As way of background, we've been looking at the account of Israel going to war against Benjamin because some Benjamites had sexually abused a Levite's concubine who later died as a result of their abuse. You can read the complete story in Judges 19:22-20:48 and see the previous prayers related to this passage of Scripture here.
We have been considering and reflecting upon the perseverance of the Israelites in battle and what we can learn from their example, and then turn those things into prayers for perseverance for ourselves, so we might keep God's command to us to persevere (Revelation 3:10).
Prayers for continuing obedience. We can see that despite defeat, the children of Israel continued to seek and prepare themselves to do God's will and followed through in obedience. So too we ought to be praying God would keep us seeking His face, that we might be diligent and vigilant and follow through in obedience to His revealed will for us.
Please read Judges 19:22-20:48.
This is a more personal prayer, so I'm posting it under my other screen name, naphtali_deer. I've been writing a lot about joy on my other site and have found it difficult once again today to run the race set before me with joy, yet I know that is God's will for us, to be able to rejoice in Him always and even to rejoice in our sufferings and to joy in tribulation. I've looked at this story in Judges 20 and see myself here, how I continue to experience defeat, and I often allow it to steal my joy. Our joy cannot be based on our circumstances but on our relationship to Christ alone. We must continue to go back to God and ask Him to fill us with His joy. His desire is for us to rejoice in Him always...no matter how many defeats we might face...
Psalm 86:1-7
Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am godly;
save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
6 Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
for you answer me.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places.
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.
This prayer is a little rough around the edges but it's the prayer of my heart today. I continue to trust my God will continue to rejoice my soul always, even in the battle, even in sufferings, even in disappointment for the Lord continues to battle with me, He suffered for me and He will never disappoint.
* * *
O, Lord our God,
We see how You had the Israelites go into battle three different times until they obtained victory.
After two defeats, Israel goes once again to ask You what to do. You tell them to go into battle once more and not to cease.
27 And the people of Israel inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease? And the LORD said, Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.
After even one defeat, we become discouraged. We need you to continue to help us to find our joy in You and rejoice in You always.
In Romans 5 Paul comforts us with these words when we are tempted to feel hopeless:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
We can rejoice knowing we are Yours forever. When we feel all is against us, we can rejoice in You, in hope of the glory of God. But Paul tells us something else that we do not understand: We can rejoice in our sufferings, even those continuing losses and disappointments in the battle for we know that You are in those sufferings. We don't understand that. We cry and weep for Your Kingdom to come, we experience loss, hurt, pain and hardship. We know Your Kingdom has come (for Your Kingdom is within us and has come to us), yet part of Your Kingdom in our lives on this earth is suffering. It is the fire that refines and purifies our faith, so our faith might be found to Your praise, honor and glory at the time of Jesus' appearing.
Was not suffering the way Christ has brought us to glory? Did He not have to be made perfect through suffering? So too we will be made like Him through our suffering. Yet let us trust You for we know that You have ordained our sufferings, all of them. You ordained these defeats on the battlefield in Gibeah. Your ordain the defeats we face each day. Every loss of life in the battle was ordained by You. Peter tells us that our trials are only allowed by you as are necessary, if need be, and we should not be surprised at such trials. O, yet, we confess we are surprised at times and disappointed, yet Paul tells us we should not be disappointed since we have a hope in You which will never disappoint. Help us to be ready and prepared to experience suffering and loss. It is part of our life here. It is part of Your plan and Your will for us. Yet help us to have the full assurance of hope: that You will be with us through it all. You see each tear that falls. You collect them all in a bottle. You know how our hearts break. You are near to the broken-hearted. You will never leave us or forsake us.
We can rejoice in You because we know You are faithful. Rejoice our souls. Gladden our souls, O Lord. We cannot work up this joy. It is truly a gift from You to be able to rejoice in time of suffering. Would You graciously speak to our souls through Your Holy Spirit? We want to be able to continue to rejoice in You always, not just in the good times. You have told us to rejoice in You always. You are good all the time, are You not? What kind of faith do we have if we only rejoice in the good times. Your mercies and steadfast love to us are unfailing. Do we not have reason to rejoice in You always? We want to shine as lights even in the dark times, we want to flourish and not wither in the time of drought. How can we do so if You do not fill us up with Your joy?
We know that You are using sufferings and trials and defeats to conform us to the image of Your Son. He did not shrink back from suffering but took it all for us. He obeyed to the point of death, death on the cross. He drank the cup to the dregs. He did not refuse Your will for Him, even when it meant suffering. May we never shrink back from Your will for us, no matter what it might entail for us. We can trust You in this. We can also trust You will not allow more than we can bear. We have a great High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. Your grace will be sufficient for us. Help us to rest in Your unfailing love for us. To remember we have nothing to fear. You have set Your love on us and given us the spirit of adoption, not to fear. We need not fear even in the worst trial, we know You are with us. Let us be calm and sit and be quieted by Your everlasting love for us in Jesus Christ. Nothing can separate us from Your love, the darkest night, the hottest fires, the deepest anguish, the lowest valley, nothing! You are there with us forever! O, let us rejoice, even in that battle as we are hurting and wounded, as we suffer another defeat.
O, Lord, give us eyes of faith to see that the suffering You have ordained for us produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. O, we confess we do need endurance so we might not be disqualified but that You would find us working when You return. We want to be found faithful. O, we need character, character that will endure all for the Kingdom, until the Day Your return. Character that will not cut and run but stay in the battle until the end. Christ did not come down from the cross. We are in need of perseverance and patient endurance. You did not call us into battle only so we might desert You and go AWOL. Christ finished all the work You had given to Him. And we not only want to finish the race and fight the good fight but we want to do so with joy and great rejoicing! You are our King who reigns and battles alongside us! We pray with Paul that you might strengthen us with all Your might, according to Your glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy! With joy! We need joy today. Rejoice our souls. Delight us with Your presence.
O, strengthen us, rejoice our souls today, fill us with Your hope so we can look ahead to the joy set before us and finish our course with joy. The hope You give us never disappoints. You are not a liar. You will never leave us or forsake us. You will continue to be with us. The hope we have in You is a sure hope because Christ is our sure hope, our Anchor in the veil, the resurrected Son of God who is seated at the right hand of His Father in glory. We know one Day You will return in glory and set up Your Kingdom. We know that our labor in You will not have been in vain, regardless of how many losses we may endure, no matter how many battles we may have lost, we will reign with You one Day. May we continue to work while we can and make the most of our days. We are tempted to be weary. Keep us strong in battle. Give us oil of joy for the spirit of heaviness. Fill us with Your hope so we might rejoice in the battle day in, day out until the Day You return or the Day you call us home to be with You.
O Lord, Rejoice the souls of your servants today in the midst of battle so we might be a praise in the earth – to a people who so need to see glad and shining faces in the midst of pain and sorrow and suffering.
Amen.
Let us continue in prayer today with a guest prayer from one of my Xanga friends, llamalima (Jen Nung), a brother in Christ who lives on the other side of the world from me (he's in New Zealand, I'm in the U.S.). This excites me very much. We all know our God is not a respecter of persons; Christ's blood has been shed to ransom souls from every tribe, language, people and nation! Once again I give thanks and praise to God for the men and women and boys and girls all around the world He is giving a greater hunger and thirst for Him and a heart and passion to seek after Him.
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