7 Portraits in Prayer, Day 5: Morning

Week 1, Power to Pray, Day 5: A Place

(Read Exodus 17:8; Hebrews 4:16)

The literal definition for Rephidim means “resting place” or “a place for support”. There was no battle when the Israelites stopped there. It was where they stayed between Egypt and Sinai. They were tired. The route they took was rugged, treacherous, and mountainous. Finding a place for a million or two cranky Israelites in a desert was no small task, so when they came to Rephidim, it seemed like a great place for a break. Except, there was no water.

     You’ve been to Rephidim, I am sure. You thought you would just park yourself and place yourself in neutral, just for a little bit. You’ve been blowing and going and just wanted a little breather. But as you finally plop down and rest, you realize something is missing, but you can’t quite put your finger on it.

     It’s called complacency. It’s a dry place, devoid of the refreshing flowing of God’s Holy Spirit. It’s good to rest and relax. It’s commanded in fact to rest. But Israel went dry.

     Rephidim soon had another name. It was also called “Massah” or “Temptation” because the people had been tempted to not trust God. It was also called “Meribah” or “Striving” because the people, instead of resting, began to strive with Moses.

     We need a place to rest, but not to grow dry or stale. Perhaps we need to recover from a season of service. Or we may need to refresh ourselves in the overflow of God’s thirst-quenching waters in order to receive spiritual power for our next battle. It’s a spiritual place, not a complacent spot and not for us to tempt or test God. We need to rest in God, receiving from the rock of Christ the strength of a new chapter in our journey.

     We have a spiritual place in the heavenlies for prayer. When we pray, we are ushered boldly into the throne of grace. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” (Hebrews 4:16). When we pray, we are transported from our earthly presence through the portals of heaven into the very presence of God.

     In fact, we are never higher than when we kneel in prayer.

Pray this prayer to God: “Dear God, I do not stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene...I prostrate myself in Your presence, before Your throne I come. I come boldly only by the power of the blood of Christ. I come into Your presence not as a sinner that I know that I am, but as a child of God You have made me. Hear my prayers by Your great power, separating my error from Your perfection, my wants from Your will. Orchestrate the two wills to make my will conformed to Thy will. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.”

Click here for Day 5, Evening.