Seeds for 08/07/2024 - Ask - Exodus 33:12-23
In this series on prayer and scripture, we are following the acronym P.R.A.Y. as a guide for prayer. We are considering scriptures throughout the Bible on each theme. My prayer is that studying scriptures on these themes will give us biblical words to use as our own and simple insights for our praying.
Scripture:
12 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
Observation:
Leading the People of God was hard, weary work. Moses grew tired of dealing with the people. He also wrestled with the Lord. This is a passage in which we see Moses pleading with the Lord to grant them His presence. They had essentially rejected God’s presence with their gross idolatry with the golden calf episode in the previous chapter. Now, Moses intercedes on behalf of the people and God grants his request. Here are my observations.
First, Moses appeals to God’s own word as he intercedes for himself and the people, reminding God that He has called on Moses to lead. On this basis, Moses asks God to teach him so that he may continue to walk with the Lord.
Second, Moses acknowledges great dependence. After God promises His presence will go forward with him and the people, Moses declares that they should not be sent forth if God’s presence will not accompany them.
Third, having his first request granted, Moses dares to go further, asking to see God’s glory. This seems like permission to reach in our praying and not “play it safe.” Moses did not get the full request granted on this one, but he got more than if he hadn’t asked. Who knows when we have passed up provision simply because we did not ask boldly.
Fourth, God had reasons not to grant the prayer as Moses asked it, but He did answer it with a remarkable “counter-offer.” Moses does not see God’s full glory. There may be some requests that God either cannot or will not grant. But Moses is willing to explore. He has an “ask and see what happens” approach to prayer. The result is a greater vision of God than he would have had without asking.
Application:
What daring ask/s do you need to present to God in prayer? Can you trust God’s answer of yes, no, or not yet?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, you can do more than we can ask or imagine. Still, expand my imagination to ask and trust in prayer. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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