A Prayer Unlike Any Other - Joshua 10:1-15
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
How are we doing this morning? We doing well? We doing good? Yeah, good. Another question, just gonna keep rolling through questions here. How are you guys enjoying this series? Impossible moments. Good? Like it. Yes, you don't have to say that. Thank you guys so much. That's great. I hope it's been encouraging. Bringing... It's alright? That's alright. That's fair. That's fair. Bringing good reminders of faith. We hope that that's happening. Or new insights that are drawing you closer to God. Pastor Chris, myself, and Pastor Lauren next week. We're just loving the series. Even for pastors most of the time, speak for every pastor. We love studying because I mean we get a lot out of it. We probably get more out of it than you do because we spend all week just like pouring over it and so we're really liking it. We're hoping that you guys are enjoying it too.
I want to start this morning with a truth that you probably know better than myself and that is that communication is one of the biggest components or keys to a healthy relationship. Good communication takes makes clarity, trust, intentionality, understanding between two people. Communication becomes effortless sometimes with another person when you're on the same page. And sometimes it even means little to no words can be spoken and you guys, two people can read each other's minds, just know exactly what the other person is thinking. Maybe it's just a nod or like that eyebrow look that you're like, I know, I know what my spouse or my best friend is thinking right now in this moment. I, again, you're going to get a lot of sports analogies from me and a lot of Lord of the Rings references. So I think of this in sports. You know, I played, I grew up playing soccer and I was most of the time in the back, defense, and I could tell when one of my teammates was wanting to make a run or go down the field, they'd look back and I could see the look in their eyes and I knew like, all right, he wants it down there. He didn't have to say anything. He wasn't yelling or anything like that. I just buy a look and I try and try my best to kick the ball downfield. Or football fans, if you're watching football, NFL or college, there's a broken play and the quarterback is back there scrambling, trying to figure out what receiver to throw it to. And sometimes the receiver, the quarterback and receiver just have this connection. No words are spoken. He just gives a look or a nod and the quarterback knows, "I know exactly where I'm putting this ball for my receiver to catch it." Communication can get to this point where it's effortless, where minimal, you know, actions are taking and two people can be on the same page. One last question for you this morning is, how is your communication with God? Have you ever had a moment where you've been on the same page with God? Where you felt that connection? Where maybe after something happened, you and God are processing together in the same way. You're like, "God, we're thinking the same thing right here. We just saw this, or we witnessed this, or we were a part of something." And you can tell that you and God are on the same page. Another way of asking this might be, "How is your prayer life? Do you pray and connect with God, not just in the morning, maybe not just at night, but throughout the day, just talking with Him, listening, talking, going back and forth?
Today we're going to look at the account of Joshua in the Old Testament and look at his example of communication with God. We're jumping a bit forward from our sermon last week where Pastor Chris talked about Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness. We're jumping forward to now they are entering the promised land. Before Joshua is in leadership, we get a little background on Joshua here, before he's in leadership we know that he is a courageous man. He is one of the 12 spies sent into the promised land by Moses to scout it out and he is one of the only two that believe that God can do what he says. That God said I'm gonna deliver you the promise, I'm gonna give it to you. Even though there's a bunch of people there, a bunch of enemies, I'm gonna give it to you. Well the other 10 spies say we don't think we can, we don't think it can happen Moses. We went there, we saw it, no good. But Joshua and Caleb are the only ones that say, "No, we've seen it. We've seen all the enemies and we think that God can still deliver the promised land." So we know that Joshua has faith. He sees God as a protector, as a leader, and he sees him more capable than other people seem to think that God is. Joshua has courage and his biggest leadership quality is his deep trust in God. If God is calling Joshua to do something, we see throughout Scripture, throughout especially this part in Joshua, that he goes no matter the circumstances because he trusts that the Lord will do what the Lord says he will do. Joshua is very much a new Moses in the eyes of Israel as they share in so many similarities. They both lead the people through water on dry land, they both send spies into the Promised Land, and they both are known for the reading of God's word before the nation of Israel. And so after 40 years of wandering the wilderness under leadership of Moses, Moses hands off the leadership to Joshua. And Joshua is gonna be the one who leads them into the promised land. And so they go from the wilderness and Joshua leads them through the Jordan River, which is a mini Red Sea moment. We think back to when Israel went through the Red Sea who escaped Egypt and Moses, God threw Moses, part of the Red Sea. Well now, Joshua parts the Jordan River. And the Ark of the Covenant goes through and the flood waters are so high, but still the waters separate and all of Israel passes through the Jordan River. He leads them against Jericho, Joshua does, and I won't go too much into that 'cause that might be another impossible moment we cover. But Joshua leads the people in obedience to what God instructs them to do at Jericho. And it is God who defeats Jericho, but it's Joshua and the Israelites who obey God's instruction and execute his plan. And so city after city, people after people, God is giving the Promised Land to the Israelites.
And right now at this point in Israel's timeline, it's all about capturing the Promised Land. God is fulfilling the covenant that he made generations ago to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, And then again to the Israelites in the wilderness, Israel will finally have a land to call their own. They've been made a nation, that part of the covenant was fulfilled, and now they're gonna have a place to call their own. In fact, in the book of Numbers chapter 34, while Moses is still alive in the wilderness, God gave the people the exact dimensions, the exact property lines that they would have in the promised land. This is amazing, they're in the desert, and he's like, "Hey, you're gonna have that land." They're like, "Okay, we've never been there. Don't worry, let me tell you exactly what every tribe will have. It's gonna go from this border over here to this border. This tribe is gonna have this much land. So God is doing it all. And that was before Zillow. So that's pretty impressive that they could know, heading into it, what they would have. That joke didn't land very well. It's okay. It's too scripted. It's too scripted. But God is setting it all up. And I wanna pause here. We haven't even got to our passage yet. So I want to pause here and just reflect on all that God has done for the Israelites. Because God is the one making it all happen. Israel's along for the ride, and they still have to do their part, but God is the one making it all happen. So God freed the people from slavery. He rescued them. God performed the miracles to save them over and over again. God provided food and sustenance, like we talked about in last week's sermon. God is fulfilling His promise, and God is the one fighting the enemies. look at all that God can do. Sometimes we need to pause and reflect on all that God has done in our lives and in the world around us. If there's nothing else you hear from this sermon, just do that. Sometime this week, later today or this week, just pause, maybe journal, get out and just start listing all that you know that God has done for you, for people you know in the world around you, and see how that list grows, and take comfort and joy and just reflect and praise God for what he has done. So far, they're not even in the promised land yet. God has done so much for Israel. Tonight, or today we're gonna take a closer look at this time when Joshua and Israel are taking over the promised land and something impossible happens.
So if you could turn with me to Joshua 10, as I, you guys can follow along as I read aloud. It says, "Now Adonai-Zadok, king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and had become their allies. He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai, and all its men were very good fighters. So Adonai-Zadok, king of Jerusalem, appealed to Ho-ham, king of Hebron, "Pyrrhum, king of Jarmuth, Japhia, king of Lachesh, "and Dabir, king of Eglon. "Come up and help me attack Gibeon," he said, "because it has made peace with Joshua and Israelites." Then the five kings of the Amorites, the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachesh, and Eglon joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it. The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal. "Do not abandon your servants. come up to us quickly and save us help us because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us so Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army including all the best fighting men the Lord said to Joshua do not be afraid of them I have given them into your hand not one of them will be able to withstand you after an all-night march from Gilgal Joshua took them by surprise the Lord threw them into confusion before Israel so Joshua and Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth-horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Maquedah. As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth-horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them and more of them died from the hill than were killed by the swords of the Israelites. On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel, "Son, stand still over Gibeon and you moon over the valley of Ajailon. So the sun stood still and the moon stopped till the nation avenged itself on its enemies as is written in the book of Jashar. Sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since. A day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel. And then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal. Would you guys pray with me? God, as we open up your word, as we dive into your truth, I pray that you would work in our hearts, soften our hearts to hear what your spirit has to say to us. I pray that we would be drawn closer to you, that we'd be made more into the image of Christ, that we'd be reminded of who you are and what you can do through this passage this morning. I give you all the praise. Amen.
Alright, a little background on our situation here. We're jumping into the middle of Israel's conquest into the Promised Land. So I have a map here. We have a map. We got a map. There's a map. It's a little small. The farthest point on the right is where we're starting. That's Gilgal, that's where Joshua is, and then over to the left. So they're starting that way, they're heading left, and it says that they entered into like the middle of the Promised land and then they kind of swept south and a study Bible says that the victories of Jericho and I give the Israelites a foothold in the center of the land effectively dividing it and preventing the southern and northern cities from taking a united front so we see that little marked colored portion is the southern conquest and context there our passage today is taking place in that southern conquest so seeing what God had done at the previous cities the people of Canaan who are already there have different reactions to what's going on and to Israel coming in and invading their land. Both reactions, there's two, are out of fear of Yahweh and his people. The first happens earlier in chapter 9 where the king of Gibeon set up a peace treaty with Joshua. They said they were from a faraway land and they told Joshua, "Hey, we've heard about all that Yahweh your God has done. We traveled all this way to worship your God." And Joshua was like, "That's great. Oh my goodness, come worship God. Of course. That'd be wonderful." Well, it turns out that was a lie. They were actually from the land, but they did not want to die. And so they told the lie so that they wouldn't be killed. Joshua and Israel are obviously upset, but they want to honor the covenant they made before God, not to kill the people. So they come up with this punishment for the Gibeonites to become woodworkers and water carriers for the people of Israel, which was primarily used for temple service. So the Gibeonites are now working for the Israelites and our allies. That's one reaction. The other reaction happens in our chapter, chapter 10. The people of Canaan come together and form an alliance and say, "We don't like what's happening. Israel's gonna invade our land. Let's come together. Let's stop them." And so the five kings, Adonai, Zadek, Hoam, Piram, Jephiah, Deir, they all come together and they attack Gibeon, Israel's newest ally. and they're testing Joshua and Yahweh and Israel. Is Israel really gonna honor this treaty? Are they really gonna be able to defeat all five of us together? And Gibeon, now in battle, sends word to Joshua, asking for help. Verse six, the Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp, "Do not abandon your servants. "Come up to us quickly and save us. "Help us, because all the Amorite kings "from the hill country have joined forces against us." So what does Joshua do? Verse seven, so Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. He goes. This is like, okay, one Lord of the Rings reference here. The third movie, Return of the King, The Beacons Are Lit. This is that moment. If you know, you know. If not, you can Google The Beacons Are Lit, that phrase. It'll pull up the scene. It is awesome. So this is that moment where they're calling for help and the people that they're calling for, they respond. They do what they were supposed to do. And Joshua and all his men, they march. they marched all night from Gilgal to Gibeon. It's 21 miles. That, I've done a few hikes. That's a long hike. After not sleeping all day, you're just awake, and then Joshua, your leader says, "Hey, we gotta go hike to go into battle." So not only are you just hiking, but you're bringing all your armor and stuff, and you're tired, and then you're gonna go straight into battle. So this is not ideal, but this is amazing that they are able to do this. And they get there, and God says to Joshua, verse 8, the Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them. I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you." God gives complete assurance to Joshua, kind of in three parts here. The first part says, "Do not fear them. There may be five kings, there may be more soldiers on that side, but do not fear. Why? The second part of his assurance, I have given them over to you. God has given the enemy already over to Joshua and the Israelites.
This is a done deal. They get into battle and they can know that they're gonna win. Just imagine the confidence. Just knowing that going into war, this is a victory. I have only experienced that kind of level of victory maybe in in intramural sports in college, when as a senior we were playing, and then a bunch of freshmen who've never played before came to the field, and our team was like, "God, you have given us this victory. Thank you so much for this." That's the only way I can relate. But that, I just imagine, just the confidence of, "God, we got this. God has given this to us." And then the last part of that assurance is that the victory will be an overwhelming victory. It's not even gonna be close. God has got this. And so he offers his complete assurance to Joshua. What is Joshua's response? Verse nine, "After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise." Joshua shows immediate action. He moves against the enemy quickly. I love this, "Joshua had heard all he needed to hear in order to go and to go with God." What a good reminder for us today. When God calls, when God affirms, when the Spirit is leading you, not to wait for anything, but to go, to listen to that voice. Today we can follow Jesus through the guiding of the Holy Spirit, and we can follow with our everything in full confidence that God is going to do what He said He would do. Now it may be rare to have complete assurance from God, like Joshua does here. We don't often have that in life, where God clearly says, "I'm going to do exactly this." But nonetheless, our response to God's leading should still be immediate action and complete obedience. All right, so Joshua attacks and the Lord throws the enemy into confusion and the coalition of enemies begins to run. And as they flee, like out of a C.S. Lewis book or something, God starts hurling hailstones at them. This is just insane. More men died from the hailstones than by the hands of Israel. Can you just Just imagine a scene as an Israelite. You're fighting, they're in confusion, this is going great, you're already assured of the victory, they start running, and then God is sending hailstones to defeat them. Yahweh, your God, is fighting for you. He's on your side. Just imagine what that does for your belief and trust in God. Then imagine this from the enemy's point of view. It's not going well. The fight is not going well, you were already confused, your comrades are going down like and then you start running and it can't get any better because now stones are flying from the heavens and more people are dying. Yahweh, their God, is fighting for them, unlike anything they've ever seen before. A God, a deity, fighting on behalf of the people. It's the worst day of their lives, I think it's safe to say. And then Joshua speaks. Now Joshua and God throughout this time in Israel's history and definitely in this passage, are really on the same page. They are so in sync with each other. And I wanna bring back those questions that we asked at the beginning. Have you ever had a time in your life, be it a moment or a few days, a season, weeks, months, where you felt like you were step for step in stride with the Holy Spirit? If you have, if you can think of a time where you were like, hey, there is that time in life where just God and I were on the same page. Day after day, I just knew we were close. Our thoughts were aligned, our hearts were aligned. If you felt that, let that be a comfort, a guide, strive for that. If you haven't yet, that's okay. Maybe you can think of someone who you've seen their life and their walk with God, and that be a model. Or you can think of Joshua, strive for this. Joshua and God are so in sync, look what happens next. In verse 12, it says, "On the day that the Lord "gave the Amorites over to Israel, "Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel, "Son, stand still over Gibeon, "and you moon over the valley of Ajelon." So the sun stood still and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies. As is written in the book of Jasher, "The sun stopped in the middle of the sky "and delayed going down about a full day." There has never been a day like it before since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel. This is a prayer unlike any other that we've ever seen in scripture. And just to be clear on what happened here, Joshua, Joshua, the man, the human, told the sun to stay put so that Israel could continue the battle and continue to do what the Lord had instructed them to do. And God listened to Joshua and stopped the sun and the moon.
I don't know science that well. I don't know how this works. When I thought, I was like, I don't know, Did we stop orbiting around the sun? Did the sun, did everything stay? I can't explain it. I have no idea. Some people think that the theory is like some kind of eclipse happened. Rubbish, I don't think that. I think the only thing that makes sense is that God stopped the sun and the moon, just like it says in scripture, and that there has never been a day like it since. I mean, something impossible that no human could ever replicate. God did in a moment here. It's just amazing. I wanna spend more time though on the prayer because this prayer is also unlike anything else. A biblical scholar, John Barry, writes this. "The exceptional nature of this moment "is due to the specificity of the prayer "and immediacy of the response. "Even the life of Moses has nothing so immediate "and dramatic with such a direct "cause and effect relationship." Honestly, all this week, as I've just been reading this over and over again, I come to those 12 through 14, and I'm just dumbfounded. I'm in awe. I don't understand how this works. That's amazing. Never seen anything like it. Can't relate to it. I have not seen besides an eclipse, which again, I don't think that's what it was. That's just amazing that God would hold the physics of how the world works so that Israel could do what they were supposed to do. This isn't just about how great Joshua is It's not just about how great God is, which he is, but this moment highlights just how close the human-God relationship can be. This passage shows us that as we go about our lives in the day-to-day, we can be so in sync with God that we are attuned to more of what he is doing in and around us. This Joshua and God relationship is the goal that we should be aiming for. And so there are three reminders from the relationship between God and Joshua that I wanna bring to us today. First is the simple reminder that you have a relationship with God. It's a two-way street. He is continually involved in your life. And we have to continually make the efforts and put the work in and the time in to have a relationship with God. Just like we do with anyone else. Second reminder, God listens to us. God listens to his people. I think we've said this three or four times now in this series from different accounts of these impossible situations, but God is a God who listens to his people, responds to our requests, our prayers, our pleas, our cries. He may respond in the exact way that we want, or he may respond in a way that he deems better. I found that if he does answer in the exact way that I was hoping for, that's more of a reflection that I was more in tune with God rather than God just giving me exactly what I wanted. My desires at that time aligned with God's desires. We'll come back to that in a bit. The last reminder of this relationship is that God is for us. God is fighting for us. God can perform miracles on our behalf, not just for our benefit, but ultimately for His plan and for His glory. But there are many people who have a distorted view of God, who think of him more as a punisher or lean towards his anger, rather than his loyalty and love and compassion for his people. Remember that God is for you. Even just today, from the moment you woke up to now, when you're sitting here in church, God was fighting for you. God was doing things on your behalf. You may not be aware of them. Maybe you are. You're sitting here like, "Hey, I remember this moment "where blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." And I felt the Lord be there with me, comfort me, provide for me, or maybe you're unaware. You just showed up here and God had already, unbeknownst to you, he's been working in the background, fighting for you, supporting you, encouraging you. Remember that God is for you. This relationship between Joshua and God is so, so close. It's one of my favorite relationships in the Old Testament. But as we close, I wanna shift our focus towards our relationship with God and the approach and mindset that we need to have when following Him.
So when it comes to communicating with God, praying with Him, I want us to realize this. When our will is aligned with God's will, when we are in sync with the movement of the Holy Spirit, when we are step for step in stride with God, we will witness amazing things. We'll see God working in and through us, and we'll experience a life that nurtures deeper faith and stronger trust in God. I wanna say that again. When our hearts, our wills are aligned with God's heart and His will, we will experience a life that nurtures deeper faith within us and grows a stronger trust and belief in God. Look at the life of Joshua. Experience after experience, trusting and believing and seeing God work, he comes to this point where he and God are on the same page and he can tell the sun and moon to stand still and God is right in sync with him. This prayer from Joshua is a prayer unlike any other. And it should encourage us in our own prayer lives in a few ways. It should encourage us to pray with expectancy. When we pray, and I'll be the first to admit, this is me sometimes. We pray as if we were just going through the motions, just saying words, maybe like at a counseling appointment, where we're just venting our frustrations, stating our desires, but we don't expect God to do anything about it. We're just like, "Hey, I know I'm supposed to talk to you, God, so here's what I'm thinking, here's what I'm feeling, but I'll get back to work and I'll make my life, I'll try to do it myself." Or, "God, if you intervene, great, but I don't expect you to." We don't say that necessarily, but sometimes we're thinking that. When we are aligned with God, our prayers will also be aligned with his heart and we can expect God to move. We can expect God to do something about our situation. There was a well-known pastor a few years ago now, who had cancer and he announced to his congregation that he had cancer, that he was gonna get treatment and he stated, "I believe that God will heal me." And he said, "Even if God doesn't heal me, I will believe and preach and praise that God is good, but I believe that he will heal me. God healed him. He expected God to work. Still gonna praise him and honor him, even if he doesn't work in the same way, but God did. He prayed and talked about, and expecting God to do something. We don't always have to know exactly what God will do, but we can still expect God to work. And so we should pray knowing that, believing that. This passage also encourages us to pray with confidence. This kind of goes hand in hand with praying with expectancy. I love Joshua's confidence in this passage, all throughout Joshua's life. He's just so confident. And it's not a self-confidence. It's not about, "Hey, I know I can do this." It's all based on God, who God is, what God does, and we can have the same confidence. Let's pray and talk with God confidently, knowing that He is there, knowing that He will move in our lives, knowing that He will hear us and respond to us. Again, confidence isn't necessarily knowing exactly what God will do, but that God is there and He will do something. Think of that list that maybe you'll write this week of all that God has done in your life. Or look at Scripture. Have that list be a source of confidence for you moving forward in what God can do. And then lastly, this passage encourages us to pray in alignment with God's will. Prayers like, God, please give me more money. I'm not sure if that's really the answer that God is wanting to give you. Maybe it is. Bless you if that is the case. That may not be God's will for you right in that moment. that may not be what's best for you, though you think it's the answer, is that really God's will for you? Something that, a prayer that is in alignment with God's will may be more like, "God, please provide for my needs. "You know what I'm going through, "you know where I'm lacking, "you know that I need this by the end of this month, "I don't have it right now, "God, can you in some way provide?" Whether it's in cash or whether it's some other miracle or whether it's a way we don't even know, God can work. And we can pray with expectancy, with confidence, and in alignment with God's will, that he will do something.
There are so many stories that I've heard, there are people praying, "God, I don't have this for rent at the end of the month." And somewhere along the way, some person shows up at the door and says, "Hey, I don't know why, but God wanted me to give you this exact amount." And that person's like, "That's exactly what I needed." Countless stories of, I can't even think of the, There's a person in New York who started a ministry, and this is a long time ago, and they would just pray for every meal. They didn't ever have food, enough food, for all the people that they were trying to serve, but every time, God would provide in ways that they just had no clue. Someone would show up and drop off food, and then everyone would be fed. The story, even in the Bible, story after story, of God providing. So praying in alignment with God's will. Prayers like, "God, help me love my noisy neighbor." That is a prayer in alignment with God, 'cause God wants us to love our neighbor, like literally our neighbor. He wants us to love, He wants us to have compassion. Instead of prayers like, "God, please put Nashville on my neighbor's heart. "Please get them out of here, please make them move." Probably not a prayer in alignment with God's will. But sometimes when we pray in specifics, we close ourselves off to so many other ways in which God may work. When we're so focused on, "God, I need it to work in this way. "You have to do it in this way." We put the blinders on to other ways in which God can work. I'm not saying you shouldn't pray for specifics, we should, but also just be open to God, here's the need you provide. Here's what I'm thinking, you figure out the way. I don't have to determine the way in which you're gonna work. Pray in alignment with God's will, pray in a way that aligns with his character, and pray in a way that aligns with what he wants you to be, the image of Christ.
This story of Joshua and God today showed that God, again, can do the impossible. Even things that are set in order, like the rising and the setting of the sun, things that we have no human control over, God can control and do what is humanly impossible. We worship a God who can do the impossible, who we can have a close relationship with, who we can pray to, who listens to us, and who responds. This relationship that we have with God is the most important relationship we have. our communication with Him. It's the most important communication we have with anyone. So this week, today, moving forward, let that be a reminder that you need to invest in that time. Invest in your communication with God. We should strive to be step for step, in stride with Him and what He is doing in our lives and in the lives of those around us.
Let's pray. God, thank you again for your word. And God, we just pray that you would make this a reality in our lives, that we would be drawn closer to you, that our relationship with you would be strengthened, that it would grow. God, that you would help us to communicate with you in confidence, knowing that you're listening, knowing that you hear us, and knowing that you will respond, whether it's in a way that we can imagine or whether it's outside the realm of possibility, but yet you can do it. I just pray that you would open our eyes to how you're working so that we could praise you more, so that we could have deeper faith and trust in you. I pray that we would be an encouragement to each other, that we would pray for each other. God, we know that this is a broken world, this is a world full of sin, and that we are all still struggling and striving to be more like you. So I just pray that as the body of Christ, we would come together and love each other, pray for each other, support each other, encourage each other. God, I pray that your work in us individually and corporately as a church at Spring Valley would continue, that you would grow us, God, closer to you, that we would reach this community, that your glory would be very apparent here. We pray all this, trusting you, knowing that you are gonna work and move. We pray this in your name, Amen.