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[0:00] It's not just a good thing to sing, it's a good thing to say to the Lord Jesus Christ. Every time you wake up in the morning and come before the throne of grace, and I say it and I mean it, it's not a holiness thing about me at all, it's just a genuine gratitude, knowing what's inside of me, and to know what he's done for me and took that on the cross.

[0:28] Wow. Thank you, Lord. All right, let's get into Exodus today. Find chapter 33. Exodus chapter 33.

[0:45] We began this chapter last Sunday, and saw where God was rethinking his arrangement with Israel.

[0:56] Because of their great sin and the golden calf of the previous chapter, the Lord had to sit there and say, just put off your ornaments that I may know what to do with thee, because I'm not sure what I'm going to do with you.

[1:10] And he decided what he was going to do was send an angel that would take them from this point into the promised land, but he himself was not going to go up with them anymore.

[1:22] And he described it a few times in the passage that the reason being is, is because you're a stiff-hearted people. You're rebellious against me, and I know what's going to happen if I stay.

[1:35] I'm going to come in the midst of thee in a moment. I'm going to just wipe you off the face of the earth. I'm going to consume you in my wrath. Because he realized that the people are not going to change.

[1:45] And so that was his proposal to them, was that he was going to send them on their way without going with them. And of course, Moses has some things to say about that. But the way we related this last Sunday was, it looked like there was an option of people that had an opportunity to get to the promised land, to get the promise that God had made to them, and to have that heaven fulfilled, but not have a relationship with God every step of the way.

[2:13] And Moses said, Lord, if you don't go, then I don't want to go anywhere. And what a great attitude to have that I don't want to go, I don't want to set foot forward in this life if the Lord's not with me.

[2:27] It's not a matter of just as long as I make it to heaven. That's just all, you know, that's the main thing. That's not it. That's not it. And I showed you last Sunday how important your relationship with God truly is, and that just to get heaven, that's not what it's about.

[2:42] It's not worth it. This life journey without Him. Now this portion of the passage we're going to begin, really the portion begins in verse 12, and this conversation that Moses is having with the Lord, it probably took place within that makeshift tabernacle that's mentioned in verse 7.

[3:01] It's hard to really tell based on the way Moses kind of back and forth with some things, but I'm going to begin in verse number 18 to the end of the chapter. So let's read together Exodus 33 verses 18 to 23.

[3:15] And he said, that being Moses said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said, God responding, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

[3:37] And he said, thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord said, behold, there's a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass when my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cliff of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by, and I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen.

[4:09] Now, Moses asked God for a glimpse, a view of his glory. Show me thy glory was what he asked.

[4:20] I beseech thee, he said. It's a very unusual thing that Moses is asking of the Lord. Lord, and as we look at this this morning, I believe there's some real simple, real practical lessons that we can learn from this exchange between God and Moses.

[4:38] And I'll just, I'll look at it at the angle of just stating a few things about this request of his. The first thing I want you to think on is that this was an ambitious ask.

[4:50] His ask was ambitious. He's asking for something that had never, ever, ever been done before. Others have seen the Lord.

[5:01] You might remember Abraham and Sarah in Genesis chapter 18. And three men come out of the wilderness. They come, and he's in his tent's door there, and there's three, and they're identified in that chapter and the next as two being angels, one being the Lord.

[5:18] But this was not the presence of the Lord that was just burning up the environment around him. There's no thick darkness present with the Lord. He's just showing up in the form of, for lack of a better term, just a common man.

[5:32] The Bible says three men came. Another time, Abraham's grandson, named Jacob, wrestled with a man in Genesis 32.

[5:44] And that man did not have this glowing glory about him. He did not have some supernatural strength in the moment that was just casting a mountain into the sea kind of thing.

[5:58] But Jacob wrestled with, the Bible calls him a man, but at the end of it he said, I have seen God face to face. And he was afraid. And so these were manifestations that were a manifestation of God, but void of his glory.

[6:12] But what Moses is asking is something that Abraham, something that Isaac, something that Jacob never saw. He said, God, I beseech thee, show me thy glory.

[6:26] When God descends into the earth's atmosphere, when he comes in power and glory, he has to do something. Or man could not stand in his presence.

[6:37] He covers and cloaks himself with thick clouds and darkness. He hides his glory. He hides his image and his face from man.

[6:49] In verse 11, earlier in chapter 33, we read that the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. He may have communed one on one with Moses, but Moses never saw the face of God.

[7:05] It was veiled. It was covered. God had consistently done this. Look back, just keep your place, but flip back to chapter 19, and I'll just bring some things back to your remembrance that we've already studied.

[7:22] When the Lord appeared on the earth, on the top of the mount, Exodus 19 and verse number 9, the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud.

[7:35] That the people may not see, but that they may hear when I speak with thee. They're going to only hear. They heard some things. They never saw the Lord.

[7:46] They'll look a little bit later in this chapter, verse 17 and 18. Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the nether part of the mount. That's the lower part.

[7:57] And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. The Lord's in the fire. And the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

[8:13] Later on, he threatens them. He tells them to, verse 21, Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze.

[8:24] They want to try to come up in here and get a glimpse, and what's going to happen? They're going to perish if they do that. Now, just look over at chapter 20. Take you to one more.

[8:35] Chapter 20 and verse 21. The people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

[8:48] We see something similar in chapter 24 when Moses went up on the mount, and he sat there for six days, nothing, and then the Lord called unto him, and he went up into the cloud. Now, God consistently has veiled his glory from view for various reasons.

[9:05] One, it said he would break forth upon them, they would perish. Another one being, I'll turn you to this one, it's close. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 4. Deuteronomy chapter 4.

[9:16] Here's another reason why God would not allow them to see his image, and to behold his glory or his face. Because he knew what the people would do if they saw something with their eyes.

[9:28] They would corrupt themselves, and they would make an image. It wouldn't look like a golden calf. It would look like a golden whatever it was they saw. And so in Deuteronomy 4, verse 12, the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire, ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude, only ye heard a voice.

[9:52] He says later in verse 15, Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves, for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in horror about it in the midst of the fire, lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, and on and on.

[10:10] God would not allow them to see his image, because man, corrupt man, would have graven something to match that, and then bowed themselves down to that image of stone or wood, and covered it in gold and said, There's God.

[10:25] That's our God. Not the case. God dwelt in the midst of the cherubims on the mercy seat. But he is not an image that man could create or make in that way.

[10:37] But now Moses is asking for something in chapter 33. He's asking to see something that no man has ever beheld. He is asking God to reveal and show to him personally the fullness and the glory of God.

[10:53] It's an ambitious ask to ask to behold almighty God as he is in his power and his glory, to see the person of God, the image of God, to see and behold his very face.

[11:07] Now we know, I don't want this to confuse you, we know that God is a spirit. In John chapter 1, the Bible says, No man hath seen God at any time. And then yet there's references to men and prophets and Moses beholding God in some manner.

[11:22] And so understand that the image of God that is revealed, is revealed by the Son. Because the Bible calls him the image of God. The Bible calls Jesus Christ the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person.

[11:37] The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. And so when God, a spirit, and a spirit by being, reveals himself in a way that man can behold, it's through the person of the Son.

[11:52] And God tells Moses, I'm going to pass by, and what passes by is a manifestation of the Son of God, the eternal word that is revealed in some manifestation.

[12:05] But God says two times in the passage we read, you're not going to see my face. In verse 20 and verse 23. Now what can we learn from this ambitious ask of Moses?

[12:17] I think there's some lessons we can take away from this. The first one being, we need to learn not to ask for things that are outside of how God operates with man. You and I need to learn from this that there are things that haven't been done before, and they're not going to be done.

[12:35] Things that are not found in the Bible. And for instance, you'll hear people on TV and you'll hear preachers and other pulpits saying things like, our God is a big God, and we need to think big, and we need to ask big, and expect big from this God who wants to show you great and mighty things which thou knowest not.

[12:54] And men have consistently pumped people full of this concept that I need to pray for these wild and things because of God's ability. I need to pray in accordance with what God's ability might be.

[13:07] And we're, I think it's a bad teaching. I don't think we should be asking God to do things that cannot be found in the text of the Word of God. And I'll explain why.

[13:18] The Bible's a revelation of God to man. His actions, his mind, his intentions, his plan, his dealings with mankind are revealed in the Word of God.

[13:31] The Bible record is complete. The Bible record is concluded. And it is not to be added to, and it will not be added to. If God wanted to do things another way, if he wanted to operate with mankind differently, he would have done it, and it would be in his Word.

[13:51] But God is not going to violate his Word or go beyond his Word. The Bible says, let your requests be made note unto God, but not outside of how he operates with man.

[14:03] This is going to help you in your prayer life and what you expect God to do for you. Be careful who you listen to. State this a little bit more clearly. Stay within the covers of this Bible of what you expect from God or what you ask of God.

[14:21] While somebody gets up and boasts and says, nothing is impossible for the Lord. Well, one thing's impossible is that he cannot go beyond his Word. He will not violate his Holy Scriptures.

[14:34] So you and I need to learn to ask and seek and knock according to the Word of God and more specifically, the Word of God rightly divided. And that's a whole other study within itself.

[14:47] But the only way you can be certain that you're doing it right is if you're familiar with the Word of God and if you understand how to rightly divide the Word of Truth. Now, Moses has an ambitious ask and is outside the scope of God's dealings and interactions with man and God can't do that.

[15:05] He's not going to do that. So Moses, what you're asking, it's too ambitious and it's not going to happen. And so you and I need to make sure our prayers and our expectations do not exceed what God has declared in His Word.

[15:20] There's been testimonies of men that are unbelievers, they're atheists, and they run into their problems and their scientific, their faith in science and they can't make things work out.

[15:33] And so they take this kind of last-ditch effort and say, okay, God, are you there? If you're there, show me right now. If you're really God, do something.

[15:45] And the heavens are silent. And so that to them, that's their answer. You see, if He was real, He would have convinced me. But no, no, they're failing.

[15:57] They're failing to understand He's not going to operate any differently than what this book has already revealed. So we can take a lesson from this from Moses is while his ask was ambitious, he needs to stay in the confines of what God does or how He interacts with man.

[16:15] The second thing that can be pointed out here is that He said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Moses' inquiry was in ignorance. He was in ignorance.

[16:27] He's actually asking for something that he himself cannot even handle. But he doesn't know what he doesn't know. And so he thinks, God, show me thy glory. God says, Moses, thou canst not see my face.

[16:45] There shall no man see me and live. You're asking for something that you can't do. It's not possible. Beholding the face and the glory of God would have just annihilated him.

[16:59] Instantaneously, Moses' physical being, he's made of dust, just like you and I. His physical eyes, his earthly being in the fallen image of Adam, they're not equipped to view the fullness of the glory of God.

[17:12] Hold your place and let's just run a few verses here. Go to Zechariah. Find the prophet Zechariah. Back toward the back of your Old Testament, chapter 14.

[17:23] And this is just a concept for you to see and consider.

[17:34] It's not necessarily what would have happened exactly to Moses, but I think it's a verse worth putting on this thought of him not being able to handle the glory of God.

[17:45] His inquiry to the Lord was in ignorance. Zechariah 14, if you're there, find verse number 12, where it says, This shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem.

[18:01] Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet. And their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

[18:14] As if they're just vaporized. A standing army just disintegrated to nothing in front of the presence and the glory of God.

[18:26] Look over just a few pages to Malachi chapter 4. The next, just a page or two to the right, Malachi 4, and verse number 1. For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, all that do wickedly shall be stubble.

[18:45] These are people being burned up on the earth. And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts. Look at verse 3. Ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this.

[19:01] Now, the next verse is going to be a whole lot stronger to my point, but I think those are worth considering and understanding in your mind as we study this. Look at Revelation now, chapter 20. Revelation 20.

[19:14] And this is a truer and more precise look at the face of God being unveiled.

[19:27] Revelation 20. And look at verse number 11. Revelation 20, verse 11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.

[19:51] That means they disappeared. They did not go somewhere else. They're gone. How do I know? Because 2 Peter chapter 3 says that the day of the Lord becomes a thief and night in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise.

[20:07] The elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and all the works that are therein shall be burned up, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved.

[20:19] That's what takes place when God unveils His glory upon physical creation. It cannot stand in the presence of, for lack of better understanding, this pure energy force that can just consume anything it touches.

[20:40] Moses says, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And God responds, thou canst not see my face. You're asking for something ignorantly here, Moses.

[20:54] You don't even understand what you're asking for. It's not possible. This inquiry of Moses is out of ignorance. It's like me going and finding some nuclear physicist and saying, hey man, can you show me how you set off an atomic bomb?

[21:09] I just want to see how that looks. That's the end of me. That's what Moses is saying. God, show me your glory. Moses, that's not, you don't understand.

[21:21] Now what can we learn? This is what we need though. We don't just want to understand why he said no, but what can we learn? What can we take away from Moses' ignorant inquiry?

[21:32] Well, when God doesn't give us what we ask for, there's a reason and he knows it. We just don't.

[21:43] We're asking in ignorance. We're asking God to do something. We think we want it or we think we need it and God, you've got to make this happen. And God's like, I don't think you know what you're talking about.

[21:57] I don't think you see what I see. I don't think you understand what I understand about your situation. Here's a verse that you don't need to turn to it if you don't want to.

[22:08] I'll just go quickly. Psalm 119 and verse 71. This is something here that I like. Psalm 119.

[22:18] When I get it, I'm going to just start. Verse 71, it says, it is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes. That's somebody that's on the other side of it that has learned some things.

[22:34] But I would presume that in the onset of the affliction, the prayer was, God, help. God, fix this. God, take away this affliction. But then as God allows them to go through it because the Lord sees, no, you need to learn some things from this.

[22:50] You're not grown. You're not mature. You're not prepared for this. He learned some things. And then he looks back and says, it was good for me to have gone through that.

[23:02] Initially, I wanted it to be gone. My prayer was, take it away. But God says, you don't know what you're asking for. I need to give this to you. You need to experience.

[23:13] So that's just one case in point for why God doesn't give us what we ask for. Look at Romans chapter 8. Find the book of Romans. Sometimes we pray for things and sometimes our asks, our inquiries, Lord, I beseech thee, but they're in ignorance.

[23:33] we don't know what we don't know. Just like Moses. And you've done it. I'm sure you've done it. I know I've done it.

[23:45] I'll testify before you without a problem. Raise my hand and say, yeah, I've prayed for God to do things. I've prayed for God to fix things. I've prayed for God to change things. And he just was silent.

[23:56] It was as if he just said no. And what I've learned is when he doesn't answer is, well, there's a reason. And what I have to do and should do is just trust him and wait patiently for the Lord.

[24:08] Romans chapter 8. Look at verse 26. And 7. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought.

[24:23] But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts, later on you see that that's the Lord Jesus Christ, a little bit later in the passage, he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints.

[24:44] Rather, that's the phrase that's mentioned down in verse 34. The Lord Jesus Christ maketh intercession for us. He maketh intercession for the saints. Notice that phrase. According to the will of God.

[24:58] What an underappreciated truth and blessing, really, that our God knows us, cares for us, and he knows what's best for us, even protects us from destroying ourselves with things that get into our minds that we think needs to go this way or we need to have it this way.

[25:23] You know, there's prayer promises in the book of Matthew that are aimed at the 12 apostles that anything they'd ask in the name of Jesus Christ, God would do it. And people have mistakenly taken that and begun to claim that and begin to throw prayers up that are just wild and it's just, it's a shame, it's nonsense that they don't rightly divide their Bibles.

[25:43] But the point I want to get across is if we had that kind of power in prayer to just, whatever we ask in Jesus' name, he will do it, what kind of a mess would you have yourself in today?

[25:55] I'm not kidding. You would be in a filthy, wicked, carnal mess because you'd just say, in Jesus' name, give me this. In Jesus' name, do that. Fix that, change that.

[26:07] I mean, who of us would even be in church seeking the Lord at all? You would have everything you ever thought of and wanted at your fingertips because Jesus. So, thank you, Lord, for helping our infirmities when we don't know even how to pray because we don't know the will of God.

[26:28] But he knows the will of God. So, he goes in between and makes intercession for us according to the will of God. This is just another aspect of the mercy of God toward his children.

[26:42] And because of this, if it sinks in, it just should make you realize how worthy he is of your worship and how worthy this God is of you just trusting him and waiting on him because you pray for things because of the infirmities.

[27:00] You pray because of the trouble. But he doesn't take that request and give it to the throne. He says, they don't know how to pray about this. So, here's what I think should be done.

[27:12] I know what your will is for them. So, why don't you work at this? Just give them grace so that they can endure this. Give them mercy that will help them in the time of need.

[27:24] Don't give them their carnal request. These requests, they're trying to consume it on their own lust. I know that's not in your will, Father. And God, in a sense, protects us from our own foolish selves.

[27:41] How short-sighted we can be. How whiny and spoiled we can feel. And entitled we think we are because we're a child of God and we can pray and have access to the throne of grace.

[27:53] how underappreciated this truth in Romans chapter 8 is. Do you know that if there weren't the infirmities in verse 26 and if we didn't have the confusion and misunderstanding of the will of God, if we didn't have to go through that, then there would be no need for the verse 28.

[28:12] Some say the greatest verse in the Bible. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God. but those things that are working together is the infirmities, the trials and the problems and the confusion all along the way while you're offering prayers for God to change it and fix it and sometimes the prayers are just off target with His will.

[28:36] And then we know and we can have faith. We can believe that He can work this together for good, taking the infirmity and taking the confusion and not understanding what's happening and why and He can work it together, all of the hardships for something good.

[28:55] And you need to believe that by faith. Now Moses has an ambitious ask outside of the scope of God's dealings with man. He has an ignorant inquiry, one that is just not even possible, Moses.

[29:12] And so God is not going to answer it the way He asked, but He will answer it but a different way. And so that brings us to the final and probably the best part of it all back in Exodus 33 is that Moses' request was rewarded.

[29:27] It wasn't precisely what He had asked, but God did answer His request. Let's read this and what we're going to read is the rest of the chapter again from verse 21 but then we're going to let it carry on down into chapter 34 how it actually came to pass.

[29:42] So in verse 21 of Exodus 33 the Lord said, Behold there is a place by me which is up on the mountain and thou shalt stand upon a rock and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by I will put thee in the cliff of the rock and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by and I will take away mine hand thou shalt see my back parts but my face shall not be seen.

[30:05] The Lord said unto Moses Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first and I will write upon these tables the words which were on the first tables which thou breakest be ready in the morning and come up in the morning unto the mount and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount and no man shall come up with thee neither lest any man be seen throughout all the mount lest there be flocks nor herds feed before the mount and he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first Moses rose up early in the morning went up into mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him and took in his hand the two tables of stone and now here's the Lord answering his prayer rewarding his request and the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord just like he said he would back in chapter 33 and verse 19 and he proclaimed the name of the Lord the Lord passed by before him just like he said he would in verse number 22 earlier chapter he passed by before him and proclaimed the Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin and that will by no means clear the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children unto the third and to the fourth generation and Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped you don't see Moses running after the glory of God or trying to get any more of a glimpse of anything when his request is rewarded he gets on his face down now obviously when God descended and when he passed by when he proclaimed the name of the Lord just like he said he would obviously he toned it down a bit in this

[32:06] I don't know if I could say is a measured manifestation in one that did not rend all of the rocks or incinerate the environment around the mount the mount is not aflame and burning with fire Moses is not being torched but it was something that Moses could handle and it was a portion that Moses could perceive and yet I can only imagine as the Lord passed by in all in his goodness and his glory I wonder what it I have to imagine Moses could feel the holiness of God in the atmosphere I imagine maybe I don't know how but I just wonder if he could feel a pressure as if the weight of the ocean was pressing down upon him holding him down because the holiness of God the glory is passing by or maybe the complete opposite maybe it was like the entire environment just was pulled out vacuumed away and he's almost like he could feel like I'm floating on air while I'm here in this cliff of the rock

[33:14] I don't know how it felt to Moses I can only imagine that he had to sense something yet his reaction was to get his face on the ground and what a common reaction from anybody in the Bible going forward that gets a view or in the presence of God it happens in Ezekiel 1 Ezekiel 3 Daniel 8 Daniel 11 and Matthew 17 with Peter James and John it's on their faces on the ground when the Lord's glory is displayed in Revelation chapter 1 verse 17 the apostle John describes the face of the son and he's on his face on the ground but why did God do this why was his request rewarded a simple reason is because he asked this was not God's plan for his people coming out of Egypt I'm going to get them to the mountain I'm going to show Moses myself and then I'm going to like that wasn't even part of it he's taking them on a journey on a trip to the promised land but this this Moses coming back up on the mount was not part of the plan the whole thing on the valley below with the breaking the the ten commandments that's that wasn't part of the plan so why did

[34:32] God reward Moses with allowing his glory to pass by well because he asked he rewarded his servant even if it was ambitious even if he didn't understand the entirety of what he was asking God rewarded his servant Moses and Moses records the event he made history history that wasn't going to be written because he asked and so it makes me wonder and I don't want to just put a blank check out there into the ether but it does make me wonder at least what God might do if we would ask according to the word of God according to the will of God but what might God do if we would ask James said you have not because you ask not he said the reason you don't have some of your requests because you ask amiss you try to consume it on your own lusts your motivations wrong but not

[35:43] Moses Moses ask was not out of carnality it was not out of selfishness Moses had a desire to see the God that he has been communing with that has been directing him and talking to him face to face as a man talks with his friend Moses had a desire to know him a little more to take another step in this relationship with this holy God that veils himself in thick darkness and cannot be seen and cannot come down to this camp with these sinners Moses' desire a request for an intimate fellowship for a private and personal moment with the most high God of heaven and earth so what might God do if our requests would agree with his word and would agree with his will for us if our requests were not selfish and were not just in this bubble of my life and what

[36:57] I want if it was not an ask for ease if it was not an ask for success if it was not an ask for victory and triumph but if it was just an ask for God to pass by just an ask and a desire out of your heart to be closer to him closer than you've ever been would that be an ask that he would reward if you would come before him and drop the selfishness and drop this self centered me me me what's in it for me today if our requests come from a desire to know him more to be with him to have him proclaim the name of the Lord in a private setting do you think he might answer that one you think he might say oh is that truly what you want from me you want to know me you think he might reward that request there's a sincere prayer of mine it's been a prayer of mine since I preached this message probably two years ago of visit this vine a prayer for God to visit this little vine that he planted in Silmar and I'm not going to quit praying that prayer for God to visit this place to pass by

[38:26] Bible Baptist Church of Silmar let us behold some things but I wonder if the timing of my prayer is not according to his will I wonder if the people that I pray are not in agreement with his will I wonder if the motivation of my prayer is not in accordance to his will and some of that I just can't know so I continue to offer the prayer and I trust that the one that knows the mind of the spirit I trust the one that makes intercession for Bible Baptist Church that he'll do it according to the will of God and I'll just keep offering that prayer and rely on the Lord Jesus Christ to take it to the throne and to intercede on our behalf and then just wait patiently for him and trust in him

[39:31] Moses had a big ask it's kind of crazy when you think about it but God responded he rewarded He answered the prayer in a way that Moses lived to tell about it and to record it so what are we going to take from it?

[39:50] I'm not suggesting that you begin asking God to show you his glory to start expecting the Lord to pass by you because it's in the Bible I'll just be transparent and tell you how stupid I am as a young man I can remember a time I had an apartment a one bedroom apartment by myself and this is when I had just come out of a worldly mess I got right with God and I was in his word and I got laid off from my job for about three months in the winter things were real slow and so I was collecting unemployment and I had virtually nothing to do my schedule was getting so messed up staying up late at night reading the Bible reading books about the Bible studying walking with the Lord and then I couldn't get up in the morning and it just was like shifting into this night owl but in the night hours I was just pouring over the word of God and just me and God in that apartment at one and two in the morning and I remember stuffing my face in prayer into my pillow in my bed saying

[40:50] Lord just show me something Moses said show me thy glory I just want to see you something I want you to just do it was just a prayer of ignorance but it was authentic I really meant it I wanted him kind of silly kind of kind of silly when I look back kind of embarrassing to have you all picturing me do that but it was real I wanted to know him better I wanted the Lord so I'm not suggesting that you pray that prayer but I am exhorting you to pray and I exhorting you to do it in accordance with the word of God and with an understanding that his answer and his working may not match the request that you have or have this thought in your mind but do it believing that he does know what's on your heart and he will answer in the right way according to his will which is perfect and it may not feel great immediately but it will work together for good down the road so learn to wait patiently and trust him learn to be content and to live with the way

[42:08] God answers our prayers and as he does work in our lives may it put us on our faces before him just like it did his servant Moses till we drop and just fall on our face into all of him instead of jumping up and glorying in the fact that he showed me something he did something it should drive us down in humility and in worship Moses besought the Lord show me thy glory what an ambitious ask and an ignorant inquiry but his request was rewarded the Lord did something for him so let us pray according to the will of God father this morning I pray that you help us as your children to know how to pray help us to be patient in our prayers and help us to learn to trust you but Lord in all of this teach us to pray according to the will of God embed that

[43:14] Bible in us and in our new man that we would not be asking ambitiously and that we would not be trying to consume something on our own lusts humble us before you in prayer and help us to trust you to trust that you'll answer it the right way give us grace please give us grace please give us patience when we don't know what we ought to ask for and pray Lord it's my prayer again that you would visit this church that you'd stir our hearts that you'd grow us and our love for you and for your word and for our desire to fulfill our calling and purpose in this short short life God distract us from our lives distract us from this world and turn us toward heaven and toward eternity and use this church father I pray you'd visit this vine that you'd pass by our way that you'd touch some hearts in here this morning as we're bowed with our heads down and considering what Moses did do you feel led to pray do you feel drawn to pray about something do you ever wonder if what you're praying for is even right if it's even

[44:49]  God's will maybe you need to learn how to pray according to the will of God and start prefacing everything Lord if it's your will and as you start to get the selfishness out of your prayers you'll start to get more peace in your prayers and sometimes you won't even get an answer you just know that you laid it at the throne God will take it from here and he gives you peace and that kind of peace passeth all understanding because it doesn't make sense because you didn't get an answer but you have peace may God help us to pray if you need to come and talk to the Lord over anything this morning bring it here and lay it down at the throne of grace some have come already you're invited to come we'll sing a hymn you come and talk to the Lord as we sing