16 October 2016 - raising holy hands

[ Today's Readings ]

It is necessary for us to pray always without becoming weary. At the same time this represents a huge challenge. We come to see God as an unjust judge withholding what we deserve. Yet he himself is the one who wants us to ask. Our persistence does not annoy him. He wants us to increase and make more firm our desire for the good things he has for us. He asks so that he can not only give but so that we can be transformed through the asking.

Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night? 
Will he be slow to answer them? 
I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. 

What do we do when we start to become weary with prayer? What do we do when the battle goes longer than we planned and our intentions and resolutions become weak? We can keep our hands raised on the mountaintop for a while but eventually our arms become tired and Amalek has the better of the fight. Do we let our arms drop, deciding that the thing we need isn't so important after all? We must not! This is a battle and losing has consequences! Instead, we must support one another.

Moses’hands, however, grew tired;
so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. 
Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands,
one on one side and one on the other,
so that his hands remained steady till sunset

In order to live victorious lives we need to support one another as we turn toward the Lord, our help, who made heaven and earth. There is no limit to his desire or ability to help us. He neither slumbers nor sleeps.

This is the first step to being able to proclaim the word in season and out of season, whether it is convenient or inconvenient. This is at the heart of the battle. The enemy doesn't want the world to hear this word because it is "capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." It is "inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work." In other words it is the main weapon on which Christian soldiers rely in our fight against the enemy. The enemy wants us to remain unequipped. He wants to see our arms fall, frustrated with an apparent lack of progress or results. But the word is living and effective, sharper than any two edged sword. Remaining faithful to this word and supporting one another we experience the victory of Jesus Christ risen from the dead.