We have been looking at Short Prayers That Will Change Your Life. Today the prayer by Moses, "Lord, Show Me Your Glory." Let me start with a few more letters written to God by children. They illustrate for us how easy it is to approach God. See if these don't take you back to a time of innocence and openness in your own relationship with God.

o Dear Lord, Thank you for the nice day today. You even fooled the TV weatherman. Hank (age 7).
o Dear Lord, Do you ever get mad? My mother gets mad all the time but she is only human. Yours truly, David (age 8).
o Dear Lord, I need a raise in my allowance. Could you have one of your angels tell my father? Thank you. David (age 7).

The innocence and openness of children with God. Exodus 33 describes a special relationship Moses enjoyed with God. When Moses went to the tabernacle, the place of worship, all the people went to their tent doors to watch. When Moses entered, they could see the cloudy-fiery pillar that was the visible mark of God's presence descending and hovering at the door of the tabernacle. Then "the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend" (Exodus 33:11a).

In the Old Testament, this language is used to describe Moses as a prophet of God. God revealed himself to Moses in a special way. His experience with God was personal and direct. The Lord did not reveal himself to Moses through visions and dreams as he did with others in the Old Testament. God's messages to him were not cryptic but plain and straightforward. But in spite of Moses' special relationship with God, he longed to know God better. He prayed, "Now show me your glory" (18). In Exodus 33-34 . . .


Moses Sees the Lord's Glory

We can divide Exodus 33:12-23 into three sections, each beginning with the words "Moses said" - verse 12, 15, and 18. At this particular time of crisis in Israel's history . . .

Moses wanted to sense God's confidence - he should not be God's leader without God's instruction and favor.
Exodus 33:12_14 Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.' [13] If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people." [14] The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

God had told Moses to lead these people. But God's direct presence had been denied to Israel because of their rebellion. The nation had a frightening road ahead of them. Moses wanted to understand God' s ways more fully, so he could do exactly what God wanted him to do. He needed reassurance that God would conduct them into the Promised Land himself.

A small boy was asked to go down a strange road to get some groceries at a store. "Mother," he said in troubled tones, "it's pretty far, and I never went there before. I'm not exactly afraid but - couldn't you go a little ways with me?" Seeing his concern and touched by his boyish appeal, she said quietly, "Mother will go all the way with you, son!" With his hand in hers, he walked the unknown path with confidence.

Moses wanted to sense God's confidence - he should not be God's leader without God's instruction and favor. And God answered his request. Not only would his presence go with him personally, but Moses himself would experience a inner rest in God. Things would not trouble him. This prompted Moses to make another request.


Moses wanted to sense God's confirmation - he could not fulfill God's purposes without God's presence.
Exodus 33:15-17 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. [16] How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" [17] And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."

Verse 15 is very striking. God promised the presence of God to him, but Moses wanted the presence of God to go with them. Notice the difference between the "you" singular in verse 14, and the "us" plural in verse 15. Without the presence of God going with them, Moses was still concerned. Earlier in this chapter God had said that he would not go with these people, because they were a stiff-necked people. Essentially Moses was saying to God: "Lord, if your not going with these headstrong people of yours, how can I? Please go with us or don't let us go at all. I don't want to go into the land of promise without you, God. The promise of land means nothing with the promise of your presence. How can we fulfill your purposes without your presence? Besides, how will other nations know that we are special and distinct from all the other people on earth?" So God honored this request of Moses also.

There is an important spiritual principle here. We need God's presence to go with us as we take steps into the future. This is true of any new ventures, any new step of faith. If the Lord does not go with us, if God's presence and power do not go with us, if the Lord's face does not shine upon us, then we don't want to go forward, because God isn't in it! The Lord must be with you in anything you attempt to do for God, or you are doomed to failure before you begin. The opposite is also true. If God does go with you, then you can expect the benefits of being in God's perfect will, the very center of it. You will experience the Lord's power, provision, and presence.

The best correspondents for Life magazine were sent all over the world to ask the question, "What is the meaning of life?" They talked to philosophers and children, taxi drivers, and Nile River boatmen. More than 100 premier photographers provided images. One dramatic photograph was of a lighthouse off the Brittany coast. A huge Atlantic storm had sent gigantic waves around the mammoth brick structure, nearly swallowing it up. But on the sheltered side, literally surrounded by frothing, boiling waves, stood the lighthouse keeper. He was looking casually toward the shore, his hands stuck nonchalantly in his pockets, as enormous waves crashed around him.

This powerful illustration reminds us of the many fierce storms of trial we face in life. We can be grateful for the promise that in God we are as safe as that lighthouse keeper. God is our refuge during the storm of physical affliction, emotional turmoil, and spiritual attack. With his protection - with God with us - we can endure any trial with the calm assurance that he who shields us cannot be moved. Moses wanted to sense God's confirmation - he could not fulfill God's purposes without God's presence. And God answered. So Moses made a further request.


Moses wanted to see God's character - he would not be satisfied as God's follower without knowing God more intimately.
Exodus 33:18_23 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." [19] And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. [20] But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." [21] Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. [22] When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. [23] Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."

In spite of Moses' special relationship with God, he longed to know God better. All that he had learned of God before this time made him hungry for more. So he prayed, "Now show me your glory." Moses wanted to see God's character at its fullness - God's very being. He wanted to know God intimately. He wanted a deeper knowledge of God and his ways.

Moses was not content with even the extraordinary manifestations of God's glory he had already witnessed.

o He had witnessed the singular manifestation of God's glory when "the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush" (Exodus 3:2a).
o He had further seen the glory of God when "the LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain" (Exodus 19:20).
o He had further seen the glory of God in the pillar of cloud and fire that led Israel as she marched through the wilderness and set up camp. That pillar was a visible evidence of God's presence.
o He had further seen the glory of God in the tent of meeting - the very manifest presence of God - when "the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend" (Exodus 33:11).

Moses had been accustomed to God's manifest presence. He had seen God's glory to a degree experienced by no one else since Adam before the fall. But he still was not content! In this hour of crisis, he felt the need for something additional to reassure him and sustain his hope. He therefore prayed, "Now show me your glory." Jim Elliot, the missionary martyr, said, "Oh, the fullness, the pleasure, sheer excitement of knowing God on Earth!"

Friends, this past week we have seen thousands of people crowd their way over to the PGA Tournament at Hazeltine . . . just to get a glimpse of Tiger Woods in action, and if they were lucky, to get an autograph. But our desire to know God is greater. Moses wanted more than the blessing of God on his life.

o He wanted to see God himself.
o He wanted to see a comprehensive manifestation of God.
o He wanted to see the glory of God - to see God's majestic brilliance unshielded, fully revealed in his essential being.
o He wanted to see a revelation of God's power and character in a personal way.
o He wanted a personal revelation of God the Father.
o He wanted a deeper vision of God.

That is the desire of every true Christian believer throughout the ages. It beats in our hearts. "God, I want to know you more!" Our hearts are drawn to God like a magnet! We want to experience God in himself, not just in creation, not just in what he does, not just through others. We want God himself. "God, I want you, you alone." The more we hear and see and know of God's glory, the more we desire to hear and see and know of it.

At first, Moses' request seems to be denied. "You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live" (20). But God did reveal more of himself to Moses. To do so God shielded Moses from the full display of God's transcendence. The Lord told him to hide in a crevice in Mount Sinai's rocky face. There the Lord would pass by. God was saying to Moses:

"You cannot see me in all my fullness of glory. Otherwise your soul will be separated from your body. Your physical frame is too weak to bear the weight of my glory. But you will see me partially. After the majestic brilliance of my glory passes by you, I will withdraw my hand that protected you from seeing my full glory. Then you will see me! Not a full vision of my face, but a flash of my afterglow. Then you will comprehend my character to a greater degree. You will see a further glimpse of my divine nature. I will reveal myself to you. You will know that I am who I am, and that I am all you need."

They tell of a young woman who for years kept house for her father and mother. Morning, noon, and night she got their tea out of a can that had a picture of the Rock of Gibraltar on the lid. When she was thirty-two, much to her surprise, she was able to take a trip to Spain. On the way, one bright morning, she looked through her porthole of the ship and saw the Rock of Gibraltar. She said, "I almost cried out. I kept whispering to myself, 'Then it's real! It's been real all the time!'" Sometimes we associate Jesus Christ with a stained glass window or a statue in the church or a story in a book. He doesn't seem quite as real to us as our breakfast cereal or our closet of clothes or the steering wheel in the car. But Christ is more real than all these things! Like Moses, we want to see God's character. We cry out, "Lord, show me your glory!" We will not be satisfied as God's follower without knowing God more intimately. To Moses' delight and ours . . .


God wanted to reveal himself - the Lord responded to Moses' desire to know him better.
Exodus 34:4_7 So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. [5] Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. [6] And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, [7] maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."

In a dramatic way, the Lord made himself known to Moses. But this was more than a visual revelation. God also presented himself to Moses with an extensive list of his own characteristics (6-7). God called out his name. He announced his character as merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abounding in goodness and truth. These verses are like Theology 101, a short course on defining God. These attributes of God are repeated often throughout the Old Testament. This revelation of God became the foundation of the covenant. In other words, God reveals himself, not just through some experience, but through his character!

Will you make this your prayer: "Lord, I want to know you more intimately. Give me a fresh hunger and thirst for you. I want to, as Moses, to speak mouth to mouth with God, as God's friend. I never want to be totally satisfied in my quest to know you better. I want more of you, Lord, more. Lord, show me your glory!"


Three Striking Lessons of Moses' Prayer

Out of the many insights we can learn from this passage, three stand out.

â Your prayer is a conversation with God - a dialogue between two persons who love each other. Notice the pattern.

o Moses said to the LORD. . . . The LORD replied. . . . (Exodus 33:12, 14).
o Then Moses said to him. . . . And the LORD said to Moses. . . . (Exodus 33:15, 17).
o Then Moses said. . . . Then the LORD said. . . . (Exodus 33:18, 21).

Clement of Alexandria, a Christian philosopher from Egypt, said in the third-century that prayer is a conversation in which we talk to God. Prayer is talking to God, expressing our thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams, and fears to God. Prayer is drawing ourselves closer to God, so that God might draw closer to us. We speak to God just like we speak to our spouse, or a friend, or anyone we are trying to have a close relationship with. Conversation with God through prayer is a means of getting closer to him.

This dialogue between God and Moses is like a conversation between close friends, and yet without becoming too casual! Moses said this or that and God responded. Moses spoke and God answered. Moses made a request and God replied. When you give your life to Christ, you can have an intimate relationship with God. You can receive God's grace. You can talk with God. That is the very essence of prayer! We can be friends with God. Not a buddy-buddy relationship - for we never escape the reality of God's infinite transcendence and our finite humanity. God is still God and we are only human. But we can experience the wonder of authentic communication with our Creator God!

As they knocked on the door of Ed Claesson's room in a home for the elderly, Clair and Frances Hess heard Ed talking to someone. Frances whispered, "Clair, he has a visitor." After Ed said, "Come in," they went into his room, but they didn't see anyone with him. When they said they had heard him talking to somebody, the stately 98_year_old Swede smiled and said, "Oh, I was just talking to Jesus. I asked him why it is taking him so long to call me Home." Jesus Christ WAS in the room with Ed. Although bodily in heaven, Jesus is present in spirit with all of his people just as God promised. Your prayer is a conversation with God - a dialogue between two persons who love each other. We also learn from Moses . . .


God delights in answering your fervent prayers to know God better and experience his presence in your life.
God answered Moses' growing request to see more of God. It is as if Moses is working himself up to ask his primary question - "Now show me your glory." He was inching his way to his central desire. If you follow the conversation carefully, Moses wants assurance about something God has already said about favoring Moses and knowing him by name. Then when God promises his presence to Moses, Moses wants the same for Israel. The dialogue keeps building higher and larger. Moses is inching up, building on what has already been established in prayer, so he can get to the biggest issue of all. Finally he boldly says to God, "Now show me your glory." We see this same progressive nature of prayer in the New Testament, when Jesus said:

Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

Each step of Moses' prayer is more progressive, more bold, more desperate, more specific, more on target. The tempo of his prayer increases. His request grows.

Like Moses we say: "God, you've said some wonderful things about who I am in Christ. You have saved me from sin. You have given me the gift of eternal life. You have forgiven me and extended your grace to me. You have chosen me for a special purpose. You have called me a child of God and a friend of God. But, Lord, I want more of you. Lord God, I want to see your glory, to see your splendor pass in front of me, to hear you speak your name, to see you reveal something new of yourself - your goodness, your compassion, your holiness, your truth. Let me see more of you. Show me your glory!" And God says:

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Dwight Moody said, "We honor God when we ask for great things. It is a humiliating thing to think that we are satisfied with very small results." God delights in answering your fervent prayers to know God better and experience his presence in your life. Finally . . .


In prayer you experience the glory of God in Christ - a foretaste now and fullness forever.
Moses' thinking was correct. His heart was right. But he was premature in his timing. God indeed would one day go beyond the manifestations of glory seen by Moses. The Word - the Second Person of the Trinity - would become flesh and dwell among his people. All this would happen in the fullness of time. But for Moses in the desert, it was still centuries away. Still, the Lord knowing his need, would not let his servant go away frustrated and empty. Those who hunger and thirst for God and his righteousness may not receive all they envision, but God will fill them will all that is appropriate. Moses did not see Jesus on that occasion, but he did see God's glory and goodness. When God passed by, he declared his name and his goodness. John the apostle would one day be privileged to decl/top

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The perfect life of Christ revealed the glory of God as graphically as possible to human understanding. Jesus is the embodiment of the qualities of God. In Christ, we see God's glory. Never did the Lord communicate to us more clearly than in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. For "the Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" (Hebrews 1:3). One author rightly said, "Jesus is the best photograph God ever had taken."

James Irwin, commander of Apollo 15, said he never felt closer to God than on his space flight. He shared that while walking on the moon, the thought came to him that this was the greatest event in the history of the world - man walking on the moon! But then he added, the Lord spoke to him and said, "I did something greater than that. I walked on the earth." The apostle John could affirm truthfully about Jesus:

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched__this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

We come to know God first by inviting Jesus Christ to come into our lives and take over. Then we see the God's glory in Christ. And we continue to see greater measures of his glory as we seek to know him better. With New Testament understanding, we pray with Moses, "Now show me your glory!" In Christ we experience a foretaste of God's glory. And in eternity we will be filled with the fullness of God's glory in Christ! Through salvation in Jesus and ongoing life in the Holy Spirit, we have a foretaste of his glory. One day we will behold the fullness of his glory for eternity. In prayer you experience the glory of God in Christ - a foretaste now and fullness forever. A short prayer that will change your life . . .

Lord, show me your glory! They tell the story of a wealthy man in the United Kingdom. Over his life, this man had collected an art collection that was worth millions of dollars. He had paintings by Rembrandt, Gauguin, Monet, and many other great artists. The rich man had no heirs. His only son had been a Royal Air Force pilot and was killed in action during a war. So when he died the estate was to be liquidated.

His will directed that the art collection be sold at an auction. Buyers from all over the world came to London hoping to get some famous paintings. When the auction began, the first piece brought out for bidding was a painting the audience didn't recognize. The auctioneer explained that it was a portrait of the owner's beloved son who had died in a war. An unknown artist had painted it and wasn't even a very good portrait, but the will stipulated that it was to be sold first.

The auction began, but no one wanted to bid on the portrait. Despite the auctioneer's cajoling and coaxing, there were no bids.

Finally, an elderly man in the back of the crowd raised his hand and asked permission to speak. He explained that he was a servant of the owner and had served faithfully in his household for many years. He had seen the son grow up and loved him very much. He said he wanted the painting but didn't have much money so he could bid only a few dollars. The auctioneer accepted his bid and tried to get others in the crowd to raise it, but no one would.

Finally, he declared the portrait sold to the elderly servant. Then, to the shock and amazement of everyone present, he announced that the auction was over. It turned out that the will further stipulated that the person who bought the painting of the son was to receive the entire art collection without further charge. Whoever got the son got the whole lot. That is the way it is with Christianity: whoever gets the Son gets the whole lot.

We experience the glory of God when we encounter Christ as our Savior. And as we continue to hunger for more of God, we go deeper in our experience of knowing Christ. Lord, show me your glory!

Make this your prayer today: "Lord, I want to know you more intimately. Give me a fresh hunger and thirst for you. I want to, as Moses, to speak mouth to mouth with God, as God's friend. I never want to be totally satisfied in my quest to know you better. I want more of you, Lord, more. Lord, show me your glory!"