11.11.2012 Moses - From Couch Potato to Marathon Pray-er

SermonAudio

You have shown Your great love for us. Help us to be thankful people. Help us to hear from You as we fix our eyes on You – even as You’ve fixed Your eyes on us – and You long to work in and through us – knowing there is nothing good in us – but all good things come from You – blessings/change – it all comes from You. Help us to be humble people who look to You. Work in us! In Your Name we pray.
We are continuing to study the life of Moses – this week and next week – then a week on Elijah and then we start Advent!
Moses has two roles – well, more than that – but two primary roles – One is deliverer – and the second is – he acts through this story, in the deliverance from Egypt and the wandering in the desert – Moses is their mediator, making intercession for the people of Israel. Normally the way it happens, Israel does something wrong – and Moses has to intercede.
Exodus 15: 24 So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" 25 Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and he threw [it] into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.
Exodus 32: 9 And the Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. 10 "Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them, and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation." 11 Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, "O Lord, why doth Thine anger burn against Thy people whom Thou hast brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 "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'? Turn from Thy burning anger and change Thy mind about [doing] harm to Thy people. 13 "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants to whom Thou didst swear by Thyself, and didst say 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.'" 14 So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.
Moses intercedes for others - as should we – and this is a clear indication in our lives of growing up in Christ – and an indication that God is working in our lives.
Moses is a picture – a ‘type’ of Christ.
Hebrews 7: 23 And the [former] priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers, because they were prevented by death from continuing, 24 but He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. 25 Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Jesus is standing before God on our behalf – and we are called into this same ministry – to pray consistently and faithfully for other people. I will look at one event – a little more in-depth…
Exodus 17: 8 Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us, and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand." 10 And Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses' hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set. 13 So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
How many of you have heard this story? It has probably been about praying for God’s people – but there is nothing in this story mentioning prayer – but it is actually MORE than that. This story clearly has application for us as it relates to intercession. What is Moses doing? He is standing in the presence of God on behalf of the people. In this case, it is for the sake of the armies of Israel – but he is not exactly praying at this point – he is holding up the staff.
When Moses goes into Egypt and is talking to God – he was not sure he wanted to do it – and God asks – what is that in your hand? A staff. Throw it on the ground – and it becomes a snake. Then he does it before the magicians and they do the same thing but his staff eats up the other snakes… - and each of the plagues are brought in by the staff – and it is a symbol of God’s presence – God is with the armies of Israel – and the victory can only be won by the power of God. Without God working – without His presence, they lose. When Moses’ hands drop, the army starts losing – when his hands go up – the army wins. So they devise a plot where his arms cannot fall and the army wins. For us to win the spiritual battles – which we all have – issues in our and others’ lives – needs – where we need God – and the only way to get victory is to enter the presence of God – and tap into the power of God. It is the key way of doing that. This is not exactly about prayer – but there is that application to our lives here.
There is one other thing I want to point out – There is Aaron and Hur – holding up Moses’ arms – and the point is, there are some battles we just don’t win on our own – we need to gather others together to pray and intercede and to serve – the importance of community in the spiritual battle. When you read through Hebrews 11 – the Hall of Faith – stuck right in the middle – “And by faith, the walls of Jericho tumbled down” – it doesn’t name Joshua right there – you would think it would – but sometimes there are walls that don’t come down except by a gathered group of people and faith.
Whatever you ask, He will do. There are times – prayer and intercession in our own lives and times for prayer and intercession with others.
From a practical standpoint – how to stand in the presence of God for others – about 6-8 weeks ago, the Lord started showing me that I need to be more intentional and purposeful in intercessory prayer – to have specific times during the week to pray for the family – I do that normally – but I think there is a difference between that and really determining that during these times, I will block off these 15 minutes and there will be no distraction – so I have been working on this – more consistently and intently. Practically – how to do that.
First – John 14: 13 “And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do [it.]
First – Prayer changes things – and God answers prayer!
If we believe that God hears our prayers and will answer – that is first in changing our attitude and helping us to become more consistent. The reality – we know that because the Bible says it – but there comes a time when we stop believing that. You might say – oh yeah, God answers prayer – but because we go a certain amount of time where prayers don’t get answered, we stop believing it.
All who have walked with God view prayer as the main business of their lives – Richard Foster.
Disciples: Lord, teach us to pray.
We think – prayer is just natural – but when Peter was sinking and drowning, he cried out and God answered – and that is a critical aspect of prayer – but the disciples were asking for more – how to develop a lifestyle of prayer that is consistent and purposeful.
Intercessory prayer does not come naturally - It takes training, time, practice.
From Couch to Marathon for prayer.
After seeing a psychiatrist – if you still want to run a marathon – you start training – first around the block – then twice around…
Step one – have a time and a place.
Time: something manageable – do you have a consistent manageable time for prayer in your life? It might be 5 minutes every other day. But just like training for a marathon, it starts by doing that consistently.
Place – the purpose of the place – somewhere you won’t be distracted – and that is critical.
Second – develop a pattern –
Ecclesiastes 5:1 Guard your steps as you go to the house of God, and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. 2 Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few
It is really important to develop a consistent pattern. The tendency is to jump right in with our list. If you want to develop consistent prayer – STOP! Listen to God – and allow Him to begin directing your prayer time before jumping on to your list. The list is valuable – but we are so afraid of silence – but it is there that He can speak into our souls on what He is doing.
We tend to think – I know how to pray for that person – but maybe God is doing something different – and it is through listening that God is freed to show us – here is what I am doing in the circumstance – and then we can line our prayers up with what God wants to accomplish –
Foster – the beginning point in learning to pray for others is to listen for guidance.
Ruth Barton – “Intercessory prayer is not about thinking we know what someone else needs and trying to wrestle it from God – but rather, it is being present to God on another person’s behalf, listening for the prayer of the Holy Spirit that is already being prayed for that person before the throne of grace and being willing to join God in that prayer.”
God is going to work to accomplish what He will – and if we take the time to stop – listen to Him – and then discern what He is doing – and rather than trying to pull something out of God, we join Him and become part of what He is doing.
That might be really hard – to sit and listen – you need to force yourself to stop and listen to God – and He WILL begin to speak into your heart and to reveal things that He is doing in you. He won’t come in a burning bush – but He will begin to communicate deeply into your soul what He is doing and what He wants you to do.
3) Practice thankfulness and praise. Giving thanks and praise. That builds faith. When we praise God for what He is doing and thank Him and praise Him – for what He can and will do – that builds faith.
4) Pray for things that God brings to mind – we all have spiritual ADD, don’t we? Instead of trying to jump into everything – just pray for things that come to mind. Maybe you don’t get to your list this time – but maybe God is bringing it up for a reason – I know these are simple things – but very helpful..
5) Pray for small things – like training – start small – we immediately tend to go for the big thing – like, Lord, bring revival to our city! I’m all for that – but along with that – we need to pray that God would help us to reach a neighbor! How will God bring revival to a city? He will work in individual’s lives – ask – is there a person I could help in their journey to You? That is a small step that you can see answered. There are so many ways this happens.
I prayed consistently for my parents – and I prayed many small things – I prayed that there would be some Christians who would move into my parents’ neighborhood – and for other believers at work – and that God would use the Bibles left in hotel rooms to reach my dad. And all these things came to pass – and they got saved – sometimes we need to break it down so it is not overwhelming.
6) Connect your passion and compassion to prayer. Go back to the revival for the city thing – maybe you have a heart and a burden for teenagers – and instead of asking for revival for the city – ask – How can I reach the teenagers in my neighborhood.
If we have God-given passion and concern for others, our faith will grow and strengthen as we pray
You gain a heart for a person – and that is God saying – Hey – engage here in prayer.
When prayer doesn’t work.
James 1 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 [being] a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Does God want something different from what I am praying? If we discover that – we make adjustments.
2) Endurance and patience – the example of Jesus and others – it is often about persistence and endurance. God wants us to keep going – keep praying – and be persistent. Some things take a long time for God to answer.
3) Does our faith need to grow?
4) is there an action we need to take? Prayer is not separate from our actions. Sometimes we need to stop – and God wants us to do something.
5) Sometimes God simply says – “No” – it is just not His will.
So – like in training for a marathon – if you are a couch potato or a casual jogger – if you, over the course of the next 3 months – you find a time and a place – and you claim promises and start praying for people e- and you celebrate and give thanks and praise God – starting with small things 3 times a week – and then increasing to 4 – you will discover – down the road, you will be running more – a 5K then a 10 K in prayer – and eventually – you will be able to run a prayer marathon – and it will be a blessed part of your life – because God answers prayer. I have seen this to be true over the past 6 weeks... Let’s pray…