Authority in Prayer

I'm tired of wimpy, namby-pamby prayers.

Mark 1:22 says, "The people were amazed at his (Jesus') teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority.." Some people mistake authority for loudness or being boisterous. When you speak with authority, you have power; what you say backs up who you are. You truly KNOW what you know!

When Joshua prayed, his prayers had authority only because Joshua had an intimate relationship with God and the Holy Spirit knew it! Joshua 10 tells the story of when the sun stood still. Word had gotten around to the Amorite kings how successful Joshua had been at Jericho. When the kings of the Amorite cities heard Joshua had made friends with the people of Gibeon, they became worried because they knew how big Gibeon's army was. So the king of Jerusalem, Adoni-Zedek, convinced the other kings to join him and attack the city of Gibeon.

Joshua received word from the people in Gibeon that they were being attacked and needed help and Joshua headed west with his army to assist. God told Joshua not to worry, that He would defeat the Amorites for him. God rained large hail stones on the Amorites and many of them died without even being touched by a sword. But Joshua needed a bit more time to defeat the last remaining fighters. Allow me to let my imagination take over for a second....

God, we've almost got the devil whooped, but it's getting late in the day and we need to get this over and done with before it gets dark. Can you give me a little more time and do something for me?

Joshua prayed in verse 12, "O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon." And God stopped the universe just for Josh to give him more daylight! Verse 14 says, "There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!"

Joshua already had the spirit of wisdom. You can read about his early beginnings as a spy for Moses and the children of Israel and see wisdom written all over him. But Joshua also had the spirit of might. How did he get these? By spending time with God, being led by the Holy Spirit and asking for it!

So, I'm no longer praying "sissy-fied" prayers. I'm praying with authority for wisdom and might!