At Gethsemane Christ prayed, “With you Father all things are possible.” But He also prayed, “Not My will but Yours be done.” It was possible to change what would happen, but Christ went to the cross knowing it was the will of the Father. In another example Moses contended with God for Israel and changed God’s plan for destruction. Why were these prayers effective in determining the will of God? They were prayed in the presence of God, and they proved, confirmed, and verified His will. Our faith that all things are possible will be effective when we do the same.

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Show Notes:

At Gethsemane Christ prayed, “Father, with You all things are possible,” and we have to realize that anything, including not going to the cross, could have happened from that place. He also prayed, “Nevertheless, Your will be done.” And once God applied His will and determination to how salvation would manifest, there were no other possibilities. Christ could not have done anything but go to the cross if He wanted to accomplish salvation.

Moses also, when He contended in God’s presence for Israel, was in that place where all things were possible. Even though God had said, “I am going to destroy this people and bring forth a new people from you,” the course God was on was not unchangeable at that point. Therefore, Moses intervened from that place of endless possibilities, and God changed from His intent and something different happened. We also see that Jonah said Nineveh would be destroyed. However, all things were still possible because the actions of the people in their repentance resulted in a completely different outcome.

Therefore, we cannot look at what is happening today and decide that the planned destruction, even if it is prophesied in the Bible, is inevitable. Our intercession and the actions of people can cause a different outcome. So we cannot be praying from a place where it is too late, when the course of action is unchangeable. We need to be interceding now, like Moses did, like Christ did, in the presence of the Father, proving out His will in order to create the future that God wants.

Key Verses:

• Mark 14:32–36. “Father! All things are possible for You; … yet not what I will, but what You will.”
• Mark 9:22–23. “All things are possible to him who believes.”
• Exodus 32:11–14. “The LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.”
• Jonah 3:5–10. “God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared.”
• Matthew 24:21–22. “For the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”
• Mark 13:19–20. “Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved.”
• Romans 12:1–2. “Prove what the will of God is.”
• Exodus 33:7-11. “Whenever Moses entered the tent … the LORD would speak with Moses.”

Quotes:

• “There are times when we face the reality that all things are not set. They’re not cast in stone. And it’s this level of prayer that I think God’s trying to draw us into. But I think there’s a presence, there’s a place we have to come into for that to be effective.”
• “It’s very much like Nineveh. God had a plan. He was going to destroy Nineveh. All of a sudden, He hears their repentance; He comes and says, “I relent.” From the moment He relents, the proposed future doesn’t happen.”
• “I don’t want to see us come to the doorstep that no flesh will be saved alive. I want to see that changed. I want to see it cut short. I want to see His will proven out that His people are chosen; they’re blessed; they have the land forever—that Christ comes and establishes His Kingdom in a timely manner before the earth suffers judgments and destruction that are not necessary to go through.”

Takeaways:

1. We see examples of where it appears as though the will of God had not been set, and therefore man’s intervention was able to be a part or the whole of determining what God ended up doing. So we do not know at this point what things are absolutely solidified in the will of God and what things are still existing in a realm of possibilities. And I think that we have to be very focused in our intercession to find that out.
2. We need to pray with the force of our hearts in that place as Christ was, knowing the Father’s will and proving His will, and knowing how much of what is before us is already determined in the unmovable will of God and how much is yet to be determined. Otherwise, we will find ourselves fighting against God.
3. When Moses prayed, he went to the tent of meeting where he engaged with God face to face. When Christ taught us to pray, He taught us the same principle. He said to go into the presence of the Father to pray. It is before His face where we contend for His will and ask in faith for all things that are possible to those who believe.

Resources:

1. Help Israel Now | Interviews From Israel