David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011]
“Moreover the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed” (Judges 10:9)
Ammon had been used by God to correct Israel’s sins (see Judges 10:6-8). And now their army was marching toward Israel! God’s people were perplexed and downcast and they began to confess their sins: “Then the children of Israel said to the Lord, ‘We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray’” (Judges 10:15).
The people were so haunted by their sin, they could not conceive of asking God for anything more than to spare them. Theirs was the simplest of prayers: “Lord, deliver us just this one time! Don’t let us be defeated or overrun by our enemy!”
They prayed for a single victory but God had something more in mind and He over-answered their prayer mightily! Not only did Israel get protection, they got the upper hand! They totally subdued the Ammonites!
“So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he defeated them from Aroer as far as Minnith—twenty cities—and . . . the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel (Judges 11:32-33).
Not only did God deliver Israel, He gave them the courage and direction to defeat the Ammonites! They subdued them from that time on and they were never troubled by them again! They had total victory!
That is just how God wants to over-answer His people today! Most Christians pray, “Lord, just give me victory in this one battle.” But the Lord responds, “I will give you that, yet I have much more in store for you. I want to subdue your enemy but not just one victory at a time. I want you to have total victory!”
Beloved, He wants to give you power not just to overcome, but to subdue every enemy! He wants you not just to conquer sin but to be more than a conqueror. Not just to have life but life more abundantly. Not just to have joy but joy unspeakable and full of glory. Not to be free of fear just for a day, a week or a month—but all the days of your life!
"Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is placed in her bosom to be nursed and trained! Could she have but one glimpse in to the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into its soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny,--she would see that in all God's world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no other's hands the sacred and holy trust given to her." -JR Miller
