With Hands Lifted Up

What might have happened if…?

“As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 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” (Exodus 17:11-13, NIV).

What might have happened if Moses, as leader, hadn’t bothered to go up on that hill to intercede for Joshua and the troops who were facing the army of the Amalekites?

What might have happened if Aaron and Hur had not been with Moses to help him continue to intercede through a long, tiring day?

It’s not such a leap, in fact no leap at all, to equate this story to the church today. As we lose the battle for holiness, for victory over the world that has invaded the church, we can ask ourselves who’s interceding on behalf of that church? Leaders? Laymen?

Moses talked to the Lord privately a lot. He is described as God’s friend and friend’s talk to each other. But in this case there is a corporate aspect to Moses’ intercession. He did not go alone to the top of the hill. Moses may have done all the praying, but there were others there in support of his efforts.

“Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, ‘For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord’” (Exodus 17:15, 16, NIV).

Corporate prayer has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur. Unhappily, as prayer goes so goes the spiritual life of the church and its impact on the world. The early church was founded in prayer, nourished by prayer and empowered through prayer (Acts 2:1-4; 42-47; 4:23-31). And what about today's church?

Who’s holding hands up to the throne of God in our churches today?