Thoughts for Life: #75 Your Responsibility to Intercede for Your People

Dr. Wesley L. Duewel: God has given you no greater responsibility than that of interceding for your people. It is as urgent to bring your people before God in prayer as it is to bring God before your people in your messages.

You must intercede for your ministry, the services, and the outreach. But you must also intercede for your people family by family and person by person. (Calling men to pray).

Every believer is called to be a priest of God. "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9.) "You also . . . are . . . to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ' (1 Peter 2:5). Your twofold priestly role is to offer spiritual sacrifices and to intercede.

Your spiritual sacrifices consist of praise (Heb. 13:15), your body (Rom. 6:13, 16, 19; 12:1, good deeds (Heb. 13:16), and financial gifts (Phil. 4:18; Heb. 13:16).

Your constant priestly role is prayer. Personal communion with God is your daily privilege and need. Personal intercession is to be your daily ministry and work. This is true for every Christian; it is even more true for you as a spiritual leader.

The role of the high priest in Old Testament times was to offer sacrifice and make intercession. The intercessory role was symbolized by his official garments.

He wore the priestly ephod over his robe. The ephod was like an apron, with two onyx stones—one fastened to each shoulder. On each stone were the names of six of the tribes of Israel.

The breastplate was fastened to the ephod over the heart of the priest by gold chains, so it would never swing away from his heart. It had twelve jewels in four rows of three stones each. On each stone was engraved the name of one of the tribes.

Thus, symbolically, every time the high priest entered the tabernacle (and later the temple) to officiate in the presence of God he bore on his shoulders and close on his heart the names of the tribes.

This spoke of his responsibility for the people and love for the people (see Ex. 28). Similarly, the New Testament minister must carry invisibly upon his shoulders and heart the people to whom he ministers. This is his responsibility before God. He must carry a burden for them and he must love them.

Christ completed the work of sacrifice in His work of atonement on the cross. But Christ's unfinished ministry is the ministry of intercession. Every Christian is to be a partner-priest with Christ. How much more every minister and leader is to share a partnership with Christ in intercession for His people!

Jesus lives to continue His ministry at the side of the Father. He is reigning by prayer. John 17, the great high priestly prayer of Jesus, expresses the kinds of concerns always on His heart for His people.

You as the leader have such a heavy responsibility of daily prayer for your people that you may have to limit the amount of time you pray for yourself and your own family.

But as you bear the burdens of others God will, in turn, put your personal burdens on the hearts of your people, especially if you have taught them to be a praying people.

When you fulfill your prayer role for the flock for which you are accountable, Christ himself will intercede for you. Weep for others, and God will uphold you with the loyal love and prayer of your people.

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Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana. Creative reading style by Jean.

Today's post suggestion: #4 Understand Your Need, from Healing Thoughts and Prayers

When will God
answer my prayer?

Father, please impress upon our pastors what their greater responsibility is; that they're to intercede for their people.
May they understand that it is as important for them to bring us before God in prayer as it is to bring You before us in their messages.
Help us have a personal communion time with You in our daily devotions, and use it as our time to intercede for our leaders in our churches, as well as those in our government.
Our ministers must carry invisibly upon their shoulders and heart the people they minister to, as this is their responsibility before You. Please help them carry a burden for us and to love us.
Christ himself will intercede for them and His Spirit will help them weep for us, and hold us up before You with loyal love and prayers.

We thank You for this in Jesus' name, and for Your glory. Amen.

Today's Bible verses-

1 Cor. 3:6-9 (KJV) "I have planted, Apollos watered; but
God gave the increase. (7) So then neither is he that
planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God
that giveth the increase. (8) Now he that planteth and
he that watereth are one; and every man shall receive
his own reward according to his own labour. (9) For
we are labourers together with God: ye are God's
husbandry, ye are God's building."

Eph. 6:18 "(KJV) Praying always with all prayer and
supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with
all perseverance and supplication for all saints."

Today's quote-

~ Charles Spurgeon- "Oh, friends, let us learn to plead the precepts, the promises, and whatever else may serve our case; but let us always have something to plead. Do not think that you have prayed unless you have pleaded, for pleading is the very marrow of prayer.
He who pleads the blood of Jesus, for that unlocks the treasury of heaven. Many keys fit many locks, but the master key is the blood and the name of Him who died but rose again and ever lives in heaven to save to the uttermost." (Taken from p.62 of his revised book, Spurgeon on PRAYER & SPIRITUAL WARFARE).

~ Dr. Wesley L. Duewel- "The Holy Spirit does, indeed, perform from time to time such miracles of grace and power that we are amazed, convicted, or overwhelmed by the sense of God's presence and working; but, contrary to the opinions of many, the major ministry of the Spirit is not in the realm of the amazing and the spectacular.
The constant ministry of infilling, cleansing, anointing, empowering, guiding, and making fruitful is of even greater importance. Without this ministry you cannot live the life of the Spirit." [Taken from Herald of His Coming newspaper, Vol 77, No 7/8 (919-920), p. 1. Used by permission.]

Today's popular post-

#33 Pastors Are More Subject to Temptation

C. Peter Wagner tells us in his book, PRAYER SHIELD, to "make no mistake about it, the higher up you go on the ladder of Christian leadership, the higher you go on Satan's hit list.

The devil is characterized as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour."

Today's question-

Why does satan give us ungodly advice?

Could it be to discourage us from obeying what God has instructed us personally to do? Seems logical, as he is determined to kill, steal and destroy anything worthwhile in efforts to honor Christ Jesus. (John 10:10).
What we need to do when we hear discouraging words; step into the situation, face it and overcome the adversary's hateful words planted in our minds with the Lord's words of faith.
Satan wants us to compromise what God has instructed us, and to lesson our commitment to obey Him. Listening to doubt and discouragement will tend to hinder the His work in and through us, and that's just what the evil one wants to do.

Upcoming posts-

#76 Suggestions for Your Prayer Role
8/2- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

Made Up Minds
4th- Saturday's post by Merlin Carothers

#77 Maintain a Special Prayer Burden for the Youth
7th- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

#78 Your Ministry of Tears
9th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel