Exodus 17:8-13  “Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.”

We see the Israelites, where earlier in Exodus have escaped from slavery in Egypt, and then again are pursued. So we have this people, that on one hand have come up against crazy struggle but on the other hand have received the promise of deliverance from God.  Moses tells a weary people in Exodus 14:13-14, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.  The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”  God tells Moses to lift up his rod, and  stretch out his hand to part the waters. And God delivers his people.

And now back in Chapter 17 we see Israel yet again coming up against struggle. Moses knew this battle was real. He saw the enemy. Just as real as the battle that was before them, was the power of his God’s outstretched hand.

Moses does not run from the enemy, but He literally throws his hands up to the Lord, declaring that the battle is the Lord’s.

We as a church are in spiritual battle, and we can not run from it nor shy away. Our immediate defense/offense must be prayer.

So we see:

1)   It is the Lord’s battle

2)   We are utterly weak and defenseless without the Lord fighting on our behalf, and other saints coming alongside to lift each other up through prayer and pointing each other to Jesus.

3)   That victory was to point us to our Great Deliverer, Intercessor, and Victor – Jesus Christ who has forever dismantled the enemy and conquered sin and death at the cross.

We will be praying tonight that we as Jesus’ church, engaged in spiritual battle, would STAND FIRM. We will be battling offensively for souls, for we believe that the prayer of the saints is pushing back the darkness that has beset London. That God would be glorified in the battle and we would say “The Lord is my Banner”.  And thanking Jesus for the ultimate accomplishment of victory through his death and resurrection!

“Brethren, pray for us”(1Thes.5:25)

As we gather together this week in prayer, we will be continuing to study and pray from the example of corporate prayer set forth by Jesus in The Lord’s Prayer with:

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”

Colossians 3:12-14 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

1) We are forgiven therefore we can forgive

2) Forgiveness towards others is evidence of God’s work in us

As believers, it is of utmost importance to;

1)View our Reconciliation

This does not mean that we need to daily be asking for justification, or cancellation of debt, because clearly stated in Colossians 2:13-14

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

This is why we don’t  go to confession because first, our mediator is Christ and Christ alone, and second, it has been nailed to the cross!

But rather we:

2) Pray for Restoration

With our relationship with God in the place of most importance, we therefore pray to restore the fellowship with God that has been affected by sin. It’s the prayer of repentance.

3) Respond

How does God call us to respond to forgiveness??  by showing forgiveness…

We need to apply that to our prayer, which in essence is Gospel Centered Prayer by praying in response to Christ.  Which will forever change the dynamic of prayer.

(example) Who at a funeral is best suited to comfort a mourning woman who has just  lost a husband ?  It is the widow, who has experienced pain, lived the lonely days, and has received the grace and comfort of God. Likewise, we as Christ’s image bearers are called to reflect lives of forgiveness, are able to forgive and restore relationships with others, and able apply it in prayer because we have experienced the life changing, ever present, eternal gift of forgiveness through Christ’s work at the cross.

Looking back to Colossians 3:12-14, it is: compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other : all toward others, unto the Lord, bound by love, in response to Christ.

Forgiveness lived outwardly – Life in response/Prayer in response

Here is a quote from C H Spurgeon in a sermon on Jesus’ Prayer at Gethsemane:

“Dearly beloved friends, if men suffer some frightful pain of mind- I am with the medical matter- apparently the blood rushes to the heart. The cheeks are pale; a fainting fit comes on; blood has gone inward, as if to nourish the inner man while passing through its trial. But see our Saviour in His agony; He is so utterly oblivious to self, that instead of His agony driving His blood to heart to nourish himself, it drives it outward to bedew the earth. The agony of Christ, inasmuch as it pours Him out upon the ground, pictures the fullness of the offering which He made for men. “

A life of forgiveness was crowned by Christ’s dying prayer for His persecutors, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” He loved His enemies. He lived for His enemies. He died for His enemies. And in his great love and humility, he prayed for them.

We desire as a church for this love to pour out of our hearts in prayer, as we cry out for the city of London.