Where The Action Is
9:30 2/14/93 Exodus 17:8-15 Psalm 20:1-9 2 Tim 2:1-7
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TOBY
Lord, we pray that You would hear our prayer right now. Descend upon us by the power of your Holy Spirit and free us from ourselves, that we may truly hear You. O God, open our ears and
our hearts and our minds, that Your word may be planted within
us. We pray in the might and name our Lord Jesus Christ Amen.
RICK
Once a sixth grader took her little brother to church for
the first time. The little boy started making noises. His sister
told him to stop and sit still. The little boy said, "but it’s
boring." His sister replied, "be quiet, its supposed to be
boring." Like that little boy, we don’t want to get bored. We
want to be in the place "where the action is."
TOBY
We had the privilege of having a wonderful friend from South
Africa while at seminary. The whole time she was with us, she
continually told of one situation after the other in which she
shared how she had prayed to God about various circumstances, and
had watched God miraculously intervene and answer her payers. I
was just struck with awe of the power of God. The Holy Spirit
began to deal with me, and I began a new journey in my own life.
My people, we are convinced, that prayer is where the action is.
In the conflicts we experience, the outcome is not determined by
what is seen, but rather by what happens in the place of prayer.
RICK
Our text this morning is Exodus Chapter 17 verses 8-15. We
find the story of God’s people as they have left Egypt and are
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now on their way to the promised land. Verse 8 says "The Amale
kites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim." As the
children of Isreal traveled through the wilderness on their way
to Canaan, many who were weak and sick fell to the rear of the
caravan and were left to keep up the best way they could. As a
result, the Israelites were stretched out many miles through the
desert. Estimates are that over a million people left Egypt.
TOBY
The Amelekites were a nomadic tribe of that region. They
took advantage of this situation and attacked and plundered those
who fell behind. So the Israelites were forced to fight even
though they were far less prepared than the Amalekites. Now it
was no secret that the Israelites had walked out of Egypt loaded
down with as much wealth as they could carry. The Amelekites
were willing to take any risk to steal this wealth for them
selves.
RICK
We find in verse nine, 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." It’s
Joshua’s job to organize the soldiers for battle, meanwhile Moses
is going up to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur at his
side. They want to be able to see the battle.
TOBY
Look at Exodus 17:10 "So Joshua fought the Amalekites as
Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of
the hill." As the two armies continued to fighting, Moses
raised his hands before God above his head. The nation of
Isreal was winning in the battle. Look at verse 11 "As long as
Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenev
er he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning."
RICK
It quickly became apparent to Moses, Aaron and Hur, that the
determining factor in this battle was not which side had the
better army or the greater military strategy. The determining
factor in this battles was whether or not Moses held up his
hands. Holding up one’s hands was a symbol of appeal to God for
help and enablement. They came up with a solution to keeping
Moses’s hands lifted up. Look at verse Exodus 17:12 "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."
TOBY
With Aaron and Hur on each arm, the Amalekites did not have
a chance. Even though the army of Isreal was at a disadvantage
because of their lack of equipment and preparation, that did not
determine the outcome for verse 13 says "So Joshua overcame the
Amalekite army with the sword." There is verse in Psalm 20 that
says "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in
the name of the LORD our God."
RICK
Saints do you see that it was the action on the hilltop that
determined the outcome of the action in the valley. There are
principles found in this incident, which if carefully observed,
will make our prayer lives more exciting and our prayers more
fruitful. The real spiritual success or failure of a church does
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not depend only on the talent of the preachers or even the size
on the congregation. Success from God’s point of view will only
be obtained through our dependence on God and our willingness to
lift up our hands in prayer.
TOBY
In this incident from the book of Exodus, God wanted to teach
Moses, Joshua and the rest of the people a lesson. You see,
there was more going on than just a battle between two armies. A
great spiritual battle was going on as well. God’s message was
this: in our spiritual conflicts, the outcome is not determined
by what is seen "in" the field of battle, but rather by what
happens in the place of prayer.
RICK
If you read the Old Testament, you will notice that in many
situations, God’s people are in arenas in which they faced over
whelming disadvantages. Sometimes God put them there and some
times they managed to get into the situations on their own. Then
to the amazement of all who saw or heard: God’s people came out
of those situations victoriously. Why? Because out of a spirit
of total dependence on God and unwavering faith in God, they
fought the real battles on their faces before God. Their public
victories were the outcome of their private victories.
TOBY
Likewise people, as we turn in total dependence on God, bow
our knees before the conflict begins, God turns our eyes toward
Him. God sifts and cleanses us in preparation for the coming
battles. What can we expect Saints concerning our battles? First
all, God gives us His perspective of the battle which is
always superior to our own. One person who found this to be true
in the Old Testament was Gideon in the book of Judges. We find
that the Midianites were a powerful enemy oppressing God’s peo
ple. The Israelites thought victory was out of the question.
RICK
The Lord contacted Gideon to do something about it. It says
in Judges 6:14-16 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the
strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not
sending you?" {15} "But Lord, " Gideon asked, "how can I save
Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in
my family." {16} The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you
will strike down all the Midianites together." Even though
Gideon did not believe it was possible to defeat Midian, God knew
that it was. Notice that God chooses to do great things through
people who believe themselves to be totally inadequate to be used
by God.
TOBY
The second thing we can expect from God is that God is going
to be sufficient for whatever we are facing. Then God promises
us victory by His own word. So as we rise from our places of
prayer, we march into any battles confident of victory. For the
battle is the Lord’s and the victory is ours. Now the bible
makes it clear that Satan is real and that Satan is our enemy.
Ephesians 6:12 tells us "For our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms RICK
Satan knew that the Messiah would come through the nation of
Israel. The Amalekites and all the other nations that warred
with Isreal were instruments of Satan. Nothing more than weapons
to get at God’s people, and in a sense to get at God. But many
times, despite the fact that Jesus told us to pray and not faint.
We still lose heart. Sometimes it is because we look at the
circumstances around us. Know sooner than Peter started walking
on the water, he let the circumstances around him, shake his
belief in God’s sufficiency for his situation.
TOBY
Saints other times, Satan warps our perspective to discour
age us; We see problems as larger than they really are. I’ll
never forger when Pastor Rick and I discovered we were expecting
a baby. We were poor, both students in school, both working and
both thinking we would not be able to do it. Yet that moment of
despair, has blossomed into one of the greatest sources of joy in
our lives. God knows we will grow fainthearted at times. God
understands when we feel like giving up. We all need an Aaron or
a Hur in our lives to come hold up our arms when the battle gets
heavy.
RICK
What kind of people should we look for when we ask God to
send us and Aaron and a Hur. We should look for those who are
spiritually minded and actively seeking God; Those who obey and
trust the Lord regardless of the circumstances. We should look
for those who obey and trust the Lord regardless of the circum
stances. We should look for those who accept us as we are,
regardless of the problems we may be facing. An Aaron and a Hur
must have compassionate hearts. They must me able to share the
burden of the load.
TOBY
Have you ever tried to share with someone who seemingly
could care less? We need prayers warriors. Prayer warriors must
have a willingness to give of themselves and ask nothing in
return. To love us as Christ does, unconditionally and unself
ishly. They must be faithful and they must be willing to stop
whatever they are doing to enter into prayer.
RICK
Saints, something happens in our lives when we have and
Aaron and a Hur standing by our sides, holding up our arms, and
praying to God Almighty in our behalf. There is a new freedom
and confidence and also great spiritual fruitfulness. We must
ask ourselves, "Am I the kind of Christian that someone would
want as an Aaron or Hur?". Am I seeking to obtain the qualifica
tions to come along and just help somebody else through a situa
tion? We’ve got a lot of people here in the church in need of
someone just willing to help hold up their arms for a while.
TOBY
There is no way for 3 people to bind themselves together in
Christ and pray for each other without growing and becoming
stronger in their faith. It is among groups like this, that the
real battles in life are fought and won. This is how God intends
for all of us to fight our battles. We are to be on our faces
before Him with other who will pray for victory.
RICK
In Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10-18, the apostle Paul insists
that the Christian life is a warfare, and that the Christian is
to be thoroughly equipped for battle by putting on the armor that
God requires. It is interesting to note, that following the
description of the fighting equipment of the Christian in verse
18 there is a strong emphasis on our need for prayer. It says in
Ephesians 6:18 "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and
always keep on praying for all the saints."
TOBY
To pray in the Spirit means to pray in that awareness of God
which the Spirit brings. It means to pray in the knowledge that
the Spirit helps our weaknesses and even intercedes for us. Such
prayer includes prayer and supplication. The difference between
the two is this. Prayer means the conscious awareness of God
with a readiness to receive what God wants to give, whether God
gives benefits or commands. In this kind of prayer, no precise
words need to be spoken. Supplication on the other hand implies
that we put requests to God, perhaps for ourselves, but certainly
for others and their needs. Our prayers a re required for all
our fellow Christians.
RICK
We also see in Ephesians that the warfare we are engaged in
is not primarily against other human beings. That’s not say we
won’t have human enemies. It means there is a power behind those
ð 7 3 Šenemies that we can’t see. If we do not fight out battles on our
knees, we will mistake all kinds of people for the enemy. Satan
is at the heart of many of the attacks we experience in life. It
is his job to seek to kill, maim and destroy our lives.
TOBY
We need Supernatural strength at its maximum. We need the
whole armor of God, to be able to stand firm and become a rally
ing point for others. Whereas the NIV bible says "Be strong in
the Lord" in Ephesians 6:10, the Greek actually conveys the
message "to be made strong", "to be empowered", that is, by this
new relationship with Christ and the resources God makes avail
able to us. The NEB brings this our well, it says "Find your
strength in the Lord." The verb is in the present tense in Greek
which means that the empowering is to be a continuing, day by
day, moment by moment experience.
RICK
The devil has no principles. He is an enemy that will get
you anyway that he can. If he can’t overcome you in a head on
attack, he’ll try to blindside you with trickery. That’s why we
are told to put on the whole armor so that we might withstand the
wiles of the devil. We are to stand firm with the belt of truth,
the breastplate of righteousness, with our feet fitted with
readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. We’re to take up
the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the
Spirit which is the word of God. And we are to pray on all occa
sion with all kinds of prayers and requests.
TOBY
Saints if we are to grow in our prayer life, there are a few
things necessary. The first is Time. Like everything else,
prayer requires time, daily time. We have to make time for it, or
there never will be time. The second is a place. It does not
matter where that place is, but it ought to be a place where we
are free from the interruptions of others. It ought to be a place
we can regularly meet God at. The third is prayer needs a book.
The Bible is a good one to have. Bible reading is the listening
side of prayer. In the Bible God speaks to us. In prayer we
speak to God. What God says to us, can radically affect what we
say to God.
RICK
Prayer needs three organs of the head: An ear to hear what
God says, the tongue to repeat God’s promises as our petitions,
and the eye to look out expectantly until the results come.
Thoughtful Bible reading is giving God our ears. What goes in
the ear, is warmed up as it goes through the heart and comes out
of the tongue. We need to be willing to let the Teacher, the
Holy Spirit teach us in our prayers.
TOBY
If we want to be where the action is, we must go to the
place where we can meet God. Being where the action is starts
with surrendering to Christ as our master. We must continue to
surrender to Him in the actual practice of our daily lives. Yes
my friends we can be victorious. Our key is not in fighting in
the valley, but in going up on the mountain, and lifting our
hands to our God. Let us pray.
