a homily that talks about on what are the hindrances to success

1. Joshua 8:1-26
•Jos 7:1 But the children of Israel did wrong about the
cursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of
Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the family of Judah, took of
the cursed thing, moving the Lord to wrath against the
children of Israel.
•Jos 7:2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is
by the side of Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and
said to them, Go up and make a search through the land.
And the men went up and saw how Ai was placed.

2. •Jos 7:3 Then they came back to Joshua and said to him,
Do not send all the people up, but let about two or three
thousand men go up and make an attack on Ai; there is no
need for all the people to be tired with the journey there,
for it is only a small town.
•Jos 7:4 So about three thousand of the people went up,
and were sent in flight by the men of Ai.
•Jos 7:5 The men of Ai put to death about thirty-six of
them, driving them from before the town as far as the
stoneworks, and overcoming them on the way down: and
the hearts of the people became like water.

3. • Jos 7:6 Then Joshua, in great grief, went down on the earth
before the ark of the Lord till the evening, and all the chiefs of
Israel with him, and they put dust on their heads.
• Jos 7:7 And Joshua said, O Lord God, why have you taken us
over Jordan only to give us up into the hands of the Amorites
for our destruction? If only it had been enough for us to keep
on the other side of Jordan!
• Jos 7:8 O Lord, what am I to say now that Israel have given
way before their attackers?
• Jos 7:9 For when the news comes to the Canaanites and all
the people of the land, they will come up, shutting us in and
cutting off our name from the earth: and what will you do for
the honour of your great name?

4. • Jos 7:10 Then the Lord said to Joshua, Get up; what are you doing
with your face to the earth?
• Jos 7:11 Israel has done wrong, sinning against the agreement
which I made with them: they have even taken of the cursed
thing; acting falsely like thieves they have put it among their
goods. (Jos 6:18 The silver and gold and everything made of
bronze and iron belong to the LORD and must be put in his
treasury. Be careful to follow these instructions, because if you
see something you want and take it, the LORD will destroy Israel.
And it will be all your fault. )
• Jos 7:12 For this reason the children of Israel have given way,
turning their backs in flight before their attackers, because they
are cursed: I will no longer be with you, if you do not put the
cursed thing away from among you.

5. •Jos 7:13 Up! make the people holy; say to them, Make
yourselves holy before tomorrow, for the Lord, the God of
Israel, has said, There is a cursed thing among you, O
Israel, and you will give way before your attackers in the
fight till the cursed thing has been taken away from among
you.
•Jos 7:14 So in the morning you are to come near, tribe by
tribe; and the tribe marked out by the Lord is to come
near, family by family; and the family marked out by the
Lord is to come near, house by house; and the house
marked out by the Lord is to come near, man by man.

6. •Jos 7:15 Then the man who is taken with the cursed thing
is to be burned, with everything which is his; because he
has gone against the agreement of the Lord and has done
an act of shame in Israel.
•Jos 7:16 So Joshua got up early in the morning, and made
Israel come before him by their tribes; and the tribe of
Judah was taken;
•Jos 7:17 Then he made Judah come forward, and the
family of the Zerahites was taken; and he made the family
of the Zerahites come forward man by man; and Zabdi was
taken;

7. •Jos 7:18 Then the house of Zabdi came forward man by
man, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the
son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
•Jos 7:19 And Joshua said to Achan, My son, give glory and
praise to the Lord, the God of Israel; give me word now of
what you have done, and keep nothing back from me.
•Jos 7:20 And Achan, answering, said to Joshua, Truly I
have done wrong against the Lord, the God of Israel, and
this is what I have done:

8. •Jos 7:21 When I saw among their goods a fair robe of
Babylon and two hundred shekels of silver, and a mass of
gold, fifty shekels in weight, I was overcome by desire and
took them; and they are put away in the earth in my tent,
and the silver is under it.
•Jos 7:22 So Joshua sent men quickly, and looking in his
tent, they saw where the robe had been put away secretly
with the silver under it.
•Jos 7:23 And they took them from the tent and came back
with them to Joshua and the children of Israel, and put
them before the Lord.

9. • Jos 7:24 Then Joshua and all Israel took Achan, the son of
Zerah, and the silver and the robe and the mass of gold, and
his sons and his daughters and his oxen and his asses and his
sheep and his tent and everything he had; and they took them
up into the valley of Achor.
• Jos 7:25 And Joshua said, Why have you been a cause of
trouble to us? Today the Lord will send trouble on you. And all
Israel took part in stoning him; they had him stoned to death
and then burned with fire.
• Jos 7:26 And over him they put a great mass of stones, which
is there to this day; then the heat of the Lord's wrath was
turned away. So that place was named, The Valley of Achor, to
this day.

10. BORN TO
WIN
Joshua 7:1-26

11. GOD PREDESTINED US TO BE A WINNER
•2Co 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which
always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and
maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge
by us in every place.
•1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ.

12. GOD PREDESTINED US TO BE A WINNER
•1Co 9:24 You know that many runners enter
a race, and only one of them wins the prize.
So run to win!
•Deu 20:4 The LORD your God will fight
alongside you and help you win the battle."
•Rom 8:31 What may we say about these
things? If God is for us, who can be against
us?

13. GOD PREDESTINED US TO BE A WINNER
•1Jn 5:4 Every child of God can defeat the world,
and our faith is what gives us this victory.
•2Ch 20:15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah,
and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king
Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be
not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great
multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more
than conquerors through him that loved us.

14. GOD PREDESTINED US TO BE A WINNER
• We need to change our mentality-----a champion mentality… Pro
23:7 For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he:
I. Champions never quit
II. Champions possess an iron to will to win
III. Champions have strong self-imaged
IV. Champions see the good in themselves and others
V. Champions are excellent-minded
VI. Champions push through the pain until they find their stride
VII. Champions leave their comfort zone

15. HINDRANCES
TO VICTORY

16. HINDRANCES TO VICTORY
1. WHEN PRAYER IS NOT A PRIMARY SOLUTION

17. WHEN PRAYER IS NOT A PRIMARY SOLUTION
•Jos 7:2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai,
which is by the side of Beth-aven, on the east side of
Beth-el, and said to them, Go up and make a search
through the land. And the men went up and saw how
Ai was placed.
•Psa 109:4 For my love they give me back hate; but I
have given myself to prayer.
•Prayer is a mainly act to deepen our relationship with
God.

18. WHEN PRAYER IS NOT A PRIMARY SOLUTION
•Men of faith experienced victory not because of
their possessions, ability, stability, wealth, strength
but because they prayed (consecrated and
meditated ) themselves to God
•Practice prayer as a lifestyle. Rom 12:12 Being glad
in hope, quiet in trouble, at all times given to
prayer

19. WHEN PRAYER IS NOT A PRIMARY SOLUTION
•Even disciples prayed to God Act 3:1 Now Peter
and John were going up to the Temple at the ninth
hour, the hour of prayer;
•Peter experienced victory over captivity Act
12:5 So Peter was kept in prison: but the church
made strong prayer to God for him.
•PRAYER turns losers into WINNERS.

20. WHEN PRAYER IS NOT A PRIMARY SOLUTION
• Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. Luk 11:1 And it
came to pass, as he was praying in a certain place, that
when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord,
teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples.
• Jesus never taught his disciples how to preach, on how to
pray. He did not speak much of what was needed to preach
well, but much of praying well. To know how to speak to
God is more than knowing how to speak to man. Not
power with God is the first thing. Jesus loves to teach us
how to pray. – Andrew Murray

21. WHEN PRAYER IS NOT A PRIMARY SOLUTION
• To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than
to be alive without breathing. – Martin Luther
• Prayer means surrendering yourself before God
considering apart from God you cant do nothing.
• In the world view, Surrender is an act of lose but God’s
ideology surrendering is an act of VICTORY.
• Are you in trouble? Pray!!! Jas 5:13 Is any among you
afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

22. WHEN PRAYER IS NOT A PRIMARY SOLUTION
• Mat 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in
prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
• Illustration: Muslim, Buddhist, and Christian
• Illustration: Grandsons and grandmother

23. HINDRANCES TO VICTORY
1. WHEN PRAYER IS NOT A PRIMARY SOLUTION
2. WHEN PURPOSE IS NOT DEPENDENTLY RELIED
ON GOD’S PLAN

24. WHEN PURPOSE IS NOT DEPENDENTLY
RELIED ON GOD’S PLAN
• Jos 7:3 Then they came back to Joshua and said to him, Do not
send all the people up, but let about two or three thousand men
go up and make an attack on Ai; there is no need for all the
people to be tired with the journey there, for it is only a small
town.
• Jos 7:4 So about three thousand of the people went up, and
were sent in flight by the men of Ai.
• Jos 7:5 The men of Ai put to death about thirty-six of them,
driving them from before the town as far as the stoneworks, and
overcoming them on the way down: and the hearts of the people
became like water

25. WHEN PURPOSE IS NOT DEPENDENTLY
RELIED ON GOD’S PLAN
•Psa 37:5 Put your life in the hands of the Lord; have
faith in him and he will do it.
•Jer 7:7 Then I will let you go on living in this place, in
the land which I gave to your fathers in the past and
for ever.
•Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to
the Lord, and not unto men;

26. YOU CANNOT FULFIL GOD’S
PURPOSES FOR YOUR LIFE
WHILE FOCUSING ON YOUR
OWN PLANS.

27. Pro 16:3 Commit thy
works unto the LORD,
and thy thoughts shall
be established.

28. HINDRANCES TO VICTORY
1. WHEN PRAYER IS NOT A PRIMARY SOLUTION
2. WHEN PURPOSE IS NOT DEPENDENTLY RELIED
ON GOD’S PLAN
3. WHEN REPENTANCE IS NOT CONSCIOUSLY
PRACTICED.

29. WHEN REPENTANCE IS NOT CONSCIOUSLY
PRACTICED.
•Jos 7:10 Then the Lord said to Joshua, Get up; what
are you doing with your face to the earth?
•Jos 7:11 Israel has done wrong, sinning against the
agreement which I made with them: they have even
taken of the cursed thing; acting falsely like thieves
they have put it among their goods.

30. WHEN REPENTANCE IS NOT CONSCIOUSLY
PRACTICED.
• Jos 7:12 For this reason the children of Israel have given
way, turning their backs in flight before their attackers,
because they are cursed: I will no longer be with you, if you
do not put the cursed thing away from among you.
• Jos 7:13 Up! make the people holy; say to them, Make
yourselves holy before tomorrow, for the Lord, the God of
Israel, has said, There is a cursed thing among you, O Israel,
and you will give way before your attackers in the fight till
the cursed thing has been taken away from among you.

31. WHEN REPENTANCE IS NOT CONSCIOUSLY
PRACTICED.
•The misconception of Christians today is they believed
that REPENTANCE is one time act. However, Apostle John
informed that repentance must consciously practiced.
•1Jn 1:9 If we say openly that we have done wrong, he is
upright and true to his word, giving us forgiveness of sins
and making us clean from all evil.

32. WHEN REPENTANCE IS NOT CONSCIOUSLY
PRACTICED.
•Why David considered as the man after Gods own heart?
•Because David constantly asking forgiveness and many of
his psalms are his prayers of repentance.
•It means that he lived a lifestyle of repenting of his sins
and wrong before God.
•Psa 25:18 Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and
forgive all my sins.
•Psa 19:12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou
me from secret faults.

33. WHEN REPENTANCE IS NOT CONSCIOUSLY
PRACTICED.
• Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right
spirit within me.
• Psa 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy
holy spirit from me.
• Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold
me with thy free spirit.
• Jas 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for
another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much.
• Illustration: clock

34. WHEN REPENTANCE IS NOT CONSCIOUSLY
PRACTICED.
• Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

35. HINDRANCES TO VICTORY
1. WHEN PRAYER IS NOT A PRIMARY SOLUTION
2. WHEN PURPOSE IS NOT DEPENDENTLY RELIED
ON GOD’S PLAN
3. WHEN REPENTANCE IS NOT CONSCIOUSLY
PRACTICED.
4. WHEN NOT GIVING BACK WHAT IS ACTUALLY
DUE TO GOD.

36. WHEN NOT GIVING BACK WHAT IS ACTUALLY
DUE TO GOD.
• Jos 7:20 And Achan, answering, said to Joshua, Truly I have done
wrong against the Lord, the God of Israel, and this is what I have
done:
• Jos 7:21 When I saw among their goods a fair robe of Babylon and
two hundred shekels of silver, and a mass of gold, fifty shekels in
weight, I was overcome by desire and took them; and they are put
away in the earth in my tent, and the silver is under it.
• Jos 7:22 So Joshua sent men quickly, and looking in his tent, they
saw where the robe had been put away secretly with the silver
under it.

37. WHEN NOT GIVING BACK WHAT IS ACTUALLY
DUE TO GOD.
• Jos 7:23 And they took them from the tent and came back with
them to Joshua and the children of Israel, and put them before the
Lord.
• Jos 7:24 Then Joshua and all Israel took Achan, the son of Zerah,
and the silver and the robe and the mass of gold, and his sons and
his daughters and his oxen and his
• Jos 6:18 The silver and gold and everything made of bronze and
iron belong to the LORD and must be put in his treasury. Be careful
to follow these instructions, because if you see something you want
and take it, the LORD will destroy Israel. And it will be all your fault.

38. WHEN NOT GIVING BACK WHAT IS ACTUALLY
DUE TO GOD.
• Don’t ever make the mistakes of telling God that you have nothing
to offer. God does not create any junk.