Joshua 10:12-15 – The Miracle of Prayer

These verses record one of the most remarkable miracles in Scripture! In response to Joshua’s prayer (v12), the sun stopped (v13). There is a lot of discussion among Bible experts about whether this meant that the daylight was extended or the darkness was extended, but we must be very careful not to miss the main point. V14 takes care to return our attention to what should be our focus as we look at these verses: “There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD obeyed the voice of a man”.

The word translated as “obeyed” in v14 simply means that ‘the LORD heard the voice of a man’ (more recent revisions of the ESV say ‘the LORD heeded’; other versions say ‘the LORD hearkened’ or ‘listened to the voice of a man’). This is the miracle of prayer! The passage tells us that this is more astonishing than the sun and moon standing still – that God should listen to us! That day was amazing not because of some unusual daylight or darkness but because the LORD heard the prayer of a man!

V12 reinforces that this incident is more about prayer than it is about the activities of the sun and moon: “At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD … and he said in the sight of all Israel …” This was not a private prayer from Joshua. It was said in the sight of all Israel so that they all would see and learn the wonder of prayer. “The LORD listened to the voice of a man” (v14 – NASB). Astounding! Isn’t it still amazing that God listens to the voice of a man or woman who comes to Him? This view of prayer should rebuke any possibility of us being too casual in our praying or finding prayer boring. The Great King who sits on high stoops down and bends his ear to the lips of those who are dust and ashes (Ps. 113:5-9). He says: “When he calls to me, I will answer him” (Ps. 91:15).