22 “At Taberah also, and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath. 23 And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God and did not believe him or obey his voice. 24 You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.25 “So I lay prostrate before the Lord for these forty days and forty nights, because the Lord had said he would destroy you. 26 And I prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness or their sin, 28 lest the land from which you brought us say, “Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.” 29 For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’ - (Deuteronomy 9)
Moses is giving his challenge to Israel before they enter the promised land after the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. This paragraph talks about one of the many times over the course of those years they had rebelled against God and he interceded for them. This particular time it was for forty days and nights, but it a real sense Moses prayed for them for forty years! And then he wasn't sure they would make it in! Prayer is not just for a season, but a lifetime. Individuals and situations for which we pray may "go on the back burner" at times as other issues and problems demand more attention, but when God lays someone or something on our hearts, they are ours for years to come. What and how we pray for them may vary, but the burden does not. Moses made it. So can we.
No comments:
Post a Comment