Mediators
You are an ambassador of heaven. You hear that, and what comes to mind? Missions to foreign nations? Reaching out for Christ in your community? Often when thinking of our ambassadorial role we think of all the way in which we are outreaching on behalf of God to people. Moses, however, modeled a very different kind of ambassador role. He ALSO reached on to God on behalf of people. Praying for others! Part of being an ambassador is this others-centered prayer.
“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. Exodus 32:9-14
He wasn't the only one to model this facet of our ambassador role. Abraham modeled it long before Moses when he pleaded with God not to destroy Sodom.
Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”
“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”
Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”
He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”
Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”
He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”
Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” Genesis 18:23-32
With the coming of Christ, the interceding to God on behalf of people did not stop. In fact, Christ solidified this need as part of our function as Heaven's ambassadors in the way the He modeled praying for us. Several times Christ is recorded as praying to God on behalf of those He was with.
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”Luke 22:31-32
"I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours” John 17:9
Even now, we are told that Christ continues to perform that mediator role as our intercessor.
Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:34
As modern-day Moseses we are called to meet God on the mountaintop. This mountain top may look like a prayer closet, a desk, a back porch, or wherever you engage with God during your quiet time. In this place, we are to soak up God's words and instructions. We pursue with a hunger more of who He is and draw nearer in that direct relationship in which we hear from Him. Where we no longer hear about Him but have our own experiences of Him in our life allow us to know Him personally. Not only are we called to bring the good news of God (His transformative and redemptive power that is paid for and ready to work in our lives) to people, but we are also called to bring our petitions and intercessions on behalf of those who are unreached or those in our lives who don't yet know Him to God. As ambassadors on the earth, we use our prayers as strategic targeting for the kingdom of God.
The modern political role of an ambassador requires much international communication. These individuals are constantly communicating on behalf of his or her home nation. They also, however, act as messenger and reporter from the foreign nation, monitoring events, communicating what is happening in that location, and reporting the results of their efforts. When we see things going awry in earth (our “foreign assignment”), our job is to contact God in heaven (our “home nation”) in the form of prayer. Take some time each day this week to not only pray for those in your life or community who need to be reached by Christ but to also pray for the unreached peoples around the world. I challenge you to not just let your prayer be for God to reach them but to also ask God how you can partner with Him in becoming part of the solution. Be both the prayer and the answer to it in whatever ways you are called.