1. IT IS USED IN A NEGATIVE WAY
For example, when a criminal walks into a bank and says “Hands up,” everyone within the range of his voice knows what he means. The reason the criminal wants everyone to put their “Hands up” is because this signifies that everyone within the sound of his voice has surrendered to him.
In essence their lives no longer belong to themselves, their lives are now in the hands of this criminal, to do with as he sees fit. It is a scary situation when our lives are in the hands of someone like a criminal, for them to do with as they please.
2. IT IS USED IN A POSITIVE WAY
For example, the Bible has a great deal to say about “Hands up!”
Something that we see in some worship services is the people of God voluntarily lifting their hands toward heaven while they are PRAYING or SINGING. This is an act of surrendering to the Lord Jesus. But not only is it used as an act of surrender, it is also used as an act of reaching out to the Lord Jesus.
Some pastors do not encourage the practice of raising of “hands” in their worship services, because they listen to those who criticize this practice, saying the lifting up of holy hands is distracting.
Illus: People like this remind me of the little boy who sat at the dinner table one evening when his father was asking the blessing on the evening meal. When the prayer was concluded, he said, “Dad, when you were praying Susan did not have her eyes closed.”
Listen, how did he know that little Susan’s eyes were open? If he had his eyes closed and was talking to God himself, he would not have been able to see that she had her eyes open.
Listen, if people really get into the worship of God, they do not come to see what everyone else is doing, they are too busy worshipping the Lord. They are focusing in on Him, not the people in the congregation.
The lifting up of holy hands is something we find throughout the Scripture.
• Look at Psalm 28:2, we read, “Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.”
• Look at Psalm 63:3-4, we read, “Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.”
• Look at 1 Timothy 2:8, we read, “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.”
Notice, the Bible says the hands that are lifted up should be “Holy hands!”
If you have been gossiping all week long, and telling dirty jokes, keep your hands in your pockets. If anyone sees you lifting up your hands, they will think the church is full of hypocrites.
The lifting of hands during worship service seems to be a part of the Old Testament and New Testament worship.
In the Old Testament we see another way that the lifting up of hands was used.
For example, when Moses was leading the children of Israel from the bondage of Pharaoh unto to the Promised Land, an enemy, the Amalekites, took advantage of their situation and weariness and attacked them frequently.
Moses instructed Joshua to form an army and to go fight the Amalekites. So Joshua chose his army and went out to battle.
Moses would stand on a hill above the battlefield, and hold up the rod of God. This is probably the same rod that was used in the parting of the Red Sea.
Moses also had two assistants:
• His brother Aaron
• His friend Hur
They went up to the hill to view the battle with him.
When Moses held his hands up, Israel would begin to win the battle. But when Moses’ arms got tired, and he dropped them, the enemy would begin to win the battle.
Eventually, Aaron and Hur helped Moses by holding his hands up. The end result was that Joshua and his army had a great victory.
It is believe that Moses’ hands are a picture of prayer. As we lift our prayers up before God, we shall have the victory over our enemy.
Let us learn a few things from this passage about lifting our prayers up before God. As we look at the hands of Moses as a type of prayer, we see -
I. PRAYER IS POWERFUL
When Moses’ hands were lifted toward heaven, I am sure he was talking to God about the battle they were facing.
By lifting his hands in prayer:
• He was asking God for help
• He was depending on God for help
• He was interceding on behalf of others who were fighting the Lord's battles
Why shouldn’t he ask God for help? After all, it makes sense doesn't it?
• If God is stronger than we are, and He is…
• If God is wiser than we are, and He is…
We should ask Him for help.
• Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”
• Matthew 7:7-8 says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
Moses was depending on God, and prayed. Prayer is not only the most effective thing we can do, sometimes it's the only thing we can do.
It was the only thing that Moses could do, and it was also the only thing that David could do.
For example, in Psalm 121:1, it looks like David had a magic mountain that gave him help.
Look at Psalm 121:1, we read, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.”
WHY DID DAVID MAKE THAT STATEMENT? That is, why did he say, “I will lift up mine eyes UNTO THE HILLS, from whence cometh my help”
He said that because during the days of David, the heathen would build their altars of idolatry on the tops of the mountains.
They believed the higher their idolatrous altars were, the closer they were to God.
• In verse 1, in sarcasm David prayed, “I will lift my eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help….”
• But notice, as he sarcastically states this in verse 1, he said in verse 2, “My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.”
The Psalmist was totally dependent upon God who made the heavens and the earth. He recognized HIS GOD MADE HIM, he did not make HIS GOD.
Again I remind you that prayer is sometimes the only thing we can do that is beneficial to us.
MOSES WAS INTERCEDING ON BEHALF OF OTHERS WHO WERE FIGHTING THE LORD'S BATTLES.
All over the world, missionaries and pastors are fighting the Lord's battles. It is our responsibility to hold them up in prayer.
Look at Ephesians 6:18, we read, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
The words, “Praying always” is a hyperbole. A hyperbole is a figure of speech. We cannot pray twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. A hyperbole is a figure of speech which is an OVER EXAGGERATION, used to emphasize how much we should pray.
Christians today WORRY ALL THE TIME, but they are not PRAYING ALL THE TIME.
We see that PRAYER IS POWERFUL, and ...
II. PRAYER IS PERSISTENT
Moses had to keep his hands up. That would imply that we need to persistently be praying.
• As long as Moses kept his hands up, Israel prevailed
• When he let his hands down, the enemy would prevail
Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:17, it says, “Pray without ceasing.” Again, this is a hyperbole, an over exaggeration to show us that we should pray often.
As you read the letters of the Apostle Paul, you will discover a man who was continually praying for Christians everywhere. Not only was this man a great evangelist, theologian, missionary, pastor, and writer of Scripture, but he was a man of persistent prayer!
If you want to know how to pray for others in the church family, look at the prayers Paul prayed for other Christians:
Look at Ephesians 1:15-18, we read, “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, CEASE NOT TO GIVE THANKS FOR YOU, MAKING MENTION OF YOU IN MY PRAYERS; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.”
Notice, Paul is praying three things for this congregation. He prayed -
1. (Verse 17) “Give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him”
2. (Verse 18) “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened”
3. (Verse 18) “That ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.”
Look at Ephesians, 3:14-21, we read, “FOR THIS CAUSE I BOW MY KNEES UNTO THE FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
In this prayer, he is praying for the Ephesian church in four ways.
1. (Verse 16) “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;”
2. (Verse 17) “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love”
3. (Verse 18) “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.”
4. (Verse 19) “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
Look at Philippians 1:9-11, we read, “AND THIS I PRAY, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”
Paul prayed three things for the Philippian church.
1. (Verse 9) “That your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;”
2. (Verse 10) “That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;”
3. (Verse 11) “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”
Look at Colossians 1:9-11, we read, “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, DO NOT CEASE TO PRAY FOR YOU, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”
Paul prayed three things for the Colossian Church:
1. (Verse 9) “That ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;”
2. (Verse 10) “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord”
3. (Verse 11) “Strengthened with all might,”
When it comes to prayer, PERSISTENCE and SINCEREITY go hand in hand.
There should be things we want God to do in our life, that we are so sincere about that we pray for them every day.
In Luke 18:1, we read, “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”
PRAYER IS POWERFUL, PRAYER IS PERSISTENT, but also-
III. PRAYER IS PARTNERSHIP
Look at Exodus 17:12, we read, “But Moses' hands were heavy; and they 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.”
Moses' hands got heavy. SO WHAT DID AARON AND HUR DO? They held up Moses' hands. You can say that they assisted in this prayer battle.
• Are missionaries supposed to pray? Of course they are!
• Are pastors supposed to pray? Of course they are!
• Do missionaries get weary? Of course they do!
• Do pastors get weary? Of course they do!
The work of God all around the world today is taking a beating. Why?
• The missionary should not carry the whole prayer load.
• The pastor should not carry the whole prayer load.
Why should you be a prayer partner with god’s man?
• Because we recognize the job is much to great for one man, and we should uphold the work of God in prayer. When the work of God is advanced, we then have a part in that advancement.
• When a soul gets saved, you had a part in that person coming to know Christ
• When a marriage is saved, you had a part in that marriage getting saved.
• When a believer grows in the Lord, you had a part of that believer growing in the Lord.
Conclusion:
We must not forget that while Moses had his hands up toward God, Joshua was successful in the battle below due to that one thing. But as soon as those hands went down, they began to suffer defeat.
Look at Exodus 17:13, we read, “And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.”
Look at the word “discomfited”, this is the Hebrew word “Chalash” (Pronounced as “Khaw-lash”) which means to overthrow, waste away.
Joshua destroyed the people, but it was because Moses’ hands were lifted toward God who brought about the victory.
I. PRAYER IS POWERFUL
II. PRAYER IS PERSISTENT
III. PRAYER IS PARTNERSHIP
