The Choice that Brings Change

The Journey: Strolling through the Scripture with the Savior • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Moses shows us what it means to be an Intercessor. He prays for the people and shows us that you can susccesfully intercede if you know what effective intercession requires, know whom it imitates, know what it brings.

Notes

Transcript

Handout

Date: March 8, 2020

Series: The Journey: Strolling through the Scripture with the Savior

Title: The Choice That Brings Change

Text:

ATTN

The year was 1814; the name was Ivan Krylov. Ivan loved to write fables and his fable entitled The Inquisitive Man told the story of a man who went into a museum. There he noticed all kinds of tiny things that were trivial in the room, things like items of jewelry, small artifacts, etc. He fails to notice, however, that sitting smack dab in the middle of the room is a huge elephant. He misses, “the elephant in the room.” That was the humble beginning of the cliché we often use. The “elephant in the room” refers to a question, problem, solution, or controversial issue which is obvious to everyone who knows about the situation, but which is deliberately ignored because to do otherwise would cause great embarrassment, sadness, or arguments, or is simply taboo.

PIC - ELEPHANT

Now, every interest group probably has their own elephants—those things that are obvious to others looking from the outside, but which they, themselves, may fail to acknowledge. Christians are no exception. One of the greatest “elephants” in our room involves prayer. Often we pray for things in great faith but nothing seems to happen, yet we tend to ignore that cognitive dissonance between the faith we claim and the results we receive. And while we may ignore this apparent contradiction, others do not.

PIC TED TURNER

Ted Turner became very wealthy when his independent cable stations like TBS and CNN succeeded. You wouldn’t have known it, since Ted found every possible opportunity to rail against Christianity, but he, at one time, called himself a believer. He was talking one time about how he became an agnostic. He said he lost faith when his sister was diagnosed with cancer and he prayed for her to recover. He really believed in her healing but, in spite of all his praying, she died. When that happened he said that the farther I got from God, the better I felt.

Maybe you’ve been asking the prayer question. Maybe you’ve been wondering what good your prayers do since—at least to you—they never seem to be answered. And yet, as if ignoring the elephant in the room, you keep on praying. Now, please don’t get me wrong: I think your prayers are a good thing, and yet I know that you long for them to be effective. All of us long for our intercession—our prayers for the relief and healing etc. of others to WORK!

BACK

Well, I want to offer some help today. I want us to look at a time in the Bible when intercession worked in some pretty amazing ways! The story is found in . Just like God had predicted, the Children of Israel return to Sinai. There God gives the 10 Commandments to Moses. What an awesome story of God’s mercy and desire to communicate with His people.

There’s only one problem: He takes too long! Moses is gone for 40 days and, afraid that they have been abandoned, the people turn to idolatry. God’s response is that He is going to wipe them all out and start all over with Moses as the new Abraham. He says in :

Exodus 32:9–10 NKJV

And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”

And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! 10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”

Now, folks, this was not an idle threat and Moses knew it. That’s why he says in 32:11:

Exodus 32:11–13 NKJV

Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”

Now, regardless of the theological problems you might think it causes, the Bible is pretty clear here. Through God’s response to Moses’s prayer, the nation of Israel is spared. That’s intercession! That’s a prayer room without an “elephant.” That’s a choice that brings change.

Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”

NEED

And I really want us to get it this morning. I know that many of us are praying without any real results—at least without the results we think we should be seeing and we are pretty frustrated. Please pay attention to the intercession of Moses this morning. You see, it’s possible that your praying employs the wrong approach. You’re not praying the way the Bible instructs us to pray.

Others may have the wrong motivation. We have never seen nor internalized the greatest example of intercessory prayer. Listen!

Others may have the wrong goal. Because we’ve never correctly defined what successful intercession looks like, we’ve never felt like our prayers made a difference.

TRANS

That’s why I want us to look at the prayer of Moses here. I think that he exemplifies successful intercession and leaves us insights that will help our own praying. In the first place, you can practice successful intercession when you:

You can practice successful intercession when you know what effective intercession requires.

EXP

Now let’s dig into Moses’s prayer and discover some things that reveal how we can pray effectively. In the first place,

Effective intercession requires IDENTIFYING.

In the first place, effective intercession requires IDENTIFYING.

Even though God doesn’t wipe the people out, He is still determined to keep them at a distance. In 33:1 He tells Moses:

Exodus 33:1–3 NKJV

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

Ex 33:1

“Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’ 2 And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

Now, this is a very serious problem for the people. Moses knows it and calls the people into mourning. V4 says,

Now, this is a very serious problem for the people. Moses knows it and calls the people into mourning. V4 says, And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. Moses turns to prayer. Look at 33:7.

Exodus 33:4 NKJV

And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.

Moses turns to prayer. Look at 33:7.

And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. Moses turns to prayer. Look at 33:7.

Exodus 33:7–11 NKJV

Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.

Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. 8 So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. 11 So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.

And look at what Moses says to God: v12:

Exodus 33:12 NKJV

Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’

Now in my study, I discovered that Moses is not asking who will go with him as in, “God, since You said You are not going with us, which one of your Angels will go with us?” No! he is saying, “Will you allow ANY of us to go forward, seeing how severely you have judged these people?”

Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Now in my study, I discovered that Moses is not asking who will go with him as in, “God, since You said You are not going with us, which one of your Angels will go with us?” No! he is saying, “Will you allow ANY of us to go forward, seeing how severely you have judged these people?”

But notice what Moses does next: He says, You haven’t let me know who will go with me, v13, Yet You have said ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.” Moses reminds God of the relationship God Himself has told Moses He had with Him and then makes this bold request.

Yet You have said ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.” Moses reminds God of the relationship God Himself has told Moses He had with Him and then makes this bold request. Now therefore, I pray, If I have found grace in your sight, show me now your way, that I may know you and that I may find grace i your sight. And consider that this nation is your people. Moses says here that, based on the relationship he has with God, he is asking that God remember that Israel is ALSO His people.

Exodus 33:13 NKJV

Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”

Exodus 33:13 NKJV

Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”

Moses says here that, based on the relationship he has with God, he is asking that God remember that Israel is ALSO His people.

Now therefore, I pray, If I have found grace in your sight, show me now your way, that I may know you and that I may find grace i your sight. And consider that this nation is your people. Moses says here that, based on the relationship he has with God, he is asking that God remember that Israel is ALSO His people.

Look at how God replies. V14:

Exodus 33:14 NKJV

And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

My presence will go with you and I will give you rest. Something you don’t see immediately in this reply is the fact that the “you” in this verse is SINGULAR. God is saying, “Moses, I will go with you (singular) but (implied) not with them!”

But look at Moses’s reply in v 15:

Exodus 33:15 NKJV

Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

Did you catch that? Moses says to God, “Lord, I’m one of them. I am so identifying with these people that our fates must be the same.” And that’s the first requirement of effective intercession: You have to deeply identify with the people whom you are praying for. You have to, in effect, become one with them. Effective intercession requires identifying and it also requires MOTIVATION

Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with (who?) US!! do not bring us up from here. Did you catch that? Moses says to God, “Lord, I’m one of them. I am so identifying with these people that our fates must be the same.” And that’s the first requirement of effective intercession: You have to deeply identify with the people whom you are praying for. You have to, in effect, become one with them. Effective intercession requires identifying and it also requires:

Effective intercession requires MOTIVATION.

MOTIVATION.

When I say “motivation,” I am talking about the “why” of your intercession. Why are you asking God to do what you’re asking God to do? Moses’s motivation is given in v 16: Moses pleads with God to go with them and then says,

Exodus 33:16 NKJV

For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”

That’s interesting. Moses says, “The reason, God, I must have Your presence with us as we go is that Your presence among us is the only thing that sets us apart from all the other people of the earth. We need to display Your glory to the world.

For how then will it be know that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth. That’s interesting. Moses says, “The reason, God, I must have Your presence with us as we go is that Your presence among us is the only thing that sets us apart from all the other people of the earth. We need to display Your glory to the world.

I say that Moses’s motivation is right here. He is wanting God’s glory to be seen in His mercy to the people of Israel. That’s a critical point. We intercede effectively when our motivation is the glory of God seen in His mercy to the person or the situation we are praying about. So, what about your prayers for situations in your life or people in your life? Are you truly seeking God’s glorious display in them? Intercession is made effective through identifying and proper motivation, but there’s one more requirement.

Effective intercession requires SACRIFICE

Back in chapter 32, Moses makes an amazing statement. Look at 32:32:

Exodus 32:32 NKJV

Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”

Back in chapter 32, Moses makes an amazing statement. Look at 32:32: 32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”

32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”

Wow! Did you hear what Moses just said to God? He said, “Lord, my life for their lives; Instead of killing them, O God, kill me.” Moses is willing to lay down his life for those he is praying for.

That’s really powerful and it makes for powerful intercession. In his little book on prayer, D. A. Carson notes how most of Paul’s prayers recorded in the Bible are intercessory prayers and they are prayers of great sacrifice. He often speaks of being “poured out as a sacrifice” for those whom he prayed for. There is a powerful connection between effective intercession and our willingness to give our lives for those for whom we pray.

APP

Which just leads me to these applications for us. You see, if we are to be effective intercessors, I believe we must have the same qualities in our praying as Moses had. We must identify with the objects of our prayer; we must be motivated by God’s glory, and we must be willing to lay our very lives on the line for them. Why is that?

Praying without identifying makes prayer ritualistic.

Well, it’s because praying without identifying with those for whom we pray turns prayer into a ritual. We checkmark our way through our prayer list, wipe our hands and move on with our day. We’re done, we think. But when we identify, we can’t get them out of our hearts. Praying without identifying turns prayer into a ritual and then . . .

Praying without motivation makes prayer selfish.

Praying without proper motivation can become selfish. When our motives are not focused on God’s glory, it’s very easy for us to pray for others in a way that benefits us. For instance, we may pray for our wife’s sickness to be healed because we are tired of serving her while she’s sick. But when we are seeking God’s glory, our motives are unselfish. And then, last of all . . .

Praying without sacrifice makes prayer superficial.

Praying without sacrifice can be superficial. Prayer is cheap without sacrifice. “I’m praying for you” can just be a cliché we throw at someone we’re tired of hurting with. Intercession becomes effective when we are actually willing to enter into the pain of another.

TRANS

No, effective intercession has some clear requirements and you see them in the praying of Moses. Effective intercession requires identifying, motivation, and sacrifice. But there’s another insight into effective intercession that Moses demonstrates. You and I can intercede effectively when we:

You can practice successful intercession when you know whom effective intercession imitates.

EXP

I don’t know if you’ve stopped to think about it, but Moses reminds us of someone in the New Testament. Do you know who I’m talking about? Sure you do! It’s Jesus. Moses’s intercessory ministry is a faint outline of what Jesus would fully embody. Why do I say that?

Well, because Jesus also identified with us:

John 1:1 NKJV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:12 NKJV

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

John 1:14 NKJV

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

says In the beginning was the Word (i.e. Jesus Christ) and the Word (i.e. Jesus Christ) was with God, and the Word (i.e. Jesus Christ) was God . . . And the Word (i.e. Jesus Christ) became flesh and lived among us.

Later on the Apostle would talk about Jesus like this:

Philippians 2:5–8 NKJV

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Philippians 2:5–7 NKJV

Philippians 2:5

: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus Who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man.

Later on the Apostle would talk about Jesus like this: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus Who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man.

Jesus the very Son of God came as one of us. Talk about identification! I may try to understand you, but I can’t take on your flesh and feel what you feel, but Jesus did that! He identified with us.

And then He sacrificed Himself for us. Paul goes on to say in :

Philippians 2:8 NKJV

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

That’s more than just giving up a meal for someone or giving up your Saturday afternoon to visit the Nursing home. He humbled Himself to carry your sin and die the most excruciating death known to man.

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. That’s more than just giving up a meal for someone or giving up your Saturday afternoon to visit the Nursing home. He humbled Himself to carry your sin and die the most excruciating death known to man.

And because he identifies with us and because He gives His life for us, now He intercedes for us. Listen to what the Hebrew writer says in :

Hebrews 7:25 NKJV

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Paul echoes this thought in when He says:

Romans 8:33–34 NKJV

Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Paul echoes this thought in when He says: Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. I tell you effective intercession imitates the most effective intercessor: Jesus Christ. You are never more like Jesus than when you are praying for someone else!

I tell you effective intercession imitates the most effective intercessor: Jesus Christ. You are never more like Jesus than when you are praying for someone else!

Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. I tell you effective intercession imitates the most effective intercessor: Jesus Christ. You are never more like Jesus than when you are praying for someone else!

APP

And you might say to me, “Well, that’s great, Rusty, but I’m kind of the missing the “how” here. How can I imitate Jesus’s intercession. Well, glad you asked, but buckle up. Some of this may be hard to hear.

If you want to interceded like Jesus, rise early.

First, if you want to intercede like Jesus, RISE EARLY. You consistently hear that Jesus rose “a great while before daylight” to go away and pray. He ROSE EARLY. And as soon as I say that, I know how you might reply: “Rusty, I am a night-owl. I go to bed late and I can’t get up early.” Ok, I get that, but here’s what I want you to think about. If you don’t rise early, you have a really hard job: You have to find a secluded place, and an uninterrupted time where you can be completely focused on God. Now, that’s easier early. If you can’t rise early, you have to create the situation you would find if you rose early: an uninterrupted time and a secluded place.

If you want to intercede like Jesus, relate deeply.

And then, if you want to intercede like Jesus, RELATE DEEPLY. Jesus interceded so well because, “He and His Father were One.” Now, Jesus was one with the Father in a way that you and I will not duplicate because He is actually the second person of the Trinity, but (and don’t miss this) when Jesus took on our humanity, it became necessary for Him to build a relationship with His Heavenly Father just like you and I build it: By consistently relating to the Father in a deep, deep way. If you want to intercede like Jesus, rise early and relate deeply and then:

If you want to intercede like Jesus, remember specifically.

REMEMBER SPECIFICALLY. Jesus’s prayer for His disciples is a very specific prayer FOR THEM. Go to and you will see him praying specific things to His Father. That’s what we must do too. We must remember specific people and specific needs and intercede like Jesus. We become effective in our imitation by imitating Jesus.

ILL

PIC - WHERE IS GOD

A number of years ago, Phillip Yancey wrote a book entitled, Where is God when it Hurts? One time Phillip went to speak somewhere and, after his message, a man came up to him and asked him, “Hey, You wrote a book called, Where is God when it Hurts, right? Phillip said, “Yes.”

The guy said, “Well, I don’t have much time to read. Can you just answer that question for me in a sentence or two? Where is God when it hurts?”

Phillip thought for a second and said, “Well in just a sentence or two, I guess I’d have to answer the question, “Where is God when it hurts?” with another question: “Where is THE CHURCH when it hurts?” You are never more like Jesus than when you are interceding for someone else.

TRANS

Moses’s prayer paints us a picture of Jesus giving Himself for us and interceding for us. That’s what makes intercession effective. You can intercede effectively when you know what effective intercession requires and when you know Whom effective intercession imitates. But last of all, you can intercede effectively when you:

Know what effective intercession brings.

You can practice successful intercession when you know what effective intercession brings.

ILL

PIC - PRAYER CLOSET

Putti Sok told her Christian college friends, "Leave me alone and quit praying for me." Putti described herself as a "Cambodian Buddhist girl," even though she was born in Long Beach, California and grew up in Dallas. "I figured I was Buddhist because my parents told me I was Buddhist," she said. "I thought Christianity was just a religion for Americans." Eventually Putti came to consider herself "an evangelistic atheist," challenging others to prove that God exists.

When Putti started her college education at the University of Texas in 2008, one of her goals was to build deep relationships. She succeeded in that, but some of her new friends were Christians who were active in a student ministry. During her sophomore year, Putti "hit a wall." "I began to see that everything I was doing was becoming meaningless," she said. "If what I was doing didn't have eternal meaning, then it was all in vain." She began to think, "If God is real, he should be able to hear my prayers." Each night she began to pray that he would help her understand what she had been hearing from her friends because it seemed like foolishness to her.

Then one day Putti entered a closet in the student ministry building that had been turned into a prayer room. Inside she found a bowl filled with pieces of paper with the names of students' friends. One after another she looked at the slips of paper and found her own name written on the slips.

She knew how strongly she had urged her friends not to pray for her and yet they had faithfully loved her and prayed for her anyway. She burst into tears that day in the tiny prayer room. "God was softening my heart then," she said. The next night she felt that God was asking her for a specific response, so she finally prayed to receive Christ.

"All of a sudden, I had a desire to go and share with people," she said. "God is real, and he has changed my heart." Putti is currently studying in preparation for full time ministry.

EXP

That happened because God moved in response to praying people. You see, the one thing that intercession most effectively brings is a phrase we use around here all the time: Effective intercession brings (wait for it . . .) LIFE CHANGE. It certainly does for Moses and the Israelites. First of all, the prayer of Moses results in a change in circumstances. 32:14 says,

Exodus 32:14 NKJV

So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

Destruction was spared.

Now that was an important change, but just because God didn’t kill them didn’t mean he wanted to be with them. That covenant He had with them was still broken and He threatens not to allow His presence to be with them. Earlier we saw that, through the intercession of Moses, God relents on this judgment as well. He will go with them.

But what about the covenant that they had broken? Yes, their lives are spared and God’s presence is renewed but what about the covenant? Well, if you don’t ask that question, I think you miss the importance of what happens in 33:18. There Moses makes his most famous request. He says, Please show me Your Glory. If you look at the meaning of this request, you understand that Moses is asking God to allow him to see His face.

God responds with covenant language. Look at v 19. He says,

Exodus 33:19 NKJV

Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

I will make all My Goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord (i.e. the covenant name, “I AM” that Moses had revealed to the Israelites) before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Do you get what God is telling Moses? He is saying, “Moses, because of your intercession and my goodness, I am going to re-establish my covenant with these people. I will give them my goodness and I will remind you of the name that I gave you way back at the burning bush. Moses I am renewing my covenant with these people as you have asked.”

Now that’s a change in circumstances! These people go from a destiny of absolute destruction to a destiny of once again being God’s chosen people. Prayer changes things. Intercession brings a change in circumstances.

But don’t miss this next point. Not only does intercession bring a change in circumstances, it also brings a change in the intercessor. Moses has been changed by his own prayers.

Do you remember our message 2 or 3 weeks ago on the calling of Moses? Do you remember how reluctant he was to go? Do you remember how afraid he was? What has happened to this guy? He has gone from a stuttering wallflower to a powerful intercessor. Now listen! I don’t think that Moses just came down from Mt. Sinai and, all of a sudden, was transformed into a powerful intercessor—O no! This man had learned to pray as he led these people and as he prayed for them every day. This may be the most important change that intercession brings. It changes the intercessor! Yes, prayer does change things, but prayer also changes people.

APP

Regardless of your doubts, prayer changes things.

So let me just make a couple of final applications: First regardless of your doubts and your seeming ineffectiveness, listen! PRAYER CHANGES THINGS! You have to pray in faith that God can and will intervene to make things different. Prayer is not just an acquiescence to a future God has already determined apart from your prayer. If it were, the Jews would have been toast---literally! It was Moses intercession that made an impact on God.

Listen this morning: Prayer is the avenue we have to impact the future. Now I know you may wonder how God can be totally in control and yet be moved by prayer. It’s a great question that I cannot fully answer for you. All I know is that the Bible says God is sovereign, yet the Bible also gives us this account of Moses interceding and seeing the situation change. I can’t explain it, but I firmly believe it. Regardless of your doubts, Prayer changes things!

Regardless of your weakness, prayer changes you.

But, not only does prayer change things, but REGARDLESS OF YOUR WEAKNESS, PRAYER CHANGES YOU! When you learn to intercede and you begin to see God work, you’ll be brought to greater faith in God and as you believe God more and intercede more, you will become a different person. Your choice to pray may be the most significant choice you could possibly make. Prayer is THE choice that brings CHANGE. And it is a choice you must make over and over and over again and as you do, not only will you impact your circumstances, you will impact your character.

VIS

Let me illustrate it to you like this:

PIC - SINK HOLE

Jeff Bush went to bed like any other night. No one could have even imagined what was about to happen. No, there was no burgular; there was no fire, there wasn’t even a drive-by shooting. No, 37 year-old Jeff Bush was heard screaming as he was swallowed up by a 20-ft sink hole that took out his whole bedroom while his relatives watched and listened in horror.

Now, people will say that sinkholes come out of nowhere. But they’re wrong. The hole appears suddenly but the process that led to it has gone on for many years. The underground erosion was invisible, but it was there all along.

Sinkholes remind us of two things: first, something can look good on the outside, when underneath major problems have been going on for years, and disaster’s about to happen. Second, our lives are affected by little choices, which have cumulative effects that can result in either moral strength or moral disaster.

May I just say that intercessory prayer is like that? If I neglect prayer; If I don’t choose to get alone with God, I can go on day after day looking good on the outside, but crumbling on the inside. Those little choices to neglect prayer move me progressively further from God until I wake up in a sink hole of sin, addiction, confusion, and problems and wonder how I got there.

On the other hand, choosing to get up every day and engage in intercession has a cumulative effect of changing circumstances and changing me. I progressively get closer to God until I know Him much like Moses did. Prayer is the choice that brings change

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