By Joseph Ametepe

Introduction:

The predominant factor in the lives of the believers God used greatly for His purposes in their generations is that they were men of prayer. They really took prayer seriously in their walk and work with God. They really knew how to commune with God and connect with Him on a spiritual level. Whether it be patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or men of God like Shemaiah, and the unnamed man of God in 1 Kings 13, or kings like David, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, or prophets like Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Habakkuk, or preachers like Peter and Paul; prayer to the one true God of the Bible, was an essential part and practice of their lives. They approached God not only in humility and honesty, but also with confidence and conviction of heart that their God - whom they had come to know personally and intimately, would indeed hear and respond to their prayers.

Such was Moses, the man of God, the servant of God, and the prophet of God. Moses’ communion with God was special. It was of him the Bible wrote: “whom the LORD knew face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10). He very was bold and brave in His prayers. He boldly petitioned God to show him His glory, a prayer no one else in the Bible had ever dared to pray (see Exodus 33:18). He was even blunt in asking God to blot him out from His book that He had written (see Exodus 32:32).

One of his memorable and magnificent prayers is recorded for us in Exodus 32:11-14. While Moses was receiving the law on Mount Sinai, the sons of Israel, under the leadership of Aaron were rebelling against God by making a golden calf to worship. Their reason for making the golden calf was that Moses had delayed in coming back from the mountain. The delay was too much for them to endure. As such, they approached Aaron with an urgent request to make them gods who would go before them. Instead of strongly rebuking them, Aaron shyly went along with them. They made the golden calf and proclaimed the next day, a day of a feast to the Lord (see Exodus 32:1-5).

Of course, the Lord was aware of their rebellious act. After finishing writing on the two tablets of testimony with His own finger, He alerted Moses of the rebellion of the sons of Israel. He ordered him to go down to them. God described them as a stiff-necked people. As such, He resolved to consume them and make a great nation of Moses (see Exodus 32:6-10). What an awesome opportunity for Moses to pounce on and become a great nation! Indeed, God could have consumed all the people and started over again with Moses, just as He had done earlier with Abraham (see Genesis 12). Moses knew all about that and could have used it to his advantage.

But you see, Moses was not about seeking to make a great name for himself. He was all about God’s glory and honor. He was deeply consumed and concerned about the advancement of God’s great and glorious purposes. As such, Moses didn’t even take a second to entertain any thought of being made a great nation. His burning passion was for the advance of God’s ordained purposes as spoken concerning Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This was the goal toward which Moses earnestly implored the Lord in his brief but blessed prayer recorded for us in Exodus 32:11-14.

In this passionate and powerful prayer, we will first of all examine Moses’ reasoning with Yahweh in Exodus 32:11-12a. Second, we will explain the requests of Moses in Exodus 32:12b. Third, we will elaborate on Moses’ recounting to Yahweh His word of promise in Exodus 32:13. Fourth and finally, we will expand on the response of Yahweh to Moses’ intercession in Exodus 32:14.

We begin first of all, with Moses’ reasoning with Yahweh in Exodus in 32:11-12a.

I. REASONING WITH YAHWEH (vv. 11-12a).

Perhaps, Job, the man who questioned God a lot in his sufferings, might have been the first biblical character to practice reasoning with God. Job spoke of the upright reasoning with God. Job deeply longed for God and wanted to find Him and come to His seat and present his case before Yahweh and learn the words which He would answer him (see Job 23:3-5). In the context of arguing with God, Job declared: “There the upright would reason with Him; and I would be delivered forever from my Judge” (Job 23:7). From the careful reading of the book of Job, one would discover that Job considered himself upright. He even put himself in the good light and put God in the bad light. In other words, Job’s reasoning with God was done with an attitude of haughtiness, not with an attitude of humility.  The latter attitude would be what Moses displayed in his reasoning with Yahweh, the true God of the universe.

While arguing with God about his case, Job accused God of wronging him (Job 19:6); persecuting him (Job 10:3; 16:9, 14; 19:6, 22; 30:21); setting him up as a target  to shoot at (Job 16:12b). He also found fault with God taking away his right (Job 27:2a); embittering his soul by His perceived silence (Job 27:2b); and being cruel to him (Job 30:21). As we will see in a moment, Moses would not accuse God of wronging Israel, or persecuting Israel. He would not blame God for setting Israel as His target to shoot at. He would not self-righteously speak of God as taking away the right of Israel or embittering their soul by His threat to destroy them. Rather, he would humbly and honestly reason with Yahweh about His burning anger against the sons of Israel and what the Egyptians would say about Him should He bring harm on Israel.

The prophet through whose ministry the Holy Spirit made the biblical principle of reasoning with God popular was Isaiah. Through his prophetic ministry, God would graciously invite His people to reason together with Him. But long before Isaiah the prophet would bring his prophetic invitation to the people of Israel to reason together with Yahweh, Moses had already practiced it in his life. In fact, Moses was only following in the footsteps of Abraham, the patriarch, who, like Job, practiced reasoning with God in his intercession on behalf of his nephew Lot (see Genesis 18:17-33). Also, kings like Jehoshaphat (see 2 Chronicles 20:5-12), and Hezekiah (see 2 Kings 19:17-18), reasoned with God in their prayers on behalf of God’s people.

Isaiah’s prophetic invitation reads: “’Come now, and let us reason together’, says the Lord, though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool” (Isaiah 1:18). In Isaiah’s day, the people of Judah had forsaken the Lord their God and followed other gods. This was a grievous and great sin before Yahweh. Yahweh had every right to abandon Judah in their sins. Judah’s sin of forsaking the Lord their God and following the gods of the nations, would eventually lead to the Babylonian captivity. But before that would happen, being a God who loves His own and longs for them to turn to Him from their sins, He graciously offered Israel the blessed privilege of reasoning with Him.

The Hebrew word for “reason” is “Yakach”. It also means “to dispute with someone, to argue; to decide, to prove, to mediate, or to arbitrate.” This word occurs fifty-seven times in the Hebrew Old Testament. The most famous passage is probably Isaiah 1:18 (above), which is in a context of a covenant lawsuit. Judah had been practicing religious festivals of their own design in rebellion against Yahweh, the plaintiff (Isaiah 1:10-15). Isaiah calls them to repent (Isaiah 1:16-20). The prophet is saying, “Let us debate our case in court.” The connotation of legal confrontation is clearly attached to this term. ~Adapted from The Hebrew-Greek Study Bible p. 1732.

Earlier, in the days of Moses, the sons of Israel had sinned in the sight of the holy and righteous God. Moses, Israel’s God-appointed servant-leader took it upon himself to stand in the gap for them. The first thing he would do was to reason with Yahweh regarding Israel’s sins and Yahweh’s reputation among the nations. Moses would approach Him as if to debate the case at hand. He would set the case before God for Him to decide its final outcome. He would respectfully and reverently dispute the matter with the God of Israel. He would let Yahweh mediate on the case he was setting before Him.  He would bring his concern before the ultimate arbitrator of all spiritual matters in this present life and in the life soon to come. Here is how the Bible records Moses’ reasoning with God.

“Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, ‘O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth?’” (Exodus 32:11-12a).

Notice in reasoning with Yahweh, Moses first acknowledged that His anger was burning against His people. You see, Moses had a balanced view of who God is. He knows that God is loving, gracious, compassionate, and abounding in lovingkindness. But he also understands that God is a consuming fire who displays His righteous and burning anger against His people who missed the mark and messed up. In fact, in the oldest psalm of the Bible, Moses speaks of the anger of Yahweh. He asks: “Who understands the power of Your anger and Your fury, according to the fear that is due You” (Psalm 90:11).

Like Moses, we need to have a balanced view of who God is. We tend to focus only on the loving nature of God and forget that He is a God who displays righteous anger against His rebellious and wayward people.

Second, observe that in reasoning with Yahweh Moses affirmed that Yahweh, not him Moses, was the One who brought out the children of Israel from Egypt. Actually, the Bible gives us an interesting picture of Moses affirming that Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and Yahweh asserting that it was Moses who brought them out of Egypt (see Exodus 32:11; 33:1). You see, by affirming that it was Yahweh who brought Israel out of Egypt, Moses was giving Yahweh the glory due His name. It was all His idea. It was all along His plan. Yahweh it was, who purposed that Israel would be in bondage to a nation, that is Egypt, for four generations (see Genesis 15:16). It was He who promised that He would bring out Israel from the nation to which they would be in bondage (see Gen. 15:13-16). As such, Moses affirmed to Yahweh, the God of Israel, that it was He who brought Israel out of Egyptian bondage.

Third, in reasoning with Yahweh, Moses asked Yahweh, the Judge of all the earth, a critical question. Actually, Moses asked two questions in his reasoning with Yahweh. In the first question, he acknowledged that Yahweh’s anger, in fact, burned against Israel and affirmed that it was He who brought Israel out of Egypt. But his second question arises from his deep concern for the reputation of Yahweh among the Egyptians. Should Yahweh unleash the full wrath of His anger in destroying the sons of Israel, the Egyptians would think the worse of Him. They would think that all along, He had the evil intention of killing and destroying them from the face of the earth. All the talk of bringing them to a land flowing with milk and honey was a promise He never intended to fulfill after all. He simply sweet-talked them into agreeing with Him to leave Egypt. Yahweh was a sham after all. He doesn’t keep His word after all.

Moses was educated at the highest level in Egyptian culture in Pharaoh’s court, he knew how they thought and acted. Using this knowledge, Moses effectively reasoned with Yahweh not to destroy His wayward people. Why? It would not look good in the eyes of the Egyptians.

On another occasion, Moses reasoned with Yahweh. It is recounted in Numbers 14:13-16. The twelve spies had just brought their report. Ten of the spies, the majority, gave the people of Israel a bad report of the land. You see, these ten spies, focused on the obstacles they would face rather than on the Omnipotent God. They focused on the problem, not on the power of God, which has been displayed again and again among them (see Numbers 13:31-33). God deeply lamented to Moses how the sons of Israel had spurned and disbelieved Him despite all the signs which He had performed in their midst. God then spoke directly to Moses, saying that He would make him into a nation greater and mightier than they (see Numbers 14:11-12). Again, this was a wonderful promise to Moses. Moses should have pounced on it and pressed God to do that for him. But, you see, Moses was not a self-seeking leader. He did not desire to make a name for himself. He was not concerned about being made into a greater and mightier nation – which is a glorious and gracious offer from the Lord.

Instead of receiving this blessed promise and enjoying all its benefits, Moses politely rejected it and instead reasoned with the Lord his God, saying: “But Moses said to the Lord, ‘Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O Lord, are in the midst of this people, for You, O Lord, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of fire by night. Now if You slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, ‘Because the Lord could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness’’” (Numbers 14:13-16; NASB).

We noted that Moses’ reasoning with Yahweh in Exodus 32 was in a form of questions. But here in Numbers 14, there were no questions asked. Moses simply and sincerely reminded God of what He had done for the nation of Israel and what other nations would say should He destroy His chosen people in the wilderness. Moses was again deeply concerned about the reputation of God among the nations. He didn’t want the Egyptians and the other nations to come to the conclusion that He slaughtered His people because He could not bring them into the land He promised them by oath. As far Moses was concerned, this would be a blemish on God’s holy and hallowed name, that is, His character or reputation. Moses was passionate about the advancement of the reputation of Yahweh, not its alteration among the nations.

From the two accounts of Moses’ reasoning with Yahweh, we learn that we too can approach Him to reason with Him. In fact, He invites us to do so. We can do so with questions or without questions. We must affirm what He has done for His people. We must acknowledge that in all honesty. We must also, in our reasoning with Yahweh, seek to advance the cause of His reputation among the nations.

Transition: Having reverently reasoned with Yahweh, Moses now readily brings his requests to Him.

II. REQUESTS OF MOSES (V. 12b).

Moses understood that God’s people are totally dependent on Him. As such, they must bring all their concerns, cares, and requests to Him. Before the Holy Spirit would lead Paul to write to the believers in Philippi to let their "requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6b), Moses had done it repeatedly in his life. In fact, it delights God’s heart to see His believing children bring all their concerns and cares to Him. This is because doing so honors Him. It also reveals God’s people steadfast belief that He has a perfect solution for the problems and requests they bring to Him.

The Bible vividly captures Moses’ brief and bold requests in these words: “Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people” (Exodus 32:12b).

Please notice that Moses was very specific in his requests. He specifically asked that God should turn from His burning anger and change His mind about bringing harm to His people. Not only that, Moses was brief and bold in his requests to Yahweh.  He courageously and concisely sought Yahweh to do what no one had dared to ask Him before. In other words, he requested what most of us would not normally think of asking God to do. Moses dared to ask God for the tough things.

Please observe that Moses’s requests are twofold. First, he specifically asked God to turn from His burning anger. The Hebrew word translated “turn” is “shub,” pronounced “shuv.” It also means “to turn around,” “to come back,” “to cease from,” “to turn away,” “to leave off.” The basic meaning of “shub” is movement back from the point of departure.

Moses is briefly and boldly asking Yahweh to cease from His burning anger against the wayward children of Israel. He requests Yahweh to leave off His burning indignation against them. He petitions Yahweh for a movement back to the point of departure – of promising to love them and do good to them.

Second, he succinctly requested Yahweh to change His mind about doing harm to His own people. Now the question is: What does it mean for God to “change His mind?” The Hebrew root word translated “changed” is “nacham.” It means “to draw the breath forcibly, to pant, to grieve, to breathe strongly, to be sorry, to pity, to repent, to have compassion, to console.”  The idea of breathing deeply was a physical display of one’s feeling, usually sorrow, compassion, or comfort. Essentially, nacham is a change of heart or disposition, a change of mind, a change of purpose, or a change of one’s conduct. When man changes his attitude, God makes the corresponding change. ~ Adapted from The Hebrew – Greek Study Bible, p. 1749.

Moses was pleading with Yahweh to have compassion on Israel. He was earnestly imploring Yahweh to change His purpose of bringing harm upon the Israelites. Moses knew that God would have been perfectly justified in bringing harm upon Israel. That’s why he pleaded with Him to change His mind about harming them.

Moses took full advantage of the privilege God has given to His believing children to come to Him and make requests of Him. He was brief and bold in making his requests. In fact, all throughout Moses’ life as the prophet of God and leader of Israel, his requests to Yahweh were brief and bold (see Exodus 32:32; 33:13, 15, 18; Number 12:13; 14:19; Deuteronomy 3:25). Similarly, as believers in Jesus Christ, we must make the most of the opportunity God has given us to bring our requests to Him. We must be brief and bold in making our requests known to God. God is not impressed with verbose prayers. As such, Moses didn’t try to impress Him with his eloquent words. He simply and succinctly presented his requests to Yahweh from his heart.

In His teaching on prayer, the Lord Jesus forbade His believing people from using “meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words” (Matthew 6:7). Furthermore, our Lord condemned the scribes and Pharisees who for a pretense make long prayers (see Matthew 23:14). It seems the Church today is not heeding our Lord’s admonitions. It’s sad to say that, today many prayer meetings are characterized by repetitive expressions such as “in Jesus’ name.”

Often after a prayer request is made, the expression “in Jesus’ name,” is vigorously and valiantly repeated seven or ten times by the prayer leader and echoed by others. The belief is that the more vigorous “in Jesus’ name” is uttered, the greater the probability of receiving the answer. This belief goes contrary to what the Lord Jesus Himself taught. Furthermore, it’s taking Jesus’ precious and powerful name in vain. Hence, this practice must stop. For it does not honor the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s be brief and bold in making our requests to our Father who already knows what we need before we ask Him (see Matthew 6:8). We do not need to heap up empty or pious phrases in our prayers to impress Him or get His attention!

Transition: Having explained the requests of Moses, we will now elaborate on Moses’ recounting to Yahweh His word of promise.

III. RECOUNTING TO YAHWEH HIS WORD OF PROMISE (v.13).

Moses understood the importance of recounting God’s word of promise to Him. He knew the utmost value of holding God to His promise. The man of God recognized the necessity of the taking God at His word. The prophet of God realized what joy it is for God to hear His children recount His promises to Him, not as if He has forgotten all about them and needed to be reminded. But that it touches the very heart of God to have His praying child trust Him so much that he brings His own spoken word of promise to His attention.

Here is how the Bible records Moses’s recounting to Yahweh His own word of promise. “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever’” (Exodus 32:13).

Notice in recounting to Yahweh His word of promise, Moses first mentioned the prominent patriarchal figures of Israel with whom God had established His covenants. They are, Abraham – meaning “father of a multitude,” Isaac – meaning “laughing,” or “he laughs”; and Israel meaning – “God perseveres,” or “he struggles with God.”

Please notice that Moses used an important term in recounting to Yahweh His word of promise. It’s the verb, “remember.” It’s “zakar” in the Hebrew. It also means “to recollect,” “to mention,” “to meditate on,” “to think about,” “to impress (on the memory), “to commemorate,” “to declare.” But God doesn’t need to recollect things as we often need to. Why? Well, it’s because He knows all things. He is omniscient. So, the question is; in what sense is the verb “zakar” being used here by Moses?

Moses is here appealing to Yahweh to act in accord with and so fulfill the promises woven into the covenant which bound Israel to God and God to Israel. You see, Israel belonged to God, and so the nation could count on Him to act on their behalf. Moses confidently affirmed that Yahweh swore to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Israel.  This means he is simply saying: “Lord, be guided by the covenant You made with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.” He is pleading: “Lord, act to fulfill the promises You made to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers. In times past, You willingly and wholeheartedly pledged to multiply their descendants like the stars of heaven. Not only that, You also promised to give the land to their descendants to inherit forever. Now Lord, please act in accordance with this promise. Lord, fulfill this word of promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.”

You see, Moses knew that when Yahweh “remembers,” He “resolves” to act on behalf of His people. This is the essence of Moses’ recounting to Yahweh His word of promise. Moses hid God’s promises in his heart. As such, he readily recounted them to God. He was committed to God’s promises, His plans, and His purposes, not to his personal ambitions of making a name for himself. Similarly, as believers, we must faithfully hide God’s promises in our hearts and be ready to recount them to Him in our prayers for Him to act on behalf of those we pray for. Also, we must be devoted to God’s promises and purposes, not our personal desires of enhancing our reputation.

Transition: Having elaborated Moses’ recounting to Yahweh His word of promise, we now come to the final point of expanding on the response of Yahweh in verse 14.

IV. RESPONSE OF YAHWEH TO MOSES’ INTERCESSION (v. 14).

Moses firmly believed that God responds to the prayer and intercession of His faithful servant on behalf of His people. Moses had confidently interceded on behalf of wayward Israel according to the will of God. He was therefore convinced in his heart that Yahweh, the God of Israel, the Shepherd of Israel, the Stone of Israel, the King of Israel, the Glory of Israel, would most assuredly respond to him.

There is an important spiritual lesson for us in the experience of Moses, the man of God, with Yahweh. That is, the believer in Jesus Christ who prays according to God’s will must resolutely trust God to respond to him. God’s response to Moses’s intercession is described in vivid and very human terms.

“So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people” (Exodus 32:14; NASB). This is also rendered: “And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people” (Exodus 32:14; ESV).

What is meant by the expression; “So the Lord changed His mind?” The Hebrew root word translated “changed” is “nacham.” You would recall that Moses specifically requested Yahweh to change His mind (see Exodus 32:12b). The Hebrew word in that verse is “nacham.” It’s also rendered “relented.” In the context of verse 14, it also means “to repent, to have compassion, to console.” Essentially, as stated earlier, “nacham” is a change of heart or disposition, a change of mind, a change of purpose, or a change of one’s conduct. When man changes his attitude, God makes the corresponding change. ~Adapted from The Hebrew – Greek Study Bible, p.1749.

You see, based on the humble, heartfelt and honest intercession of Moses on behalf of Israel, God relented from the harm He had purposed to bring on them. The Hebrew word translated “harm,” or “disaster,” is “ra’.” This Hebrew term has a wide range of meanings and usages. It means “misery,” “mischief,” “misfortune,”  “affliction,”  “adversity,” “distress” or “displeasure.” It also means a calamity which happens to someone. However, when the word applies to God it means harm or disaster.

What we learn here is that Moses’ intercession on behalf of the nation of Israel greatly moved the heart of Yahweh to restrain Himself from bringing harm on them. In His mercy, Yahweh chose to turn from the disaster He first intended to do to them. In other words, Yahweh reconsidered His threat to destroy His people due to the effective and effectual prayers of the prophet and the man of God, Moses.

Please take careful note of this. One believing person’s humble, heartfelt, and honest prayer; that is according to the will of God, can move the heart and hand of God to act on behalf of an entire nation. What a wonderful privilege! Moses’ intercession accomplished so much on behalf of the nation of Israel. The Bible says: “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16b). Before James would pen this powerful principle in describing the prayer life of Elijah the prophet, Moses had already experienced it in his life.

Believer in Jesus Christ, it’s now your turn and my turn to experience this powerful prayer principle in our lives. There is no doubt that the world has turned away from God. Israel had done just that in the days of Moses. They would do so after the days of Moses. But in his days, Moses did not expend his time and energy criticizing and condemning Israel for their waywardness and wickedness. Rather, he earnestly called on Yahweh and cried out to Him to turn from His burning anger and change His mind about doing harm to His people. He would also confidently recount to Yahweh His word of promise – moving Him to act graciously on behalf of Israel.

Similarly, believers should avoid spending their time and energy criticizing and condemning the world for turning away from God and for apathy and apostasy among God’s people. Rather, we should invest our time and energy in calling and crying out to Him on their behalf. And we must do so with confident expectation that our God will respond and act graciously on their behalf.

Conclusion:

We have seen from the life of Moses that those God used greatly in their generation for His kingdom purposes were people of effectual and effective prayer. Moses is an example of a man whose prayers accomplished so much for the nation of Israel. His humble, heartfelt, and honest prayer on behalf of Israel at a crucial point in the life of Israel moved Yahweh to change His mind from bringing harm on Israel.

In his prayer on behalf of Israel, Moses reverently reasoned with Yahweh. In reasoning with Him, Moses first acknowledged that Yahweh’s anger was burning against Israel. Moses had a balanced view of who God is. He loves His people, but He displays righteous anger against them. Similarly, when we reason with God, we must do so having a balanced view of His character. Just as Moses affirmed that it was Yahweh, not him, who brought Israel out of Egypt, so also we must affirm what God has done when we reason with Him. Furthermore, in reasoning with God in our prayers, we can ask Him the tough questions burning on our hearts or we can choose not to ask Him. He is more than able to handle our tough questions.

Moses knew that His people are totally dependent on Him. They desperately need God. As such, they must make bring their needs to Him and cast all their cares upon. Moses did just that. He boldly and briefly made two requests of the Lord. His requests were according to the will of God. Similarly, as dependent children, we can come to Him and boldly make requests of Him that are according to His will. And we should be brief, not heaping up empty praises to impress Him.

Also, Moses really understood the utmost value of recounting to Yahweh His word of promise in prayer. He would bring to God’s attention what He had already promised to Israel’s patriarchs, namely, Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Although God gave Moses a mouth-watering promise of making him a great nation after Israel sinned at Horeb, yet he would choose to remind God of the promise He had earlier made with the patriarchs. Moses believed that fulfilling the promise to the patriarchs would bring greater glory and honor to God than making him a great nation. Similarly, in our prayers, let’s seek to recount to God His word of promise that will bring Him greater glory and honor. Like Moses, let’s eschew the desire of seeking to make a name for ourselves.

Moses reverently reasoned with God. He made bold and brief requests of Yahweh. These requests were in accordance with His will for Israel. He also recounted to Yahweh His word of promise. Moses did all these with confident expectation that Yahweh would indeed respond to him. Indeed, Moses was not disappointed. Yahweh gladly and gloriously responded to Him. Moses’ prayers accomplished so much on behalf of the nation of Israel. Like Moses, we must pray with confident expectation that our heavenly Father will indeed respond to us to bring glory to His name! In other words, let’s pray in such a way that our prayers will accomplish much on our own behalves, families, fellowships, and on behalf of our nations. Our world needs people whose prayers are accomplishing much for the kingdom of God, not presidents, prime ministers, professors, and politicians whose talk accomplish little or nothing for the advance of the kingdom of God.

“But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7; ESV).