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The Lord had drawn His servant Moses into the place of prayer. Over the long years of careful discipline, He had been preparing His servant for this crucial encounter. In the Lord's perfect will, the time had arrived to reveal to His servant His plan and purpose.

"Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground!" Moses may have been standing on Mt. Sinai, physically. Yet personally and spiritually, he was standing in the holy of holies. It was there, in the actual personal presence of the Lord, Moses shared in this most vital experience of prayer.

From time to time Moses spoke. Yet the greatest part of this exchange involved God speaking to His servant ... in power and authority revealing His will. "I have seen, and have heard, for I know!" "I AM come down!" "I will send thee!" "Certainly I will be with thee!" "I AM THAT I AM!" "Thou shalt say to the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you!" "I will surely visit you!" "I will bring you up out of the land!" "I will stretch out My hand, and smite Egypt with all My wonders which I will do!" It was in the place of prayer, in the most holy place, that Moses heard God speaking His strong words of promise and assurance.

It is still to the same place of prayer that God calls His people. There we can still hear God speaking His strong words of promise and assurance. This fact is such a vital part of the reality of true prayer. Yet, having heard God speak His strong words of promise, how would the man of God respond to His Word today? How would we? How do we respond?

As we look at the way in which Moses responded, we see so very much which challenges us today. There is so much which we need to learn from this if we are to effectively experience the full potential of the strong Word of God.

As Moses responded to the call and challenge of the Lord, it was as if all he had heard God say was: "I send you!" It was as though everything else God had said was in fact not spoken!

"Send you!" "Who, me?" The focus of his response is right there on "ME". The impact of the statement: "I send you!" had completely wiped out all the promise and assurance. "ME!" It will all be up to "ME!" I have to go. I will be on my own. I will have to take a stand on this alone. I will have to convince the Israelites that the Lord did send me this time. It will all be up to me!

He immediately saw the inevitable repeat of his earlier failure. "ME!" They will not "hearken unto MY voice!" I tried all that once. They threw in MY face: "Who made THEE a prince and a judge over us?" (Exodus 2:14). He was focusing completely on himself and his previous failure ... as though nothing had changed.

Yet, in reality, everything had changed! God had spoken! God had clearly revealed that He was personally involved. He was totally committed! Instead of focusing on himself, Moses was being challenged to focus on the Lord ... to see the present reality in the light of the strong and all-sufficient Word of the Lord. How we as Christians need to note this today!

By focusing on himself and the impact of his former failure, Moses fell into the trap of prejudging the possible, or probable result. Yes, it was quite true, if this was only his idea. If all he had to go on was his initiative, his own resources, his previous performance, then all his fears were fully justified. But, he had been given far more than that!

The feeling of futility, the fear of failure, was of his own making. For it is undeniable, if all we do have is "ME!" then futility and failure are inevitable! But, he had been given so much more! God Himself had personally come to him in the place of prayer. There God had personally spoken to him giving to him the most glorious and dynamic promises, guaranteeing the thrilling assurance of all that God Himself was personally committed to do!

Moses had forgotten that God had not only said, "I will send you to Pharaoh," He had added, "I will stretch out My hand! I will smite!" There will be the strongest evidence, convincing both the Israelites and the Egyptians, that you are not on your own. The Lord will be with you, fully supporting you as He works in dynamic power.

Who can give in to fear in the light of such strong assurance? Those who have heard, and forgotten the promise of the Lord. Those who have taken their eyes off the Lord. How we need to continually listen to Him. Keep the eyes of faith focused on Him. True faith in Him and His Word leaves no place for fear!

We need to take careful note of the exciting way in which the Lord moved His servant from fear to faith. "What do you have in your hand, Moses?" Only a rod! The rod which he used as he tended the sheep ... nothing but this piece of dead wood. It has little value to anyone but a shepherd ... no significance beyond that ... except, when God said, "Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it."

"And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand."

Notice the vital principle illustrated by these events. God Himself was present and active in dynamic power. He chose to make His servant Moses an active partner in His working in mighty power. Moses himself could not have done what he did, except as God chose to make His servant His partner in working in effective power.

Moses did all he did as God used him in power! It is this fact which transformed the entire situation. It is this very fact which the Lord was seeking to impress on Moses. Moses would not go alone, depending on his own resources. Moses would go in personal fellowship with the Lord. He would act according to the power and effectiveness of the Lord.

What an exciting difference! "That they (the Israelites) may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee!"

"They will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee!" Moses, when you go in personal fellowship with the Lord, they will be forced to acknowledge, "The LORD hath appeared unto thee!" There would be only one way to explain the evidence. "This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes!" (Psalm 118: 23) The Lord must be involved!

No man could do that. No man in his right mind would ever attempt to do that. Leprosy was such a feared and hated disease, no one in their right mind would choose to attempt to even pretend to do that. This was certainly no game. The Israelites would immediately recognize that fact. They would see it as the most dramatic evidence of the involvement of the Lord in power. Only God could, in an instant, make a hand leprous ... then, also in an instant, make it completely free from that incurable disease.

Each of these signs was given with one objective -- to convince both the Israelites and the Egyptians that God Himself was personally involved. It was true ... God had appeared unto Moses. God had sent Moses. They needed to listen so carefully to the Word of the Lord as Moses shared it with them.

The Lord was acting, both in power and patience ... in glory and in grace. As the Lord revealed each of these signs to Moses, He patiently answered the objections of Moses, even as He inspired the faith of His servant. The Lord knew His servant far better than Moses knew himself!

The Lord knew that the shame and reproach of his earlier failure and futility had deeply scarred Moses, and the Lord also knew that there had to be a powerful healing of that deep hurt. It is this which God was providing by His strong and repeated Word of assurance, letting His hesitant servant know without doubt: "I will provide all you need to ensure that you will be able to do everything I send you to accomplish!" The Lord was inspiring faith, knowing that faith drives out fear!

It is in this way the Lord continues to seek to work in our lives today. We have failed so often. We come to see ourselves as futile. In our failure and futility we have become convinced that we have forfeited all right to another opportunity. God seeks to assure us that He has a much better answer ... a far better plan. He so graciously seeks to lead us out of that morass of hopelessness ... out into the fullness of His glorious will.

Moses, when you speak My Word to the Israelites, you will not have to convince them. I will do that for you! All you have to do is be faithful! "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8: 31). Yes, you may have failed ... many times. Now, let God have His way. He will not fail.

"And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue."

The Lord had spoken to Moses in the place of prayer. In doing so, He had revealed His will to His servant. He had made His plan quite clear -- He was personally committed to intervene in a decisive manner and deliver His people. He had explicitly enlisted Moses: "I will send thee!"

Moses knew that he was standing in the most holy place. He was in the personal presence of the Lord. Yet he was still most reluctant to accept the Word of the Lord, hesitating to acknowledge that he had been personally commissioned by the Lord. His initial attempt to evade the call of the Lord was in his prediction that the Israelites would inevitably reject any new attempt he made to intervene. The Lord immediately answers his objections.

Moses continued to attempt to evade the responsibility placed on him by the Lord. He focused on his own lack of leadership qualifications. "I am not eloquent!" I do not have the essential ability to be able to speak forcefully and effectively. I will not be able to persuade the Israelites or Pharaoh." Moses may have been sincere in this expression of his sense of personal inadequacy. In himself he did not have the eloquence which he believed would be so necessary.

His earlier attempt to set the Israelites free did not require eloquence. He resorted to direct and forceful action rather than words. Then, the intervening forty years had seen him so much in isolation in the wilderness. He had been cut off from the necessity of developing the ability to communicate effectively with other people.

He may have used any number of reasons to justify his claim. Yet, in the final analysis, it was nothing but a self-serving excuse! It was the Lord who had appointed him. When the Lord appoints, He always provides all that is necessary to obey! Moses was attempting to evade the responsibility which God had placed on him.

Think about the implications of this situation. Moses was in the place of prayer. There the Lord had spoken to him personally, revealing His will! Moses responded by making excuses! What a revelation! How often this very thing happens today! We meet with the Lord in the place of prayer. We profess to love Him and to want to honor Him. Yet, when He reveals the details of His will by which we would actually honor Him, like Moses we resort to feeble excuses!

In effect, Moses was saying to the Lord, "I have never been eloquent! The fact that You have called me to this task in no way changes that fact!" "Neither here-to-fore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant!"

Could it really be possible that the servant believed that the call of the Lord actually changed nothing? That he himself was not in fact changed by hearing the call of the Lord? That his ability to obey the Lord was not effected in any way whatsoever?

For Moses to state his response in the way he did reveals only one thing: He was not willing to obey the call of God! His response had nothing to do with his lack of ability to speak. "I have always been this way, and I know that I will always be this way! Lord, nothing You can say will ever be able to change that!" It is exactly in this way that so many Christians respond to the call of God on their lives!

But the call of God on the life of any one of His servant always - ALWAYS - makes a most dramatic difference ... a most profound and far-reaching difference! Whenever the Lord calls any of His servants to serve Him in a particular responsibility, His call always brings the assurance of the provision of every resource and every ability that the servant will need! Always!

Therefore, every excuse is invalid. Moses had to learn this. So must we! "I am slow of speech, and a slow tongue" ... only if God's intervention is rejected as being ineffective!

What a challenge! Moses was making the mistake which so many of us make today. The command of the Lord meant that Moses, His servant, was faced with an awesome challenge. In his response, Moses stated his belief that he felt that his personal limitations disqualified him. "Lord, I cannot speak, so I guess I cannot go!"

Did he feel that once he had offered this excuse - in the place of prayer - he could proceed to say his, "Amen!" and leave it at that? There is one very important problem with thinking in that way. True prayer is not a monologue. Even though most people do pray as though that is all it is. True prayer is a dialogue! When Moses spoke, God answered!

When we pray, do we expect God to answer? Are we so taken up with the importance of all we have to say that we forget the other side? Such an approach will inevitably mean that we either ignore or forget that God is seeking to communicate with us.

Moses was in the actual presence of the Lord. The Lord had listened to his comment. He had disqualified himself because of his inability to speak eloquently. Was that to be the end of the matter? Certainly not. Never let us forget that when God calls a person, He knows perfectly the one whom He is calling. He knows every limitation ... true or imagined! He not only knows the limitation, but also the way in which He plans to overcome the limitation!

Moses stood where we stand -- in the presence of the Lord. That is, the one who has been created stands in the personal presence of the eternal Creator!

The question thus becomes as obvious as it is compelling. "Moses, who made man's mouth?" Who made your mouth? Asked in that context, the answer is so obvious. If there is a genuine limitation to man, how significant is that fact in the light of the presence and power of the Lord?

Prayer is sharing in vital fellowship with the Infinite and Almighty Lord. Prayer does include acknowledging all our needs ... and limitations, but doing so with the very One who is more than adequate to meet every need!

Is someone dumb? Or deaf? What difference does it make if you can or cannot see? There is only one circumstance which is always of critical importance. That circumstance is not some physical or human limitation, real or imagined. That circumstance is THE LORD! "Who made?" "Have not I, the LORD!" "Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in Mine hand!" (Jeremiah 18: 6)

Moses had been bought into the place of prayer. There he was sharing with the Almighty Creator! His will for His servant guaranteed that His power was fully committed to completely equip the one whom He had called!

The limitations and inadequacies of which we are so conscious today may be very real. Yet, remember ... our Lord made us. He continues to work His will in us! "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2: 10).

"I do not have what it takes!" That is true! The Lord does have everything it takes! He provides. He guarantees -- "My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12: 9).

The Lord restated His command to Moses. "Go!" "I have heard your reasons for claiming that you are neither equipped nor qualified to go." God had heard every word, even as He had evaluated every word. His command did not change. It was still, "Go!"

Moses had a problem which the Lord did not see, neither would He recognize it! Which means that the problem was manufactured in the mind of the servant! It was not real according to the Lord's view of the situation. There was no reason for further delay. "Moses: Go and do all that I have commanded you to do!"

"I will be with your mouth!" The Lord made his mouth! The Lord knew exactly how his mouth functioned. His personal presence and involvement with His servant guaranteed that Moses would be able to say all the Lord required. This meant that, instead of being slow and inadequate, Moses was being assured that he would be able to speak with power, authority and effectiveness. God gave Moses the assurance: "I will make the difference!"

There is no aspect of our ability or training but that this essential truth makes all the difference. Therefore, take all your feelings of utter inadequacy and helplessness to the Lord in prayer. He knows just how inadequate we are. He reminds us, "Without Me ye can do nothing!" (John 15: 5) In no area of service do we have what it takes to do what He calls us to do. It is also in John 15: 5 that He assures us, "He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." He is adequate! His resources are completely sufficient. His personal presence and involvement will always makes the difference. Let Him reveal Himself to you ... demonstrate that He is sufficient ... show you His unfailing support.

There is no aspect of our lives as Christians, no area of our service for the Lord, but that if we will listen, we will hear the Lord saying to us, "I will teach you! Learn of Me!Ask!"

The Lord Jesus has clearly revealed that He is fully committed to teach and prepare His people, to adequately train them, to thoroughly equip them, providing everything they need to be able to carry out the work which He calls them to do. Those who are committed to serve the Lord faithfully for His glory, know that we have no reason to hold back from sincere and faithful obedience to His call.

Remember, the Lord had drawn Moses into the place of prayer, there to share personally with the Lord Himself! He had been preparing His servant for this crucial moment. He had called His servant aside so that He could reveal His will and His Word in the fellowship of prayer. There the Lord had spoken His Word revealing His will to Moses. He had spoken of His deep concern for His people. He had revealed that it was His plan and purpose to use His servant powerfully and effectively as His answer in meeting their need. The Lord had listened in patient love to every issue and concern which Moses had raised. That is the way He responds to His people when they share with Him in prayer. He had not only listened, He had faithfully responded.

Yet now, this new comment by Moses strikes a jarring note! It was as if Moses was attempting to dictate to the Lord. "Lord, You are just going to have to find a different answer! Choose someone else to appoint to this mission!" This development was so very tragic, especially since it took place as Moses shared with the Lord in the place of prayer. Tragic, yet so very human. Before, Moses had responded, "Lord, it is no use of me going; the people just will not believe me!" Now, his response was, "Not me! I will not go!"

God had personally come to His servant and called him. He had revealed the glory of His nature to His servant. "I AM THAT I AM!" God had given His personal guarantee to Moses, "I will be with you!" Then He had added, "I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what to say!" Moses had listened to every Word spoken by the Lord. Yet, in effect his response was, "Lord, your Word is not enough for me! I will not go!"

Many who would judge Moses for this response are proving to be just as guilty! Far too many Christians today have responded to the call of the Lord on their lives in exactly the same way. "I have heard you Lord, but for my own very good reasons, I cannot go! I will not obey!

This is such a common thing today. Christians who share with the Lord in prayer, hear Him speaking to them personally. He has given them His gracious Word of assurance, but they are not satisfied. As they turn away, their attitude proclaims: "Not me! Find someone else." How tragic! How true to life!

"And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and He said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee; and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart."

There is a very drastic change in the Lord's response to Moses at this point. Earlier each of His statements to Moses had been expressed in patient love and gracious provision. Such was not the case on this occasion. "The anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses!"

In his foolishness, Moses had provoked the Lord to anger. His attitude, which strongly implied that the Lord's Word was not adequate, caused this. Plus the suggestion that even the Lord's personal presence could not be enough, or that the Lord's promised provision would not prove adequate to meet the need. Moses provoked the anger of the Lord!

The vast majority of Christians have absolutely no idea what this statement could mean. The popular idea of Christianity today has a completely different view of God and the way He responds to people. People feel that even if we do fail to take His Word seriously, He really will not get too upset about it! If we question the sufficiency of His Word of promise, at most, He may mildly rebuke us. If we refuse to respond to His call, He will laugh off our precociousness, and still bless us as though there is nothing wrong.

There is a very real problem with such a complacent and comfortable philosophy of God and His ways. It is in the fact that it is completely alien to the way in which God reveals Himself in His Word. Such a "God" is stripped of virtually everything which makes Him God! Nor does such a "God" inspire either our awe or our respect.

But, what of the God who met Moses in the place of prayer, who, when confronted by the unacceptable response of Moses, became "angry!" Do we know Him?

HE is the only God who is worth knowing. HE is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. HE does get angry at the utter foolishness of our self-serving response to His Word.

God provided the answer to the objection which Moses raised. How Moses would come to regret this fact! As we watch this develop, we see a very dramatic illustration of the vital spiritual principle: "And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul" (Psalm 106: 15).

The Lord provided the solution to Moses' objection, but the provision was an expression of chastisement, not grace! Coming as the result of the fully justified anger of the Lord. Moses would come to deeply regret provoking the anger of the Lord. For example, when he came down from Mount Sinai to find the Israelites in an orgy of sinful debauchery as they worshipped the golden calf which Aaron had made for them! Or when, with Miriam, Aaron dared to challenge the leadership of Moses. "Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath He not spoken also by us?" (Numbers 12: 2)

The gifts which we insist God give to us as we provoke Him to anger will always result in grief and heartache! Always! Moses had no right to complain about that fact. Nor do we!

When will we learn this vital lesson? The Lord has warned us. It is possible for us to "grieve the Spirit ... to "quench” Him! In fact, we can do "despite" to the Holy Spirit, which means: so greatly offend Him that we provoke Him to anger!

Is that really possible? Ask Ananias and Sapphira! (see Acts 5:1-7) The causes: Carelessness! Selfishness! Disobedience! Self-will! Hearing the call of God to us and excusing ourselves. Hearing the promises of God and refusing to believe that God's Word guarantees that every need will be met.

It was the Lord who had the last word in this encounter in the place of prayer. He had the first word when He called Moses. Now He had the last word.

The Lord confronted His servant with this command, a command which gave to Moses a clear and decisive understanding of all the Lord required of him. The Lord had heard all of the excuses, all of the foolish reasoning. He responded: "I expect you to go! I require you to go!" The Lord emphasized the fact of His will in this matter. "Moses, you have your rod in your hand. You have personally witnessed the amazing potential in that rod when you obeyed the Word of the Lord. All you need is the rod and My Word! Take it and go!"

That is the final Word to us, His servants, in the place of prayer. The Lord has already provided everything we need, and has placed it in our hands. He assures us that He is committed to use all we are and all we have, and to do so in effective power. Now ... Go! Obey!

As you go, depend on God to make your faithful obedience powerfully effective and fruitful. "Thou shalt do signs!" Signs will provide the clear evidence that the Lord is with you, witnessing to the fact that the Lord is involved in dynamic power and effectiveness.

Moses obeyed. He went from the place of prayer with the commitment to do everything the Lord called him to do. He was continuing to learn vital lessons about prayer, about the incredible dynamics of prayer ... especially that the Lord insists on having the dominant role in prayer!

Every Christian needs to learn these lessons. Learn to listen to everything the Lord is seeking to say to us ... both in encouragement, and also in correction and reproof! Then, in faith, move to obey!