Exodus 17, 365 DAYS OF LOVE #289; REPENT AND PRAY

MEMORY VERSE: "Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had nearly slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills. Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts come iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits. They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven and their tongues take possession of the earth. Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. They say, "How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?" This is what the wicked are like--always carefree, they increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning. If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed your children." Psalm 73:

NOTES:

The Amalekites Defeated

 ⁸ The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. ⁹ Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

 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.

 ¹⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.”

 ¹⁵ Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. ¹⁶ He said, “Because hands were lifted up against^[c] the throne of the LORD,^[d] the LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

I was spending some time with my mom when she showed me this passage in a new perspective. She showed how powerful prayer is (represented through Moses' staff), and how everything of God stems from prayer. I won't go into super detail of all the things we talked about, but basically I got a new perspective on this passage.

ACT OF LOVE: Today, my act of love was sacrificing AIM to spend time with God. I guess this afternoon was particularly convicting, so I basically spent all late afternoon/evening praying and meditating on the Word of God. I repented for wasting time on myself and becoming spiritually dead, and asked God to baptize me in His Holy Spirit once again. Passage that I meditated on are:
Ephesians 6:14-18 (Armor of God)
Philippians 4:7-11
Exodus 12:8-15 (The Amalekites Defeated)
Nehemiah 1 (Prayer).