Cooperating with God

Exodus 17:10 says,

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.

It’s one of my favorite Old Testament stories. Memorable for a number of reasons, it describes the extraordinary link between…

God’s power and our activity

Moses is up on a hill, lifting his hands in a posture of prayer, supported in his efforts by Aaron and Hur, while in the valley below, Joshua and his men are fighting for their lives. As I imagine the scene, it makes for an arresting visual image. And it comes to me that prayer is not a substitute for our activity in the world. It’s not either/or, it’s both/and.

Some people devalue human effort, human planning and human activity. They say, “Why bother trying to do anything when you have the Holy Spirit? Why turn to doctors and medicine when God heals? Why turn to counselors when God will instantly deliver you from the effects of your past? Why bother with our puny efforts at evangelism when God can bring about revival and sweep in millions? Have you ever been in a church or around Christians where the human element — programs, plans and teachings — was regularly minimized? Have you ever believed or been taught that your activity is basically worthless and all you need to do is pray and trust God? This is not a biblical worldview!

To understand God’s activity, you must embrace the amazing truth that God wants to partner with you in bringing about his purposes in the world. Now, we’re most assuredly junior partners, but God wants, in fact, he insists on you being his co-worker. God doesn’t want to work around you, apart from you, or without you. God wants to work through you.

Look at these Scriptures and you’ll see the extraordinary partnership between our activity and God’s power. In 1 Corinthians 15:10, the apostle Paul writes,

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them — yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

The most important thing wasn’t my work, he wrote, but God’s grace. He didn’t just sit around waiting for God to intervene. He was active. He did what he could do. Or how about Colossians 1:28? Paul again writes,

We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

He’s laboring. He’s struggling, but he’s doing so with the energy God provides, the energy of God. Do you see the partnership? C.S. Lewis wrote:

“God could, if he chose, repair our bodies miraculously without food; or give us food without the aid of farmers, bakers, and butchers; or knowledge without the aid of learned men; or convert the heathen without missionaries. Instead, he allows soil, weather, animals, muscles, minds and the wills of men to cooperate in the execution of his Will. ‘God,’ said Pascal, ‘instituted prayer in order to lend to his creatures the dignity of causality.’ He seems to do nothing by himself, which he possibly can delegate to his creatures.” ~ C.S. Lewis

So, God wants you to be active in the world like Joshua fighting down in the valley. That’s one way we love. We love by doing, through godly activism. If someone’s hungry and we have money, we buy them a sandwich and not just offer to pray for them. We study for our exams and not just pray for a good grade. We put together a budget to get out of debt, not just cry out to God for financial help. We exercise and eat right if we want to lose weight, not just pray. And regarding spiritual growth, we learn how to meditate on the Bible, cultivating a deep interior life through contemplative or abiding prayer. We discipline ourselves to set time aside to build a secret history with God.

Virtually nothing in this world is accomplished simply by God alone without human effort or human contribution. The kingdom of God is ushered in through human beings feeding the hungry, comforting the grieving, counseling the addicted, pushing aside all our excuses for being separated from each other and pressing into real, transparent relationships. We love other people by doing. And we love other people by praying for them.

Prayer as Activism

Verse 11 says,

As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.

Joshua was successful in the valley because Moses was praying on the mountain. I don’t want to be critical, but many Christians know almost nothing about releasing the power of God into a situation through prayer. Due in part to the culture itself and our own issues, we’re more likely to lean on self-sufficiency. Prayer for us is totally unnatural. We’re continually fighting for independence and autonomy. We have an independent streak that says, “I want to do it.” But there comes a time for all of us where, “I want to do it by myself,” doesn’t work? All of us, no matter how competent, reach a limit where we realize we need the power of God. So, whether it’s natural or unnatural, we turn to prayer.

You may reach your limit in a hospital room where you’re being prepped for surgery or where someone you love is lying sick in bed and there’s nothing you can do. You may come to the end of yourself when someone you care about is addicted, and you realize you can’t rescue them on your own. You may reach your limit as you battle depression or wrestle with a failed marriage or struggle with a rebellious child or when someone you love has a problem you can’t fix or a situation you can’t control. Again, at some point, no matter how stubborn, autonomous, and proud we are, we all reach a limit regarding what we, through our activity, can achieve.

Have you discovered your limits yet? Have you come face-to-face with the limits of your ability to help yourself or someone you love? In those moments, you need to ask God to release his power! Prayer invites God’s power into our lives! And prayer invites God’s power into the lives of those we love. Again, verse 11 says,

As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.

The major factor in Joshua’s victory was the unseen power of God! God’s power can heal psychological problems, physical problems and broken marriages. It can meet financial needs, change circumstances and fix relationships we’ve messed up. It can also enable us to persevere through difficult times.

Beating the Amalekites was not humanly possible by the Israelites in their present stage of military development. So God’s power had to be released because those folks had reached their limit. And, you know, God’s power comes in different forms. It may come as wisdom. A plan or idea can suddenly form in your mind that you didn’t have before. God’s power may come in an extraordinary, miraculous ability to not quit, even when the situation is not turning around. God’s power may come in physical healing or a changed heart. Someone you thought you could never love, you’re suddenly able to love again. You may feel differently about your roommate, your parents or your situation.

Whatever form God’s power takes, God’s power comes to those who pray!