Alvin Vandergriend- "Several years ago I was making a determined effort to become a better intercessor. I tried to give it more time, cover more needs, and pray with greater intensity. For a while things went well. Soon, however, I fund myself skipping these extended prayer times when it wasn't convenient. But it bothered me that I could skip prayer so easily. (Google image, Lady praying in pink dress)
When I asked the Lord for insight on this, he helped me see that my problem was that I didn't really believe intercession changed anything. It seemed that life went on normally around me whether I prayed or not.
Then God brought me to Ezekiel 22. He showed me that intercessors, who by means of their prayers "build up the wall and stand . . . in the gap" are absolutely crucial to His government of the world.
When I asked the question "Would the history of Israel have been different if God had found an intercessor?" I had to answer "yes." When I asked a further question, "Does the history of my family, church, or neighborhood depend on my intercession?" The answer again was "yes."
God seeks intercessors not because He lacks the wisdom or power to govern the world without them but because He, in His sovereign good pleasure, has chosen to govern the world through the prayers of His people. Intercession is not optional. It is a necessary and important part of God's way of working.
Things will happen when we pray that wouldn't have happened if we hadn't prayed. And things will not happen if we do not pray that would have happened if we had prayed.
In the New Testament era God the Father always finds is Jesus Christ, who ever lives to make intercession. But Christ does not pray alone. Our intercessory prayers are coupled with His. and He, by means of His Spirit, prays through us.
No wonder the kingdom is advancing and the gospel is spreading to every nation in the world. It's because of prayer. Are your prayers contributing to this worldwide thrust?
ACT- Using the word BLESS, these reminders can help us intercede for family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. The following is from Vandergriend's devotional for today:
- B Body - health, protection, energy, fitness
- L Labor - work, income, security, skills
- E Emotional - joy, peace, grief, anxiety, anger
- S Social - love, marriage, family, friends
- S Spiritual - salvation, grace, faith, hope
(pp. 48, 49 in Love to Pray- 40 Day Devotional for Deepening Your Prayer Life by Alvin Vandergriend)
Let's pray-
Father, may we take the time to imagine what would happen to our families, our neighborhoods, our churches, or nation on the basis of our prayers. Give us hope that our prayers will make a definite difference, and help us believe that our individual role of intercessory praying will actually cause Your will to be done!
We offer You thanks for Your wisdom of choosing Your people to help You govern the world through our intercessory prayers. As a Gentleman, You will draw us into the kind of praying that gets things done Your way.
We confess our failure at intercession which you're making us aware of today. We thank You for the awesome privilege of becoming Your intercessors, along with Christ Jesus! We ask for grace to accomplish Your will.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
Today's Bible verses-
Isaiah 45:3 (NIV) "I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places so that you may know that I am the LORD, your God."
Ezekiel 22:30-31 "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land [of Israel] so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. (v. 31) So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord."
Oswald Chambers- "God engineers our circumstances as He did those of His son; all we have to do is follow where He places us. The majority of us are busy trying to place ourselves. God alters things while we wait for him." [Be patient. He is not finished yet.]
Today's question-
What happened when the Israelites didn't have a king over them?
They did whatever they thought was right in their own eyes, often making bad decisions. When they, or we, don't consider God's directives, trouble is the outcome.
Idols were set up in their homes, which they looked to and worshipped, though they could neither see nor hear. God was not the influence they needed through a judge or godly king, so they drifted away from His having any control in their lives.
We tend to be the same way when we refuse teaching or instruction to submit to the Lord's leadership. We're apt to drift away from following Him, and turn to our various idols for guidance and deliverance, though they aren't able to make us holy in God's eyes. This can only be done in and through faith in His Son, Jesus.
May we examine our lives, to see what "idols" we have been submitting to, that have caused us to sway from following the one true God. We will find that God has always been moving in our lives to draw us to Himself. As Christians, we're admonished to stop long enough to see if there is something that has taken preeminence over Christ's control of our lives.
Our godly living is what is needed to influence others to know Jesus, and to see their need to be saved. This is why God came to us in fleshly form, [for how else could God, Who is Spirit, make Himself known to those He had created?] His Love reached out to us over 2,000 years ago, when His Spirit overshadowed a humble woman named Mary, who then gave birth to a baby boy they named Jesus.
This Jesus lived a life among men and women that exemplified the deity of the Father, as He committed no sin. He experienced all the temptations we face, overcoming them with the power of the Father within Him.
As born-again Christians, ones who have surrendered their hearts and lives to Christ, we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who dwelt in Christ. He indwells us now too! He will teach us what Christ preached, giving us freedom over sin, that it does not have to control us. We sin every day, yes, but as Christ is on the throne in heaven interceding for us, we can quickly repent of any known sin each day, and be forgiven, and remain in good relationship with the Father.
We are given the opportunity to scrutinize our lives for idols, which can cause us to be turned away from serving the Lord. Let's make sure we are living in accordance to the Father's will and plan for us, no matter what comes against our faith!
Upcoming posts:
11th- #18 The Scope of Intercession
Alvin Vandergriend
13th- Why Am I Here?
Mary Southerland
16th- #19 Interceding for Those Who Can't Pray for Themselves
Alvin Vandergriend
18th- #20 Interceding for the Unsaved
Praise God. Good word
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