Prevailing Over The Flesh

Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Exodus 17:8-16 (KJV)

There is a lot to be learned from this passage. Amalek in Hebrew means warlike, dweller in the vale. Israel means prince with God, or ruling with God. Rephidim, a place near Horeb the mountain of God, means plans. God has plans for us, but so does the enemy.

Amalek is a type of, or is symbolic of, the flesh. Israel is a type of the spirit. The flesh wars against the spirit. We must overcome the flesh not by might or by strength, but by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The enemy has a plan to defeat us, but the Lord has a plan to cause us to overcome. As long as we pray, we overcome. When we let up on prayer, we begin to faint and battle becomes difficult and goes the wrong way. Moses’ lifted hands is a type of prayer and intercession. As Moses’ hands were held up, Joshua defeated Amalek. When his hands went down, the enemy prevailed. So we prevail over the flesh by prayer.

We prevail by praying through. This means we pray until we win the battle over the flesh and then pray to maintain that victory. As we keep up our prayer life, we wage war with the flesh and we triumph over it. Failing to do so will give the advantage to the flesh and keep us from gaining what God has for us. To defeat the plans of the enemy, we must live a life of prayer. As we lift up prayer, we win. When we let down our prayers, the enemy gets a foothold and begins to win.

As we pray, we exercise our authority over the enemy and give God His rightful place in our lives. As we pray and thank God, He always gives us the victory and causes us to triumph. To enforce the victory Jesus gave us, we pray and spoil the plans of the enemy. As a result, we rule with God. we’ll take the land and find our place in the mountain of God, a place of elevation and exaltation where we’re lifted up to God. This is where we rule over the flesh and every enemy.

Rephidim were also a race of giants. With prayer, we will conquer every giant and take the land. We are princes with God, ruling with Him, for the church is the spiritual Israel. As Israel was and is in the natural, we are in the spiritual.

We will declare Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord our banner, or victory. We pray and display a banner of victory in the spiritual realm over every enemy. We’ll continue to win over our flesh as we walk in the spirit and keep up our prayer life.

But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God). Galatians 5:16 (Amplified Bible Classic edition, AMPC)