52 Prayers from the Bible

Forgetting to Pray

¹⁴ Then the men [of Israel] took some of their provisions, but did not seek the LORD's counsel. ¹⁵ So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them. ¹⁶ Three days after making the treaty with them, they heard that the Gibeonites were their neighbors, living among them. ¹⁷ So the Israelites set out and reached the Gibeonite cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. ¹⁸ But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then the whole community grumbled against the leaders. (Joshua 9:14-18)

1. Where were the people at this time?
2. Why was the community grumbling?
3. Why was the leader’s mistake serious?
4. Can you share a situation where you should have asked God for direction and did not?
5. How can this story inform our prayers today?

Scripture courtesy of BibleGateway.com. All Scripture text is from the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved. "52 Prayers from the Bible" is Copyright © 2009 by Kevin Binkley and Emmanuel Baptist Church of Rochester, Minnesota.