Newsletter January 2024
Standing together in victory
Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. (Exodus 17:8-13)
As the Israelites approached Mount Horeb, they suddenly encountered opposition. Without warning and with no apparent reason, the Amalekites attacked them just before they reached the place where they are to meet with God. Moses immediately responded to this attack by appointing Joshua, a young man who had not been mentioned in the Exodus story thus far, to lead an army of people who had neither been trained in warfare nor had ever fought a battle before. Meanwhile, Moses himself went to the top of a hill overlooking the battlefield and raised his rod. He knew that this battle could not be won in the natural, but he also knew that every time he raised his rod, God’s power was released to bring victory to His people.
It’s no different with us. We too have an enemy who attacks us when we least expect it. How often do we progress in our spiritual journey and, just as we are about to enter into God’s presence, something happens that sets us back to where we were before. Our spiritual enemy does everything in his power to stop us from reaching that place. All of a sudden, everything appears to go wrong, problems take over at work or in our family lives, or we are struck with sudden illness. As a result, we lose focus and regress in our spiritual journey. We may become discouraged and begin to doubt whether we will ever experience the fullness of His presence, which we so long for. There seems to be nothing we can do in the natural realm, but, like Moses, we have a weapon that will release the power of the Almighty God – prayer. Rather than respond to such setbacks through natural means, we need to recognise our spiritual enemy (Ephesians 6:12). We need to be vigilant and resist him (1 Peter 5:8-9). We need to be aware of his devices, so he cannot take advantage of us (2 Corinthians 2:11) and, as Moses lifted up his rod, we need to lift up our voices in prayer.
As we read on in Exodus (17:12), however, we find that Moses’ arms became weary and he struggled to hold up the rod on his own. Aaron and Hur had to come to his assistance. They sat him down on a stone and held up his arms, one on each side. Like Moses, we cannot manage on our own; we all need each other. Just as Aaron and Hur bore up the arms of Moses, so that he could continue to hold up the rod, we too need to bare one another up in prayer. That is why we are encouraged to pray together (Matthew 18:19-20). That is why we have corporate prayer meetings, where we pray for one another’s needs. And that is why we begin each year with 21 days of prayer with a particular focus on our church leaders who are at the forefront of the spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:18-19; Romans 15:30), as well as the needs of all believers. The victory is ours – but it comes only through prayer! Let us be ready for the enemy’s onslaught in 2024. Let us pray each in our own time, but also let us stand together by attending the prayer meetings scheduled for this new season as much as possible.
Bishop Konrad