But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” (Numbers 13:31)
LORD, that is true: if we depend on our own strength we will not be able to do what you have asked of us. However, with your strength, your Holy Spirit, working in us we can do all things for you.
And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.” (Numbers 13:32)
Bring to repentance, Jesus, all those who give a bad report of your kingdom because they cannot live it in their own strength.
“There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:33)
Father, there are giants that we will be asked to subdue, but with the guidance and power of your Holy Spirit we can be like David and defeat them.
So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. (Numbers 14:1)
LORD, your people have been led to believe a lie: that living in your kingdom and doing things your way is not possible. Help us each day find your grace and strength to follow you.
And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!” (Numbers 14:2)
Jesus, so many of the leaders and teachers and people of the Episcopal Church have “gone back to Egypt” — they have embraced the ways of the world rather than your ways
“Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” (Numbers 14:3)
Holy Spirit, protect us from the lies of the world.
So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:4)
Jesus, the Episcopal Church has selected leaders who are leading us back to Egypt — have mercy on us.
Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. (Numbers 14:5)
Father, thank you for those faithful leaders who have never lost sight of your purposes.
But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.” (Numbers 14:6-9)
Jesus, your kingdom is good and your Holy Spirit is able to fill us and renew us for the task ahead. Only don’t let us rebel against your purposes.
And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel. (Numbers 14:10)
Father, manifest your glory among us and call us back to you and your purposes.
Then the Lord said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?” (Numbers 14:11)
LORD, when you show us your ways, help us respond to you.
“I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” And Moses said to the Lord: “Then the Egyptians will hear it, for by Your might You brought these people up from among them, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people; that You, Lord, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness.’ And now, I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, ‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’ Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” Then the Lord said: “I have pardoned, according to your word; but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord–” (Numbers 14:12-21)
Holy Spirit, raise up intercessors like Moses among us who will stand in the gap and plead for your people. Thank you.
“because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley; tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.” (Numbers 14:22-25
LORD, help us see the cost of our rebellion against you.
A word received: Seek my face. Seek me out. Seek my faithful presence in your life.
Saturday: 136; Num. 13:31-14:25; Romans 3:9-20; Matthew 19:1-12
Sunday: 19, 46; Num. 14:26-45; Acts 15:1-12; Luke 12:49-56
Notes from the Front Line
***** “The River is Here – Andy Park” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcxdSaxVP_E
Albany Intercessor
