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Aly Femia’s little boy woke up in the middle of the night with an urgent need. So he did what he heard his parents do many times. He said, “Alexa,” and then described want he wanted. Take a look at this video footage caught on Femia’s baby monitor (show Alexa, I Need Daddy video, www.youtube.com/watch?v= le3QT_lUAe0).

Having woken during the middle of the night, the boy turns and says, “Alexa,” which turned on the smart speaker, “I need daddy.” Now that Alexa is listening, it replies with, “What should I add?” The toddler replies, “daddy.”

Alexa then hilariously replied, “I’ve added daddy to your shopping list, is there anything else?” The adorable boy replied, “Umm … no” (Devan McGuinness, “Baby Monitor Catches Toddler Having Cute Chat with Alexa in Viral Video,” Yahoo Life, 2-24-21; www.PreachingToday.com).

That video reminds me of God’s children, who sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, needing their Heavenly Daddy. However, unlike Alexa, their Heavenly Daddy understands their cry and is “a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

Do you need your Heavenly Daddy in these dark days? Then I invite you to turn with me to Exodus 17, Exodus 17, where Israel, in desperate need of God’s intervention, encounters their first enemy since leaving Egypt.

Exodus 17:8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim (ESV).

There was no water to drink at Rephidim, according to verse 1, until Moses struck the rock and out flowed a river of water. Later, the desert nomads called Rephidim the “Pearl of Sinai,” because it became a mini paradise of palm trees and pasture (Knowles, The Bible Guide). Now, all of a sudden, the Amalekites are interested in this new oasis, so they attack the Israelites, who are camped there. How does Moses respond to this new threat?

Exodus 17:9-10 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill (ESV).

Moses appoints Joshua to lead an army of Israelites against the Amalekites, and he ascends a hill to intercede on Israel’s behalf. He takes the “staff of God” with him, the same staff God used to bring the plagues on Egypt. Moses attacks from below with an army of Israelites, and he attacks from above with the power of God. It’s an effective strategy not only for Moses and the Israelites, but also for you and me when the enemy attacks.

COMBINE PRAYER WITH ACTION.

Intercede and involve yourself in the counterattack. Join works to your faith to combat the forces of evil.

James 5:15 says, “the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick.” I.e., the prayer of a faith that works will rescue the one who is weak and weary in their struggle against sin. For faith in James always works, otherwise it is useless to save anyone (James 2:14, 20).

When Nehemiah prays for the restoration of Jerusalem, after confessing Israel’s sins and recounting the promises of God, he asks God, “Give success to your servant today” (Nehemiah 1:11). Nehemiah asks God to use him in answer to his own prayer. He is not content to passively sit on the sidelines while God does His work. No! Nehemiah wants God to do His work through him.

Sir Thomas More, the 16th Century British lawyer, judge, and theologian, prayed, “The things, good Lord, that we pray for, give us the grace to labor for” (Carroll E. Simcox in The Christian Century, March 4, 1987; www.PreachingToday.com).

Peter Muhlenberg preached fiery sermons in the late 18th Century, supporting the cause of the American colonists against the British imperialists. However, in his last sermon before leaving to join Washington’s army, he decided to do something unusual to drive his point home.

After reading from Ecclesiastes 3, he said, “There is a time to preach and a time to pray, but there is also a time to fight, and that time has now come.” Then Muhlenberg threw off his robes to reveal the uniform of a militia colonel.

He asked the men of his congregation to join him, and many of them did. They became known as the “German Regiment,” which Muhlenberg led throughout the Revolutionary War. He eventually rose to the rank of major general, and after the war, returned to Philadelphia a hero (Mark Couvillon, “The American Revolution,” Christian History, no. 50; www.PreachingToday.com).

Muhlenberg joined works to his faith and helped to lead a nation to victory against tyranny.

You do the same, but make sure you do what GOD leads you to do. Don’t ask God to bless your own ideas. No. Ask God for the wisdom to do what HE wants you to do in answer to your own prayers.