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In life, in everything we do, there will always be the first time, right? There will be the first time we go to church, the first time we drive a car, the first time we buy a house, the first time we travel in an airplane, and so forth. Likewise, in spiritual warfare, there will also be the first time when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. From that moment onwards, we are engaged in spiritual warfare, and there will be the first spiritual battle we have to fight. Remember, our life is a spiritual journey, and as a spiritual journey, there will be spiritual lessons to be learned. And the first lesson is extremely important because it will not only be the most memorable, it will also set the precedent for all the other spiritual lessons. That was why God was so emphatic to teach the Israelites in this first battle that they must never forget that He will always be with them, He will watch over them, and all they needed to do was to trust Him, and He will fight for them.
By lifting up his hands, Moses was acknowledging their total dependence upon God alone to win the battle, and he was appealing for God to defend His people.
At first, everything went in Israel's favour, but as things went on very well, perhaps it seemed as if their prayer was no longer necessary. So Moses gradually let his hand down, but the moment he did that, the Amalekites were beginning to win. In desperation, he lifted up his hands even higher, and then the Israelites were winning. Soon, his arms were tired, and he started to lower his rod again. The same thing happened; the moment his hands were lowered, the Israelites would start to lose, and the Amalekites would gain the upper hand.
You see, there was nothing magical about Moses' hands. Remember, the lifting up of his hands was a posture for prayer, which means their victory was solely dependent on God alone—100% dependent on trusting Him. And so they prayed and committed the battle to the Lord. Isn't this true about our prayer life? Whenever we are in need, we will pray fervently, and God intervenes, and then things go smoothly. We start to think that our prayer is no longer necessary. Why pray when everything is going smoothly? Or we become tired of praying for the same item again and again.
But the moment we stop praying, things start to change. Adversities start to come, troubles start to come, and then we go on our knees to pray again. Dear friends, we must pray without ceasing.
Now, what happens when we ourselves no longer have the strength to pray? That is when other believers must come in to help us to pray. Verse 12 says, "But Moses' hands were heavy; and they” – referring to Aaron and Hur – “took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.”
This was persistent prayer. If they started fighting in the morning, that means they were praying until evening together. Aaron and Hur assisted Moses in lifting up his hands to pray. This is a wonderful picture of corporate prayer. Isn't it true? Together, one on the left, the other on the right, lifting up his hands, and together they prayed to the Lord. Dear friend, we must pray on our own on a daily basis. That is our private prayer life. But that is not the only way we pray. Nothing can strengthen our prayer life more than praying together with other believers. And that is our corporate prayer life. Just like this Friday night prayer meeting. Perhaps you are going through the most challenging time in your family or in your workplace. Or you have some difficult decisions to make of which you do not know whether to turn right or to turn left; both seem to be dead ends. Or you are so devastated that you do not have any strength to pray. What can you do? Come to the prayer meeting, and the other brethren will pray for you and pray together with you.