God’s Promises Are For Us (Joshua 11:21–23)

And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain. So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.
—Joshua 11:21–23

These verses summarize what happened from Joshua 1 to 11 as God’s people took the Promised Land.

Notice specifically in the verses I just read that Joshua came at that time, and verse 21 says he “cut off the Anakim.” You pause there and think, Wait a minute, where have we seen the descendants of Anak? You might remember back in Numbers 13 and 14, when the spies went into the Promised Land to scout it out. When they returned, this group of spies—apart from Caleb and Joshua—said, “There’s no way we can take this land because the descendants of Anak are there. And they’re so big; we’re like grasshoppers in their eyes. There’s no way we could take them.”

Joshua and Caleb stood up and said, “Yes, we can, because God has promised to help us.” But the other spies and the people of God said, “No, we can’t go.” They basically said, “We don’t trust God to help us take this land.” You know the story: an entire generation died in the wilderness because they didn’t trust God. Now, here in Joshua 11, it is finally happening. It is happening because of the power and the promises of God, not because the army is any mightier. It is because they believe God, and because Joshua is leading the people of God to do what God called them to do.

We pray based on this picture in Joshua 11, amidst all kinds of challenges we may be facing in our own lives. Just picture the different challenges you are walking through right now. Let’s look to heaven and pray based on Joshua 11.

Oh God, we trust in you. We trust in you. We pray that you would help us not to be afraid of what lies ahead, of the future, because we know you are with us. Your presence is with us, your promises are for us, and your power is for those who trust in you, walk with you, align with your Word, and walk in step with your Spirit.

So, we pray that you would help us to do all that you are calling us to do amidst the challenges before us. Help us to walk faithfully with you, full of faith, trusting in your power, your presence, and your promises every step of the way. Help us, God, we pray, to learn from the history of your people in the Old Testament—to not be afraid, to not be dismayed, and to not shrink back from anything you are calling us to do, knowing that obedience to you will oftentimes lead to things getting harder in this world. God, help us to obey anyway because we trust in you.

Even when we think about verse 23 and the rest of the land that had been from war, God, we look forward to the day when challenges will be no more, battles in this world will be no more, and sorrow and suffering will be no more. We praise you, Jesus, for conquering the ultimate enemy: sin, Satan, and death, so that we might have the hope that one day the war will be over. The war against sin and all of its effects in this world will be over. God, help us to live with that kind of hope and faith today, and to spread that kind of hope and faith in a fallen world.

God, we pray for people around us who are walking through challenges. Help us to encourage them today. Give us sensitivity to the ways we can encourage brothers and sisters in Christ who are walking through hard days, as well as people who don’t know you and don’t have the hope that is found in you. God, help us to point them to the hope that is found in you today.

A Prayer for the Nyaw People

And we pray this for the Nyaw people of Thailand and Laos—for the one hundred thousand among the Nyaw people. Please, oh God, please cause the hope that is found in you, Jesus, to spread to this group of people who do not know you, so that they might trust in you and experience victory with you for all of eternity.

We pray all this in your name, Lord Jesus, according to your Word, which we love in Joshua 11. Amen.