Greetings to you in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ – THE Risen Saviour! Another lovely morning in the kingdom, with a forecast for a great weekend of weather. I trust that you have had a really good week and are excited about the w-e-e-k-e-n-d [“long weekend”]…extra time with family and friends, extra time for you, and time to worship the One who makes it all possible. I will be praying for you today, asking Father to bless you with good health, a happy spirit, gentle strength and an open heart.
When doing devotions or Bible reading I tend to look for the particular references to odd words and phrases, for those things that make a verse stand out. I look for how often a word or phrase is used as that tends to indicate significance. Like a friend of mine, I look for sentence structure – what are the verbs suggesting. So this morning I came across a simple little prayer that is only prayed once but had such a profound impact that the answer physically transformed a man’s face. Now, why, I wondered, is this particular prayer only prayed once?
The prayer is prayed in the context of an obviously powerful moment of worship. Listen to the man pray: Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” Exodus 33:18 NIV. and the result: When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. Exodus 34:29 NIV. This isn’t the first time Moses had talked with God ‘face-to-face’ …and he wasn’t physically affected. However it appears to be the first and last time that Moses dared to pray to see the glory…why and why didn’t each subsequent man or woman of faith ask to see ‘glory’. Maybe I could go one step further and ask – “why don’t I ask to see the ‘glory’? why don’t I find that powerful moment in worship where I feel the freedom and confidence to boldly ask for that which will have a profound effect on me? …Oh, and what about you?
Something to ponder…have a grand weekend!