In Exodus Chapter 34, a powerful moment shows Moses’s character and his love and devotion for his Israelite people. Moses interceded on their behalf by praying to God, asking to forgive them for their sin. In Chapter 32, the Israelites made a golden calf and started to worship it. What is crazy is this event was led by Moses’s brother Aaron. They had seen marvelous works done by God, and yet when Moses was gone too long, Aaron led the charge to make an Idol for the Israelites to worship. When Moses arrived and saw the idol, he got so mad that he broke the 10 commandment slabs that God wrote on. And I don’t blame him. Moses gave up everything to follow God’s will in helping the Israelites secure their freedom from the Egyptians. God did everything to get them that freedom. The 10 plunges, the parting of the Red Sea, and it still wasn’t enough for them to be fully devoted to God. But in Chapter 34 God tells Moses that he is going to remake the stone tablets and rewrite the 10 commandments on them.

When it came time to write them on the tablets, Moses got to see God’s glory, and God spoke the truth about himself. It says in Exodus 34:6-9, “The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation. Moses immediately knelt low on the ground and worshiped. Then he said, ‘My Lord, if I have indeed found favor with you, my Lord, please go with us (even though this is a stiff-necked people), forgive our iniquity and our sin, and accept us as your own possession.’”

I think it is absolutely amazing that even in the midst of breaking the first two commandments of not having another god and not making an idol, God still reveals that he is faithful to forgive sins. Our God is a good God, and he has a desire that all might come to know him as a savior through Jesus Christ. But what really sticks out to me is that the moments God revealed his glory to Moses, he worshiped and prayed. He prayed for his people. He interceded on their behalf to pray for his people. He asked God to forgive their iniquity and sin and to accept the Israelites to be his own possession. God would next respond to Moses’s prayer and form a covenant with the Israelites that they would be His people and He would be their God. Part of me wonders if Moses didn’t intercede on their behalf, what would have happened? Would God have still made the covenant anyway? It is hard to say, but I truly think that Moses’s prayer had a part to play in this text. We know prayer is powerful we believe that we have been taught that, but it is cool to see its power in the Bible.

Prayer is powerful; it is how we communicate with God, and as believers, we have a direct line to communicate to God anytime, anyplace. However, I wonder if many of you are like me in the fact that I spend most of my prayer time praying for myself and what is going on in my life. I often forget or don’t think about the importance of lifting up others in my prayers.

Just like Moses, we have the ability and privilege to intercede and pray for those around us. for our friends, family, co-workers, pastors, neighbors, and so on. We may not understand how, but our prayers for others could impact the person or people we pray for. Church Family, I want to challenge us to pray not just for what affects us in our daily schedules but to pray for others. When we intercede on behalf of someone, God may choose to do a miraculous thing in that person’s life or situation. Moses prayed for his people to be forgiven and for them to belong exclusively to God. God responded with a promise that they would be His people and that He would lead them to take the land of Cannon. What could your prayers do for others? Right now, there are tons of people who need prayer. And sending thoughts and good vibes is useless.

If you are not sure what to pray for this week here are a few things we can pray for together as we seek the Lord and intercede on behalf of others.

• Pray for those affected by the Fire in LA.
  
• Pray for the fire to be put out so it doesn’t affect even more people who might lose everything.
  
• Pray for someone you know who doesn’t know Jesus and they would be saved.
  
• Pray for the area around our new building, that they would find hope and a relationship with Christ as we start to do ministry there.

You could also look at our prayer guide for other ideas of what to pray for. Your prayers are important, and we, as the body of Christ, have a duty to pray for others. Together, through prayer, we can be strong and courageous.