Promise 16 from Numbers 14:19-20

Numbers 14: 19-20 - "'Pardon I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your loving kindness. Just as you also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.' So the Lord said, 'I have pardoned them according to your word.'" - Moses is an amazing man. Just at the time he is on his face in despair because the people of Israel were ready to call forth a new leader and head back to Egypt, out of fear that they would be slaughtered in the promised land, God showed up. God wanted to smite them all down and just raise up a nation from Moses' line. You would think in his despair, Moses would say, "Please smite them all, get rid of my pain." But he doesn't, God's honour and reputation was much more important to him. So, for the sake of defending God's name, he asks for the people to be forgiven. I don't think God pardoned the people out of fear of what the Egyptians and Amaleks would say about Him, but out of His love and respect for Moses, the one He talks to face to face as a friend. Moses draws upon God's loving-kindness in his plea; not to use it as a pawn, but because he knows it is the character of God, more so than the character to destroy the people. He knows his God, he knows His love and His compassion, he knows God's true heart for His people, so that is what he calls down into the situation and the people are pardoned. When we pray for others, we need to call down the character of God into the situation; verbalising kingdom truth and God's character into it. We need to call out what we know about God, not just what we "hope" to see from Him. God responds to those who stand in faith and believe in what they 'know' is true of Him.