Wordless Groans
10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
--Exodus 17:10-13
The Amalekites, who are enemies of the people of God attacked the Israelites. Moses directs Joshua to take some men and to go down and face these enemies—to be on the front lines of the battle. Then we read that Moses takes a stand on a hill above the battle and while holding the staff of God, Moses lifts his hands toward heaven. When Moses had his hands lifted, there was a direct result: Joshua and his men were winning. When Moses grew tired, his friends helped him keep his hand raised.
I’ve been learning about intercession lately. Intercession (or intercessory prayer) is mediating between God’s purposes and the condition of God’s creation. Moses was physically standing in a gap--between Joshua in battle below and God who was above. Moses was also spiritually standing in the gap, interceding, or mediating between God’s purposes (for the Israelites to flourish) and the current condition of creation that is under enemy attack.
When I think back over the many challenging things that have happened (and are still happening) this year, I sometimes feel like Joshua, or one of the men on the front lines. It feels like I am taking blows from enemies, one after another: school is cancelled for my kids, trips are cancelled, family relationships are strained because of stress, work seems harder. Every day I feel exhausted and no amount of coffee can get me back to feeling “normal.”
Then God reminds me:
The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. –Romans 8:26
Doesn’t that seem fitting? Wordless groans. When I think about anything from this year my body almost automatically responds in wordless groans.
But not only is the Spirit interceding for me. I also have a few friends who intercede—people who I can trust to pray, people who are holding up their hands to help me make it through the battle that day. And let me tell you: it is making all the difference.
And in other moments, I get to be the person standing in the gap. Sometimes I’m interceding for a particular situation for a friend or acquaintance. But sometimes it is not tied to a specific “prayer request” but instead a long-term call to prayer. This year Bill and I were invited to be on an intercessory prayer team for a friend (Alex) who works in college ministry. Once a month for an hour we gather via zoom with a small group and for an hour we listen to the Holy Spirit and pray for Alex and his ministry. I don’t know what the experience has been for him, but I can say being the intercessor has been an absolute gift to ME (and here I thought I was signing up to do Alex a favor!). I get to have the view from above where I see him fighting the good fight and prevailing. I get to see God faithfully working in the life of another and it helps me remember that God is faithful to work in my life too. In a dark year, interceding for someone else has been the bright spot I’ve needed to get through dark days.
So, if today you find yourself on the front lines of the battle, know that the Spirit is interceding for you and so am I. God longs for you to thrive and God is faithful. And if you find yourself being called by God to be up on the mountain, I hope you’ll take a moment today to look around and see where there is a gap between God’s purposes and God’s creation and then stand there and intercede because we all need Moses’, Aarons and Hurs in our lives, holding their hands up on our behalf. -Claire Strunk