EXODUS 33:13

If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so that I may know you, and continue to find favour with you.  Remember that this nation is your people.

TO PONDER:

One of my best childhood memories was going to visit relatives and travelling on the train by myself. I always felt safe on the trip because my parents made sure the conductor knew I was alone and where I would disembark and who would meet me. My parents usually drove up to bring me home and the whole trip and visit was happy and carefree because of my parent’ care and planning and knowing even when I wasn’t physically with them, they still cared for me. Moses, recognised how important it was to know and understand God and that he was present in Moses's life, and this prompted him to pray when God said he would withdraw his presence from the Israelites. 

What we learn from this exchange is that there is nothing we can do without God’s presence in our lives.  We need to recognise that to know God is to understand his ways. We need to read our Bible in order to learn his ways, and learn about our intercessor, Jesus, and how he explained God’s ways to us.  It is easy  to get impatient when  challenges in our lives make it seem as if God has forgotten us or not heard our prayers, or we try to fix things without asking for God’s guidance. Then it is time to humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness and pray as Moses did.

PRAYER: God we know we need you in our lives every second of every day, please forgive us when we forget  or our trust wavers and our feeble efforts fail and we think you have forgotten us or not heard our prayers when in fact it is the other way around, may we then learn to pray as Moses did and find peace, hope and comfort in your presence throughout our lives Amen

Today's devotion writer by Maureen Macpherson, LifeWay Newcastle