pastor steve furtrick challenges the reader…
that if you’re not daring to believe God for the impossible, you’re sleeping through some of the best parts of your Christian life.
As i read through this good book those words kept rolling around my mind. I wasn’t sure what to expect as i began the book, only because the “audacity” of praying a prayer in a contemporary context that would “stop the sun in sky” seemed pretty far fetched.
The book does challenge and offered some solid encouragement of looking at life with a different understanding especially when pushing through life’s difficulties. The title of the book is taken from Joshua 10…
12 On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” 13 So the sun stood still and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14 There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!
Where according to Furtrick, Joshua prays an audacious prayer that can be a model for us to follow even today. Not so much as a “sun stopping” endeavor, but a reality check on truly seeking a relationship with God, through a prayer life that works off the same kind of faith that Joshua exhibited.
The book is not about a “health & wealth” or “prosperity” kind of thing. In fact on aspect i greatly appreciated was the effort that Steve goes to in bringing to light and helping the reader to understand that sometimes the sun will go down on our live’s pursuits and like Joshua we have to be prepared for where God will lead us. Furturick says:
Sometimes God has to let the sun go down so that his glory can shine through our lives. The darker it gets in your situation, the brighter God in his goodness and grace can shine through you for the world to see…The sun may have gone down for a little while. But when we see the time line of our trials in the light of eternity, the pain lasts only a moment. Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 4:17: Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far out weighs them all.
I particularly like this line from the end of Chapter 13…
Remember that your crisis is your greatest opportunity to see God’s glory and goodness revealed–and to have the high honor of revealing him to others.
And finally a reminder that…
If you’re going to have the audacity to ask God for something, you’d better be ready to act. Audacious prayer must be tethered to practical obedience.
Beyond the book there is an excellent supporting website www.sunstandstill.org with free downloads for use as a sermon series or small group resource.
Pastor Steve offers this closing challenge to the book…
The world is waiting for change. God’s people are the change the world is waiting for. So seize the vision. Activiate audacious faith. Make your move. This is how it feels to share the stage with Joshua. This is how it feels to believe God for the impossible. This is how it feels to see the sun stand still. Welcome to the middle of a move of God.
yep…a good read.