inquire

I don’t pray enough. I know I don’t; in fact, I’ve often thought that if I prayed about all the things I should pray about, it would take hours. How dumb is that! I recognize all kinds of things that require prayer, but just don’t take the time.

That makes me like the foolish Israelites I read about this morning in Joshua 9. They were fooled by the Gibeoniates, a tribe of Hivites that they were supposed to eliminate from the land. The crafty Gibeonites packed moldy bread and old wineskins for their short journey from a nearby town to treat with Israel, because they knew Joshua and his army could crush them like a bug.

Here’s how it played out, after Joshua questioned them, in Joshua 9:9-15 “They answered: ‘Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the Lord your God. For we have heard reports of him :all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, “Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, ‘We are your servants; make a treaty with us.’” This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is. And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey.’
The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.”

See, Joshua and the Israelites made the same mistake I do. Even though they knew better, they didn’t ask God. They didn’t seek his guidance before making this treaty, so they wound up swearing an oath on the name of the Lord that would require them not to carry out God’s instructions. They actually swore to God they wouldn’t do what God wanted them to do!

That seems foolish, but it reminds me how easily people with good intentions and trust in other people can be taken in by this world. Things like tolerance sound so good that I can easily forget they actually want me to tolerate what God calls wickedness. Charities can tug at my heartstrings to get money that will actually be used for questionable things. People on all sides of the Syrian conflict use images of children to manipulate my opinions. Fake news is a thing now. How do I know what’s real? How do I know who I can trust?

That’s why I need to do what Joshua didn’t: I need to inquire of the Lord. Him I can trust completely. If I don’t turn to him, I’m going to get so much of this wrong, causing who knows how much harm?

This requires an urgency in prayer that I too often lack. I want to do better; will I?