How to Pray Urgently
Sometimes our "eleventh hour" reaches 12:01. That's when we pray urgently.
I'm continuing my study of the Book of Exodus, currently in chapter thirty-two, and learning so much! In today's reading, I revisited the time when Moses was on the mountain with God while the Israelites, in rebellion, made the golden calf idol and worshipped it.
God told Moses He was ready to destroy all the Israelites with fire. Verse ten is one of the phrases I enjoy because it is so descriptive. God says, “my wrath may wax hot against them.” Trust me, we should never push God to the point where He “waxes hot against us!”
We can learn how to pray urgently in this chapter. Here’s the gist of Exodus 32:7-10:
Moses intercedes with God to spare the Israelites from divine punishment. He argues that destroying them would give the Egyptians a reason to claim God's actions were always hostile against the Israelites. Moses reminds God of His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel to multiply their descendants and give them the promised land forever. God, moved by Moses' plea, changes His mind and stops the Israelite’s imminent disaster.
Moses had an urgent need: to save the Israelites! He reminded God of His promises, and so God agreed not to wipe out the Israelites. That’s the key. When we pray, we should pray Scripture promises back to God. It’s not that He has forgotten them; rather, Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:14), and the Father loves the Son.
And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”
- Matthew 3:17 NLT
When we pray God’s promises, He answers our prayers in ways that bring glory to Jesus. After all, that should be our primary motive in all our prayers.
Pray earnestly. Pray continually. Pray God’s Word. Pray in faith. Pray because God answers in amazing ways.