When Moses Prayed, God Listened

I wonder how many of you remember those old commercials.

The setting for the commercials was typically a busy restaurant or some other public place.

Two people would be having a private conversation or sitting there having dinner

and talking quietly about financial matters.

One person would repeat something his broker had said concerning a certain investment.

Testament, then the other person would say, well, my broker is E.F.

Hutton, and E.F. Hutton says, and immediately the public place would get quiet,

and everyone would lean in trying to listen to what E.F. Hutton had said.

I don't even know if E.F. Hutton exists anymore.

But anyway, everybody would want to know exactly what E.F. Hutton said.

The reason for that is some people have such a a great influence that when they speak, people listen.

I could stand up here and speak to you for hours about how to make money investing

in real estate and managing high-rise complexes in order to make millions.

I could tell you everything you needed to know theoretically theoretically,

and why, and it would go in one ear and out the other.

But if Dave Ramsey or Robert Kiyosaki were to be standing here speaking to you

about the same thing, you would probably listen.

Why is that? Do you think they have any more integrity than I do? No, don't answer that.

But anyway, Robert Kiyosaki is the author of the book, Rich Man,

Poor Man, and many other books.

Dave Ramsey, as you know, is a well-known Christian financial guru among us.

The reason that you would listen to Dave Ramsey or Robert Kiyosaki is not because

they are any more wise than I might be.

That's not the phrase, but any more honest than I would be on those.

But they have become wealthy by investing in real estate, and it's because they

have a proven track record on all those.

One of those, I read somewhere that Robert Kiyosaki has over 15,000 properties

that he owns and manages. Yes.

Now, obviously, he doesn't do that all on his own. He hires managers and things

like that. But it's just interesting to think that they would do.

These people are influential in their area of corporate real estate investment.

I believe that was the case with Moses, not in corporate real estate investment,

although he really traveled around.

Moses is a central figure in the Old Testament. He is perhaps one of the most

well-known biblical characters, and his influence has been long lasting.

He is considered one of the greatest leaders of all times, and he started out as a basket case.

Just thought I'd throw that one in there. He had great credentials.

His resume would have been outstanding.

He spent years in Egypt studying the cultures of the world.

He was a very prominent political figure in Egypt, and he wasn't even Egyptian.

Moses led the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, and the list goes on

and on regarding his accomplishments.

Above all, those accomplishments and credentials, the one thing that sticks

out most is that Moses was a man of prayer.

God spoke to him directly, and he listened, and he spoke to God directly.

Not only was he a man of prayer, but God heard his prayer requests,

and more often than not, God acted on his prayer requests.

When Moses prayed, God listened.

When Moses' brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, opposed Moses' leadership,

God struck Miriam with leprosy.

Moses prayed for her to be healed, and the Lord healed her.

When the Israelites complained that they were getting tired of the same old

manna that the Lord had given them in the wilderness, the Lord sent fire to destroy their camp.

Moses prayed, and the fire stopped. When the Israelites asked the Lord for another

leader to take them back to Egypt instead of on to the promised land,

the Lord got angry with them and was going to strike down all the Israelites.

Moses fell down before the Lord and prayed, and God relented.

When the snakes were biting and killing the Israelites, Moses prayed,

and the Lord made a way for them to be healed.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai and the Israelites were gathering around

this golden and calf to worship, the Lord became angry and said he would start over with just Moses.

Moses prayed, and the Lord changed his mind. When Moses prayed, God listened.

What made Moses so special in the eyes of the Lord that he heard and answered Moses' prayer?

Sometimes prayer can be a frustrating thing because you feel like you aren't getting anywhere.

Have you ever been praying and feel like your prayers are just bouncing off

the ceiling? They're not going anywhere.

I must admit, it is easy sometimes to become frustrated when God doesn't respond

in the way we wish he would respond.

I don't think that we will ever see every prayer answered the way we want it

to be answered. And if we did, it might be catastrophe.

But I do think that we can have a more effective prayer life and that God will

answer our prayers sooner if we would first make sure that we are living in a right life.

God will answer our prayer sooner if we would make sure that we are right in the eyes of the Lord.

Remember that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

And I should rephrase that.

This is from James chapter 5. The prayer of a righteous person,

James 5 · chapter mention

male or female, is powerful and effective. The reason that God heard Moses and

answered Moses was because Moses was a godly man.

We're going to listen to the reading from Exodus chapter 32 and Deuteronomy 9 at this time.

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

Exodus 32 verses 7 through 14. Then the Lord said to Moses, Go down,

Exodus 32:7–14

because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.

They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them,

and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf.

They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said,

These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.

I have seen these people, the Lord said to Moses, and they are a stiff-necked people.

Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy

them. Then I will make you into a great nation.

But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. Lord, he said,

why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt

with great power and a mighty hand?

Why should the Egyptians say, it was with evil intent that he brought them out,

to kill them in the mountains, and to wipe them off the face of the earth.

Turn from your fierce anger, relent, and do not bring disaster on your people.

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,

and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them,

and it will be their inheritance forever.

Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Deuteronomy 9, verse 22-29. You also made the Lord angry at Tibera,

Deuteronomy 9:22–29

at Massah, and at Kibroth Hatava.

And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, Go up and take possession

of the land I have given you.

But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust him or obey him.

You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you.

I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights,

because the Lord had said, he would destroy you.

I prayed to the Lord and said, Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people,

your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of

Egypt with a mighty hand.

Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness, and their sin.

Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, because the Lord

was not able to take them into the land he had promised them,

and And because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.

But they are your people, your inheritance, that you brought out by your great

power and your outstretched arm.

So you see that in this, Moses oftentimes had to pray to stop God's hand against his people.

If God had wanted, he would have wanted to just strike these people and start

over, as it says in some of those.

I believe that there are many good reasons why God listened to Moses and answered

him so well, but the main reason for that is that the relationship between God

and Moses was two-sided.

The truth of the matter is that the reason why God listened to Moses so well

is because Moses first listened to God. Right?

Moses was an obedient man. He listened to God and he obeyed him.

Moses and God had a great relationship.

In fact, there are not too many other people that God communicated with in the

way that he did with Moses.

We know that Moses and God had such a great line of open communication that

God spoke to Moses face to face.

No other man was able to see God face to face. No other man experienced God in such a way.

When God appeared to Moses from the burning bush and told Moses to go and lead

the Israelites out of Egypt into the promised land, Moses went and obeyed.

Moses lived among the people who did not listen to God.

In fact, many times in the Old Testament, you can read about the Israelites

turning their backs on God.

If you want to follow their history, if you look from the Old Testament all the way through,

through especially when they began to have kings to

lead over them they were up and down in their relationship but

in the wilderness alone in the 40 years in the wilderness

alone you look and find that they begin to

worship him then they fall away they begin to worship him they fall away go

back and forth does that sound familiar moses lived among these people you can

see them turning their back you see them becoming disobedient moses was one

of the only people who was faithful and obedient to God.

Moses was the only one who didn't worship false idols.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, all the people were worshiping the golden

calf, and Moses' brother Aaron was leading the group.

God listened to Moses because Moses first listened to God.

In 1 Peter 3, verse 12, we see this, For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

1 Peter 3:12

and his ears are attentive to their prayer. prayer, but the face of the Lord

is against those who do evil.

Moses did what was right in the eyes of the Lord most of the time.

There was a couple times he didn't.

But we all want our prayers to be heard and answered by God in the way that

Moses' prayers were answered.

The truth is, we can have our prayers answered in that way, and we can have

that type of free and open and communication with God.

In fact, the Bible teaches us that through Jesus, we can come directly into

the throne room of God and petition him.

We don't have to go through a priest. We don't have to go through a cardinal.

We don't have to go through a bishop or the pope.

We can come directly to the Father through Jesus.

His son. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the

Father except through me.

So we all want our prayers to answer. And in fact, I think we can all agree

that the reason why there is so much unrest and trouble in our world today is

because people aren't listening to God.

You know, we all pray that, man, I wish our nation would begin to listen to

God again. And that's true. We should listen.

We should be praying for that. But, you know, sometimes that prayer should start with us.

Father, help me to listen to you more.

I believe one reason why the truth is not spreading like it should be is because

many people call themselves Christian are not living in obedience to God.

God, what we do and say and think reflects on us in our actions outside of this church.

And we need to think of what kind of witness am I of my Father wherever I am.

That's just, that wasn't in my notes. That was just a side comment.

I think sometimes we need to reflect on that. We need to think about that.

That whatever I do and say, what I put on Facebook, what I send out in public

for others to see is recorded and reflects on me and on my God.

You know, if we would be obedient to God and listen to what his word says and

do it, then I believe that when we speak, people will listen and respond,

and God will listen and respond as well.

Dallas Willard, who's written many books and some of those about spiritual gifts

and spiritual quests, has said this, if Christians would live like Christ,

then evangelism would be largely automatic.

Think about that. If Christians would live like Christ, evangelism,

winning the lost, would be largely automatic because people would see who we

are and what we stand for.

The word Christian, when it first was used for those who followed Christ,

really meant little Christs.

Are we being little Christs? God promises to hear the prayers of the righteous

and the fervent prayers of, and that the fervent prayers of the righteous person

will be powerful and effective in turning the hearts of God, the heart of God.

Therefore, much of God's response to our prayers depends on our obedience and faithfulness to God.

The converse is also true. When Moses did not listen to God or obey him,

his prayers were hindered.

Before I end this point, I want to share with you another example from Moses' life.

Moses truly was obedient to God for the most part, but there was an instance

in which he disobeyed God.

You know the story. The people of Israel were grumbling against the Lord and

against Moses' leadership because they'd been traveling in the wilderness and

were thirsty. They needed water.

Were not very too many quick trips around at the time in the desert.

There was no place to stop in and get a bottle of Evian water, so they grumbled.

And so Moses went and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered his prayer.

God told Moses to go and speak to a rock, and water would come forth from it.

So Moses did what Moses does, and he walked up to the rock, and he struck it

with a shepherd's staff. He didn't speak to it. He hid it.

God was simply going to provide, but Moses wanted to take the credit and act like he was a macho.

Moses didn't do what God had told him to do, so God had a punishment for Moses.

In Deuteronomy 3, verses 23-27,

Deuteronomy 3:23–27

we read that because of Moses' Moses' disobedience, in that one instance,

God said he would not be allowed to enter into the promised land and enjoy the

beauty of his labor in leading the people of Israel.

He would not be allowed to go into the promised land. He would only be able

to look at it from a distance.

It almost sounds cruel, God, to deny Moses the blessing for just one little error.

No, no, he didn't speak to the rock, he hit it with a stick.

How bad was that? The reason God wasn't going to let him go into the promised

land is because Moses was being disobedient to God, but even more than that.

Moses was wanting to take the glory for it, and not God.

Moses tried to take the glory for himself by striking the rock.

While God was intending to prove his power, Moses was usurping that to the point,

to show his strength as a leader. The point I'm trying to make is this.

Our life and the way in which we live has an impact on our prayer life.

Those who are living a double life should not, as James says,

expect anything from the Lord.

The reason that God heard Moses' prayer was because Moses heard God's commands and obeyed them.

And when Moses didn't listen and obey, God didn't answer the way Moses wanted.

When we're living right with the Lord, God will hear us when we speak to him.

But when our relationship with the Lord is not right, he is not bound to answer our prayers.

Moses was not some superman of faith. He had faults just like you and me,

but nevertheless, God heard and answered the prayers because he tried to obey

the Lord as best he could.

We can all be like Moses, but in order for the Lord to hear us when we speak,

We must first begin by listening to him and being obedient to him.

The second thing is, I believe that another reason why Moses had such a successful

prayer life was because Moses was a humble man, for the most part,

except for striking a rock with a stick.

Moses was a humble man. He was not just a humble man, but the Bible tells us

that he was the most humble man that ever lived.

Here's a guy who grew up in a pharaoh's household, had the power of Egypt at

his hands, and yet he was a humble man.

Humility is one of the most valuable traits that a person can have,

and I believe that the Bible teaches plenty the importance of humility in our prayers.

In fact, you know, if you've ever heard somebody say, I'm a humble person, they're not.

Thought I'd let you know that. God said in his word that he opposes the proud

and gives grace to the humble. He says that he will lift up the humble.

He says that those who humble themselves before him will be exalted.

God values the humble and hears the prayers of the humble.

I believe that's one of the reasons that God heard so clearly the prayers of Moses.

I believe that's why God answered Moses so directly.

2 Chronicles 7, verse 14, common to all of us, something that we always hear.

2 Chronicles 7:14

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek

my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven,

will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Do you notice how closely humility and prayer are linked together there?

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray pray,

and seek my face, which is another form of prayer, and turn from their wicked

ways, which is another form of prayer,

then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

We live in a world which is puffed up with pride, don't we?

I think that the sin that's most prevalent in America today is not homosexuality,

it's not drunkenness, it's not anything except the worship of self.

It does not take a long look at people today to see how pride-filled and selfish we are.

We want what we want, and we want it right now.

We think we are the most important thing around, and if you don't think so, just ask me.

Paul tells us in Philippians not to consider ourselves more highly than we ought,

but to consider others better than ourselves.

As I quote that passage here in this setting among this culture,

I wonder how many people today would react to a phrase like that.

We live in a world which teaches us that it is every man for himself.

Commercials used to, and some to a certain extent that still do go for the gusto.

You're number one. Live life now.

Eat dessert first. Life is short. No, that's not a commercial, but anyway.

We live in a world that teaches us more is better and that those who have more are smarter and better.

Selfish pride dominates our world and our culture, and God looks down with disgust

at the pride of people thinking how little you are and how little you know.

Remember what we've learned before. The root of all sin is self.

If you look at the very origin of sin in the garden, it was because the serpent convinced,

Adam and Eve that if they disobey God, they could be like God.

They would be one with God. And their selfishness took place. I want that.

The root of all sin is self.

The Apostle John in 1 John tells us that the reason we choose to sin is because

of those same things that Adam and Eve experienced.

James tells us that we sin when we are drawn away and enticed by our own evil desires.

What's an evil desire for me may not be for you, but Satan knows which one of

those evil desires is going to cause you to be tempted and walk away.

The root of all sin is self, pleasing myself, you pleasing yourself.

However, there's a way for God to hear us like he heard Moses.

The answer is for us to humble ourselves and then pray, not in the reverse order.

We don't pray and then become humble.

We all want God to answer our prayers, and we often question even his existence

when he does not answer us.

Remember what I said that a lot of times we pray and it feels like our prayer

is bouncing off of heaven? Why is that?

Maybe it's because our prayers are rooted in self. Is that possible?

Yeah, I think so. We're not concerned about what God wants. We're concerned about what we want.

Maybe we need to realize that the problem is not with God to whom we are praying,

but the problem is with the one who is praying.

If we want God to hear our prayers, we must humble ourselves before him.

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek

my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven,

will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

We are in no position to make demands of God.

The only times we can expect anything from the Lord is when we come to him humbly in the name of Jesus.

Somebody once asked a preacher, what's the best position to be in?

Is it kneeling? Is it standing? Is it laying on the floor prostate?

What's the best position to be in for prayer?

The preacher said, well, the best position to be in prayer is to fall headfirst into a well.

Then you have no other thing to look for except to call God somebody to get you out.

When we are totally helpless and totally

hopeless we look for answers from

the one who can get us out when a

subject entered into the presence of a king no part

of his body could be higher than that king the

subject had to come in crouched kneeling on the ground almost crawling toward

the king that's why kings sat on thrones that were elevated from their subjects

we must recognize as as Isaiah did when he recounts in what is chapter 6 of Isaiah,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

that we are completely undone by the manifestation of God's presence.

We are people who are unclean compared to the holiness of God.

We have no right on our own to stand in his presence, and yet God has called

us forth, asked us to come into his presence.

In fact, God has promised to be in our presence as well. When you look at that

chapter, chapter 6 of Isaiah, you see that his presence, God's presence filled the temple.

Oh, that would happen today.

Are people who are unclean compared to the holiness of God. We have no right

on our own to stand in his presence.

Our only provision to enter into his presence is by his own grace extended to

us through the body and blood and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have no place before God except as his humble servants, and yet God has called us his kid.

He's adopted us he wants us

to be in his presence remember the sincerity

intensity of the prayers of jesus in

garden of gethsemane when he prayed for the father to remove the pain of suffering

from him and yet he humbly humbled himself and cried out but not my will but

yours be done i will do whatever it is that glorifies you father when moses

spoke god listened because Moses was a humble man.

If you want God to hear you, kneel. If you want God to hear you, humble yourself.

If you want God to hear you, recognize how impoverished we are in the presence of his holiness.

A third reason why God was so attentive to the prayers of Moses is because Moses was a man of faith.

If you read the faith chapter in the Bible, which is Hebrews chapter 11,

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

and you'll find out what God thought about Moses.

See that God acknowledged and commanded Moses' faith and his faithfulness.

Moses not only lived a good life, but he had a faith in God who was unseen.

And since his faith was so strong, he had the opportunity to see God face to face.

I think the Hebrew writer makes it clear that Moses' faith was not just in God,

but it It was also in Jesus.

Even though he didn't know Jesus, he knew that there was a son coming, a promised Messiah.

He could see that faith. We could see that faith in Moses.

And he knew that God was sending the redemption of the world.

There was salvation in the Old Testament. The way in which you were saved was

by having faith that God would bring the Messiah into the world.

The text in Hebrew chapter 11 says that Moses regarded disgrace,

his disgrace, for the sake of God and for sake of Christ. Moses was a man of faith.

Because of that faith, God heard his prayers.

Want God to hear our prayers, we also must have a strong faith and understand that it is only God.

It's not our prayers that are doing anything. It is only God doing it.

Sometimes God chooses to recognize our prayers of faith and act on them in a

way that we wouldn't even understand how it happened.

Now, to him who is more than all we can ever ask or imagine,

Can you think of that phrase, that benediction, to him who is more than all we can ask or imagine?

I don't know. I just, one of these days, I think God's just going to lay a Holy Spirit bomb on us.

I pray that we will experience an overwhelming explosion of God's grace and his spirit on us.

Only then will we truly be God's witnesses in this world Moses was a man of

faith and because he was a man of faith God heard his prayers I believe that

there are a lot of people out there who pray to God But really don't have any

faith that he even exists,

writer tells us that we must believe that God exists and that he rewards those

who diligently seek after him.

You may be thinking, sure, I have faith in God. I believe that God exists.

I come to church all the time, don't I?

Faith in God is more than just saying that you believe he exists.

James says you believe there is one God, good.

Even the demons believe and shudder. If you simply have a faith that there is

a God, then you barely reach the level of faith of the devil.

The difference is what follows that verse in James.

It says, if you have faith, show me your work, because faith without works is dead.

In other words, if you claim to have faith, show me your obedience to God.

If you have true faith in God, then you will live in a certain way.

You will do and not do certain things.

You will live generously toward God. You will give generously to God,

and you will give up certain things because you have faith that God has redeemed

you and changed you and revolutionized you,

and that Jesus will one day return to judge the world, and you will stand with him and rise with him.

If I were to tell you that at 2 o'clock this afternoon, noon,

someone would break into your house, you would react in one of two ways,

according to whether or not you believed me.

If you didn't believe me, you would go home and act normal.

But if you did believe me, you would take as many precautions as possible.

Faith without works is dead, and without faith it is impossible, please God.

Moses never doubted that God existed and God heard his prayers because he was a man of faith.

If you come to the Lord in prayer, you must have faith that God will answer according to his will.

If we go to the Lord in doubt, we have no right to expect anything from him.

That Moses came to God and had faith that God would answer his prayers,

and he always did, one way or another, even the times when Moses didn't get his way.

But sometimes God answers our prayers in unexpected ways.

There was a man marooned on an island who was desperately searching for a boat

to come by and rescue him.

After many days of praying and asking God to send a boat to rescue him,

he sighted a boat and his hopes were lifted.

He ran out on the beach, took some shirts and waved them to get the attention

of the boat, but they didn't see a shirt signaling to them, and they went on by.

He was so downcast, he began to accuse God. God, why didn't you answer my prayer?

God, why didn't you help them to see me?

As he walked back to his hut he had constructed, he saw that the hut had caught

on fire and was going up in smoke.

He said, oh man, now Lord, what have you done?

Gone the boat passed me by and missed me

and now this hut is going to

burn to the ground and i won't even have a shelter not only

did i miss being wrecked rescued but my only protection

from the elements have been destroyed surely i'll die out here about that time

he heard the boat coming back when he rescued when he was rescued he asked them

what did you come back for did you you see my signal did you see me waving my

shirt no we you didn't you didn't see my signal.

Almost exhausted from waving my shirt. Then they said, oh, but we didn't see

your shirt, but we did see the fire you built to let us know that you were there.

Pray without doubting, and God will hear your prayers.

Pray in obedience, and God will hear your prayers.

Pray in humility, and God will hear your prayers.

If the Lord has not answered our prayers, maybe we need to look a little bit

more, and maybe the problem is with us. This morning I've tried to highlight

some of the reasons why Moses was so successful in his prayer life.

These are all essential to being able to communicate effectively with God,

but probably the first one as much as anything, oftentimes, we do all the talking

and none of the listening.

We do all of the requesting for ourselves and not for what God's glory is.

We do the requesting almost as a Christmas wish list without the faith that God is who he says he is.

Moses was a man of prayer. He built a strong relationship with the Lord.

I wonder if we can be too.

Let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father, we read these lessons,

especially in the Old Testament.

And we wonder how can somebody be so close to God that you spoke to them,

walked with them face by face, and many will tell us that you don't act that

way now after the New Testament.

I beg to differ. I think you act the same way you always have acted.

We just are so caught up in ourselves and everything else that we don't listen. We aren't obedient.

We don't trust you. Father, help our unbelief. In Jesus' name, amen.