The Weight of Knowing Who You’re Waiting For
If the gathering of the presidents of the world asks you to wait on them, you would consider it more important than any other thing. If an enemy, someone you don’t know, or someone unprofitable to you asks you to wait for them, you may not consider it very important. If you are told that someone asked you to wait for them, you would like to know who the person is first. Knowing the name of the person will determine whether you are going to wait or not. So, let us search for God’s name to understand who is asking us to wait for Him through fasting and prayer. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of Your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, what is His name? what shall I say unto them (Exodus 3:13)?
Remember, Moses ran away from Egypt to save his life from Pharaoh. Now, someone whose name he didn’t know was telling him to go back to Egypt. In addition, this person told him to meet with Pharaoh, not just to return to Egypt. Another very important thing is that this person was going to become Israel’s source of deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 3:10-12).
Moses’ Dilemma: A Mission Worse Than Suicide
Moses had been in the palace for forty years and understood both Pharaoh and the Egyptians. They were very powerful, wicked, merciless, unforgiving, and could kill with no feeling of guilt. Pharaoh and the highest court of the Egyptians condemned Moses to death, and so they were looking for him to kill. Now, someone he didn’t know very well, whose name he didn’t even know, was saying he should return with an assignment to deliver an entire nation that was in bondage and was the source of the national economy. The only thing that made Moses give attention to this discussion was the encounter he had with the burning bush—the bush was on fire, but it was not consumed (Exodus 3:2, 13). Before Moses could accept such an assignment, which was worse than a suicide mission, he insisted on knowing the name of the person sending him. When God told Jacob to return to his father’s house while Esau was alive, Jacob also demanded to know His name (Genesis 32:9, 29).
The Importance of Knowing God Before Fasting
With these examples, it’s therefore good for you to know the name of the God who is asking you to wait on Him through fasting and prayer. The reason why many people who wait on God complain, grumble, become impatient, and wait in vain is that they don’t know God. It’s good to take time to study about God—who He is, what His names are, His attributes, and what He can do—before waiting on Him through prayer and fasting.
Knowing the Power and Authority of God Before Any Assignment
Moses didn’t move out to carry out the divine assignment until he discovered God’s name. He needed to know the name just in case the children of Israel asked him. This would help him and the children of Israel to know the power and authority of the one sending him. Likewise, you need to know the power and the authority behind the person who is asking you to wait on Him in prayer and fasting. People enter into ministry, business, and other ventures rashly without being sent or knowing who sent them. That’s why, when problems arise, they run up and down until the devil traps them with counterfeit help. It’s of no use waiting on someone who will not defend you in times of trouble. Moses knew the history of the Egyptians and the children of Israel in detail. He couldn’t just return to Egypt without assurance that the power and authority sending him back was greater than that of the Egyptians (Acts 7:21-22, 29-32). Most times, people decide to do things just by trial without assurance. It’s wrong to go into fasting without the assurance that your prayers will be answered