God Gives More Than We Ask
'If I have found favor in Thy sight, show me now Thy ways.' And He said, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.' (Exodus 33:13, 14)
Ex. 33:11-15; Deut. 20:1; Isa. 41:10 and 43:2; Matt. 28:20; Eph. 3:20
What Is God Saying?
God has given Moses an assignment that could easily be overwhelming. He was to lead all those people away from slavery into and through a hostile environment where there was little safety and many hazards and promised freedom. There would be opposition and resentment within the ranks.
Some would say and get others to agree that Egypt wasn't all that bad, ‘O that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic, but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.’ (Numbers 11:4-6) It was an impossible task.
As anyone else would have been, Moses was out of his depth. His understandable cry was, ‘If Thy presence will not go with me, do not carry us up hence.’ In his desperate need, God had an answer that was more than that for which Moses had asked: ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’
How Does This Apply To Us?
Time and again, we experience the joy of God's answers. God's best is always better than our most daring petition. Our requests may seem to us to be so big, but to the Lord, they may be so small. Moses asked God to show the way, and in his trial, he asked for God's presence, but God did more. He gave Moses His presence and rest amid the turbulence and unrest of a constantly complaining mob. Remember that if we pray for the right blessing, God will provide us with the more significant blessing; let us enter into prayer with a new awareness that God is ‘able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think’ (Eph. 3:20).
Pray With Me
O Lord of my life, You pour out your wisdom to those who seek it. Your power is at work in the lives of those who do Your will. When my heart is right, and I pray for one blessing, You always give more than I dare to ask, more than I can imagine. When Your servant Moses asked You to show Your way, You said, I will give you more—My presence and My rest will go with you in the way I show you.
Lord, help me to pray for the right blessing. Then, I shall receive the more significant blessing. Praying for grace to conquer temptation, I will find the joy of an uncondemning conscience. Praying for genuine love for others, I will experience the flood tide of Your love in my heart. Praying for the needs of others, I will find my wants satisfied in Your goodness and mercy. Praying for resignation to Your perfect will, I will find the key to undreamed-of treasures.
Turning away from an obsession with trinkets, I will have empty hands to receive your gold. Turning away from the bondage of sin, I will find the freedom of righteousness. Turning away from all my urgent askings, I will find the surprising bliss of quiet receiving.
So, Lord, having asked for the right blessing, I will make room for the more significant blessing in my heart. Having sought to know the right way, I will make room for the greater good in my heart. I will make room for Your presence in which there is fullness of joy. I will make room for Your rest in which there is fullness of peace.
Through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Moving On In The Life Of Prayer
Let us put it to the test in the coming weeks. We will ask God for great things. Then we will see how far we miss it. And we will revel in the difference. We will rejoice in God's pluses. We will confidently pray that He gives us more strength than we will need, more joy, beauty, and blessings than we could even ask. Let us take this adventure in prayer. We will ask for the right blessing and receive the larger blessing. It works every time.
