Hands Up: Win! Hands Down: Lose!

HANDS UP: WIN! HANDS DOWN: LOSE!

Ex. 17:11

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. Two ministers were scheduled to speak at a convention. The first speaker, a young preacher, discovered he’d left his sermon back home. He told the older preacher his trouble and asked him what he ought to do. The older minister said, "Trust the Lord, young man, trust the Lord."

2. The time came for him to speak and he asked if he could borrow the older man’s Bible. In the Bible he found a wonderful sermon and preached it with gusto. When he finished he returned the Bible to the older man, who said, "Young man, you just used my sermon that I was going to use in the next service! What do you expect me to do now?”

3. The young preacher replied, “Trust the Lord, good man, trust the Lord!"

B. FIND HIGHER GROUND

1. Lloyd John Ogilvie was Pastor of 1st Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, California. He was also Chaplain of the U.S. Senate from 1995-2003.

2. Ogilvie was flying home from Kansas City where he’d been speaking at an event. As he was on his way to LAX airport, during mid-flight, there was an emergency that occurred that the passengers didn’t know about until later on.

3. The LAX tower began to call the cockpit and told them, “You have a viable bomb-threat aboard your plane. The threat is this: the bomb is programmed to detonate as you descend to LAX, and it will detonate when you hit 5,000 feet.

4. The plane was half way from Kansas to LAX. They needed wisdom – divine intervention – to know what to do. The pilot got an idea, “Let’s land in Denver!”

5. Denver is 5,280 feet above sea level. The plane landed safely and no lives were lost. God always has a Denver, Colorado to keep you from blowing up. In the spirit-world, look for Denver. When you’re overwhelmed, FIND HIGHER GROUND! [Tim Dilena]

C. THESIS

1. Many times, the difference between victory & defeat is whether we are walking with God in prayer. Today’s Scripture is Ex. 17:11, which says, “As long as Moses held up his hands [in prayer], the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.”

2. We see that it was PRAYER that won the war, not human effort. We’ve got to keep our hands up! Today we’re looking at what prayer is, what prayer can do, and how prayer should be our highest priority.

3. The title of this message is “Hands Up: Win! Hands Down: Lose!”

I. WHAT IS PRAYER?

A. PRAYER QUOTES

1. Billy Graham said, “Prayer is... a two-way communication between God & man where we not only talk to God but also listen to Him.”

2. Leonard Ravenhill said, “You could estimate the weight of the world, [the explosive power of the sun] ...or the speed of lightning, but you cannot estimate prayer-power. Prayer is as vast as God because He is behind it.”

3. Guy King said, “No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil...he suffers from it!”

4. Richard Trench, “Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance but laying hold of God's willingness."

5. R.A. Torrey, “Prayer is the key that unlocks all the storehouses of God’s infinite grace and power.”

B. 9 ROOT MEANINGS OF PRAYER

1. Ge. 20:7 “palal,” to “judge.”

2. 2 Chron. 6:32 “chanah,” “to bend or to stoop.”

3. Ezra 6:10 “tsela,” Chaldean, from “tsame”--“to thirst.”

4. Job 21:15 “paga” means to “impinge” or to ‘drive something in,’ like a wedge. To Intercede is to drive in the wedge of the supernatural.

5. Job 33:26 “athar.” Prayer is to God like one who “burns incense.”

6. Ps. 55:17 “siyach,” “to converse with.” Prayer is a conversation, not a one-sided monologue.

7. Ps. 122:6 “shael,” “to inquire,” to “consult.” To seek wisdom/ direction from God.

8. Isa. 26:16 “lachash,” to “whisper,” as in private prayer.

9. Zech. 7:2 “chalah,” “to be rubbed,” or to “seek the favor” of God, Dan. 9:13

C. THE DANGER OF NOT SEEKING GOD

1. Our hearts don’t automatically gravitate to prayer; we have to structure our lives so that we’ll be people of prayer. “And he [Rehoboam] did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord” 2 Chr. 12:14.

2. You see, TO FAIL TO PLAN (a relationship with God), IS TO PLAN TO FAIL! Someone said, “EITHER YOU’LL HAVE A FIRE IN YOUR HEART, OR YOU’LL HAVE A FIRE IN YOUR HOUSE!”

3. We need to be PROACTIVE to develop our relationship with God.

II. GREAT BENEFITS OF SEEKING THE LORD:

A. PRAYER GIVES YOU NEW VISION OF GOD

1. HOW PEOPLE WERE CHANGED:

a. Elijah was discouraged and ready to give up, until he got a new vision of God in prayer.