Moses - Steadfastness in Prayer

His hands were steady until the going down of the sun. Exodus 17:8-14

 

"Then came Amalek and fought ... and Joshua discomfited Amalek." Between these cryptic sentences stands a third. "I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand."

 

Here is a pictorial presentation of God's missionary strategy - chosen men interlocked with the foe, a chosen man exercising his authority in prayer. No possible connection is apparent between these isolated men, yet their functions were inextricably linked. In the fluctuations of battle the key to final victory was in the hands, not of the fighters on the field, but of the intercessor on the mount.

 

Prayer is more potent than armies. It was the weaponless hand of prayer that controlled the issues of battle.

 

"When Moses lifted up his hand, Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed."

 

Holding aloft our hands in prayer can be exhausting work. As the tides of battle ebbed and flowed, "Moses' hands grew weary". The inactivity of praying on the mount is a much greater test of spiritual stamina than battling in the valley. When Moses could no longer stand, he sat. When he could no longer upraise his hands, he summoned help. He must not fail Joshua in the valley. At whatever cost, the rod of God must be held aloft.

 

Joshua must fight as though there was no uplifted rod in the mount. Moses must pray as if there was no drawn sword in the valley. "Which things are an allegory." Divinely chosen warriors are battling satanic powers in distant lands. The issue lies finally in the hands of intercessors far removed, who have been entrusted with divine authority (Luke 11:10).

 

Only as their hands are "steady unto the going down of the sun" will Amalek be utterly destroyed.