True Intercession

“That is why I threw myself down before the Lord for forty days and nights—for the Lord said he would destroy you. I prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Sovereign Lord, do not destroy them. They are your own people. They are your special possession, whom you redeemed from Egypt by your mighty power and your strong hand. Please overlook the stubbornness and the awful sin of these people, and remember instead your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If you destroy these people, the Egyptians will say, “The Israelites died because the Lord wasn’t able to bring them to the land he had promised to give them.” Or they might say, “He destroyed them because he hated them; he deliberately took them into the wilderness to slaughter them.” But they are your people and your special possession, whom you brought out of Egypt by your great strength and powerful arm.’ [Deuteronomy 9.25-29]

Moses pulled out all stops when interceding for Israel!

First, he fasted again for forty days and nights. This in itself is an amazing accomplishment. Moses said he ate no bread and drank no water for that period of time. I have no idea how that could be because people normally would die on that kind of fast.

In that time of fasting, Moses reminded God of a few things (all listed in the scripture passage above). Even though the paragraph above is rather long, I would speculate Moses repeated himself a LOT if that is all he prayed over a forty day period!

The essence of Moses' reasoning he presented to God was twofold: Israel belonged to Him (God), and the people who were't His would draw incorrect and degrading conclusions about God.

Forty days and nights Moses repeated these facts before God. Forty days and nights!

Father, most of the time I struggle to pray forty minutes - let alone forty days! And, at that, I seem to pray most fervently for myself and not other people! Help me to understand what true intercession really is and make it a lifestyle!