Prayer Fuel

Day 9: God’s Call to Moses

One of the primary ways God is drawing Muslims to Himself is through simple Bible studies that highlight passages of scripture from Creation through the Resurrection. The Waha app (https://waha.app/) contains many story sets that have been translated into dozens of languages. Throughout the 30 days we will pray through these story sets that reveal Jesus, the Word made flesh.

As you read these familiar passages, prayerfully imagine what it would be like to read them for the first time – to see the wisdom, power, beauty, and authority of God and to be drawn to trust in Christ and yield your allegiance to Him.

Pray for your people and place according to what God shows you for today’s scripture:

Exodus 2:23-25

And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

Exodus 3:1-14

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Exodus 7:1-5

And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

What this passage teaches us about God

God hears, He sees suffering, and He comes to end it at just the right time.

• Pray for those who are oppressed in this land to know that their sufferings are seen by God. Pray that they would have hope that He would intervene and for those circumstances to be used to ultimately bring them into a saving relationship with Him.
• Pray for oppressors in this land to repent. Pray they would not be like Pharaoh whose heart was hard, but that they would have Saul-to-Paul like conversion experiences.

What this passage teaches us about humanity

Moses’ obedience to God’s calling impacted an entire nation.

• Pray that God would raise up men and women in this land who would faithfully listen to the voice of God, and that it would bring about freedom from sin for multitudes in their nation.

• Pray that those who humble themselves in this land today, would be exalted and that God would humble those who exalt themselves over others.

Insight into how this passage connects to Muslims

This story shows us that the proof that God spoke through Moses was when the things that Moses spoke actually came to happen. Pray for Muslims to ponder the meaning of the word ‘prophet’. They claim to believe all of the prophets (including Abraham, Moses, Jesus) though most have never read their actual teachings in the Old Testament and New Testament. Pray for God to use believers to challenge this reality and for a curiosity to grow among Muslims all over this land to want to read what all of the prophets taught.

This hunger to know what the prophets truly taught can lead to life-changing encounters. Souad was a divorced woman who feared God and tried to practice Islam correctly. She raised her children to follow Islam. After they were grown and out of the house she bought several expensive Islamic books to do deep research. The further she went, the more doubt began to grow in her heart. She became curious about Jesus. Late one night, she fell on her knees and prayed. The room was filled with light and a voice spoke clearly, “I am He.” These were the same words in Arabic that she would later read in the New Testament- Jesus’ declaration of His divine identity. After she understood what the prophets taught about Him, she would choose to make Him her Lord and Savior.

Insight into how to pray this passage for Christians reaching Muslims in this location

Christians living among Muslim peoples, especially those who have chosen to follow Christ out of a Muslim background, often live in fear of persecution because of their faith.

• Pray that God’s promise of rescue, freedom, and hope in this story would thrill their hearts and stir them to act with boldness and agreement with all of His commands.
• Pray for Christians trying to serve Muslims by sharing the Good News of Jesus, despite the inadequacies they feel, to have a heart posture that says, “Here I am.”

Related scriptures to pray for this people

Two thousand years later, John 8:56-59 records Jesus saying to a group of religious leaders, “‘Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.'”

One religious leader said to Him, “You’re not yet 50 years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

This statement so outraged the religious leaders that they picked up stones to stone Him. He used the same title God used in this passage from Exodus 3 to declare who He is. Pray for Muslims in this land to have their eyes opened to the reality that Jesus is greater than Abraham, Moses, and all the prophets and that He came to set His people free – not just from Pharaoh, but from sin.