The Power of Prayer

A message from Ex 17:8-13 by Dave Rogers 6/04/08

To listen to Dave's message click here mp3

We are looking at 'Studies in the life of Joshua', and today we will look together the very first time that he is mentioned in the bible.   But before we look at Exodus 17:8-13 let me tell you the story up to this point.

Moses as you know was brought up in a very privileged environment. He was brought up by Pharaoh's daughter, and even though he was a Hebrew, he was treated as Egyptian royalty. At the age of 40 years old, Moses murdered a slave master who was mistreating one of his fellow Israelites. Moses fled from Egypt. He found himself in the desert, where he spent the next 40 years, looking after sheep. His main company was that of the sheep and his trusty staff, his shepherd's crook he used to tend the sheep.

We don't even know if he knew God, he was an intelligent and educated man. He had been taught of the many gods of Egypt and would have been able to read and write. So he spent 40 years thinking, thinking about what he had done, and about this situation he had ended up in. This is very unlike another famous shepherd David, who spent his time worshipping God.

Now at the age of 80 Moses had a life changing experience that would change the course of his future and that of his people and maybe even the rest of mankind. Moses met God! Whilst tending his sheep he came across a burning bush, from which he heard the voice of God, the great 'I Am'. And it was during this experience that Moses was sent by God back to Egypt to set his people free. Another thing that happened at this time was that Moses' staff, his shepherds crook, became his symbol of authority. God used the staff as a sign of his power.

So off Moses went, back to the land he grew up, back to Egypt, to tell Pharaoh to let his people go.

During this time in Egypt the Israelite slaves continued to work, and among them was a young man called Hoshea, Son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, He was about 40 years old, half the age of Moses. Hoshea was one of the leaders amongst his tribe, but little did he know what was about to happen.

Moses arrived in Egypt and tells Pharaoh to let his people go, but Pharaoh says no! So Moses uses his staff and amazing miracles are performed. Water to Blood, Frogs, Gnats, Flies, Livestock Diseased, Boils, Thunder and Hail, Locust and Darkness.   But still Pharaoh said no.

And so the last of the ten plagues. The Angel of death came and killed the first born males of everyone who had not covered their door-post in the blood of a lamb. Pharaoh's son was one of these who died. Pharaoh relented and sent Moses and the Israelites out.

By another miracle Moses he places his staff in the Red sea and it parts, whilst the Israelites were being pursued by the Egyptian army, allowing them to cross. Reaching the other side he places   the staff in the water again and the sea closes in around the pursuing Egyptian soldiers.

Amazing wonders showing God's Power were done through Moses with his staff setting the slave-people free.   Now less than a month into their freedom the wonders continue, showing Gods power through Moses and his staff.

As you can imagine trying to feed and water what has been estimated to be about 2 million people would have been difficult and the people started to moan at Moses. What did Moses do? He turned to the Lord, who told him to throw a stick into the bitter water and it became sweet. The second time they ran out of water, he struck a rock and it produced water. This was at a place called Rephedim, which is where we join the story.

Just remember we are now only 2 months after their escape from Egypt, they hadn't even reached mount Sinai and made their covenant with God.

The people now had water to drink, but another challenge arose. A nomadic called the Amalekites, a bit like the Bedouins, wandered the desert regions and saw this huge company of people with livestock and goods, and thought they were on to a winner. They may have heard of these slaves with no military experience who has escaped from Egypt and here they were! They knew these people were out of their comfort zone, fearful and inexperienced so they attacked.

Now here is the first reference to Joshua in the Bible. Moses calls him to chose some men and go and fight the Amalekites. He may have seen Joshua's potential and known that he could lead men in a battle. Here we see that Moses calls him Joshua. He was previously known as Hoshea (saviour). But here we have a name change in the bible with significance. Hoshea became Joshua - The Lord Saves.   It was not man who would save, but the LORD through a man.

Moses tells Joshua that he would go to the top of the hill overlooking the battle field with his staff, the symbol of God's power. He doesn't stay in the camp, worrying and wondering, he looks down on his man and his people fighting the enemy. Knowing Moses was looking on with his staff held high would have filled Joshua with confidence. He knew the power that Moses had when he stood with the staff in his hands.

So the next day Joshua gathered his men, they would have got together all the weapons they could find, and out they went to meet the Amalekites. Moses with his brother Aaron and his mate Hur went to the top of the hill to watch.

CH Spurgeon describes what the battle might have been like:

"Do you not see the battle! It is not on a very large scale, but it is still worthy of your earnest attention. There is Amalek, rushing to the war with discordant cries; see, Israel is repulsing them, and Amalek flees! But what is it that I notice? Now Israel turns back and flees; now again they rally and Amalek is put to the flight! Lo! they are cut to pieces by the sword of Joshua, and mighty Amalek wavers like the corn beneath the mower's scythe. The crowd of Amalek are dropping.

But again! Again the battle wavers; Joshua flees; but once again he rallies his troops! And have you not observed the wondrous phenomenon? There, on the brow of the hill stands Moses. You will notice that when his hands were outstretched, Israel routed Amalek; but the moment when from weariness he dropped his hands, then Amalek had a temporary victory; and when again he held up his rod, Israel routed the foe. Each time the hand of prayer fell down, victory wavered between the combatants. Do you see the venerable intercessor? Moses, being an aged man, becomes weary from standing so many hours, they seat him upon a stone; still, arms are not iron, and the hands are drooping; but see! his eyes are flashing fire, and his hands are lifted up to heaven; tears are beginning to flow down his cheeks and his prayers are going to heaven like so many darts, which shall find their target in the ear of God. Do you see him, He is the hinge of victory; as he falters Amalek prevails; and as he is strong the chosen people gain the victory.

See! Aaron is holding his hand for a moment; and anon Hur is supporting it, and the good old man changes his hands, for the battle lasts all day long, and in the hot sun it is wearisome work to hold them in one position. But see how manfully he holds them; stiff, as though they were cut out of stone; weary and worn, still his hands are out-stretched, as if he were a statue, and his friends assist his zeal. And see now, the ranks of Amalek are broken like thin clouds before a Biscay gale. They fly! they fly! Still his hands are motionless; still they fight; still the Amalekites fly; still Joshua prevails, until at last all the foes lie dead on the plain, and Joshua returns with the shout of joy."

So The Israelites win the battle, their first battle since they escaped from Egypt.    So what can we learn from this story?

1. Battles will come our way! Even from the beginning of our walk with God. Satan takes advantage of our vulnerability. He is a thief who wants to rob, kill and destroy. We need to recognise this. Let's be real! Not super-spiritual or unreal.

2. To overcome the enemy we need to
  a. fight with human effort and determination.
  b. be totally confident in God.
Joshua went out with his men to fight with all their might. They would use what little skill and weapons they had to fight the enemy. But Joshua also knew that Moses was on the top of the hill with the Staff of God stretched out over the battle field, the staff that had been used to display God's power many times before.   When we face battles we need to fight against it ourselves as well as gettig support - prayer from others.    In fact the name Rephadim where this all happened means support.

We can support our elders/leaders, pray for our gatherings for the presence of God to prevail and rpay and support our friends who are also part of this church, or may be in our small group.

3. Giving Spiritual Support is hard work.
Moses supported Joshua by holding his staff up over the battle field. But he grew weary and he too needed support from Aaron and Hur to keep the staff held high.   We need as much help and encouragement as possible. It is hard work supporting each other, new Christians, friends going through battles. It is hard work for leaders as they lead. But if we want to see victory it will be worth it.

4. Effective Prayer is not just asking God to do stuff. It is taking authority over the situation. We have learned recently how to see people healed. Jesus never prayed for healing he always commanded the sickness to go, or commanded restoration. It was about authority.   The same with deliverance. We don't know that Moses actually prayed verbally in the battle against the Amalekites, but what he was doing was prayer. Standing in Authority over the battle on behalf of Joshua and commanding victory. This is the essence of intercession. Standing in authority before God for situations and people around us.    In our story it was Moses on the mountain. Maybe in our lives we have friends who we know stand before God on our behalf. But do you know what is best and most exciting of all. Jesus intercedes for us.   He stands before God on our behalf! See Rom 8:31-35. Heb 7:23-25

Jesus is the highest authority in the universe and he intercedes for us. We battle down here, but we have Jesus, seated at the Father's right hand, upholding the universe at his word, speaking authority over us and our situations. Just as Moses stood with His staff outstretched over the battle and the power of God was with Joshua so the power of God is with us as Jesus intercedes for us.   Not only does Jesus intercede for us but

5. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us.
Rom 8: 26-27   If we want to see things happen, if we want to see people coming to know God, Our greatest call after worship. If we want to overcome battles:   WE MUST PRAY! I don't know about you, I find that hard. We don't know how to pray. But the Spirit of God will show and help us. We need to let him pray through us. When we pray for each other are we sensitive to the Spirit praying through us for other people? Do we share pictures or words that we get or do we think we are just being silly? Friends, when we start stepping out in this, it will start off with simple things, obvious pictures that we understand and can articulate, but as we grow God may give us greater things to say. It is so great when people pray with us and have words for us we know it is from God and that he is speaking to us.   And we can all do it.

So in Summary, this story of Joshua fighting in the battle with Moses on top of the hill standing with his staff held high, Shows us just how important and powerful prayer is. Are we grabbing God's attention in our battles and taking authority in his name?

Quotes:

"Pray, and let God worry" Martin Luther

"Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you." St Augustine

"I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it." -John Wesley

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" Corrie Ten Boom

"Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan" John Bunyan

"When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy." Corrie Ten Boom

"Prayer in its highest form is agonizing soul sweat." Leonard Ravenhill

"I must secure more time for private devotions. I have been living far too public for me. The shortening of devotions starves the soul, it grows lean and faint. I have been keeping too late hours."     William Wilberforce

"Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude-an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God." Arthur W. Pink