Not By Human Effort (Judges 7:2)

The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
—Judges 7:2

Oh, what a good verse. God tells Gideon, “I’m going to make sure that when you lead my people into the land to take the Midianites, it will be clear.” It was not because of their hand—or your hand—that they were saved or that you won. It will be clear that it is because of his hand.

The reality is that this is true in all of our lives; it is at the very core of our salvation. We are saved by grace through faith. As Ephesians 2 states, this is not our own doing; it is the gift of God. None of us can look at our salvation and say, “I did that.” God alone did that.

Judges 7:2 pictures God accomplishing great things through human weakness.

Think about the tendency we have to say, when it comes to all kinds of things in our lives, “I did this,” or, “I did that.” I remember talking not long ago with a group of professional athletes who are obviously elite in their trade and who work incredibly hard. At one point I said to them, “You might be tempted to think, ‘I’ve done this. I work hard, I get up every morning, I go through this workout regimen, I eat this way, and I discipline my body that way.‘ You undoubtedly do all those things. At the same time, who is it that gives you the breath to wake up in the morning in the first place? Who is it that gives you the strength to walk, much less work out? Who is it that gave you the skill to practice hour after hour?”

All of that comes from the hand of God. And that is not just for elite professional athletes; this is for every single one of us. There is nothing good in us apart from God’s grace. When we realize this, we recognize two things: first, we are living testimonies of his grace, and second, we have grace to celebrate every single day, no matter how hard times get. We can see God’s grace all over our lives and recognize that it is ultimately all for his glory.

Judges 7:2 explains our complete dependence on God’s grace.

So we pray, according to Judges 7:2: God, we have no good thing apart from your gracious hand in our lives. You are the source of everything that is good in our lives and everything that is good in the world. We look to you in humble, total dependence. Lord, we confess that we are not self-sufficient people. We cannot sustain ourselves; only you can sustain us. We need your goodness on a moment-by-moment, day-by-day basis, and we praise you, O God, for your generosity in giving it.

Lord, we praise you for all of the grace, mercy, kindness, and goodness you pour out so generously in our lives. God, forgive us for the many times we take that for granted. Forgive us for our pride, which is so prone to forget that every good thing in us—and every good thing we have—ultimately comes from you. We praise you as the author of every good gift and the giver of every good thing, and we pray for humility before you.

We pray that your grace toward us would overflow in grace toward others. God, help us to be generous, gracious, merciful, and kind to everyone we interact with today. Help us to share, rather than keep to ourselves, the good news of your grace.

A Prayer for the Sorani Kurd People

God, we pray for the good news of your grace and your generosity in Jesus to spread among all the peoples of the world. Specifically, we pray for the Sorani Kurds in Iraq and Iran—four million people across these countries—and others in Jordan and Kuwait. God, we pray for the Sorani Kurds to be reached with the good news of your grace in Jesus. Help us, as your church, to be faithful and generous with the gospel, giving of our resources and our lives however you might lead us, including through our prayers right now. God, please, we pray for the spread of your grace and generosity in Jesus among the Sorani Kurds in Iran and Iraq.

O God, we pray all this according to your Word, which we love, in Judges 7:2. In Jesus’ name, amen.