The Fourth Great Question
Read more in this series: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4
Asking Better Questions
To get better answers, we have to ask a better questions. This is true in every area of life, and it is especially true when it comes to difficult circumstances. When life hurts, do we raise our fists to heaven and demand to know why, or are there questions that might lead to better answers?
Recap Question 1 - “Who is God?”
If I am god, then everything exists to serve me. If Jesus is God, then everything exists to serve Him. And if that’s the case, then no matter what happens in my life, I must approach it with humility. I am a guest in His realm; I am a servant created by Him to do His work.
Recap Question 2 - “What do I do with what God has given me?”
The answer is, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Fruitfulness and multiplication is man’s original function. Our primary task when we are in right relationship with God is to multiply the good in what we have been given.
Recap Question 3 - “What is God preserving?”
One of the ways God preserves life is by pruning (John 15:1-2). When a branch is cut off a plant, all the remaining branches become healthier. The branch may be gone, but the energy is preserved. The plant takes that energy and redistributes it to the other branches. If we submit and allow our lives to be pruned, the Holy Spirit will preserve and enrich our salvation. (Galatians 5:16-17)
Branches on the Vine
When we submit to God’s pruning, we grow healthier. As branches are cut away, the tree that remains takes on the shape He intends. Soon, fewer branches have to be removed, and the branches that remain can be trained to grow in the right direction.
Psalm 32:8 ESV - I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Through pruning, we begin to understand what is good, acceptable, and pleasing to our Creator. As we become familiar with God’s ways, we can anticipate His will. We know what kind of fruit He likes and which way He wants us to grow. We become aware of which branches are healthy— and in that, we also recognize which branches need to be cut away.
For clarity, a branch is anything we have invested in. If we’ve poured time, money, energy, thought, or any other kind of resource into it, it’s a branch. So far we’ve been talking about pruning from the standpoint of branches that grow from us. But we are all branches from the true vine—Jesus Christ.
John 15:5-6 ESV - I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
Jesus has invested heavily in us. He created us, breathed life into us, and gave His life for us. He offers us the Holy Spirit. He offers us His word. In fact, the Bible says that every good and perfect gift comes from Him:
James 1:17 ESV - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father...
John 10:25,30 ESV - Jesus answered them, “…I and the Father are one.”
On the vine of Jesus Christ, people are the branches. Some bear good fruit, some bear dull fruit, some bear no fruit, and some are dead. And just like God prunes each of us, God also prunes the vine of Jesus Christ so that what remains may be healthy, fruitful, and good.
This leads to a sobering realization. Anyone who does not abide in Christ is in grave danger. There are eternal souls at stake.
That’s why we must intercede.
The Fourth Question - “Will You Have Mercy?”
When Moses went up on the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments from the Lord, it wasn’t just an afternoon stroll. Exodus 24 says he was on the mountain for forty days.
During that time, the people grew fearful and insecure. They told Aaron to forge them a golden calf out of the treasure they had plundered from Egypt. They worshipped their new idol as a substitute for the God who had delivered them. Their behavior was utterly depraved and rebellious.
Exodus 32 gives us the details. As God and Moses were wrapping up their meeting, God looked down at the people and told Moses what He saw:
Exodus 32:7-10 ESV - And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”
Do you realize the weight of what God said here? He was ready to cut off the entire nation of Israel and start over again with Moses, and He could have done it. He had just proven His power against the Egyptians. Centuries earlier He had given a child to Abraham and Sarah when they were well advanced in years—creating a new nation from one man would be easy for Him.
It might have happened, but Moses interceded.
Exodus 32:11-14 ESV - But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord… Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
Moses asked the Lord the fourth question. In the face of one of the most blatant acts of rebellion recorded in the Bible, Moses got on his face before the Lord and asked, “Will you have mercy?”
It's an incredible question. It's a bold question. We are little more than plants, and God is the Master Gardener—yet, when we ask this question, we are asking Him to listen to us.
Fortunately, we have a Savior who sympathizes with us. Jesus—the Vine—loves us so much that He intercedes on behalf of the branches. We can confidently and boldly ask God for mercy, because mercy is His desire.
Romans 8:34 ESV - Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Hebrews 4:15-16 ESV - For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hosea 6:6 ESV - For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
We can boldly ask God for mercy knowing we’re asking Him for something He wants to give.
But if we’re going to intercede, we need to know exactly what it is that we’re committing to.
Intercession is More Than Just Prayer
Did you know there are different kinds of prayer?
1 Timothy 2:1 ESV - First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people…
If all prayer was the same, why would Paul list supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings? That would be like saying, “Prayers, prayers, prayers, and prayers.”
There are different kinds of prayers, and if we’re going to intercede, it’s important for us to know what that means.
Supplication means begging. It involves a sense of desperation.
“God, please have mercy on Joe. Please make a way for him to find healing and forgiveness.”
Prayer in this context is more conversational. It’s about discussing the object of your prayers with the Father and focusing on the value.
“Lord, Joe has gone through a lot of pain, and he’s hurting. He needs your help. He is a great leader and he has a kind heart. I know if you would help him, he could help a lot of people. He would be a good investment. Please consider showing mercy to him.”
Intercession takes prayer to a whole new level. Intercession means getting involved. It means desiring mercy so much that you’re willing to get in the way of the knife.
“God, I know you’re about to prune that branch, and I understand why it needs to be pruned, but I’m asking you for mercy. If you have to prune, prune me instead. And if you will show mercy, then I will bear the weight. I will invest the energy required so that your decision to show mercy bears fruit.”
Moses didn’t just pray. He got involved. His personal account in Deuteronomy 9:16-21 says he lay prostrate before the Lord begging for mercy, blocking the Lord from pouring out wrath on Israel. He fasted, prayed, begged for forgiveness, and even tore down the idol and ground it into dust.
Jesus didn’t just pray. He got involved.
Romans 5:7-9 ESV - For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
That’s intercession.
The God of Resurrection & Renewal
Asking God for mercy means asking Him to restore life to a dead branch. It means asking Him to pour more life into the branches that are bearing dull fruit or that aren’t bearing any fruit at all.
Fortunately, this is right up God’s alley.
We serve the God of Resurrection. Jesus came so that we might have life, and life more abundantly. He died on the cross and was resurrected so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
We serve the God who looks at the heart. Where we see dead branches, He sees life waiting to flow. Where we see fruitless branches, He sees blossoms waiting to bloom. Where we see dull fruit, He sees fruit that just needs a little more time to be ripe.
The decision is God’s. Just because we ask for mercy doesn’t mean He has to show it. He is good, but He is also just. He’s the one with the knife, not us. He sees the whole vine where we see but a part. We have to honor His decision, whatever that may be.
But if we will ask the fourth question—if we will ask God for mercy—we will attune our hearts to His. In mercy we know kindness, and when we are willing to lay it all on the line through intercession, we know love.
John 15:13 ESV - Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Asking God for Mercy
Maybe you’re reading this and you realize you need mercy from the Father. Maybe you feel like a fruitless branch, or even a dead one.
Jesus has already given you mercy through His death and resurrection; all you have to do is receive it.
If you’re ready to receive Christ as your Savior, say this prayer out loud:
“Jesus, I’ve been living without you, and it’s not working. I am so sorry. I need your mercy. I believe you died and rose again to save me from my sins. You’ve offered me forgiveness, and I accept. You are the Lord of my life, and I fully surrender to you. Fill me with the Holy Spirit and teach me to live according to your will.”