Prone to Wander

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Today we want to explore a question that many people have voiced over the years, and the question is simply this: Can prayer change God's mind? I mean, if God is God, and he is, and if God has a perfect will, and if God is going to do his will, what's the point of praying?
Larry Nobles: Do you believe that prayer changes God's mind? Really? Are you sure? Well, it certainly made a difference when Moses prayed for the people in Exodus chapter 32. This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve, who today will help you discover that prayer moves the hand that moves the world. He'll reveal 3 powerful lessons about intercessory prayer and the mercy and unchanging character of God. This message is from his new six-lesson series, Watch and Pray, that we've been in most of the month. Today's lesson is the fifth of six, and it's called Can Prayer Change God's Mind? If you miss any of these lessons, you can catch up online anytime at fromhisheart.org. Click the listen link. Here now is Pastor Jeff Schreve.
Dr. Jeff Schreve: Today we want to explore a question that many people have voiced over the years, and the question is simply this: Can prayer change God's mind? I mean, if God is God, and he is, and if God has a perfect will, and if God is going to do his will, what's the point of praying? I mean, am I going to pray and all of a sudden God is going to say, oh, I hadn't thought about that. I guess I'll do what you want to do. No. Obviously, that's not true. And the Bible makes it clear when it comes to the character and nature of God. Malachi chapter 3, verse 6, for I, the Lord, do not change. Numbers 23, verse 19 in the God's Word version. God is not like people. He tells no lies. He is not like humans. He doesn't change his mind. When he says something, he does it. When he makes a promise, he keeps it. So it seems to answer the question right there. God doesn't change his mind, but we're going to see today in Exodus chapter 32, a very important passage of scripture in the Old Testament and in the life of God's Old Testament people. We're going to see that Moses prayed, and the Bible says in the New American Standard, as Moses prayed, God, change your mind about the destruction you're going to bring on the people, that the Bible actually says in Deuteronomy or in Exodus 32, verse 14, so the Lord changed his mind. And so you say, well, okay, he doesn't change his mind, but he did change his mind, so I'm lost. Well, I'm glad you're here today, and hopefully we can make sense of that, which seems to be a contradiction. So does prayer really make a difference with God? Of course it does. God is not asking us to pray just to go through an exercise. It does make a difference with God. E. M. Bounds, the great pastor of the 1800s and the author of so many books on prayer, said this, prayer moves the hand that moves the world. God is over everything. Prayer moves the hand that moves the world because God answers prayer. Exodus chapter 32, what is going on as we jump into Exodus 32? Well, the people are at the base of Mount Sinai. Moses is up on the mountain. He's getting the commandments and the laws from God for the Old Testament covenant, the covenant of law. The mountain is covered in a thick cloud. There is smoke, there is fire, there is thunder, there is lightning, there is a trembling of the mountain, there is the sound of a loud trumpet. It is a frightening experience because God has come down on Mount Sinai, also known as Mount Horeb. And the people had heard from Moses that the Lord commanded these things. He told them the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20, and they responded three times at the base of Mount Horeb, all that the Lord has said we will do, and we will be obedient. And then Moses goes up the mountain, and he's up on the mountain for 40 days. 40 is an important number in scripture. It's the number associated with testing. They spied out the land 40 days. They wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Jesus was tempted of the devil for 40 days as he fasted those days. 40 is an important time, and it says in Exodus 32, now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, it's been 40 days, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, come, make us a god who will go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. I mean, he went up on that mountain. You've seen the mountain, right, Aaron? It's filled with smoke and fire, and let's just say he's probably not coming back. He's probably dead. Aaron said to them, tear off the gold rings which are in your ears, the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me. Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. It's a picture of doing it quickly. Yeah, we'll just rip these off and do something for us, Aaron. And it says he took this from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf. And they said, this is your God, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Now, when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord, a feast to Yahweh. This is Yahweh, this golden calf. So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play. Then the Lord spoke to Moses. Moses is up on the mountain. They're at the base of the mountain. They can't see one another. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf and have worshipped it and have sacrificed to it and said, this is your God, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. The Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people and behold, they are an obstinate people, stiff-necked. Now then, let me alone that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them and I will make of you a great nation. Does prayer make a difference with God? I want to share with you three important lessons for today to help us as we look at Exodus chapter 32. Lesson number one, sin is repulsive and a capital offense against God. Sin is repulsive. It's abhorrent. It's an abomination, and it's a capital offense against God. It's not a minor thing. It's not a misdemeanor. This is a capital offense. You sin, especially in the way they sinned, and you deserve to die. Now, when you do the math and figure out how much time has gone by for these people, now we know it's 40 days Moses has been on the mountain, but it's been about 3 and a half months since they experienced the greatest miracle in the Old Testament, and that is the parting of the Red Sea. Outside of God speaking the worlds into existence, that is the greatest miracle that people witnessed. And God parted the Red Sea, and two and a half million or so people went through on dry land, and when Pharaoh and his armies came after them, the Lord caused the sea to come back and drowned Pharaoh's army, the mightiest army in the world at that time. He drowned them all in the Red Sea. That's in Exodus chapter 14. Exodus 15 is a chapter dedicated to them celebrating. I will sing unto the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously, the horse and the rider thrown into the sea. Wow. You would think that would tide them over for a long time, but it didn't. Now, even before that, what did they see leading up to the Red Sea? They saw God bring Pharaoh and Egypt down to rubble with the 10 plagues. The 10 plagues probably took place over a period of months. So this is Israel, the Jews, seeing God do miracle after miracle after miracle after miracle, and then they were there after they crossed the Red Sea, 3 and a half months later, they're there at Mount Sinai, and they see God's presence come upon the mountain, and they even say to Moses, speak to us yourself and we will listen, but let not God speak to us lest we die. And Moses said, listen, God doesn't want you to be afraid of him, but he does want you to fear him. And all that the Lord has said, all that the Lord has commanded, they said, we will do. But they didn't. It just took 40 days, and they were worshiping a golden calf. Now, we're not unlike those people. First Corinthians chapter 10 says, hey, what happened to the Old Testament people, that's an example for us because we best not crave evil things like they did. And we so easily can follow in their footsteps. See, we are so quick to turn away from God, just as they were so quick to turn away from God. The Lord even says that. Verse 7, go down at once for your people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. So quickly. It only took them a month and a half. Inside of a month and a half, they've already turned away. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. That's just true of the human heart.
Larry Nobles: We all can relate to wandering, for sure, but Pastor Jeff will continue to explore this truth in this lesson called Can Prayer Change God's Mind? In just a moment. On From His Heart this month, we've been studying all about the impact of praying. In Mark chapter 14, verse 38, Jesus told his disciples to keep watching and praying. In Colossians chapter 4, verse 2, it tells us to devote yourself to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. Those words are especially important for believers today because we need to stay spiritually alert and continually look to the Lord for the wisdom, strength, and power only he can provide. And that means he can support you with power and purpose when you watch and pray. That's the name of this new series we're airing this month, Watch and Pray. We'd like to send it to you, all six lessons in the format of your choice, for your gift to From His Heart this month of any amount. You can make your gift online when you go to fromhisheart.org or call 866-40-BIBLE, 866-40 Bible, and know that we are eternally grateful. Pastor Jeff receives no income from this ministry. It's an appropriate attitude as Thanksgiving approaches. God bless you. Now back to our lesson, Can Prayer Change God's Mind?
Dr. Jeff Schreve: You know what is wild? Think about Adam and Eve. Genesis chapter 2, when God brings Eve to Adam, remember he says, it's not good for the man to be alone, I'll make a helper suitable to him, caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and performed the first surgery, took from his side a rib, flesh and bone, and fashioned this beautiful creature known as woman and brought her to the man, and he said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and not ashamed. And that's how Genesis 2 ends. And you think, can it get any better than this? This is awesome. Genesis 3. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. Right on the heels of it being so wonderful comes the tempter and comes the fall. How much time has passed? Not much. Not much, because we know that the Lord gave them a command, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, and she hadn't gotten pregnant yet. Not much time passed before they sinned against God. They quickly departed from obeying the Lord. You read about Aaron's two sons. Aaron is Moses' brother, and he had two sons, Nadab and Abihu. And when the Lord set up the priesthood, he set up Aaron and his sons. You know, the priests of God were descendants from Aaron. And Nadab and Abihu, they have their big ordination day. It's a big deal. And very little time passes before they sin against the Lord. They burn strange fire before the Lord, and fire comes out from the presence of God and kills them. Wow. So short priesthood for those guys because they so quickly turned aside. You think about in the New Testament, Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5, they lie to the Holy Spirit. How long had the church been going on? How long since Pentecost? You know, the day of Pentecost, that's when the church was born, Acts chapter 2, and it wasn't very long before Ananias and Sapphira lie to the Holy Spirit, and boom, they're both killed for doing that. We are so prone to wander and quick to turn away from God. And why is that? Why did they so quickly turn away from God? Because of impatience. They were waiting on Moses, and they said, we can't wait any longer. Surely he's dead, and we're just going to be sitting here forever. Aaron, make us a god who will go before us. But not only are we quick to turn away from God, we're so eager to turn toward idolatry and immorality. So eager to do that. It says, now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before this golden calf, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord." So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. Notice there's no mention of sin offerings, because they're getting ready to sin big time. And the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play. To play what? Touch football? No. They rose up to play. That's the Bible's kind way of saying they rose up for sexual immorality. This is what it says in the Good News Bible. Then Aaron built an altar in front of the gold bull calf and announced, tomorrow there will be a festival to honor the Lord. How gross is that? You make this bull calf and you say, that's Yahweh. Early the next morning, they brought some animals to burn as sacrifice and others to eat as fellowship offerings. The people sat down to a feast, which turned into an orgy of drinking and sex. We so quickly and we're so eager, we get up early in the morning to do what? To participate in idolatry and sexual immorality. That's what they did. And the Lord says to Moses, hey, they've so quickly turned aside, they've corrupted themselves. It's the exact same word in Hebrew that's used in Genesis chapter 6, when the Lord looked out at the earth, and every person, save Noah and his family, had corrupted themselves. They've gone to ruin. That word corrupt means to go bad, like meat that goes bad. You know, if you ever had tasted some meat that's, this is rotten and make you sick. Well, they were making God sick. They turned aside to idols. Now, we are prone to idolatry. As someone once said, man is hopelessly religious. He's incurably religious. And if he doesn't worship God, he's going to worship something. Romans chapter 1, it says, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for corruptible man and flying creatures and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. We can worship God, but we say, well, we don't want to worship God, so let's worship man, and then we go down from man to birds. We're going to worship birds, and then we don't worship birds, and we worship four-footed animals like this Apis was the bull. That's the name of the false god in Egypt that was a bull, Apis, A-P-I-S. And then crawling creatures. Did you know the Egyptians, they worshipped crawling creatures? The scarab, that little beetle. If you saw the mummy, you know how they had those in there. They worship that. That scarab, that sounds like a better name than what it really is. We call it the dung beetle. That's what that beetle does all day long, and they worship that. And God says that's the way it is for man, incurably religious, and we so easily go to idolatry. We worship money, we worship fame, we worship power, we worship status, we worship sex, and we give ourselves over to sexual immorality. That's what they did, and so quickly they did that. And then, like they are, we are so oblivious to God's righteous judgment. They didn't know that God was getting ready to wipe them out. They had sinned, as Moses is going to say, you have sinned a great sin. This is not you went 60 and a 55 on the highway. This is a great, great sin, and you're oblivious to the fact that God is going to bring judgment for that sin, because the Bible clearly says that the wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23. And the good news for the Christian is, but there's eternal life in Jesus Christ. The free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ. You know, we get this idea, and our culture really likes this idea that, you know, God is, he's okay with a little sin. I mean, God knows, you know, boys will be boys, and he's not, you know, don't get too bent out of shape about God being upset about this. I remember when I was in college, I had been a Christian about a year and a half, and it was in the summertime, and I had come home and I had somehow gotten together with an old girlfriend to have dinner. And this was a girl that I dated before I became a Christian. And so I thought, man, I'm gonna meet with this girl, and I'm gonna talk to her about Jesus. Well, she was having dreams about marrying me. I mean, who wouldn't? And so anyway, so we started to talk, and she was telling me about that, and she had gone, when I dated her, she was a relatively moral girl, and then after we broke up, she lost all her morality. And so I can still see her, we're sitting there talking. And she said to me, she said, well, Jeff, she said, you've had this experience with the Lord, but I just think God understands that we have desires and we have urges, and the Lord is okay with that because he just understands that we can't help it. I was like, yeah, he doesn't understand that. I mean, he understands you want to do that, but God is not like us. He is holy, holy, holy. And God is going to judge sin. And one of the things I've told you before, when I was in college, I studied the four spiritual laws written by Bill Bright, where it says, law number one, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Law number two, but man is a sinner and can't experience God's love and plan for his life. We must receive Christ as Savior in order to experience that and walk with him. Well, starting off with God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life is true, but it's not necessarily the best way to talk to somebody that doesn't know the Lord, because they can zone out after that. Oh, God loves me. He wants a wonderful plan for me. Well, I'll deal with him later because I got some other things I'm working on now, and I don't need to worry about anything because God loves me. Well, God does love you, but you are in the crosshairs of judgment because you're blowing God off.
Larry Nobles: So what about you? Are you right now under God's grace or in danger of God's judgment? If Jesus is the Lord and Savior of your life, when God looks upon you, he actually sees the righteousness of his son who never sinned, and he gave up his perfect life for you and me. If you have never sincerely asked Jesus to come into your heart and be your Lord and Savior, you can do that now by genuinely repenting of your sin and choosing to surrender your all to Jesus. He will come in, and you'll know it. Sincerely cry out to Him from your heart now and welcome the Savior in. Listen, to find out more about what that means now and for eternity, we invite you to go to fromhisheart.org, click the Why Jesus link to get you started on your authentic walk with the Lord. Will that mean you're perfect? No, not at all. Actually, the opposite. You'll become aware of the separation you've had between you and the Lord, and you'll strive to love him by loving others more and more and more. God bless you as you begin your walk with Jesus today. And please let us know how that walk is going. Click the contact us tab at fromhisheart.org. Pastor Jeff will be sure to get your email. Well, that's all of our time for today. I'm Larry Nobles, inviting you to be here tomorrow for part two of the lesson, Can Prayer Change God's Mind? Join Pastor Jeff Schreve on From His Heart on Friday as he speaks truth, love, and hope to a lost and a hurting world. And remember that no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Find out more at fromhisheart.org.