Prayer That Moves Mountains

Please stand as you are able as we read God’s word:

Joshua 6:1–5 NRSV

Now Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the Israelites; no one came out and no one went in. The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers. You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus you shall do for six days, with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets. When they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and all the people shall charge straight ahead.”

What do the Archbishop of Canterbury, the King of Denmark and a Native American chief have in common?  It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but in 1737 it was no joking matter. A Prussian officer named Abraham von Rumswinkel died unexpectedly. Among his possessions were found a set of papers and a gold ring bearing a strange inscription in Greek. The papers proved what had been suspected; Rumswinkel was a member of a secret society.

The papers included a provision that they should not be made public and must be returned to the order’s secretary following the death of a member. Rumswinkel clearly failed to make those arrangements and now the other members of the secret order were about to be exposed - including two of the most prominent figures in the Holy Roman Empire, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the king of Denmark.

The secretary the papers were supposed to be returned to was a nobleman named Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf. He was the Count over the county of Saxony in the Kingdom of German, as well as an ordained Bishop of the Moravian church (more on that in the weeks to come). The Order he belonged to - the one he in fact started - was the Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed. The inscription on the ring that each member wore read: No man liveth unto himself. And their nefarious purpose? Their evils goals were stated within the papers:

To be true to Christ no matter what

To be kind to others regardless of their station

To help send the gospel to the world

And what would be the means by which they accomplished their dastardly purposes? Prayer. Zinzendorf was a man whose whole life was devoted to prayer.

By 6 years old he was already being acknowledged for is commitment to God. When he went away to college, he started no fewer that 7 difference prayer groups - participating in each one. One of these would eventually become the Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed.

The exposure of these documents naming Zinzendorf would create many hardships for him. It made political enemies that would dog his steps throughout his life. He would face hurdle after hurdle as he tried to live out God’s call on his life, and he would face every one in the same way. Zinzendorf would be a man who faced many mountains, yet he had learned from childhood the secret to prayer that can move mountains.

Facing any mountains right now?

Beginning a new series for Lent called Pray Like A Moravian. This morning we’re going to look at an early story in the Bible about people facing what appears to them a mountain they can’t move. It’s been immortalized by VeggieTales in their animated film Josh and the Big Wall. Through their story we’re going to learn the secrets to prayer that moves the mountains in our life.

Pray...

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Backstory: After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, Israel has finally crossed the Jordan River. Moses has died and they have a new leader - Moses assistant, Joshua. But right off the bat, Joshua and the nation of Israel are facing a mountain called Jericho.

Joshua 6:1 “Now Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the Israelites; no one came out and no one went in.”

Jericho, like all other cities in the ANE, was a fortified town. It was surrounded by a high wall built upon an embankment. The embankment of dirt would have been up to 15 feet high, with the walls another 20 plus feet. So if you’re were standing at ground level, you are looking up at something easily 35-40 feet high or more.

The walls were also thick. So think that individual dwellings and storerooms were built inside them. For that time and place, Jericho made for an intimidating obstacle. And unless they could somehow conquer Jericho they wouldn’t be able to proceed into the Promised Land.

But Jericho was on lock down. No one coming in, no one going out. And the problem is that Israel had no concept of seige warfare - they’d spent the last 40 years guiding sheep around in the dessert.

I don’t know about you, but if I’m Joshua, at this point I’m feeling pretty intimidated. I’ve got instructions to go take the land, and I don’t even know the first thing about how to take this one city!

Can you relate? Have you ever felt intimidated by something that seemed too big for you? A bill, a medical crisis, a problem coworker, a teenager going through puberty - that I have no idea how to deal with.

Julie and I have been working for over a month to try and get a loan to make some much needed repairs to our house. We literally have stuff falling apart. And yet it seems like every step is like going through quicksand. We submit one document only to find out they need another. We give them what we think they want, to find out they won’t accept it. Through it we’ve felt powerless to do anything to move the process along and have wondered if it’s ever going to happen. I know this is a first-world problem, but it’s a real life mountain that is intimidating.

I don’t know if this has ever dawned on you, but the devil causes us to see our problems through a magnifying glass. They look huge to us. But here we learn the first secret to prayer that moves mountains: God is not intimidated by the size of our mountains. Like, God has never had one minute of anxiety about our home loan, he’s never had one moment of anxiety about your bills, your health, your kids. Not bc he doesn’t care, but bc they aren’t bigger than him.

Speaking of the surrounding nations that would love to destroy him, King David writes, Psalm 2:1–4 “Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision.”

Now God doesn’t actually feel this way toward people. David’s point is that it’s laughable to think that God is in any way intimidated by the things that come against us. He is never threatened by the situations - the mountains - that seem so insurmountable to us. Prayer that moves mountains trusts in his power.

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Joshua 6:2 “The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers.”

There doesn’t seem that God has any uncertainty about the outcome of this battle. It’s already determined. They would have to do their part, but God had already decided the outcome.

Here we see the second secret to prayer that moves mountains: We fight from victory and not for victory. Let that sink in. When we pray we are actually moving into a position of strength.

One of the things God has been showing me is that we need to stop praying problem removal and start praying promise application.

Not: Oh God, please move this mountain.

But: God, you have promised us this city, so do what you promised!

Pray that moves mountains are based on God’s promises, and God is never angry when we remind him of what he already promised to do. This is the confidence we have when we approach God in prayer. Prayer that moves mountains leans on his promises.

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Joshua 6:3–5 “You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus you shall do for six days, with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets. When they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and all the people shall charge straight ahead.”

At this point, if I’m Joshua, I’m feeling pretty good, all things considered:

Jericho is shut up - but it’s because they fear the Israelites.

God has already promised them victory.

Things are looking great.

So now Joshua is ready to hear the plan. “How are you going to defeat this city, God?”

“Well, Joshua, here’s what you’re going to do: you and all the Israelite warriors walk around Jericho once a day for six days. Then on the seventh day walk around it seven times. And then yell real loud.”

Can you imagine Joshua having to take this plan back to his generals? What’s the plan Joshua, what did God say? Well, it’s like this...

Now one in their right mind would ever suggest taking a city in this way. It’s honestly ridiculous. Like, if I’m Joshua, I’m coming up with a plan to go over the wall, not through it. I’m working with my generals to come up with seige engines, or at least some way to build ladders.

But here we learn the final secret to prayer that moves mountains: Our way makes sense; God’s way works.

That mountain the Joshua faced, the mountains that we face, are not going to be overcome by our brilliant plans and best efforts. There are things we will face that are simply too big for us. Yet, here’s what Jesus said: Matthew 17:20 “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

There are so many things that may look too big right now. Mountains that stand in our way. But is it possible that we are still seeing them through our own smallness rather than God’s greatness? God is the God of possible. Prayer that moves mountains submits to God’s plans.

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We have to decide how we’ll fight our battles. With the best we have to offer, or from our true position of strength - on our knees.

Prayer is not passive. It’s not resigning ourselves to “what will be will be”. John Bunyan famously wrote, “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.” Prayer is the first part of doing.

Mountain moving prayer knows that:

God is not intimidated by the size of our mountains

We fight from victory, not for victory

While our way makes sense, God’s way works

This is how we Pray Like A Moravian. This was the mustard seed of faith that Zinzendorf had. He would go on to be, in many ways, the father of all pray movements and revivals. All would discover and follow his example.

One such example happened in 1949 on the Isle of Lewis in the Scottish Hebrides. Two sister, Peggy and Christine Smith, 84 and 82, one of them blind and the other bent over with arthritis, began to be burdened for their little church. All the young people were gone. And so they began to pray. As they persisted in prayer, they felt the Lord speaking to them, Isaiah 44:3 “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring.”

Based on this promise, they began praying three times a week from 10pm to 3am. After several weeks, they told their pastor, James MacKay of their vision of the church being crowded with young people. He immediately gathered his leaders and they began to pray every Tuesday and Friday night at the church, while the sisters continued to pray in their cottage.

Soon other pastors on the island took up the charge and they sensed God telling them, “Ask me for revival” - and they did. The presence of God began to be felt all over the island. People remarked as they drove down the roads they would often see people kneeling in prayer on the roadside.

It all came to a head when they invited a preacher named Duncan Campbell to come speak. When he arrived on the island he was immediately taken to the church to speak to the congregation. It was 9pm and 300 people had gathered. He preached, there was an awareness of God’s presence, but nothing significant seemed to happen. He closed the service at 10:45 and dismissed everyone.

Duncan Campbell and a young deacon were the only ones left in the church. But the young man knew God wasn’t finished. He told Campbell: “Nothing has broken out tonight, but God is hovering over us. He is hovering over us, and he will break through any moment.” Then he lifted his hands and started to pray, “God, you made a promise to pour water on the thirsty and floods upon the dry ground and you are not doing it.” He then collapsed to the floor and began interceding in prayer.

Fifteen minutes later the back door of the church opened and a man entered saying, “Mr. Campbell, something wonderful has happened. Mr. Campbell, we were praying that God would pour water on the thirsty and floods upon the dry ground and listen, He’s done it! He’s done it! Will you come to the door and see the crowd that is here?”

Hundreds began streaming into the church. No one had invited them. They had been drawn by God. By midnight the church was past capacity with people standing around outside.

These spontaneous meetings began happening all over the island, and then neighboring islands. And the young people began flooding back to the church. It’s estimated that in the first 5 weeks of the revival over 20,000 people made first time decisions to follow Jesus or to re-dedicate their life. All because two elderly women with a burden for young people decided to pray like a Moravian.

What might God do today if his people prayed?

What mountains need to be removed in your life?

Sunday night prayer @ 6pm

Tuesday and Wednesday small groups on prayer

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Communion

We read often in the gospels that Jesus often went away to solitary places to pray and commune with his Father. In the Lord’s Supper he gave us a way to commune with him in a tangible way - through bread and wine. In these elements we are reminded of his sacrifice and experience his nearness.

On the night that he was betrayed...

Come Holy Spirit and overshadow these elements. Let them be for us your body and blood so that we can participate in your redemptive work for us. May we find mercy, healing and salvation through the finished work of the cross. Amen.