7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden 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 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”
11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14 And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people. ~ Exodus 32:7-14
When God saw that His own people had corrupted themselves with the golden calf Aaron, the high priest, had made for them, He distanced Himself from them. He said, “Moses, these are your people, so you go down to them, for it did not take long for them to return to worshiping idols and false gods.” Then He gives Moses a proposal that he couldn’t refuse. He told him that He would make him, Moses, into a great nation, and he would be the father of a great and mighty nation. But Moses was an intercessor. Instead of accepting the good opportunity, he interceded for the people of Israel. He gently reminded God that Israel was His people, and it was Him who had brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand. Now, please understand, God does not need us to remind Him so that He can remember, but rather, we remind Him to show that we know His promise, that we believe His promise, and lastly, so that we may verbalize what we want.
I read a blog that a well-intentioned lady wrote, discouraging her readers from reminding God of His promises. She claimed that the passages of Scripture that are expressly reminding God of His promises really aren’t. They may sound like it, but it really is God who is doing the reminding? Although it is the person who is talking or praying. Now, this sounds good and pious, but as the old saying goes, “If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck,” end of story. Why do we try to be so religious? The Scriptures plainly teach that we are to make known what we desire in prayer; how can we do that if we are afraid to remind God of His promises to us? It is called prayer.
If when Jesus was on earth people had to verbalize what they wanted, when it was obvious. Jesus called the blind man in (Luke 18:40-43), and when he came, Jesus asked, what do you want me to do for you? His reply wasn’t, “Isn’t it obvious, Jesus.” No, he said, “I want to see.” We must let our request be made known to our God (Philippians 4:6). Psalm 119:49 says, “Remember Your word to Your servant, in which You have made me hope.” “Remember Your word…” Is not plain enough?
What about Elijah in 1 Kings 18:41-45? God had promised to send rain on the land because there was no rain for three and a half years. Yet Elijah prayed seven times after receiving the promise before the rain came. What is the conclusion then? Well, maybe we don’t receive our promises because we are under the false impression that we are not to remind God of His promises; therefore, we don’t pray about our promises, so God figures we are not interested since we never mention them, nor talk about them.
Listen, we have great and mighty promises from our good, good Father, and He wants us to come to Him, seek His face, and call upon His great name. I suggest we do as God said in Isaiah 43:26a, “Put Me in remembrance…” So, go ahead and remind God of His great and wonderful promises; He wants you to.
Heavenly Father, I remind you right now that You have promised me _____________. I know you have not forgotten, but I come in humbleness and in reverence to ask You to remember Your great promise to me and my family, and when You remember, please fulfill Your promise to me; in Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.
Similar Content
