Intercessioin Is a Spiritual Gift

 

C. Peter Wagner shares with us that "Intercession is not one of the 25 spiritual gifts mentioned specifically as gifts in the New Testament.

But, like the gift of exorcism, I believe it should be added to the list.

When I talk about this to pastors, they almost invariably tell me that in their congregations are certain people whom they and others openly recognize as having a special prayer ministry, over and above that of the average person. (Google image)

#71 Your Prayer Controls Your Work

   Dr. Wesley L. Duewel: As a leader your usefulness is dependent upon your prayer. Nothing brings more blessing and effectiveness as you visit your people.

   Nothing puts more of the seal of God upon you before the community. Nothing does more to win the hearts of your people or give you more spiritual stature and respected leadership than your prayer life. Google image, Lessons on prayer.)

#20 We can be Saved from Prayerlessness

 Wesley L. Duewel: "Chadwick has written, 'It would seem as if the biggest thing in God's universe is a man who prays. There is only one thing more amazing, that is, that man, knowing this, should not pray.'
(Samuel Chadwick, The Path of Prayer [Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 1931],11-12)

Lord, make us giants in prayer! Prayerlessness is the sin of the casual Christian. The absence of truly prevailing prayer is the sin of many praying Christians. Thank God, there is a way to a life of prayer and empowerment through prayer.

We must have an entirely new relationship to Jesus. Says Andrew Murray, 

    'It is vain for us, with our defective spiritual life, to
     endeavor to pray more or better. It is an impossibility.'
     (Andrew Murray, The Prayer Life [Chicago: Moody, n.d.], 31)

We must see Jesus as the Lord who waits to save us from prayerlessness. We must believe Him for a new life of closer fellowship with Him, a life in His love and communion beyond anything that we have known thus far.

Jesus longs to save you from a defective spiritual life and a defective prayer life. He must become more personally real to you. You must value His infinite love more than ever before.

You must reciprocate His longing for communion with you. Be willing to take time to share His prayer burden with Him as He intercedes at the right hand of the Father.

The resurrected, enthroned Lord Jesus, your great Intercessor, through His Holy Spirit, will teach you the life and power of prayer. May the Spirit fill you with the spirit of intercession.

Learning to prevail in prayer demands willpower. It demands recognizing your spiritual priorities. 

Ravenhill has said,

    'Prayer is a battle for full-grown men, fully armed and
     fully awake to the possibilities of grace.'  
    (Ravenhill, Revival Praying, 11-12)

God teach us the role and priority of prayer! God give us a thirst and relish for prayer for meeting face-to-face with the Lord Jesus!

God teach us to meet the conditions of prayer, to cultivate the hunger for prayer, to experience the joy of prevailing intercession and the power of God that comes upon our life and others as we pray!"

(Google image and my emphasis added)

Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana

Mighty Prevailing Prayer

#20 We can Be Saved from Prayerlessness

by Wesley L. Duewel

(pp. 34-35) Zondervan 

    Father, we see that learning to prevail in prayer demands willpower. 

    It is our prayer to be more diligent, and to take the time to meet with You for our various concerns.

    May we see the role and priority of prayer to make it important to us, thus discovering the power released in and through our efforts.

    We ask this in the Name of Jesus, Who made this all possible by His sacrificing Himself on the cruel Cross. Amen.

Today’s Bible verse: Jer. 5:5 a "I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them, for they have known the way of their God."

Today’s quote: "The light that shows us our sin and condemns us for it will show us the way out of it into the life of liberty that is well pleasing to God. If we allow this one matter, unfaithfulness in prayer, to convict us of the lack in our Christians lives, God will use the discovery to bring us not only the power to pray that we long for, but also the joy of a new and healthy  life, of which prayer is the spontaneous expression." (Taken from p. 20 of The Ministry of Intercession by Andrew Murry)

Our thought today: In Acts 2:1-4, we find the pattern for the Church for the early believers. They kept what happened then in mind throughout their sharing of the Gospel, and of the subsequent promise of the Holy Spirit's indwelling the believers. (see 2:38; and chapters 8 and 9 of Acts for examples)

Our question today: If the Church started out this way in Acts 2, what makes us think it should be any different today?

Answer: Because God has not changed the Plan of Redemption that His Son paid for with His Blood, we are to follow the Scriptures in our thirst for Reality in our salvation experience. 

Pray for the evidence of His Presence in your life. It is the "down payment" for our eternal existence in Heaven when we die, or when Christ returns for His Own.

Why Lord?

27th- Saturday’s post by Andrea Merrell

   Reflections (Lessons from a mirror)

28th- Sunday evening's post by James H. Cagle

#21 The Prevailing Christ

3/1- Tuesday's post by Wesley L. Duewel

#22 Christ Prevailed on Earth

3rd- Thursday's post by Wesley L. Duewel

A popular post:  #20 Intercession as a Spiritual Gift  C. Peter Wagner 

shares with us that "Intercession is not one of the 25 spiritual gifts mentioned specifically as gifts in the New Testament.

But, like the gift of exorcism, I believe it should be added to the list..."

Samples of Jean's crafts

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Granny's Guide to Marriage in Verse

#8 Prevailing Prayer—The Need of the Church

Wesley L. Duewel: "The great need of our world, our nation, and our churches is people who know how to prevail in prayer.

Moments of pious wishes blandly expressed to God once or twice a day will bring little change on earth or among the people.

Kind thoughts expressed to Him in five or six sentences after reading a paragraph or two of mildly religious sentiments once a day from some devotional writing, will not bring the kingdom of God to earth or shake the gates of hell and repel the attacks of evil on our culture and our v civilization.

Results, not beautiful words, are the test of prevailing prayer. Results, not mere sanctimonious devotional moments, as the hallmark of the true intercessor.

We need great answers to prayer, changed lives and situations—answers that bear upon them the stamp of the divine.

We need mighty demonstrations of the reality and concern of God and of His activity and power, which will force the world to recognize that God is truly God, that God is sovereign, and that God is involved in His world today.

We need mighty answers to prayer that will bring new life to the church and new strength, faith, and courage to faint believers that will silence, dumbfound, and convict evil men; and that will thwart, defeat, and drive back the assaults of Satan.

The vast majority of Christians know very little about prevailing prayer, wrestling in prayer, or prayer warfare. We have seen too few demonstrations of prevailing prayer. We have known too few prayer warriors who had intercessory power with God and with people.

We have met too few Elijah-type intercessors who were just like us, yet whose prayer lives were powerful and effective (James 5:16-18).

Intercession is more than an occasional heartwarming, emotional love to God, more than expressions of good will on our knees when we think of the sick and the suffering among our friends.

Prayer is more than a cry of earnest desire when suddenly faced with a crisis need."

Mighty Prevailing Prayer

#8 Prevailing Prayer—The Need of the Church
by Wesley L. Duewel
(p. 20, 21) Zondervan 

Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana


(Google image and my emphasis added)

    Father, help us in our quest to better understand how to pray prevailing prayers that will bring new life to our church and new strength, faith, and courage to faint believers.
    Quicken us to believe and expect Your Holy Spirit to enable us to know the reality and concern of God and of His activity and power, which will force those among us to recognize that God is truly God.
    I ask this in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Today’s Bible verse: Matt. 19:26 "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."

Today’s quote: "Try something new this year: Instead of writing down all you can do to like yourself better by the end of the year, ask the Lord to Help you start a revolution in your life, transforming you from the inside out. Make this your daily prayer;  "Lord, make me hunger for You. Make me want to want You more than anything else."

Replace your list of goals with a blank page you offer to God. Allow Him to reshape your thoughts, character, and behavior. Then as He brings about changes in you, record them in a list to review at year's end."  Dr. Charles F. Stanley (taken from pp. 42, 43 of IN TOUCH Daily Readings for Devoted Living Jan. 2016)

Some thoughts today: When the Lord starts to meddle with your thoughts, habits and attitudes be cooperative, so you can benefit and become more and more like Him.

~ God doesn't answer to anyone. He alone is God. Allow Him to sit on the throne of your heart. As we surrender to Him, we begin a life-long opportunity of excitement, drama and mystery. His plan for us is individually fashioned.

~ Our wills need to be submissive to God. As we daily expect His best for us, we'll find out what part of the Great Commission will become ours.  We'll not be disappointed if we obey Him each day.

16th- Saturday’s post by Jean Oathout-
What are Godly Decisions? Part 2

17th- Sunday evening's post by Lisa Buffaloe-
Celebrate!

19th- Tuesday's post by Wesley L. Duewel-
#9  God's Priority Work for You

21st- Thursday's post by Wesley L. Duewel-
#10  God is Searching for People to Prevail

A popular post: The Gift of Exorcism C. Peter Wagner tells us that "Demonization is now being recognized as a spiritual problem more and more in churches across the theological spectrum.

Even in those churches that have had a long ministry history of casting out demons, certain people are regularly called upon..."

The power of prayer!

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#121 How Warfare Prayer Can Work

C. Peter Wagner: "One of the Bible's most dramatic examples of effective warfare prayer is Elijah coming against Baal.

Ball was a classic territorial spirit, the principality over the Phoenicians and the Canaanites. What his exact boundaries were I do not know, but I do know he was not the spirit over, for example, China, Scandinavia, the Andes Indians or Australian Aborigines, all of which existed in those days.

Baal succeeded in capturing the allegiance of King Ahab, who married Jezebel, converted to Baal worship, and built a temple and an altar to that evil principality.

God raised up Elijah to lead the strategic-level spiritual warfare, and the story is found in 1 Kings 17-19.

Elijah was not wrestling so much against flesh and blood (Jezebel and Ahab), but against principalities and powers (Baal and his forces of darkness). The climax of the story is a dramatic power encounter.

In preparation for the power encounter, Elijah publicly proclaimed a drought on the land. Through it, God sustained Elijah by bringing birds to feed him and by multiplying food at the widow's house.

God reminded Elijah of His power by raising the widow's son from the dead.

Then the Lord's timing (the kairos moment) came for Baal to be defeated and the drought to end. Elijah announced it would rain and then openly challenged Baal through King Ahab.

The events are well-known. Baal could not light the fire called down by his priests, but God did so even after the firewood had been soaked with water.

This was such a public embarrassment that 450 of Baal's priests were executed. Then the power of that territorial spirit was broken, the rain came!

But the counterattack came also. Jezebel was furious. Elijah, weakened by the warfare, fled. 

God sent an angel to feed him but he went into a period of severe depression. 

God met him and spoke to him in a still, small voice and told him there were still 7,000 followers of Jehovah."

Google image and my emphasis added)

Warfare Prayer

#121 How Warfare Prayer Can Work

By C. Peter Wagner

(pp. 195, 196)) Regal Books

Father, may my efforts of prayer become effective

to where the ones I pray for will be touched.

It is understood that we're not to attempt serious

prayer efforts against principalities and powers

without proper covering.

Lead us to seek our leaders' acknowledgment 

and approval in our efforts, so they can advise

us in our endeavors, and to pray for us to 

be safe and successful.

It is a comfort to know we're being covered

by prayer when we go into a serious situation.

I ask for Your guidance in every effort to be

guided by Your Spirit, in Jesus' Name.

Amen.

Today’s Bible verse: Rom. 11:33 "O the depth of the riches both of his wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!"

Today’s quote: Albert Lee - "For Mary and Joseph, Christmas began with submitting themselves to God in spite of the unthinkable emotional challenges before them. They entrusted themselves to God and in doing so demonstrated for us the promise of 1 John 2:5: 'If anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them' " [ODB 12/6/15]

Some thoughts today: The gospel of Christ changes our lives, or can, if we read it and follow what He and His early disciples said and did.

~ Throughout the Old Testament, God told His people about Jesus, but it was kept from their understanding until the time of Christ's birth. (see Is. 53). God now has revealed the mystery of salvation in the birth of His Son, Jesus.

~ The testimonies since then, and of the lives changed by His Holy Spirit, we now have evidence of God's Love extended in and through Jesus to all mankind. Those who believe this report, and who put their faith and trust in Him, take advantage of this great gift. The Holy Spirit indwells them, and is ready to impart His gift of the Holy Ghost to empower them to be His witnesses. (see Acts 2:4, 38, 39)

17th-Thurday’s post:  #122 A Glorious Finale (Last one)
C. Peter Wagner
19th- Saturday's post:  Our Strongholds
Max Lucado
20th- Tuesday's post:  An Out-of-Body Experience
James H. Cagle
22nd- Thursday's post: Foreword of "Mighty Prevailing Prayer" Armin R. Gesswein

  

A popular post:  #20 Intercession as a Spiritual Gift C. Peter Wagner 
shares with us that "Intercession is not one of the 25 spiritual gifts mentioned specifically as gifts in the New 
Testament. 

But, like the gift of exorcism, I believe it should be added to the list..."

Samples of Jean's crafts

http://twitter.com/jeanoathout

http://facebook.com/jean.oathout

#46 Second Opinions

C. Peter Wagner shares with us: I 
became so insecure because of the 
ridicule I received when I wrote the
Christian Life column, I began to
wonder whether I had gone off the
deep end.

So I searched the literature to see if others agreed. I was relieved to find many others who asserted with confidence that demons could, and indeed did, occupy certain houses a objects.

I was encouraged to find that British Anglican leader, Michael Harper, had a similar experience to mine. He quite unexpectedly, began to be plagued with nighttime feelings of gloom and fear, especially the fear of death.

This was so unusual for him that he became concerned, particularly when they steadily grew worse. He soon became convinced that the house his family had recently occupied, quite an old building, had "something unpleasant" about it.

So he called on Dom Robert Petipierre, and Anglican Benedictine monk, to stay there for a night and do some warfare praying.

Petipierre "Conducted a Communion service in the house and exorcized every room" according to the prescribed Anglican ritual for such things.

Michael Harper reports,

    "From that day onwards the atmosphere in the house 
     changed  and there was no recurrence of the experiences
     which I have related."

The same Dom Robert Petipierre edited the report of a special commission to investigate such issues convened by the Bishop of Exeter in 1972.

The Bishop described the situation that provoked him to form the commission as an attitude in the church of England to.. 

    "regard exorcism as an exercise in white magic or a survival
     of medieval superstition."

It usually had been seen as a negative action. He was concerned that Anglican leaders had all but overlooked exorcism's.. 

    "positive aspect as an extension of the frontiers of Christ's
    Kingdom and a demonstration of the power of the Resurrection
    to overcome evil and replace it with good."

The report found that places such as churches, houses, towns and countryside may be strained and influenced by a variety of causes such as ghosts, magical spells, human sin, place memories, poltergeist or psychic action, and demonic influence."

Respected Christian leaders such as missionary Vivienne Stacey tell about driving demons from haunted houses in Pakistan. "The Practice of Exorcism and Healing, Muslims and Christians on the Emmaus Road, (This is a link to information about her life and mission.)

Pastor James Marocco describes the spiritual oppression on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. 

Don Crawford reports spirits occupying a tree in Indonesia. Miracles in Indonesia (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1972), p. 144 (paperback $.01!)

And the list could be extended ad infinitum.

(Google image and emphasis added)

Warfare Prayer #46 Second Opinions By C. Peter Wagner (pgs. 83, 84) Regal Books Mark I. Bubeck shares with us from his book  The Satanic Revival  (pg. 51) "It is important that God's people know why nations fall. The satanic revival presently under way demands a spiritual response from God's people that is strong enough to meet the challenge. Only the power of the gospel, unleashed through a concentrated season of prayer and repentance, is mighty enough to dismantle a satanic revival. believers must know that and act upon it." Pray for your pastor: "Ask God to protect your pastor's marriage and keep it strong as a model of Christ's relationship with the Church. Pray that your pastor will tenderly cherish and lead his wife, and that she will respect and encourage her husband, submitting to his leadership." (Eph. 5:23-33)  (If your pastor is not married, pray for his relationships with loved ones and those who are close to him.) Our praise verse: Judges 5:3 "Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I, even I, will sing to the LORD; I will praise the LORD, the God of Israel, in song." Pray with me:       Father, We need Your guidance  in these matters, as we want to  bring release to those who've been bothered by such troubles.     Enable us to come against attacks of the evil one in homes and places that are vexed with disturbing situations.     May we remember that the Name of Jesus brings deliverance and victory!      Help us call on the power that comes from His presence in every challenge to bring peace where there is turmoil.     I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Today’s Bible verse: Prov. 18:21 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." Today’s quote: John Bevere - "Once you leave the place God has chosen for you, your root system begins to dwarf. The next time it will be easier for you to flee from adversity because you have been careful not to root yourself deeply. You end up coming to the p lace where you have little or no strength to endure hardship or persecution." Some thought today: Our churches ought to be a refuge for lost souls to be welcomed. 7th- Saturday’s post:  Because It's True Kim Damon 8th- Sunday evening's post:  Behind the song: The Old Rugged Cross  Diane Leagh Matthews 10th- Tuesday's post:  #47 Territoriality  C. Peter Wagner 12th- Thursday's post:  #48 Spirits and Territories C. Peter Wagner A popular post:   #9 Prayer and Revivals Dr. R. A. Torrey continues his message on prayer: "The history of the Church of Jesus Christ on earth has been largely a history of revivals..." jean-oathout.blogspot.com   (save to check in sometime) Samples of Jean's crafts http://twitter.com/jeanoathout http://facebook.com/jean.oathout Granny's Guide to Marriage in Verse   Kindle $1.99 A great gift for someone who needs help in their marriage Bridal Shower Devotional Bridal Wisdom for Women My book in paperback $7.95 Granny's Guide to Marriage in Verse  AuthorsDen.com Where authors and readers come together!