PRAYER WARFARE
Exodus 17:8-13
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. I remember the story of the lady who locked her keys in her car. She was parked right along a street. She didn’t know who to call, so she just prayed, “Dear Lord, I need you to send someone to help me get into my car. And if you can, send them right away!”
2. Only moments later a guy in an old truck pulled over and said, “What’s the problem lady?” She said, “Could you help me get into my car? I’ve locked my keys in.”
3. He walked to his car, got a “slim jim,” and had the door opened in about a minute. She smiled and said, “You’re such a nice man. Thank you for helping me!”
4. He said, “I’m not a nice man, lady! In fact, I just got out of prison a month ago for grand theft auto!” She replied, “God is so good! He not only answered my prayer, but He sent me a professional!”
B. TEXT
8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” 10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. Ex. 17:8-13.
C. THE ORIGIN OF THE CONFLICT
1. We’re starting our new series on spiritual warfare today called “Kung Fu Warrior,” playing off a cinematic theme. In our universe, there’s a conflict raging between the forces of evil and the forces of God.
2. The Israelites, the people of God, had just been delivered from Egypt and the wrath of Pharaoh. The Red Sea had parted and they were now on their way to the Promised Land. (We too are headed for the Promised Land of Heaven.) Everything seemed to be going well for them – UNTIL – Amalek.
3. Amalek was the Grandson of Esau, the older brother of Jacob. Esau didn’t value the things of God. When he was hungry, he sold his spiritual heritage as the firstborn son, to Jacob – for a bowl of beans!
4. A TERRIBLE EXCHANGE. During the early days of the Canada gold rush (1909) a man named Sandy McIntyre found a gold vein and filed a claim on the property. Later, thirsty for a drink of liquor, he sold his claim for $25. The gold mine still had his name on it when it produced $230 million in gold. For years afterward he could be found in saloons crying over his terrible choice! [Paul Tan, Encyclo. Of 7,700 Illus., #53]
D. THESIS
1. Esau’s descendants became people who lived only for this world and were enemies of God’s people. They represent the world which tries to get us to join them and give up our pursuit of doing God’s will. We must resist fleshly desires!
2. This story was put in the Bible to demonstrate to us the power of prayer – that it’s by intercession that we can influence physical events by God’s invisible power.
3. The title of this message is “PRAYER WARFARE.”
I. THE POWER OF PRAYER DEMONSTRATED
A. ONLY BY PRAYER DO WE PREVAIL
1. In this story, God made success and failure dependent on whether Moses prayed or not. The message is...when we're praying, we're winning. When we're not praying, we're losing. When Moses held up his hands in prayer, Israel prevailed; but when he let down his hands, Amalek prevailed.
2. “But Pastor, The battle is the Lord’s!” Yes, but we have a part to play in it. He will do HIS part, but He won’t do YOUR part! “You have not, because you ask not” James 4:2. Their success was not in their swords, but in dependency on God.
3. We can see here THE MANIPULATION OF PHYSICAL THINGS BY SPIRITUAL MEANS. The battle was not determined by who had the superior force or the best trained men. The battle was decided in the spiritual realm. It’s the same with us.
B. NOTHING IS MORE TRANSFIGURING THAN PRAYER
Prayer doesn't always change God, but it always changes us.
1. IT CHANGES OUR VIEW OF GOD
*Isaiah prayed & saw a vision of seraphs & God’s throne.
*Paul was praying and was caught up to third heaven.
*The Apostle John was praying on the Island of Patmos when he received the Book of Revelation.
2. IT CHANGES OUR CIRCUMSTANCES. Paul and Silas prayed and an earthquake shook the jail and their chains fell off!
3. IT CHANGES OUR VIEW OF OURSELVES. We see ourselves as God sees us, then we can be changed.
4. IT CHANGES OUR VIEW OF OTHERS. We realize the great need of the people around us are their lost condition.
5. NOTHING’S AS REFRESHING AS PRAYER. When we begin our day with prayer, we start off in tune with God & all things work together for our good.
C. THE POWER OF UNITED PRAYER
1. We read how Moses grew tired and his hands became heavy. The strongest person can’t hold his arms up indefinitely; only God can do that!
2. It’s interesting that Joshua's arms didn’t grow tired with fighting, but that Moses’ arms did grow tired in praying! This proves that the spiritual battle is more exhausting than the physical battle.
3. When Moses could no longer stand, they put a stone under him. When he could no longer hold up his hands, Aaron and Hur held up his arms. There is strength in unity/numbers, Eccles. 4:9-12.
4. ILLUS. “Our Big Needs”
a. We need to realize that unless we’re praying about things, we’re losing ground – going backwards.
b. A lady came up to the great preacher, G. Campbell Morgan, and said, "I only take the big things to God. I don't take the little things to God."
c. G. Campbell Morgan looked at her and said, "Lady, anything you take to God is little!"
5. How true! The biggest thing you can think of is still small to God!
II. PEOPLE ASK: “HOW DO I INTERCEDE?”
A. FIRST, PUT YOUR SINS ARE UNDER THE BLOOD
1. Our sins separate us from God and “hide His face...that He will not hear” Isa. 59:2. ILLUS.: A year ago lightning struck my truck and knocked out my AM radio. I can no longer tune into that “band.” In the same way, SIN knocks you off God’s radio band. You can't contact Him, unless you repent and wash your sins away with the blood of Jesus!
2. So the first step is to get your (vertical) relationship right with God, then with people (horizontal; Mt. 5:23-24), then make sure your motives are right (Prov. 16:2; Jam. 4:3).
B. 2nd, HAVE FAITH IN GOD/ JESUS
1. You must believe that God exists & is the rewarder of those who seek Him (Heb. 11:6). Ask in the Name of Jesus; His name is the key to the treasure rooms of Heaven, Jn 14:13-14.
2. Get to KNOW GOD’S PROMISES, and when you ask, claim them as the basis for your request. If God did that prayer for someone else, He will do it for you, given the same situation.*
3. As examples, study Abraham’s (Gen. 18:22-33) and Moses’ intercessions (Exodus 32:7-14). Take your stand on God’s character and His Word in your pleading. God is on our side!
C. PRAY WITH FERVENCY & PERSISTENCE
1. James 5:16-18 discusses Elijah as an example of how to pray. As you know, Elijah prayed 7X in succession until his servant saw the evidence that God had answered.
2. The Lord Jesus too in Lk. 18:1ff told us to be persistent in prayer & not to stop praying until we know God has heard us. (God may say, “Yes,” “No,” or “Wait!”)
III. PARALLEL: JESUS A PROPHET LIKE MOSES
Moses said, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me...from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him” Dt. 18:15. Just as Moses prayed for Joshua from the hilltop, the Lord Jesus prays for us from Heaven.
A. JOSHUA FIGHTING, REPRESENTS US
1. We are down here on earth fighting our battles. Each one of us have ongoing struggles.
a. It might be with our HEALTH.
b. It might be a shortage of MONEY.
c. We might have a troubled MARRIAGE.
d. Ongoing UNFORGIVENESS.
e. FEARS & insecurities.
f. TEENAGERS going the wrong direction.
g. Our CULTURE slipping toward the precipice.
h. Our JOB threatened – boss, co-worker, lay-offs.
2. We also are fighting for the kingdom; working in our church, trying to reach our lost family members & friends.
3. Often we feel like the struggle is too much for us and that we can’t possibly win. That’s what Joshua felt too. But thankfully, we’re NOT ALONE! Someone is on high praying for us and His prayers produce change and miracles!
B. JESUS, GREATER THAN MOSES, IS PRAYING FOR US! (Heb. 3:3) Why is Jesus better?
1. Jesus always stood up for the oppressed people – the woman caught in adultery, the people condemned by the religious set, etc. If they were put down or rejected, Jesus stood up for them against the powerful & judgmental.
2. This Jesus “sympathize(s) with our weaknesses, [He] was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” Heb. 4:15, NKJV. He is TOUCHED by our feelings & discouragement. He loves us with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3).
3. His whole purpose, in Heaven, is to constantly and unceasingly pray for us (Heb. 7:25).
C. WHEN HE WAS HERE, JESUS WAS OFTEN IN PRAYER
1. MORNING DEVOTIONS “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” Mk. 1:35.
2. EVENING PRAYER “After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land” Mk. 6:46-47.
3. SOLITARY PRAYER “Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” Lk. 5:15-16.
4. ALL NIGHT PRAYER “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God” Lk. 6:12.
5. PRAYED WITH THE DISCIPLES AROUND HIM “Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?" Lk. 9:18.
6. JESUS ALSO PRAYED AT KEY MOMENTS: At His Baptism, Lk. 3:21; before Calling the 12 Apostles, Lk. 6:12; at His Transfiguration, Lk. 9:29; Garden of Gethsemane, Mt. 26:39; and even on the Cross, For His Enemies, Lk. 23:34!
7. It’s a comfort to have the Pastor pray for you, or the prayer warriors, but the most powerful prayers you could have are those by Jesus! HE is praying for you! Praise God!
8. “Let us therefore COME BOLDLY unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need!” Heb. 4:16. We can come with confidence.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: Power of Prayer - Water Provided
1. In Romania, Pastor Filimon and missionary Ian Hall took 40 new believers to the river to have a baptismal service. It was June and after 4 months drought, the river was ankle deep. Pastor Filimon said to Ian, “How are we going to have a baptismal service? There is hardly any water.” Ian joked, “Perhaps we can lay them down and roll them over to wet both sides!”
2. Pastor Filimon looked at the forty new believers, so full of hope now that they’d found Jesus. The people in Romania were hungry for God. Some unbelievers had followed them and they began to laugh and make fun of them because of the lack of water in the river.
3. Pastor Filimon gathered the church leaders for a prayer meeting that God would provide water, & asking Ian Hall to begin the service, with singing. Then the new believers gave their testimonies. Then Ian preached.
4. As Ian came to the end of his sermon, suddenly there was a sound of rushing water. The people turned and were amazed to see water rushing down the riverbed. Soon the river was full with more than enough water to baptize the believers. God had performed a miracle!
5. One by one, the 40 new believers were baptized. When the last person came up from the water and stepped onto the riverbank, the water level dropped back down to ankle deep.
6. Later, Pastor Filimon learned that up in the mountains, 60 miles away, one of the reservoirs had become so full that the authorities opened the floodgates. God caused the water to arrive at just the right time to baptize all of the new believers.
GOD’S TIMING IS PERFECT! [from an official Assemblies of God foreign mission’s site]
B. THE CALL
1. “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers!” Sidlow Baxter
2. We are in a battle for the souls and lives of this city. Huntsville/ SHSU/ TDCJ is at stake! We need prayer partners to join in the battle.
3. How many of you have a prayer battle in your life? Healing; Money; Marriage; Unforgiveness; Fears; Kids; Temptation; Culture War; Job Situation; Depression; Need Direction? Come join me for special prayer!
4. Let’s all join together and intercede for these up front. Pray!
*Charles Spurgeon, “Every promise of Scripture is a writing of God, which may be pleaded before Him with this reasonable request, ‘Do as thou hast said.’”
Matthew Henry, “We must turn God’s promises into prayer, and then they shall be turned into performances.”
F.B. Meyer, “though the Bible be crowded with golden promises from board to board, yet will they be inoperative until we turn them into prayer. . . . God’s promises are given, not to restrain, but to incite to prayer.”
