THE BASIS OF INTERCESSION

              NOW LEAVE ME ALONE SO THAT MY ANGER MAY                                          BURN AGAINST THEM…                                               THEN I WILL MAKE YOU INTO A GREAT NATION.                                                           ˜Exodus 32:10

Most people would have stumbled over themselves trying to get out of God’s way. God was angry! And he had every reason to be. The first commandment God gave to his people was to have no other gods (see Exodus 20:3). However, the first thing the people did when Moses was out of the picture was to have a pagan orgy around an idol. But Moses remained standing before God. Interceding for his people. This chapter is the first of three consecutive chapters in Exodus that give a rich picture of the prayer life of one of the Bible’s greatest men of prayer. They also provide a model for the prayer life of any follower of Christ.

 Moses’ intercession was based on three realities. The first was God’s self-chosen relationship with his people. When God spoke to Moses and called the people "your people," whom you brought up out of Egypt" (32:7-11). The basic of all prayer is the relationship God has taken the initiative to form with us. When we pray, we pray in his name, the name he gave -"our father."   

Moses also prayed on the basis of God’s reputation, pleading with the Lord to consider how he would be thought of by the Egyptians if he executed his fierce anger, "why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them?" (verse 12). Moses truly wanted God to get glory in all things. And we can learn from this. As Jesus taught, we intercede by praying, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" (Matthew 6:9).

Finally, Moses prayed for the people on the basis of God’s promises: "Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky" (verse 13). In his usual picturesque way, Martin Luther describe what Moses did in this prayer as 'throwing the sack of God’s promises at [God’s] feet', and he couldn’t step over them! It is beyond exhilaration to pray the promises God, for they go far beyond the best we could ever think of on our own.

In Christ,

Janet Irene Thomas

Playwright/Director/Screen Writer

Producer/Lyricist

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts