How to Have Friendship with God: Modeling Moses in Prayer

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. To find out how to know God personally, go to knowgod.org. K-N-O-W, knowgod.org.

Hey, would you do me a favor? Share this message with someone who needs to hear it. Moses was a true intercessor, and he would not give up. Prayer is the most powerful way to show our love for someone.

And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie shows us Moses was a powerful example. God is still looking for people to stand in the gap and pray. Are you willing to pray for other people to come to the Lord? Are you willing to pray with persistence?

Be an intercessor. Stand in the gap. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Oh, can you hear all the angels are singing?

This is the day, the day when life begins. Mature believers talk to others about God, and they also talk to God about others. Do you regularly pray for others? Pray for their needs? Pray they might come to the Lord or come closer to the Lord? Our mission statement here at A New Beginning is knowing Him and making Him known. And intercessory prayer is a vital instrument in that pursuit.

So today Pastor Greg Laurie continues his series on the life of Moses, uncovering the leader's faithful ministry of intercessory prayer. This is the day, the day when life begins. We all have friends in life, hopefully. Some people have a lot of friends, some have just a few. Then you have old friends, people you've known for a long time.

Then you have new friends, people you're just getting to know. And then you have marriage. And then when you get married, you spend a lot of time with your friend, my wife Kathy. She's my best friend, and we've been married for 46 years.

So we understand each other. I sometimes jokingly say between the two of us we have one complete brain. And by that I mean I'll forget something and I'll say, wait what was that guy's name? And she'll remember. And she'll forget something.

Where were we in that day? Oh I'll remember that. And so together we get it all figured out. But even the way that a man and a woman communicate, there's a little mystery to it. Sometimes men don't understand women.

Well let me restate that. Most of the time men don't understand women. But there are times that women don't understand men either.

Let me illustrate. When a man says to a woman, it's a guy thing, what that really means is there's no rational thought pattern connected to this. And no chance of you ever figuring it out. When a man says to a woman, can I help with dinner? What he really means is, I'm hungry and I want to eat right now. When a man says to a woman, well it would take too long to explain. He really is saying, I have no idea how it works. When a man says to a woman, take a break honey.

You're working too hard. He's really saying, turn off the vacuum cleaner. I can't hear the game.

I'm watching it on TV. When a man says to a woman, well you know how bad my memory is. What he's really saying is, despite the fact that I know all the lyrics to the theme song of the Beverly Hillbillies.

Sorry I forgot what day your birthday actually is on. When a man says, I can't find it. He's really saying, if it didn't fall into my outstretched hand, I'm completely clueless. And when a man says to a woman, you look terrific. He really means, stop changing your outfit and let's go. And finally when a man says, we are not lost.

I know exactly where we are. What he is really saying is, no one will ever see us alive again. Marriage. Friendship. I want to talk to you about a man that knew God in a personal way. A man who had a friendship with God. And of course that man's name is Moses.

So let's sort of pick up where we last left off in this series. So Moses is up on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments. Now he doesn't know how bad things are back at the camp where Aaron was left in charge. He did not yet know that the people were dancing around a golden calf and calling it their God. And so while he's there on Mount Sinai the Lord says to Moses in Exodus 32 verse 9, I'm going to pour my wrath out against these people and consume them and make of you a great nation. Moses didn't know how bad it was. And now as he descends from the mountain he sees the sight of full tilt idolatry and immorality. And Aaron offers up the lamest excuse of all time to justify this horrible behavior. And Moses is so angry he takes these two commandments written by the finger of God and throws them on the ground and they smash into pieces.

Now that was not a good idea. The Lord actually said, you're going to have to go carve a new set now. And that's exactly what he had to do.

But here's what was happening. The Lord was developing Moses. He was testing Moses. And he was wanting to see if Moses would learn how to be an intercessor. Maybe God is testing you right now.

Why do Christians go through times of hardship? Why do we have to experience trials? I remember when I was a brand new believer and fellow Christians warned me, Now Greg you're going to go through trials. And I'm like, I'm going to go on trial?

No. You're going to have trials. What do you mean trials?

You'll know. And when the first trial hit I knew. Why does God allow trials and tribulation and hardship and the life of the believer? James chapter 1 says this, Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow. For when your endurance is fully developed, you'll be perfect and complete, needing nothing. Trials are like God's gem. You break muscle down to build it up. So you go to a gem.

Maybe at the first of the year. You're out of shape. Well you're in a shape. You're just in the shape of a pear.

Which is not a good shape. Your friends even call you. He's the Lord's pear. No. You don't want that. So you go to the gem.

You sign up. And you work out really hard. And the next day you can't even lift your hand.

You're so tired. Well you need to pace yourself. And in time you'll break that muscle down.

You'll build it up and you'll be stronger as a result. God lets you go through these trials to strengthen you. And God was sort of whipping Moses into shape. And God wanted to see if Moses had really changed. Don't forget Moses was that hot headed man that took matters into his own hands. And instead of waiting on the Lord's timing he killed an Egyptian and then had to go into exile for 40 very long years. Until he was recommissioned at the burning bush by the Lord.

But now Moses is going to learn how to deal with people that oppose him. Are you dealing with people like that right now that are critical of you? That are making life hard for you? People that have hit you unfairly. What's your natural reaction? Hit back. And hit back harder. Well that's not what we're taught to do in the Bible. Jesus says love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you.

And when you do that you're acting like true children of your Father in heaven. So the Israelites were not very appreciative of Moses at this phase of the story. They were critical of his leadership.

And he was becoming very frustrated. Would he be an intercessor? Would he stand in the gap for them? Would he pray for them? By the way God is still looking for people to stand in the gap and pray. The Bible says the Lord was looking for someone to stand in the gap but he could find none. Are you willing to pray for other people to come to the Lord?

Are you willing to pray with persistence for the Lord to answer that prayer you're bringing before him? And John chapter 4 is a story of a desperate dad whose son was very sick. In fact he was at death's door. This father was a part of a royal family. And he came and humbled himself before Jesus. Which is pretty amazing.

A man of royalty. And he gets down and humbles himself before Christ and he begs Jesus to touch his dear son. And the response of the Lord is quite unusual because he says, Unless you people see signs and wonders you will not believe. Well like what kind of thing is that to say to a desperate dad that just wants his son to be healed? But the fact is Jesus was not really addressing the father. He was addressing the fickle crowd that just came to be entertained. He just came to see a sign, a miracle, something to dazzle them.

Meanwhile this persistent dad was standing there waiting and would not give up. And then he says, Lord come to my house before my son dies. Jesus says, Oh your son?

He's healed. So why did this happen? Why did Jesus not just respond to this guy immediately? Because he wanted to draw him out and he wanted to teach the man that sometimes you need to keep asking, you need to keep seeking, and you need to keep knocking on the door. And sometimes because we will not be persistent in our prayer we don't see them answered in the affirmative.

Sometimes what looks like a barrier may actually be a bridge. So don't give up. So coming back to Moses. Had Moses learned anything? Would he pray for these fickle people?

And let me ask you. Is there someone you need to be praying for right now? Do you have a child that's rebelling against God and they're just going from bad to worse? Or do you know someone that needs to hear the gospel but they're not responsive when you try to engage them in a conversation?

Don't give up. Keep praying for them. Because we know when you pray for people to believe in Jesus you're praying according to the will of God. You say, how do you know that Greg?

Because the Bible says God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Here's another illustration. Abraham and Isaac.

Remember? The Lord said to Abraham, take your son. Your only son whom you love and offer him as a sacrifice to me. So Abraham took his boy up that mountain in obedience to God. And Isaac was kind of wondering what was going on. And by the way sometimes in religious art you see this shown in a way where Abraham is an adult obviously. But Isaac is just like a little boy. No. Isaac was a young man at this point.

Probably full grown. And so when he realized what was about to happen that his father was going to potentially offer him as a sacrifice. He could have said, you know what dad?

You're a very old dude. Why don't we sacrifice you and I'll leave ok? But you know amazingly not only did Abraham obey God but Isaac went along with it as well. And as they got up to the mountain Isaac asked his father the question, where's the sacrifice? And Abraham prophetically says, God will provide himself a sacrifice. And he pulled out the knife and was ready to plunge it on his son. And suddenly the Lord stopped him and said, do him no harm.

Listen. It was never God's intention for Abraham to take the life of his son. But what it was, was a test of Abraham's faith.

And it was a picture for us of what happened when Jesus went to the cross. The father sent the son to die but the son willingly went. And as Jesus said, no one takes my life.

I lay it down of my own accord. But my point is simply this. Sometimes the Lord will allow tests in our life to see if we will press on and not give up. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

Whenever you send us a letter, an email, or post a comment on social media, we read every word. Dear Harvest Christian Fellowship, 24 years ago I lost my three children in a divorce. Not knowing the Lord I was as hurt as an active everyday parent whose kids had just been taken away from him can possibly be. I'm an avid radio listener and accidentally turned my dial to a Christian radio station.

I was unaware of this type of broadcasting at that time. I heard Pastor Greg explain God's word day after day for months in a soothing and loving way. He explained the God of second chances.

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That's harvest.org. We're studying the life of Moses today in Pastor Greg's series called Wood, Fire, Stone. Let's continue now with our focus on prayer. Now listen to this amazing statement of Moses in Exodus 32, verse 31. Moses should turn to the Lord and said, these people have committed a terrible sin.

They've made gods of gold for themselves. Now please forgive their sin and if not, then blot me out of the record you are keeping. So Moses has seen the sin of the people. And he goes to the Lord and he says, Lord, I know it's bad.

It's horrible what they've done. And I'm asking you to forgive them of their sin. And in the original Hebrew, there's an implied pause. So it goes something along these lines.

Lord, I know they've committed a horrible sin and I ask you to forgive them. Pause. Pause. Pause. But if not, then blot my name out of your book.

Get it? Moses is pondering this. He's thinking about it. And he's saying, Lord, if it would make a difference, if it would mean that they would be forgiven, take my name out of your book. Effectively, the apostle Paul said the same thing when he wrote in Romans 9, 3. He said, my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters, I would be willing to be forever cursed that is cut up from Christ if you would save them. So basically, Paul and Moses are saying to the Lord, hey, if this is what it takes, we'll go to hell so these people can go to heaven. That's an intercessor for you.

That's someone standing in the gap. Thankfully, we don't have to give up our hope of eternal life so someone else can have it. That has already been purchased for us by Jesus Christ on the cross. But Moses was a true intercessor and he would not give up. I think one of the reasons we don't intercede for others, one of the reasons we don't pray for others is because if we're brutally honest and no one likes to admit it, but we would have to say we just don't care.

You're not going to share if you don't care. And I think it comes back to Jonah. I mentioned him last time how Jonah did not want to go preach the gospel to the Ninevites because frankly, he did not want them to repent.

He wanted God to judge them and eradicate them from the earth because they were a cruel people and Israel had suffered under their hand. So he didn't want to go offer mercy to them. And sometimes we'll look at somebody that's living a wicked life or doing horrible things and we don't want to pray for them. We don't want to pray that God touches our heart or changes them or forgives our sin, but we should. And if we don't care, we'll never share.

And here's what I'm saying. I hope that you would have a heart that cares for people that don't know Jesus yet. C. H. Spurgeon regarded by most preachers as the greatest of all preachers apart from the apostles. In fact, he was called the Prince of Preachers once made this statement, quote, the Holy Spirit will move them by first moving you. And Spurgeon was talking about non-believers. If you can rest without their being saved, they will rest too. But if you're filled with an agony for them, writes Spurgeon, and if you start up at once and begin to cry, oh God, give me converts or I will die, then Spurgeon says, you will have converts. Care.

Be an intercessor. Stand in the gap. All around you are people that need to hear about Jesus Christ and all you need to do is take a little step of faith and start an evangelistic conversation. Back to our story. God tells Moses he won't destroy the people, but then he adds this, but I'm not going with them either. I'll send an angel. Well, Moses is not down with that idea at all. He goes and tells the Israelites good news and bad news. God is not going to wipe you off the face of the earth and you can go, but he's not going with you.

You're on your own. He'll send an angel though. The people are like, no, we want the Lord to go with us. And so they take off all their rings and their necklaces and everything else and they offer it to the Lord and they say we're sorry for our sin. We don't want to go on without God. And so now Moses goes to the Lord with this amazing statement in Exodus 33. Exodus 33 verse 15. Moses said to the Lord, if you don't personally go with us, don't make us leave this place. How will anyone now look favorably on me and your people if you don't go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on earth. Man, he's so candid. Effectively saying, Lord, bad PR move.

As your consultant, I recommend you go with us. It isn't going to reflect well on you or me or your people. What sets us apart is you walk with us and we walk with you. But you know that's friendship.

Friends can ask for things from friends. And amazingly the Lord approves and gives Moses what he asks for. And this gives us an insight into how to have your prayers answered in the affirmative.

Listen to this. The objective of prayer is not to get God to do what I want him to do. The purpose of prayer is not getting Greg's will in heaven. It's getting God's will on earth in Greg's life. Think of it as you being on a little boat and there's a dock and you throw your rope and you pull yourself to the dock. Now, are you pulling the dock to you or are you pulling your boat to the dock? Okay, that's prayer. God is like the dock.

Get aligned with him. The closer you get to his will, the more your prayers will be answered in the affirmative. Jesus said, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.

Or from the Greek, it would be Jesus speaking, if you maintain a living communion with me and my word is at home in you. Listen. You can ask at once for yourself whatever your heart desires and it's yours. Now, we gravitate toward the latter part of the verse. Ask whatever my heart desires.

Well, listen. If I'm maintaining a living communion with him and his word is at home in my heart and I'm reading the Bible, I'm going to start praying for what God wants. That's what's happening to Moses. He's getting his will aligned with the will of God. And 1 John 5.15 says, this is the confidence we have when we approach God. If we ask anything according to his will, he will hear us. So now Moses is getting it.

He's aligning with God. We're gleaning some great lessons on prayer today from our study of the life of Moses with Pastor Greg Laurie here on A New Beginning. And there's more to come as this teaching continues. If you missed any part of today's study, you can catch up by listening again online at harvest.org. The title to look for is How to Have Friendship with God. You can also request a CD copy by calling 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. And then we're so happy to make available Pastor Greg's new film, A Rush of Hope. It draws on riveting true life stories from three memorable movies, including Woodlawn. One person alone in the dark willing to speak the truth when it's not popular. One person willing to speak the truth when it is not safe. When there is much at stake. Look around you.

We're not alone. It touches on so many issues affecting our culture today. A Rush of Hope available now on DVD exclusively from A New Beginning. Pastor Greg, this cinematic crusade fits squarely into our mission of knowing him and making him known, doesn't it? Yes, there's a message to everything that we're doing. And ultimately, I'm going to just present the gospel in a straightforward way to the person who's watching.

Tell them who Jesus is, how to come into a relationship with him. And I'm going to answer those big questions of life, such as, why am I here? What is the meaning of my life?

What happens after I die? And who let the dogs out? No, I won't answer that question.

I don't care who let the dogs out. Remember that song? Okay, no.

But I will answer those other three questions because the Bible has answers to those questions and more. And so we're going to put this resource in your hands and all you've got to do is order it. You say, well, what do I need to do? We'll send it to you for your gift of any size. Yeah, that's right. And when you request A Rush of Hope, you'll not only get the full movie on DVD, but extra resources to help you reach out and host a watch party based on the film. Including an evangelistic booklet called Life's Most Important Questions.

And one other thing I would add about this, Dave, is when you order the DVD, we have a special digital download code. What that means is you can download it to your phone, to your tablet, to your computer and take it with you. Imagine, you can have an evangelistic crusade in your pocket, on your phone, on your tablet device. You can sit down with someone and say, let's watch this right now.

Put the tablet in front of them or the laptop in front of them and watch it with them and they can hear the gospel. So this is a special resource. You not only get the DVD, but the special digital download to carry with you wherever you go.

Yeah, that's right. And all of this is available exclusively from A New Beginning and Harvest Ministries. It's our gift to you to thank you for your donation here as the year draws to a close. So write today at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. We're here to take your call around the clock 24 hours a day.

Or go online to Harvest.org. Well, next time as Pastor Greg continues his study series on the life of Moses called Wood, Fire, Stone, we'll glean some practical lessons on prayer, intercessory prayer. Join us for A New Beginning with Pastor Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners. Helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.