Gen. 3:14 π Ex. 17:10-13 π Zech. 3:2 π Rev. 12:11
There are many aspects of the war by prayer against the powers of darkness, which space precludes dealing with fully, such as lessons from the act of Moses, lifting up his hands on the hill-top, which was an outward expression of a spiritual DEED. The result of his action was seen in the plain, when the forces of Israel triumphed. The cause of the victory was invisible. Something in the spiritual realm was accomplished by the outward, visible attitude of the man upon the hill, which was manifest to him and the men with him, when he let down his weary hands. (see Ex. 17:10-13; top )
The powers of evil attacking Israel through Amalek are the same forces against the Church of Christ to-day. Moses could not have kept the assertion of faith in Jehovah as Victor, audibly expressed without intermission throughout the prolonged fight; and that no intermission in the act of faith was vital is to be seen in that the moment his hands went down, the enemy triumphed, and as they went up, Israel prevailed.
There are times in a prolonged fight with the hosts of Satan, when it is clear to the spiritual vision, that the enemy gains ground as the "word of testimony" ( Rev. 12:11; top ) flags, and that the forces of God conquer as the Lord's praying ones maintain the cry of victory. In hours such as these, some physical act expressing the maintenance of the attitude of victory, to relieve mind and body from overstrained tension, may be admissible, and uplifted hands, or stretched out hands, may instinctively come about in the "hill-top" conflict for the Church of Christ.
There are hours, too, when the battalion of wicked spirits stand back, and the prince of darkness himself stands against the believer, as in Zech. 3:2 (top). Then the words, "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan," never fails.
When prayer, also, needs focussing upon some stronghold of the enemy, in patient, persistent prayer for a prolonged period; or a wrestling in spirit in a great crisis battle against the forces of darkness, holding some position they have taken; there are many weapons available to the armour-clad believer as he stands in Christ, withstanding the hosts of wicked spirits in high places. Not only the lifted hands of Moses, and the rebuking words of Michael, but the holding the curse of God upon the Prince of darkness, and all his hosts - that curse upon the great spirit-being, clothed in the guise of a serpent, which the Lord God pronounced upon him in the Eden tragedy of the Fall. ( Gen. 3:14; top ) That curse, which has never been revoked, and which Satan knows lies before him in its final climax in the lake of fire. The reminder of this curse is often an effective weapon against the foe.
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