Thursday, the Fourth Week of Lent
“7 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 8 they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ” 9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. 10 Now let Me alone so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, and of you I will make a great nation.”
11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14 And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people” Exodus 32:7-14.
This story has always spoken to me about prayer. You see, I have been just Israel in my life: “7 Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 8 they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt’ ” Exodus 32:7-8. I have stepped away from the Lord and created my own gods.
But when Moses prays and intercedes to God on behalf of Israel, God answers His prayer. Moses’ prayer isn’t what spared god; it was the grace of God that did! Moses prayer was heard by God, and God chose to answer this prayer just as it was prayed. But the point is that God answers our prayers in His own perfect ways. If God’s answer dovetails with our prayer, that is not on us, but on the grace of God.
So pray, knowing God will answer your prayer in the perfect way and in the perfect time. Don’t give up. Come back to god. This is the invitation of Lent: “Come Back To Me”, says the Lord!
It’s not that “prayer works,” it’s that God promises to hear our prayer and to answer it in His Name! God gave us this great gift of prayer. Use it!
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it” John 14:13-14.
“7 Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone? 10 Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake? 11 If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him”
Matthew 7:7-11!
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