Day 12

Devotion Bible reference: Exodus 33:7-11

In Matthew 6:6 we read the concept of having a prayer time, and a place set aside for us to pray to the LORD. This has become what we refer to sometimes as our “Quiet Time” with the LORD.
“But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
And while we think of this time as a concept we’ve gleaned (or others have gleaned on our behalf from years ago) from the New Testament. Consider the extension of what we looked at yesterday in Exodus 33:1-6 –
1) an expressed horror at the prospect of an absence of God’s presence, and
2) a genuine repentance from the spirit of rebellion.
Now consider a third thing in this list as you read today’s verses immediately following in Exodus 33:7-11.
3) “a regular time meeting with God”
“Now Moses took a tent and set it up outside the camp, far away from the camp; he called it the tent of meeting. Anyone who wanted to consult the LORD would go to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand up, each one at the door of his tent, and they would watch Moses until he entered the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance to the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. As all the people saw the pillar of cloud remaining at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up, then bow in worship, each one at the door of his tent. The LORD spoke with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend...” (33:7-11a)
This not only points to a pattern of meeting with God, but also in having a specific place (not church) that you identify with your meeting time with God. Not a “holy” place, but a place that allows you to emotionally, or even physically relax and know that it is time to be with God. To speak with God, face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend.
We cannot expect those occasional moments of our profound awareness of the presence of God – unless we are consistently coming before Him in prayer. Moses knew this – and the people could see it when it occurred. Can this be a new way to allow others see Christ in you? Can your regular meeting with God be something that makes others aware of the fact that you serve and have been in the presence of the Living God?

As the LORD leads, pray with specific intent for members of your family each day

Prayer for my wife:
Pray that she will begin to sense the Holy Spirit in our home and find the appeal of Christ to be overwhelming. Let her struggle with the decision to follow Christ until she is ready to surrender herself wholly and completely. Let me be the example of Your love that if it cannot draw her to You – that it will not impede the work of Your Holy Spirit in her.
Prayer for my son:
I talked with my son on the phone while he walked home from a friend’s house after dark. I talked to him about making choices that took into consideration the response after the fact, depending upon whether he accepted, or rejected (argued) the answers to his questions (requests for permission from his mother and others). We spoke about the equity of a relationship, and how respecting authority appropriately in his life would pay dividends beyond simply honoring what God commanded us to do.