TRANSFIGURATION PRAYER: Where Heaven Meets Here | Moses Teaches Us to INTERCEDE in Prayer | Convo #2

The story opens with Jesus radiant on a mountaintop, flanked by Moses and Elijah, while a voice from the cloud commands, “Listen to Him.” From that moment, we trace a surprising thread to the glory Moses once tasted on another mountain, a life of prayer that begins with knowing God and overflows into bold intercession for others.

In this episode, we walk through Moses’ journey from burning bush to parted sea to the daring request, “Now show me Your glory.” He had witnessed miracles, yet he wanted more than gifts; he wanted the Giver. That hunger changed him. When God proclaimed His Name and goodness, Moses came down shining, a living sign that prayer is not transactional but transformational. 

From mountain to mission, Moses came down to face the golden calf crisis. Instead of retreating or raging, Moses stood in the breach, reminding God of His promises and pleading for mercy. Moses is a beautiful example of what Paul reminded Timothy to do in prayer:  “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.” (1 Timothy 2:1).

Moses sets an example, but then we then lift our eyes beyond him to Jesus. On the Mount of Transfiguration, the prophets fade and the Son remains as the true Mediator "who always lives to intercede for us" (Hebrews 7:25). We explore what it means to join His ongoing ministry: carrying names into the throne room with promise-shaped prayers and returning to daily life with quiet radiance and steady courage. 

If your heart longs for a prayer life that bridges heaven and earth, this conversation invites you up the mountain in prayer and back into the valley with purpose. Listen, reflect, and share it with someone you’re standing in the gap for.  

This episode goes along with a coordinating devotion-driven discipleship guide at Moses Teaches Us to Intercede in Prayer.

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The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.

Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
When Moses met Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration,
he stood there talking with him,like an old friend.
Can you imagine that moment?
Peter, James, and John, theywere watching as Jesus' face
shone like the sun, as hisclothes turned dazzling white,

(00:25):
and all of a sudden, rightbeside him were Moses and Elijah
just talking to him.
What a sight that must havebeen.
Jesus shining in glory, justchatting with some old friends.
But for Moses, the thing is,this wasn't the first time that
he had stood on a mountaintalking with God.

(00:48):
In fact, he'd been on themountaintop talking to God many
times before.
He first met the Lord at theburning bush in the desert, and
he learned to hear the voice ofGod.
Eventually, that encounter ledhim to Mount Sinai, the mountain
where he met God face to face,received the law from the hands

(01:11):
of God Himself, and saw Godreveal himself in glory.
So now, fast forward, I don'tknow, a bunch of centuries.
We'll have to look up that exactnumber.
We see Moses standing with Jesuson the Mount of Transfiguration.
It's almost as if he's pickingup the conversation where they'd

(01:32):
left off centuries prior.
Talking with the Lord was a wayof life for Moses.
That's how he lived once he sethis heart to know God.
That's where he began, was withthe desire to know God.
And friends, that's where wewant to begin today as well.

(01:52):
Because before prayer is aboutasking for ourselves or for all
those that God has entrusted tous, prayer is first about
knowing the God whom we'reasking.
Before prayer is about us, it'sabout him.
So hello, welcome.
My name is Tasha, and welcome tothe Family Disciple Me Ministry.

(02:16):
Our goal as a ministry issimple.
We want to seek him, speak him.
That means that we want to spendtime meeting with God and then
turning around and making himknown to those entrusted to us.
This is what we calldevotion-driven discipleship.
So everything that we do is notjust about saying, here, go have

(02:40):
some devotions.
As amazing, as important as thatis, everything we do is about
saying, go have your devotions,spend time with God, and now go
tell someone else who'sentrusted to you.
So with that, in this newconversation collection that
we're calling TransfigurationPrayer, today we're going up the

(03:03):
mountain of prayer together, andwe're going to continue learning
what God wants to show us thereon that mountain.
And today we're starting withMoses, the man who prayed to
God.
Now show me your glory.
Then the man who stood in thegap for God's people when they
fell away.

(03:24):
You see, Moses is our model forintercession.
Moses' prayer life shows us howto seek God's glory and then
stand in the gap for others.
Now, when Moses prayed in Exodus33, verse 18, saying, Now show
me your glory.
He had already seen God'smiracles.

(03:45):
He had seen, well, let's try tocount some of them.
He had seen the Red Sea part.
He'd seen their deliverance fromEgypt.
He had seen manna fall.
He had seen water come from therock.
Moses had seen a lot ofmiracles.
But thing is, he wasn't contentwith that.
He didn't just want miracles.
He wanted more of God Himself.

(04:05):
Moses was a man who prayed forGod's presence.
He specifically asked God forthat.
And listen to how the Lordresponded to him.
The Lord answered, I will causeall my goodness to pass in front
of you, and I will proclaim myname, the Lord, in your

(04:26):
presence.
How amazing is that! Moses sawthe glory of God.
And when he came down from thatmountain, his face was radiant
because he had been with God.
And friend, that's what happensto us when we truly seek the
Lord.
His presence changes us from theinside out, and we start to

(04:48):
reflect his light, his glory tothe world around us.
Thing is, before Moses everstood in the gap for others, he
first stood in the presence ofGod for himself.
And that's where it must startfor us as well.
This hunger to know God, itbecame the wellspring of

(05:10):
everything else that Moses did.
You see, here we go.
True intimacy always birthsintercession.
I'm going to say that again.
True intimacy always birthsintercession.
Prayer that reveals that kind ofglory.
It's not just transactional,it's transformational.

(05:32):
And that's what I believe weexperience on the Mount of
Transfiguration with Jesus.
Prayer is where transformationmeets transfiguration.
We go up the mountain, we go tothat secret place so that we can
be in God's presence.
And then when we come down,others can see Jesus in us and

(05:53):
through us.
Thing is, Moses didn't just stayon that mountain, he came down
into real life.
And isn't that true for all ofus?
We can have these amazingworship moments, but then we
have to step back into therealities of our lives.
And when Moses came down fromthe mountain where he received

(06:13):
the law from the hand of GodHimself, Moses was smacked in
the face with what he saw infront of him with the people.
Once he stepped off thatmountain holding the
commandments, he saw the chaos.
The people, they were dancingaround a golden calf.
They were breaking theircovenant relationship with God

(06:35):
before you could say, before thestone tablets had even cooled.
But this is where Moses teachesus something so important.
This is where he teaches us tointercede.
You see, intercession, it's notjust a formula, it's not just a
fancy kind of prayer.
Intercession is an overflow thatcomes out of friendship with

(06:58):
God.
Because once we've seen hisglory, then we begin to carry
his heart.
Listen to what God's word saysin Exodus chapter 32, verse 11
through 14.
It says, Moses sought the favorof the Lord his God, and he
interceded, turn from yourfierce anger, relent and do not

(07:19):
bring disaster on your people.
Remember your servants, Abraham,Isaac, and Israel.
Then the Lord relented and didnot bring on his people the
disaster he had threatened.
You see, Moses stood in the gap.
He became a breach mind to usethe old English.

(07:40):
He was the person who held theline in prayer between a holy
God and a sinful people.
Moses reminded God of hispromises.
He carried God's mercy to thosewho had forgotten it, to those
who didn't even necessarily careabout it anymore.
Moses became the bridge betweenheaven and earth.

(08:01):
I love how the book of Psalmsremembers what happened.
Psalm 106, verse 23 tells us soGod said he would destroy them,
had not Moses, his chosen one,stood in the breach before him
to keep his wrath fromdestroying them.
The breach was the gap, theunpassable distance between God

(08:27):
and man.
And Moses stood in that place inprayerful intercession.
I feel emotional right nowbecause I think about who I am
standing in the gap for.
And perhaps the fact that is myprayers of intercession that is

(08:47):
creating that bridge between aholy God and a person who needs
it so much.
And sometimes I give up inprayer, sometimes I get tired in
prayer.
Sometimes I wonder if my prayersare ever going to be answered.
And yet, when I look at whatMoses teaches me in prayer, I

(09:10):
see that intercession stands inthe gap.
And for whatever reason that Ican't explain, God listens to
those kinds of prayers.
He listened to that prayer thatMoses prayed on behalf of the
nation of Israel.
This, my friend, is the legacyof intercession.

(09:32):
And it's not just Moses' story,it's our invitation too.
In First Timothy chapter 2,verse 1, Paul wrote, I urge
then, first of all, that thepetitions, prayers,
intercession, and thanksgivingbe made for all people.

(09:53):
That's Moses' heart ofintercession captured for us,
the body of Christ, a life, aprayerful life that presses into
God for others, a life thatloves deeply, that prays boldly,
that faithfully stands in thebreach, in the gap.
Maybe today God is calling youto stand in the gap for someone.

(10:19):
Maybe it's your child, maybeit's your spouse, maybe it's
your friend, or maybe it's ournation, or maybe it's your
church, or maybe it's yourfamily, maybe it's your
neighbors down the street.
Don't underestimate what canhappen when you pray.
Because here's the thing whenyou've been in God's presence,
when you've seen his glory, youbegin to carry his heart and

(10:43):
reflect his mercy, and that iswhat fuels true intercession.
So, friend, I encourage you tospend some time with the Lord
today.
I challenge you to consider thetruths that we learn from Moses'
example in prayer.
And I have to say, there are somany things we can learn from

(11:05):
Moses' example in prayer.
We're just scratching thesurface with what I'm saying
here.
But as we begin to look at him,we understand prayer just a
little bit better than perhapswe did before.
And then here's where we go fromthere, because as we look at
Moses' example, then we lookpast him to the greater one, the

(11:28):
greatest one.
And that is the God of prayer.
We look past Moses and we seeJesus.
And there on the mountain oftransfiguration, we see Jesus
and we hear God's voice saythrough the cloud and speak to
Peter, James, and John, as theywere saying, Hey, let's just
stay here and worship all ofyou.

(11:50):
Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, Godspoke through and he said, This
is my son whom I love.
Listen to him.
In that moment when God spoke,Moses and Elijah, they faded
from view.
And that's the moment that werealize.
As powerful as Moses' story is,as powerful as the others'

(12:14):
stories are, which we'll look atin the days to come, these are
always pointing us toward Jesusbecause get this, he is the
greatest intercessor, the onewho lives forever to make
intercession for us, Scripturesays.
So when we learn from Moses tointercede, we're really learning

(12:38):
to follow the pattern of Christ,the one who stands before the
Father on your behalf, on mybehalf, the one who bridges that
gap between God and us so thatwe can have a real relationship
with God Almighty.
He is our model and he is ourmediator.

(13:01):
So, friend, as you go today,here's my challenge for you.
May the glory that Moses soughtand the mercy that he carried
back into his life, the chaos ofhis life, may that become the
rhythm of your own prayer life.
I challenge you today to spendsome time in the accompanying

(13:23):
devotion-driven discipleshipguide.
Spend some time with Jesus andask him what he wants to say to
you about intercessory prayer.
Ask God to show you whichscripture he wants to highlight
for your life, how he wants toteach you more about prayer
through Moses' example, what hewants to say to you as you build

(13:46):
deeper, real relationship withhim, whom he wants you to pray
for like never before.
Then once you seek him in yourown life, I hope and pray that
you'll speak him into the lifeof someone that he's entrusted
to you.
If you have little children,perhaps you could tell them just
a little bit about the story ofMoses.

(14:07):
Explain to them what it means tointercede.
Talk to them about howintercessory prayer stands in
the gap between God and man andtalks to God on behalf of
someone else.
Kids get that.
Maybe if you have a teenager,you can talk more deeply about
intercessory prayer.
And you can make a commitmentwith your teenager or teenagers

(14:31):
to specifically intercede forsomeone in your family.
Or maybe you don't havechildren, but you have a friend
who's struggling, and you canspeak him by inviting that
friend into this transfigurationprayer conversation collection
with you.
And each day along the way inthis series, invite them to pray

(14:54):
with you about whatever theparticular prayer point is for
that day.
There's so many ways that we canseek him, speak him.
But my friend, my prayer for youis that you'll spend time with
God and you'll seek him with thesame hunger that Moses had, that
same hunger that says, Now showme your glory, and then turns

(15:18):
around and speaks him with thesame courage that Moses had,
standing in the gap for others.
And above all, may your eyes befixed on Jesus, the one who
reveals God's glory so perfectlyand still lives to intercede for
us, for us completely.

(15:41):
Go in that peace, go in thatconfidence.
Now go back on up that mountainof prayer and spend some time
with him today.
I'll see you in the nextepisode.