Deuteronomy 9:22 – 29 “You continued to provoke the LORD at Taberah, (“burning”) at Massah, (“testing”) and at Kibroth-hattaavah. (“graves of craving”) And when the LORD sent you out from Kadesh-barnea, He said, “Go up and possess the land that I have given you.”
But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You neither believed Him nor obeyed Him. You have been rebelling against the LORD since the day I came to know you. So I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.
And I prayed to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people and the wickedness of their sin. Otherwise, those in the land from which You brought us out will say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land He had promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’ But they are Your people, Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your great power and outstretched arm.”
Moses is a great prayer warrior, someone whose prayers are very effective. Here Moses shares the dialogue between God and him. This conversation takes place on the top of Mount Sinai. God is still ready to wipe out the Israelites, but Moses has a compelling argument against that action. Moses’s logic is based on two main things: first, God’s covenant and promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and second, the way it will appear to all the surrounding nations.
Even in ancient times, news still gets around, especially when God opens a way through a body of water for a huge group of people to cross and then allows the water to come back, wiping out the most powerful army in the world in the process. The Israelites might have a limited view of the world because they have spent four hundred years in one place, but the people surrounding nations are already in fear of God. Moses reminds God that if God wipes out the Israelites, the surrounding nations will think that He has done this because His power isn’t great enough to safely transport all those people through the wilderness. In other words, if God destroys the Israelites, it will make Him look like just another local deity with power limited to a certain location.
APPLICATION: Would God really have wiped out the Israelites if Moses had not prayed long enough and hard enough? That answer will only come when we reach heaven. We know for a fact that Moses succeeded in his arguments with God, thus saving the Jewish nation.
This conversation between Moses and God raises lots of questions.
1. Is it OK to argue with God?
2. How do I know if I have heard from God?
3. When have I prayed enough on a given point or for a particular person?
Guess what? God is NOT surprised/angry/offended if you argue with Him. God already knows what is in our hearts; generally, we are the ones who are shocked by our own thoughts. There is a lovely story about Saint Teresa of Avila, a holy lady with a great sense of humor. At one point, Teresa was traveling by ox cart when the cart became hopeless stuck in the mud. Teresa is said to have looked heavenward and complained, “No wonder You have so few friends if this is the way you treat them!” Yes, you can argue with God and even get mad at Him. The one you should not do is to ignore God or to pray a prayer that you don’t really believe. God can handle anger, but faking will get you nowhere.
How can you know when you have heard from God? God has all kinds of ways of communicating with people. Sometimes you might read the Bible, only to have some words practically leap off the page and into your heart. Sometimes God sends people to tell you things. Sometimes God uses events or even things in nature.
My mother died suddenly with cancer in 1980. We had only sixteen days between the time Mom entered the hospital and the time she died, and we were all devastated. At the time, a young man from Denmark had just come to stay with my parents so that he could observe American farming methods. This young man was not a believer, and may not have had any exposure to Scripture. When my father, who was a believer, mentioned that he couldn’t understand how or why God would take my mother so quickly, this young man suddenly blurted out, “Well the Bible says that God’s ways are higher than ours!” At that point, God used that young man to comfort my father.
Many of us who pray wonder if or when we have prayed enough. There is a mnemonic that says PUSH: Pray Until Something Happens. The best example I know of fervent and long – term prayer is that of George Mueller. Mueller was a man of great faith who founded several orphanages in England and supported numerous mission works, all on faith. He cared for 10,024 orphans during his lifetime, and provided educational opportunities for the orphans to the point that he was even accused by some of raising the poor above their natural station in British life. He established 117 schools which offered Christian education to more than 120,000. (Wikipedia)
One of Mueller’s friends had a son who had always resisted having anything to do with God; in fact, this man emigrated to Canada, where he continued to resist the call of God on his life. Mueller committed to pray that this man would commit his life to Christ. It was not until Mueller died at the age of 92 that this man was converted.
How do you know when your prayers have been answered? God will give you a peace that is beyond understanding. So pray until something happens, and wait for that peace. It will surely come.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Help us to trust that when we pray, You hear and give the best answers possible. Help us to be patient and not to give up. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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