BIBLE TIMES TABLE TALK: PRAYER AS BIG AS GOD

EXODUS 3:1-4:17

3:11 “WHO AS I, THAT I SHOULD GO TO PHARAOH AND BRING THE ISRALITES OUT OF EGYPT”

The question "Who am I?" has become one of the most tiresome questions of our age. And by the time Moses finishes asking it of God four or five different ways, in a conversation spanning nearly two chapters, God is fed up with it, too, it starts with surprise and a little humility (3:11): moves on to doubt (3:13); stalls in the "what ifs"(4:1); mumbles in self-depreciation (4:10); and finally stands up and refuses God’s command (4:13). The driving force throughout is self-preoccupation.

Prayer is a dialogue with God. Often the dialogue breaks down, not because God won’t speak, but because we don’t want to hear what he says. Two things keep our ears plugged. One is our tendency to focus on what we believe about ourselves rather than on what we believe about God. After God promises to give Moses miraculous help, Moses still is more concerned about what he can’t do than with what God can do. But God’s commands and promises are about him, not us – in the same way that our salvation is about his grace, not our works. We’re like children holding a parent’s hand as we cross a busy street. The question is never how well we hold on, but how well the parent is holding us.

The other thing that keeps us from hearing God’s voice is that most of the time we would rather be tending sheep in Midian than freeing the slaves in Egypt. We’re often like Moses. We may not like life in Midian all much, but we prefer the comfort of the boring but predictable to the insecurity of the fulfilling but unpredictable.

A host at a dinner party attended by G.K. Chesterton, asked the guests what single book they would not want to be without if stranded on a desert island Books like the Bible and The Complete Works of Shakespeare were put forth. When Chesterton’s turn came, he said he would want a copy of Thomas’s Guide to Practical Shipbuilding!

It’s dangerous to pray and really listen to God. Well, not really. Actually, the safest place in the world is in the center of God’s will. But it may be unsettling, and our fear of that may keep us from hearing God. Thank God that he is merciful and relentless. Moses finally did.

~G.K. Chesterton