Well, here it comes again. Are you ready for it? It, of course, is Daylight Saving Time. On Sunday, March 10 we will turn our clocks forward one hour. Notice that it’s called “Daylight Saving Time”, not “Daylight Savings Time”. I’m not sure how we “save” daylight by turning our clocks ahead. I don’t think it needs saving. It’s been made clear that we can’t “buy time”, but can we “save time?” It’s kind of a confusing name, if you ask me. All I know is that it takes me about a week to adjust to Daylight Saving Time in the spring, and about a week to adjust back to Standard Time in the fall. Apparently the first time we tried to save time was during World War I, supposedly to save energy, but really it simply gives us an extra hour in the evening to work outside, wash the car, or engage in recreation. I know that as a farmer, it didn’t matter to me what time it was; so long as there was enough daylight so I could see what I was doing, I was outside – working.

Do you know that Daylight Saving Time is mentioned in the Bible? No, this is not a trick question. It’s stated in Joshua 10:12-13: “On the day the Lord gave the Amorites (an alliance of the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon) over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: ‘O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.’ So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation (of Israel) avenged itself of its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.”
There you have it: the real Daylight Saving Time. This wasn’t a matter of turning the clocks forward or back, or about having the longest lunch hour in recorded history — the sun actually stood still and the moon stopped to give the Israelites time to finish the battle. In those days, battles began at daybreak, while it was cool enough to maneuver with armor and weapons, before the scorching heat came. The Lord didn’t just save daylight that day; He also saved the Gibeonites, who were allies of the Israelites (see Joshua 9:1-10:11).

I like what the Bible says in Joshua 10:14: There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!”

This brings us to the larger question: How important is prayer? When you pray, do you actually believe that the Lord will answer your prayers? Are you specific enough in praying so that you know without a doubt when the answer has come? We serve a great God, the same God as Joshua served. He’s waiting to hear from us.