An Appeal to Heaven
- Joel Balin
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
I stopped by Pike Nursery this week…a lot. It’s that time of year to “play in the dirt again.”
I picked up 16 LuckyTM Yellow Lantana—not just generic yellow lantana. When I got home, I realized we needed 20.
So the next day, I went back for four more. Except… they didn’t have four more.
But they did have white ones. At the nursery, they looked even better. Brighter. Cleaner. A nice contrast.
But when we got them home… they looked horrible.
So now we had 16 LuckyTM Yellow Lantana and 20 white ones we didn’t want. Which, of course, meant a third trip.
After about 30 minutes of scanning every plant table in the place, we finally found the only four LuckyTM Yellow Lantana left in the entire store—probably in the entire state.
Every year, Trace and I go through some version of this—trying to decide, then trying to actually find what we decided on.
We’ve realized we have a few very specific… and completely non-negotiable criteria:
It can’t be something that any store within 50 miles carries. That would be too easy.
It can’t be a common color that’s readily available. That would be too common.
And it has to be completely brown-thumb proof!!!
We end up debating everything—color, size, timing, the right soil, mulch, even the watering schedule.
But there is one thing this year we both immediately agreed on for our yard—
our new “An Appeal to Heaven” garden flag.
“An Appeal to Heaven” isn’t just a good idea for our yards—it’s a picture of how we’re meant to live.We’ll spend hours trying to find the right “fit” in our lives—adjusting, replacing, rethinking—just to get everything the way we want it.
We try something.
We tweak it.
We go back and try again.
And sometimes we even choose something that looked right in the moment… only to realize later that it wasn’t right at all.
Eventually, we come to that place we see throughout Scripture—and throughout history:
We’ve exhausted every human effort…our abilities…even our best strategies.
We’ve tried everything we know to do.
Now we need to appeal to heaven.
Trace and I chose this flag as a reminder.
During the Revolutionary War, George Washington and the Continental Army were outmatched, out-resourced, and on the brink. Humanly speaking, the cause was already lost.
That’s when this phrase and the flag emerged: An Appeal to Heaven.
They realized that without God’s intervention, victory was beyond their reach.
A decade later, Benjamin Franklin addressed the deadlocked Constitutional Convention and reminded them:
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” —Psalm 127:1
Franklin urged our founding fathers:
“that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business.”
Our nation’s founding and Franklin’s appeal to heaven were undoubtedly spurred on by the Great Awakening led by his friend, George Whitefield.
This isn’t just part of American history. It’s a pattern we see throughout the Bible.It reminds us that we need to plant our appeal to heaven before we start digging into our own strength.
Paul and Silas in Prison
After they had been beaten, chained, and thrown into prison:
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God… Suddenly there was a great earthquake… and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.” — Acts 16:25–26
They didn’t appeal to Rome. They appealed to heaven.
Jehoshaphat Surrounded
Faced with an army he couldn’t defeat, Jehoshaphat didn’t pretend to have a plan.
He prayed:
“For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” — 2 Chronicles 20:12
After seeking the Lord first, Jehoshaphat conferred with the people, listened to the prophetic word, and received a divine strategy.
Then, the Lord defeated their enemies.
That’s what it looks like to appeal to heaven.
Nehemiah Rebuilding
Nehemiah wasn’t just rebuilding walls—he was rebuilding a people.
And before he spoke to the king, he spoke to God first:
“So I prayed to the God of heaven.” — Nehemiah 2:4
Later, under pressure and opposition:
“We made our prayer to our God, and… set a watch.” — Nehemiah 4:9
Prayer doesn’t replace action. It fuels it.
Not by Might. Not by Power.
Appealing to heaven begins with the understanding that it is:
“‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” — Zechariah 4:6
We can plan. We can work. We can try to get everything just right.
But real breakthrough—lasting, meaningful, Kingdom breakthrough—doesn’t come from our effort.It comes from His Spirit.
So we start by seeking Him, not relying on ourselves.
The Jesus Way
When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, He didn’t begin with requests.
He began with alignment:
“Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.” —Matthew 6:9–10
Real success begins with an appeal to heaven.
When we don’t know what to do, we appeal to heaven (2 Chronicles 20:12)
When we feel trapped, we appeal to heaven (Acts 16:25–26)
When we’re rebuilding what’s been broken, we appeal to heaven (Nehemiah 2:4; 4:9)
When we’re stepping into something bigger than us, we appeal to heaven (Matthew 6:9–10)
George Washington appealed to heaven and a nation was born. We want to see a nation born again—so we appeal to heaven.
Not after we’ve tried everything.
But before we do anything.
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