Exodus 17: 8 – 16
Highlighting – “As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.” (v. 11)
Joshua and the Israelites were going to war with the Amalekites. While they fought, Moses was on the top of a hill raising his staff to God. Whenever his hands were up, the army succeeded, when his arms grew tired and lowered, the army would begin losing. But when Moses grew weak, Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ hands, granting the Israelites victory against the Amalekites.
When reading this passage, I see the importance of praying before we go to war and that doesn’t mean physical war as Joshua and the Israelites, but for us, it’s the spiritual warfare we face every single day. If our prayer life is neglected (in other words, our communication with God is removed), we will lose the spiritual fight. In the morning, we should pray before beginning our day asking God to bind every spirit of attack the enemy already has waiting for you. Anytime you’re about to go talk to someone who may be argumentative, pray beforehand. I also see what’s happening here as a depiction of our spiritual lives. Moses’ hands being held up show us that we’re victorious when we are striving for more of God and in communion with Him. When our relationship with Him is strong, so are we. While his hands lowering could be a demonstration of how spiritually weak we become when we don’t have our focus on God, and when we’re negligent in our prayer life and Bible study.
I would also like to highlight in this passage our need for one another (our brothers and sisters in Christ). When Moses grew weary, Aaron and Hur were there to help him and hold up his tired arms. When we begin to feel discouraged and have no strength to pray, we should call out to God first and foremost, but we also have our family and friends. Sometimes God places people in our lives at a moment when it’s most critical. He will reveal to you who will fight with you spiritually in complete sincerity – we are blessed to have our spiritual family.
Pastor Echols made mention of the need to be prayerful in a sermon. He said, “Nothing significant or lasting happens apart from prayer.” I was like Lord! We don’t understand the importance / power in prayer!! *insert praise hands* His sermon spoke to me to finish this devotion and I pray you all see God’s infinite power better every single day.
Dear God, thank You for Your interest in being in communion with me. Please help me to desire You more daily and remain connected to You through praise, worship and meditation on Your Word. I want to fall in love with You not because of what You can do for me, but because of who You are. Help me to remain consistent in my devotion to You. Help me to pray incessantly so that I may be victorious over all the attacks of the enemy. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen!
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