Heart of Moses in prayer - A word centered heart

Heart of Moses in prayer

To be truly effective in prayer, we need to have a heart like the heart of Moses in prayer.

There are 4 attributes of his heart in prayer:

1. A pure heart
2. A surrendered heart

3. A god-centered heart

4. A patient heart

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1. A pure heart

Moses had a pure heart. This is one of the reasons why his prayer was effective. Prayer from a pure heart is to pray always desiring the best for the person whom we are lifting up before the Lord.

This means that even though we are praying for our enemies or people we hate, we need to pray blessings for them and not to pray judgment on them.

Yesterday during extended prayer, there was a mention about a political leader bringing curses on our nation by declaring that there will be no forgiveness for those involved in the MH17 bombing. 

I felt in my heart to nullify that declaration of unforgiveness made by our leader over the nation by standing in the gap to declare forgiveness for those who brought down the plane. 

Unforgiveness brings with it a curse over the nation. I believe that the church has the power and the authority to nullify every curse spoken over the nation by our leaders. As our leaders make such negative declarations thus releasing curses in the spirit realm, may we as a church rise up to make the opposite of such declarations so that our nation will not come under a curse!

Moses prayed with a pure heart for his people. Being one who was treated badly by his own people, he kept the purity of his heart intact as much as he could in his intercession for his people:

1. Moses was cursed when Pharaoh asked the children of Israel to gather stubble instead of straw to make bricks - Ex 5:21

2. Moses was shouted at when the children of Israel were caught between 600 chariots and the Red Sea - Ex 14:11

3. Moses was complained against at the wilderness of Shur when they were 3 days without water - Ex 15:24

4. Moses and Aaron bore the brunt of the people's anger when there was no meat to eat - Ex 16:2-3

5. Moses bore the grumbling of the people at Rephidim when there was no water to drink - Ex 17:3

6. Moses and Aaron was scolded and complained against at the edge of entrance into Canaan when the children of Israel refused to enter the land despite God's command. So great was their anger that they wanted to stone Moses and Aaron  - Num 14:2 and 10

The children of Israel was in actual fact complaining against God because it was God's plan to take the children of Israel out of Egypt.

This was how God responded to their complaints:

Numbers 14:11-12

"Then the Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me with all the signs which I have performed among them. I will strike them with a pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make you a nation greater and mightier than they"

How did Moses respond to this offer?


He responded with a pure & humble heart:

Numbers 14:19 "Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people from Egypt, until now"

At a separate occasion, Moses prayed for Israel with a pure heart when he saw his people worshiping the golden calf. 

He went up to the Lord and prayed for them, this time willing to 'sacrifice' his own salvation.

Ex 32:31-31 "Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Oh these people have committed a great sin, and have made themselves a god of god! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin - but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which I have written"

Consider the sheer magnitude of that statement. Moses was saying that he would rather be blotted out for Israel's sin, than Israel be blotted out for it. I can hardly fathom that. We often get upset about all the things people get away with through God's forgiveness. Moses was praying for God to let it go, if necessary let him be the sacrifice for their forgiveness. This is humility and purity. 

None of Moses's prayers furthered his own agenda. In fact they did the opposite. God wanted destroy Israel and make a greater and mightier nation out of Moses. What an opportunity for Moses. Yet he did not capitalize on God's agenda to further his own place in history. Instead he used his prayer to further the interests of the Israelites and God.

Prayer

"LORD JESUS grant us to have a pure heart in our prayers. Cleanse us of all unrighteousness, unforgiveness, anger, bitterness and hurts over the leaders of our nation. Remove from us any woundedness, pain, grief that has hindered us in praying with a pure heart. IN JESUS NAME. AMEN"

.....to be continued in the next posting.............