~ THE PRAYER OF MOSES ~

“O Lord GOD, thou hast BEGUN to show thy servant thy greatness,
and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth,
that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?”
DEUTERONOMY 3:24

Moses prays this after nearly 120 years of seeing the mighty hand of God in Egypt and the Wilderness. Moses prays this after a life of speaking with God, at times face to face, seeing His Glory in all of the various ways throughout all of those years and yet he prays thus… “Thou hast BEGUN to show Thy servant Thy greatness”! Can we not see, can we not catch a glimpse of the infinite Glory of our God? Is there not the infinite call of God to our hearts to come up higher, to go deeper, to KNOW HIM AS HE IS? Is there not a realization of the little that we settle for; the CRY for relationship that goes beyond teachings, meetings and the common course of the present day “Christian Life”? Is there not within the deep recesses of our hearts the Cry of the Son to know and please the Father? Do we not feel the Cry of all creation longing for the “manifestation of the sons of God…?” (Romans 8:19) While men debate what the “manifestations” should be of those who have the infilling of the Holy Spirit Paul states in Romans…

“For we know that the whole creation
groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
Not only they, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
eagerly waiting for the adoption,
the redemption of our body”
ROMANS 8:22 – 23

The manifestations of the firstfruits of the Spirit are revealed in a people who know this groaning and the longing for the full expression of the redemption that was purchased at Calvary! Where is that longing to see, to know and to be fully alive in CHRIST JESUS our Lord? To be satisfied with the status quo of today is an unthinkable state of existence. We see all around us those who are satisfied with state of the Church, who are content to walk within the confines of a doctrinal statement concerning righteousness; content with the impotence and benign expression of the Gospel of the Kingdom because of the lack of vision and the purpose to which the ONE CHURCH has been called. We read in Paul’s Epistle to the Church at Corinth that an unbeliever would walk into their midst and one would stand up and prophesy and the unbeliever would fall on his face because the very secrets of his heart would be revealed. Paul called that Church carnal because of the emulation of the different ministries and the setting of one ministry above another. WHAT WOULD HE SAY TO US IN OUR DAY?

Let us consider Gideon who was living in a time when the people of God were defeated . He was gathering a bit of grain hoping that the enemy would not come and take even that from him. Do we not see the same today where we are no longer affecting those around us but are in more of a survival mode hoping we do not lose the few that are left? In the midst of this God appears to a man; a man who has been gripped by the haunting burden of the cry of God within his own heart…

“O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’
JUDGES 6:13

God is not afraid of men who question the present day experience… HE LOVES THEM and He comes with an answer. HE comes because of them! He comes because they have the cry for something greater, something real, vital and true. Is it not time for us to read the scriptures anew? Is it not time to stop reading them as some historical novel and begin to compare WHAT WAS to WHAT IS? Is it not time to begin to question what all of our “ways” and our “wisdom” has produced? Is it not a DAY to turn from the deadness of the programs, the teachings and the building up of men’s organizations and men’s ministries and return again to the seeking, knowing, and walking in the ways of God? If we do not see the contrast between the present day expression and His purposes it is time to “consider our ways”. Jesus told us to pray… “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, ON EARTH as it is in Heaven…” Should not that be more than some religious prayer but rather the CRY within our hearts and the purpose of our lives to see it be so?

It is a DAY to question; a DAY to seek afresh HIS FACE. For in the asking, the seeking and the knocking we HAVE A PROMISE THAT THE DOOR SHALL BE OPENED; a door that leads us into new places and reveals HIM in a fuller, deeper and richer way. That door will transform the present day Church into a precious bride that is pure, holy and righteous.

“I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel,
to do it for them”
EZEKIEL 36:37

Brian Troxel