Pleading to God in prayer
Do you plead with God in prayer? Notice how Moses pleaded to God for His people at the incident of the gold calf. Why should the Egyptians contend that the Lord led the children of Israel out of Egypt only for them to be consumed from the face of the earth? Moses was concerned with their testimony. A mixed multitude left Egypt. We should pray and plead with God that others might come to be added to our congregation and serve God.
Moses also pleaded to the Lord on the basis of the Abrahamic Covenant to remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel and to multiply their descendants and to give them a land that they might inherit forever. Romans 11 shows us clearly that Paul also was an Israelite of the seed of Abraham and from the tribe of Benjamin (Romans 11:1). The Lord has not cast away His people whom He foreknew (Romans 11:2). The New Covenant built on the Abrahamic Covenant and other covenants and the New Covenant was made with the house of Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 31:31-37). The Lord has a plan of salvation for both Jewish and Gentile people and their will come a day when all Israel will be saved, the Deliverer will come out of Zion and turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for that is His covenant with them when He removes their sins (Romans 11:26-27).
Do you plead with God on the basis of His covenant promises? In the gold calf incident, the Lord relented from the disaster that He had spoken of and responded to Moses’ intercessory prayer. The Lord wants us to understand His character, His ways, His covenants and purposes. In short, the Lord wants and expects His people understand and know Him (Jeremiah 9:24). But this should also affect the way that we pray to Him by humbly pleading with the Lord in prayer. We see many examples of godly individuals prayers throughout Scripture and this should inform, fuel and drive our prayers.
Do you pray as those in the Scriptures prayed and whose prayers are recorded? Remember how Abraham pleaded for Sodom. Abraham prayed for the righteous for he knew they were of great value in the Lord’s sight. Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Far be it for You to do such a thing! Shall not the judge of the whole earth do what is right?
Abraham was persistent in prayer. Are you also persistent in prayer? Studying God’s word will reveal how to pray and how the Lord expects us to pray. Abraham knew who he was and who God is and He spoke with God recognising that he was but dust and ashes. But there are some who pray as if God were on their level and others, as if they were instructing the Lord what to do! Remember, Moses was the most-humble man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3), yet he was bold in prayer.
Consider that Daniel’s prayers referenced the Law of Moses, the Exodus and God’s promises. We can use God’s word to aid our prayers. When Daniel pleaded for Judah, his prayers were informed since He knew what Jeremiah foretold and understood that Judah would be in exile for seventy years. “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and judgments” (Daniel 9:4-5). Daniel remembered the Law of Moses and the Exodus and so should we when we pray.
Daniel pleaded with the Lord according to His righteous acts to turn from His anger and wrath. Daniel prayed for the Lord’s sake and according to His mercy. In addition to understanding God’s covenants and purposes which fuelled his prayers, Daniel understood God’s character. Daniel comprehended the greatness and holiness of the Lord and something of His glory. When you plead with God in prayer, plead according to His purposes, name and glory.
So how can we pray for our country? Neither England, nor the United Kingdom is a theocracy like Israel and no other nation on earth has a covenant relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. However, we can thank the Lord for our Judeo-Christian heritage and for the likes of Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer who bravely endured the flames and lit a fire across this nation that would never die out. We can thank the Lord for the reformers and the puritans and the great Victorian evangelists and many of the latter had a great love both for the Jewish people and for Israel. We can thank the Lord for the great missionary movements and for the great preachers such as Whitefield, Wesley, Ryle, Spurgeon and Lloyd Jones. This year we can remember William Tyndale, 500 years on, who was strangled and burnt for translating the Scriptures into English.
King George VI declared a national day of prayer on May 26th, 1940 in WWII. Millions of people flocked to congregations to pray and their prayers were answered. People understood that the same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob answers prayer and that he could be petitioned through godly prayer. How sad it is today that across many congregations, prayer meetings are marginalised and for many there is little desire to meet to pray fervently and to plead with God in prayer! If you are able to get to the prayer meeting at your congregation, make it your priority to be there!
Moses commitment to pleading for the Israelites is astonishing. Moses prays for the Lord to forgive their great sin, but if not, to blot his name out of the book which He had written. The Lord explained that whoever has sinned against Him He would blot out of His book. Paul prayed a similar prayer to that of Moses in Romans 9:3, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh.” Paul continues and mentions that the Israelites were given the covenants, the Law and the promises and that Messiah came who is the eternally blessed God (Romans 9:4-5).
Only Yeshua (Jesus) could atone for sin through His sacrifice of substitutionary atonement by giving His life in exchange for ours. You may give a pint of blood to keep a friend or even someone you do not know alive. Whilst we were yet sinners and even enemies of God, Jesus the Messiah died for us. Life is in the blood and almost all things are purified with blood and without the blood there is no remission, nor forgiveness of sin. The blood of Messiah cleanses those who trust in Him from all unrighteousness and gives them eternal life.
Pleading for holiness
What is holiness? Being set apart, distinct, different, consecrated and striving to become more like the Saviour. How did Moses plead for holiness? Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me. How does the Lord require us to be holy? Be holy as I am holy. The Lord promised to Joshua that as He was with Moses He would also be with Joshua and neither would He leave Him nor forsake Him (Joshua 1:6). Joshua similarly pleaded to the children of Israel for holiness and if it seemed evil to serve the Lord in their eyes, they would need to choose that day whom they would serve. The application is readily apparent. Today, are you on the Lords side? Will you be holy? Whom will your serve?
George Williams writes, “The character of Moses here shines with much beauty. On the top of the mount he pleads with God for the people; at the foot of the mount he pleads with the people for God. God’s glory was the great concern of his heart in both positions.”[i]
Again, the context here was worshipping the gold calf, mixing a supposed ‘feast to the Lord’ with immoral behaviour. Who was it that stood on the Lord’s side, with Moses? And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. Levi means ‘attached.’ We need to remain close to the Lord if we wish to be holy. We need to abide in Him as He abides in the believer. We need to draw near to God. James, the Lord’s brother was writing to the twelve tribes scattered abroad (James 1:1). He wrote of the above, in that we are to, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). If someone would long to be holy, they need to be in regular fellowship with the intention of collective worship, if that is possible for them to do so. There should be a desire to speak of the things of God since a believer is a new creation in Jesus the Messiah.
But how does syncretism, which is the underlying issue in this chapter, challenge all of us, every day? We are challenged through the world, our flesh and the devil, but how will you respond? Choose this day, whom you will serve. Every day we have multiple micro decisions to act on, in how we will respond and be holy. The small decisions are important and have consequences for good or evil.
So, who will you listen to and to whom will you avoid listening? Where will you go and where will you not go? What will you watch and what will you avoid watching? Who will you serve? What will you read? What will you choose not to read? What music will you listen to and what music will you steer clear from? Who will you keep company with and who will you keep company with for the sake of the gospel and to be an effective witness for the Lord to that person?
Syncretism has encroached into our congregations and across the nation. Over the last few generations, for the most part, religious instruction and assemblies have been watered down. Over the generations, generally speaking, the frequency of fellowship, Bible study and prayer have reduced and the consequences are inevitable. By and large much of our country is perishing through lack of knowledge off God.
Remember that a lack of knowledge of God often also occurs in a supposedly religious context. Hosea writes, “My people are destroyed through lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Let that be a warning. That is why we need to be like Joshua reading the word of God day and night and studying our Bibles together. To know God, we must know something of God, so we can serve the Lord and please Him through faith exercised through obedience. If we love God, we will obey His commandments.
Remember knowledge of itself does not make someone holy and knowledge on its own account can result in pride. But rather, knowledge attained about the Lord should be used to serve Him. Consider that some individuals love learning and can author insightful essays and make engaging speeches but never come to a saving knowledge of the truth! They merely play with knowledge and it is nothing more than an end in itself, or to impress others.
Biblical knowledge should never be acquired for the sole purpose of impressing people, gaining an audience, or merely satisfying intellectual curiosities. What we know of God, should shape how we serve God and fellowship with others. What we know of God, should be used to help us to become more holy and more like Him. What we know of God, should be used to plead with others, having a dutiful concern to care for their souls so that they might believe in, trust and follow Messiah.
Are you on the Lord’s side?
There is an enduring and certain hope that follows this passage, because of the Lord’s grace and astonishing mercy; but there is also a grave warning. Three thousand rebelled against the Lord and died that day and so the implications are deadly serious. Yet at the feast of Shavuot, also known as the Day of Pentecost, 3000 were saved and trusted in Yeshua as Messiah. Today is the day of salvation. Are you on the Lord’s side? Choose this day who you will serve. Moses would lead the people and the Angel would go before him. For those who trust in the Lord the promise remains, that the Lord will be with you wherever you go.
[i] George Williams Williams’ Complete Bible Commentary (Kregel, 1994; Grand Rapids), p61
