted and became as water. In other words, the Jewish nation’s resolve and will to take possession of the land that God had promised them dissolved. The Jewish nation was like water that would provide no resistance to any opposition it would face. And in the midst of the hurt, pain and disappointment that came with a dissolving resolve, we see Joshua approach God.

Tomorrow, we will look at Joshua’s prayer and how it relates to responsibility…