[This reflection by David Makanjuola was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 27/Sep/2026]
My inspiration for this article comes from two members of the HBC congregation. The first one is Dave Prior, whose article last week had a footballing theme. He talked about the football transfer market. I am going to carry on in that vein, but want to talk about ‘assists’.
A player is said to have an ‘assist’ if they are instrumental in helping the next player who touches the football to score a goal. They have ‘assisted’ the goal scorer. You could say, quite literally, that they helped them to achieve the goal. With this as a definition, we can see an example in Exodus, when Joshua was fighting the Amalekites:
So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 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. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
Exodus 17 v10-13
Joshua’s success was down, you could say, to ‘assists’ from Moses, Aaron and Hur.
The second source of inspiration was our pastor, Martin. He mentioned at the church meeting about how he had been challenged with regards to expecting that our prayers will be answered by God. Think of the player who passes the football to his colleague – he fully expects him to score the goal. When we pray to God, do we do so with the expectation that our prayer will be answered, or are we becoming people who don’t really believe that God will come through?
As you go into the week ahead, find opportunities for ‘assists’ – pray into situations that are laid on your heart, and don’t give up on God – expect Him to come through.
To quote the words of a popular song:
In his time, in his time
He makes all things beautiful, In his time
Lord please show me everyday,
As you’re teaching me your way
That you do just what you say, In your time
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Last Sunday’s reflection: Here We Go by Dave Prior
Contributed by David Makanjuola; © David Makanjuola