Posted by: Bishop Neil Jansen

One of the greatest inspirations in my life comes from the songs in our hymnal. I hum or whistle the tunes because the words have a wonderful impact on me for every situation in my life. Today the words that are stuck in my head are “Hands raised in prayer we need in our time”. 

Each day we all continue on our life journey. With the help of our heavenly Father and through the word inspired by the Holy Spirit, we still stand in the strength of our faith. This is not the result of our outstanding faithfulness but only exists by God’s grace. So my motto in life is very simple “By the grace of God go I”.

For all of us, this journey has not always been easy. We have experienced in our lives hardships of all kinds, sometimes we may have had the feeling, this is too much and I can’t take any more.  Maybe we have even wondered, why isn’t God helping me? I assure you that our God is always there.

Moses started out as a young man. He was chosen by God to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land. This was a great responsibility and with it, he also had to deal with life, hardships, and people. The Bible tells us it became a forty-year trek through the wilderness and Moses had to endure much.  

In the book of Exodus 17:10-16 it tells the story of a battle between the Israelites and the Amalekites. It says there that as long as the hands of Moses were raised up the Israelites were winning, but as his arms grew tired and lowered they began to lose. Then it tells us that Aaron and Hur together held up Moses arms so the Israelites could win the battle. 

I have recognized as a minister that our senior members have always been true pillars in the congregations. Through their actions and example, they inspire faith, hope, and trust. I am certain that they all have a lifetime of accumulated experiences of faith. Therefore they not only believe in God, they know that God is there. Today I would like to especially reach out to all seniors as well to everyone who knows the value of prayer.  Let us lift our hands of prayer as Moses did.

The world we live in today takes a toll on faithful souls. We can and do see it all around us, even amongst those we love. I know that we are all able to pray, however, maybe just like Moses, we need some help to raise our hands in prayer just a little more. I believe that our united prayers for one another can help lift us up so that we together may win our fight.