And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” —Exodus 33:18

When I was a new Christian, I always prayed for things for myself. Lord, bless me. Give this to me. Provide this for me.

But as A. B. Simpson wrote, “Once it was the blessing, now it is the Lord; once it was the feeling, now it is His Word; once His gifts I wanted, now the Giver own; once I sought for healing, now himself alone.”

As we start growing spiritually, we will start saying more often, “Lord, I just want You. I want more of You. I want to know You better. No matter where I go, everything is good as long as You go with me, and I go with You.” That is a mark of spiritual maturity.

Jacob, after years of conniving and scheming, met his match when the Lord Himself showed up and they had a wrestling match (which of course Jacob lost). It started out with Jacob trying to overpower what may have been an angel or perhaps the Lord Himself. In the end, Jacob was hanging on to Him. It started off with cunning, and it ended up with clinging. It began with resisting, and it turned into resting.

Wrestling with God in prayer doesn’t mean getting God to do what we want Him to do. It means that we are going to completely surrender to what He wants to do. That is the ultimate goal.

When Moses said to the Lord, “Please, show me Your glory,” he was saying, “God, I want to see You now. I want You to actually show Your face to me.”

That really is what prayer is all about. It is not about getting stuff from God. Prayer, when it reaches its ultimate objective, is getting God. It is God that you want—it’s closeness with Him.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. —James 1:5

Have you ever had an electronic gadget that you couldn’t figure out how to turn on or off? You dug out the manual, read through it, and found the little illustration. It is so obvious now that you know. But you didn’t know until you read the manual.

James reminds us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). When we consult God’s Word, the user’s manual of life, He will guide us.

The psalmist said, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). As we read God’s Word, we will know His way. We find out things in His Word that we would not know otherwise.

When Moses asked God for divine direction, God told him, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14). Or literally, “My face will go with you.” God was telling Moses, “You have my full attention, and I will be watching your every move.”

Have you ever been talking to someone who wasn’t looking at you? You are telling him something, and he is looking past you or looking around or checking his watch.

God was saying to Moses, “I’m going to go with you. And not only am I going to go with you, but I am going to be looking at you. I will keep My eye on you. I am going to be really dialed into everything you are experiencing.”

So often we try to do in our own strength what God promises to do for us. And worrying is completely useless. Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.

Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.” —Exodus 32:9–10

Moses had many frustrations with the Israelites. He had complained to God on multiple occasions about them. But when God told Moses that He was going to wipe them out, Moses pleaded with God to relent.

God never was going to wipe these people out; He was testing Moses to see whether he would learn what it meant to be an intercessor. Would Moses stand in the gap and pray for the people, or would he throw them under the bus?

In John’s gospel we find someone who faced a similar test. A desperate father whose son was at death’s door heard about Jesus, humbled himself, and bowed before the Lord, asking Him to touch his dear son. Jesus answered, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe” (John 4:48 NKJV).

What kind of thing is that to say to someone with a dying child? But just as God did with Moses, Jesus was testing this man. Really, He wasn’t directing the words to the child’s father at all. He was saying them to the fickle crowds who wanted to be impressed.

The man just stood there, patiently waiting for Jesus to finish His sermon. Then he came right back to Jesus and said, “Sir, come down before my child dies!” He was an intercessor praying for his son.

Jesus told him, “Go your way; your son lives.”

He stood in the gap. He pressed on.

God is still looking for intercessors today. Sometimes we will pray for something, and we won’t get an answer right away. So we think that God is obviously saying no. But maybe God wants you to step up your game. Maybe He wants you to pray a little bit more. Maybe He wants you to not give up so easily.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. —Genesis 6:8

A jeweler will display a ring or a fine piece of jewelry against a dark backdrop so that our eyes are automatically drawn to it. And that is what Noah was like against the dark backdrop of wickedness in his day. He was a rare jewel, a radiant light in a very dark place. The Bible tells us that “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8), which means that God extended grace toward him.

The Bible also tells us that “Noah walked with God.” (verse 9). That is said of only two people in the Scriptures: Enoch and Noah. So what does it mean to walk with God? Amos 3:3 gives us insight into this: “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” The idea is to move in rhythm with someone. If you take a walk with someone, you have to keep pace with that person. When I walk with my grandchildren, for example, I can’t walk at my normal speed. I slow down.

The idea of walking with God is that we are not running and dragging God along, and neither is God running and dragging us along. Rather, we are to get in rhythm with God. The objective is to get in synch with Him, not try to get Him in synch with us.

I remember a time when I went scuba diving and ended up using too much of my air. So I had to use the extra regulator hanging from the instructor’s tank, and from that point on, I had to go wherever he went. I could either stay in rhythm with my instructor and live, or break free and die. So I stayed in rhythm with him.

That is the idea of walking with God. And Noah walked with God.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” – Exodus 20:16

There are times when it is hard for us to tell the truth. I am not talking about telling a bold-faced lie. Rather, I am talking about those situations in which it’s difficult to tell the truth because you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings.

There are many ways we can lie. For example, think of those times when someone asks for your opinion on something. “What do you think?” they will say.

So you might tell a little white lie. “Well, I have never seen anything quite like it!” or “That’s one of the most fascinating performances I’ve ever seen!”

Then there are those instances when someone calls, and you don’t want to answer the phone. So you say, “Tell them I’m not home.”

What about those times when you say, “I forgot,” and you didn’t forget, or “It was the traffic,” and it wasn’t the traffic, or “I am so glad you called. I was just getting ready to call you,” and you weren’t.

There are other ways we can lie as well, and that is through gossip. Gossip topples governments, wrecks marriages, ruins careers, destroys reputations, and causes nightmares. It spawns suspicions and generates grief. Even the very word hisses when we say it: gossip. It really is from the Serpent. Proverbs 20:19 says, “He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets; Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.”

A helpful principle before you repeat something can be summed up in one word: THINK. Ask yourself these questions the next time you’re about to repeat information:

T—Is it truthful? Are you sure it’s true?

H—Is it helpful?

I—Is it inspiring?

N—Is it necessary?

K—Is it kind?

If it doesn’t pass that test, then don’t say it.