“He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.” Psalm 103:7
There are two basic ways we can know God—by His works or by His ways. You may ask, “As long as I know God, what difference does it make whether I know Him by His works or by His ways?” It actually makes all the difference in the world. When you desire to know God’s ways, as Moses did, it changes your approach to everyday life.
Moses prayed, “Let me know Your ways that I may know You” (Exodus 33:13). Moses knew God’s ways because he knew God’s nature. Israel, on the other hand, only knew God by what He did for them. And it seems God could never do enough because they were always grumbling and asking for another work. Even after seeing His works for forty years, they still didn’t know His ways (Hebrews 3:7–11).
If we’re not careful we can fall into a similar pattern. We start to think more about what we want God to do than about who He is. As long as our faith is tied to what we can see and feel we’ll only know God by His works. Rather than letting circumstances dictate our faith, we need to let faith dictate how we handle our circumstances. That’s what Moses did.
Moses prioritized getting alone in the presence of God to pray. But he didn’t pray for his circumstances to change; he prayed according to what he knew to be true about God (Exodus 32:11-14; 33:7). While the people complained about always eating manna and quail, Moses found peace in knowing God as their Provider. There’s a crucial truth here—those who know the ways of God know how to talk to God according to His ways.
Do you know the ways of God; or only His works? Remember, God’s ways are intrinsic to His nature. So instead of praying for your circumstances to change, pray the promises of God back to Him. What characteristic of God do you need in this moment? What name of God can you cling to in your present situation? Pray according to who God is, not how things are.