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Rest and Renewal

The Quiet Before the Cross

“And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.” — Matthew 21:17, NASB

As the weight of the world’s sin drew closer to His shoulders, Yeshua did something unexpected.

He walked away.

After a long day of ministry in Jerusalem—cleansing the Temple, healing the blind and lame, teaching with fire, and confronting the religious elite—He didn’t stay in the city to strategize or gather a following. He didn’t perform miracles that night. He didn’t organize defenses against the coming betrayal.

Instead, He returned to Bethany.

“And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.” (Matthew 21:17, NASB)

There is no record of teaching that night. No dramatic events. No great signs or wonders. Just rest.

A Place of Refuge

Bethany, a village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, had become a place of refuge for Yeshua. It was the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus—people who loved Him deeply and received Him without condition. He had recently raised Lazarus from the dead there (John 11). A supper had been hosted in His honor. Mary had anointed His feet with costly perfume, weeping in worship (John 12:1–8). These were not crowds—these were covenant friends.

And so, the King of Glory, knowing the time of suffering was near, sought shelter in communion.

He wasn’t escaping the cross. He was preparing for it.

He wasn’t retreating in fear. He was abiding in love.

Resting in Bethany

This quiet evening is often skipped in Holy Week reflections. Yet it holds a treasure for those who are willing to pause.

Yeshua chose stillness.

Yeshua chose rest.

Yeshua chose presence.

Before enduring agony, He spent time in peace. Before sweating blood in Gethsemane, He dwelled in the comfort of friends. This wasn’t laziness—it was obedient stillness. This was the posture of trust.

“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10, NASB)

“In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15, NASB)

We are not stronger than our Savior. If He needed rest, so do we. If He withdrew to be with those who honored the presence of God, so should we.

Application for Today

How often do we walk into battles without stopping in Bethany?

How many times have we tried to carry tomorrow’s cross with today’s strength?

We live in a culture that glorifies motion—more work, more action, more content, more noise. But God doesn’t anoint noise. He anoints nearness. He empowers those who kneel before Him. He strengthens those who rest at His feet.

Bethany teaches us that we don’t fight spiritual battles by charging ahead—we win them by abiding first.

So where is your Bethany?

Who are your Marys and Marthas—those who help you press into God’s presence?

Are you resting before you’re running?

Or striving before you’re still?

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In stillness You waited, O Lord of Light,
Where the faithful whispered and lamps burned bright.
No throne, no crowd, no crown of acclaim—
Just love in the shadows, and peace in Your name.

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Prayer

Father, teach me to return to Bethany.

When pressure rises and battles loom, call me into stillness. Let me sit at Your feet like Mary. Let me serve in love like Martha. Let me believe like Lazarus, who once lay dead but now lives by Your word.

I do not want to run ahead of You—I want to rest in You. I want to hear Your heartbeat before I face the cross You’ve called me to carry.

Help me become a person of Your presence.

In the name of Yeshua, my Rest and my Redeemer,

Amen.

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Prayers

Teach Us to Pray Like Moses

There are prayers born in silence, and there are prayers born in fire. Psalm 90 is the latter—a cry formed in the wilderness, where time stretches long and life is stripped bare. It is the prayer of a prophet who stood between a holy God and a sinful people. Teach us to pray like Moses—to stand where heaven meets earth, trembling, yet unshaken—rooted in the eternal.

This is no shallow prayer. It does not begin with man’s needs, but with God’s nature. It does not hide sin—it exposes it. It does not rush—it waits. It asks not merely for relief, but for wisdom, mercy, and eternal fruitfulness. If you would learn to pray like Moses, you must learn to pray in the shadow of eternity.

1. Anchor Your Heart in God’s Timelessness

“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.” (Psalm 90:1, NASB)

The prayer of Moses begins with God as home. Before requests are made, worship rises. This is the foundation of true prayer—not panic, but praise. Moses teaches that God has always been the refuge of His people. He is not distant. He is not new. He is ancient, tried, and sure.

To pray like Moses, begin not with your fears but with the faithfulness of the Lord. Name His past works. Remember His unshakable presence. When you pray, let your soul rest in the truth that God is your dwelling place, generation to generation.

2. Exalt the God Who Was Before All Things

“Before the mountains were born…from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” (Psalm 90:2, NASB)

Moses speaks from the heights of revelation. He exalts the eternality of God—the truth that God existed before time and will exist beyond its end. This is not poetic flourish—it is spiritual clarity.

Prayer that moves heaven begins in awe. God is not a helper to summon; He is the I AM, the eternal One. To pray like Moses is to place your temporal worries into the hands of the One who reigns outside of time. This perspective reshapes the heart.

3. Embrace the Brevity of Life and the Need for Humility

“You turn mortals back into dust…a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday.” (Psalm 90:3–4, NASB)

Moses teaches us that prayer must be honest. We are dust. We fade. The God who made us knows our limits. In His eyes, generations pass like a breath.

To pray like Moses is to pray with humble clarity. It is to lay down pride, confess our frailty, and recognize the urgency of each passing day. This does not lead to despair—but to deeper dependence. For when we acknowledge our limits, we throw ourselves wholly upon the mercy of the limitless One.

4. Bring Sin into the Light

“You have placed our guilty deeds before You, our hidden sins in the light of Your presence.” (Psalm 90:8, NASB)

There is no hiding in the light of God. Moses knew this. He saw how sin kindled God’s righteous anger and how only confession and intercession could stay His hand.

To pray like Moses is to bring every hidden thing into the open. No excuses. No diversions. Only raw truth before a holy God. And yet this is not the end—it is the beginning of restoration. For God desires truth in the inward parts, and He covers the repentant in mercy.

5. Ask for Wisdom in a Wasting World

“So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12, NASB)

This is the great cry of the psalm—the centerpiece of the prayer. Life is short. Troubles are many. So what does Moses ask for? Not more time, but wisdom. Not longer years, but a heart rightly ordered before God.

To pray like Moses is to ask God to teach you the value of each day, to walk in purpose, to waste nothing. It is to exchange shallow living for eternal vision.

6. Cry Out for Mercy and Satisfaction in God

“Satisfy us in the morning with Your graciousness, that we may sing for joy and rejoice all our days.” (Psalm 90:14, NASB)

Here the tone turns. Moses, who beheld plagues and wonders, who endured rebellion and wrath, knows where true joy is found. Not in victory, not in ease—but in God’s steadfast love.

To pray like Moses is to ask for mercy daily, to rise with a cry for soul satisfaction in the presence of God. This is the prayer that sustains in desert places. This is the joy that outlives sorrow.

7. Intercede for God’s Glory to Be Revealed Again

“Let Your work appear to Your servants and Your majesty to their children.” (Psalm 90:16, NASB)

Moses does not end his prayer with himself. He looks ahead—to the next generation. He pleads for the glory of God to be seen afresh, for His power to move once more among His people.

To pray like Moses is to labor in intercession, to yearn for God’s majesty to awaken the hearts of children and grandchildren. It is to believe that the God who parted the sea can still move mountains today.

8. Ask God to Establish What Only He Can

“Confirm for us the work of our hands; yes, confirm the work of our hands.” (Psalm 90:17, NASB)

At last, Moses asks for lasting fruit. He does not want empty toil. He wants labor made eternal by the hand of God.

To pray like Moses is to cry out: “Make it count, Lord.” Let the work of my life—however small—be sealed with Your favor. Establish it. Breathe on it. Let it echo into eternity.

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O God who dwells where time has no end,
Establish the path where Your servants bend.
Teach us to walk with hearts made wise,
And let Your glory fill our skies.

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Prayer

O Lord, our dwelling place in every generation, teach us to pray like Moses. Let our prayers rise in reverence, shaped by eternity and rooted in truth. Help us confess what You already see, to number our days, and to walk wisely. Satisfy us each morning with Your mercy, and let our work endure by Your hand. May Your glory rest upon us and shine through us. In the name of Yeshua our Messiah, we pray. Amen.

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See Also

Personal Holiness

The Journey of Sanctification

Becoming Like Yeshua

“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.”
—2 Peter 1:5–7 (NASB)

The journey of sanctification is the sacred path every believer must walk. This is not a casual stroll, nor is it a sprint—it is a lifelong ascent toward holiness, where the Spirit of God leads us from glory to glory. Yeshua did not die just to forgive your sins. He rose again to make you new. And that new life isn’t stagnant—it grows, transforms, and becomes like Him.

Peter’s words are a divine blueprint. He tells you to apply all diligence—to engage your whole heart. Faith is your foundation, but it must not stand alone. Add to your faith moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. These are not random traits; they are steps on the staircase of sanctification. Each virtue lays the groundwork for the next. As you climb, you grow stronger in the Spirit and embark on the journey of sanctification to reflect Yeshua more clearly.

The journey is not easy. Holiness never is. But it is the call of every disciple. “But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior” (1 Peter 1:15, NASB). This holiness is not outward show—it is inner transformation. It flows from the throne of God and floods every corner of your life: your thoughts, your desires, your words, your responses.

The Vine and the Branches

Imagine a branch connected to a living vine. It doesn’t strain to bear fruit; it simply abides. As long as it remains attached, the life of the vine flows freely, producing fruit in its season. But when a branch cuts itself off, it withers—lifeless, powerless, fruitless.

“I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
—John 15:5 (NASB)

Sanctification flows from abiding. You cannot manufacture holiness through effort alone. It is born in intimacy with Yeshua. The more you remain in Him, the more His life fills yours. And what begins in secret—prayer, surrender, Scripture—becomes visible fruit: love, patience, purity, humility.

Beloved, the journey of sanctification will cost you everything—and it will give you more than you can imagine. It will strip away pride, expose wounds, and challenge comfort. But in exchange, you receive the treasure of a holy life, the joy of communion with God, and the power to overcome the world.

Keep climbing. Keep adding. The Lord is forming Christ in you. And when He appears, you will see Him as He is—because you will be like Him (1 John 3:2).

Prayer

Father, take us deeper on the journey of sanctification. We do not want shallow roots or fruitless branches—we want to bear the image of Your Son. Teach us to abide, to obey, and to grow. Shape us with every step. Let faith grow into virtue, virtue into knowledge, knowledge into self-control, and so on until love overflows in us. Holy One, guide us through the journey of sanctification to make us holy. In the name of Yeshua, amen.

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See Also