Tuesday, August 26, 2008

The Power of Intercession

We are now going to look at a number of the Lord's servants who played the role of intercessors. I think you will find that all of them were men and women close to the heart of God. I believer the ministry of intercession is something very close to the heart of God. By studying the powerful intercessions of these Old Testament saints, we are able to understand and identify the various features and characteristics of an effective intercessor. You will find many examples in the Bible, but let us focus our attention to the intercessions of just two men and a woman. They are very good examples for us to follow.


The Intercession of Abraham on behalf of the City of Sodom


Sodom was a very wicked city and was ripe of God's judgment. In Genesis 18 we read how three men came to visit Abraham. One of the men was the Lord and the other two were angels. Abraham welcomed them and entertained them. They brought Abraham and his wife Sarah the promise of their son, Issac. And then they were ready to move on.


The Lord then told Abraham that He was going to look at the city of Sodom for Himself to see if it was really as bad and as sinful as He had heard about it. I believe the Lord would not hide anything from Abraham because Abraham was a prophet - The Lord told Amos, "Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7, NKJV, emphasis added).


Genesis 18:22 - 33 relates how Abraham interceded for Sodom. After the two angels went on their way to Sodom, Abraham stood before the Lord.


"The men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord" (Gen. 18:22, emphasis added).


Abraham stood between the Lord and the city of Sodom, the object of God's impending judgment. This is a perfect example of intercession.


From the conversation between the Lord and Abraham we learn about Abraham's intimacy with the Lord. In fact James 2:23 says Abraham was called the friend of God. He was talking to the Lord as a personal friend. Notice also Abraham's boldness. He was actually challenging God's righteousness:


He said to God, "Far be it from You to such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all do right" (Gen. 18:25, emphasis added)?


Abraham was not afraid to speak out and said what he thought and with holy reverence at the same time. Notice also that Abraham had absolute conviction of God's justice - both positive and negative. Negatively that God would punish the wicked; positively that God would not deal with the righteous as with the wicked. I believe that a conviction of God's absolute justice is an essential part in the ministry of intercession.


It is interesting to study God's response to Abraham. God did not brush Abraham aside, but listened to him. In a sense, God allowed His course of action to be influenced by whatever Abraham said to Him. Think of both the privilege and responsibility of being able to speak to God in such a way that we can actually influence His course of action! God was indeed delighted to show mercy. At Abraham's intercession, God came down step by step, from promising to show mercy if there were 50 righteous persons, to the last promise He made that He would show mercy if there were only 10 righteous persons in the entire city of Sodom. God kept His promise to Abraham and Sodom was destroyed because there were actually less than 10 righteous persons in that city! Only Lot and his two daughters escaped.


An Intercession of Moses


In the course of bringing Israel out of Egypt Moses made many intercessions to God on behalf of God's people. It is beyond the scope of this message to discuss all of them. But let us consider just one interesting situation.


Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the Commandments and the Law from God. His people had corrupted themselves by worshipping the Gold Calf. Exodus 32:7 -14 contains an interesting conversation in the form of intercession between Moses and the Lord. Notice that neither the Lord nor Moses would accept resposibility for Israel at that time. They were both disgusted with Israel. I find the conversation between the Lord and Moses rather amusing.


"And the Lord said to Moses, 'Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves'" (Exodus 32:7, emphasis added).


Later on Moses said to the Lord, "Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people ...." (Exodus 32:11, emphasis added)?


Moses was actually arguing with the Lord by saying something like this, "No Lord, they are not my people but Your people!"


This shows Israel was in such a state of degradation that neither the Lord nor Moses wanted to identify with them!


We need to give special attention to what the Lord said to Moses, "Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation" (Exodus 32:10, emphasis added).


God was saying something like this to Moses, "If you step aside I'll act, but if you remain there before me I can't act". To me this is the whole faith of the intercessor. The intercessor's presence between God and the object of His wrath restrains God's wrath. If the intercessor fails to intercede, God will bring judgment to the object of His wrath. If Moses would let God alone (by stepping aside) and failed to intercede, God would have wiped out the whole nation of Israel! The marvelous thing about Moses was that he would not let God alone. He stayed there, he held on!


Look at what God offered Moses if he would "let Him alone". God would make Moses and his descendents a great nation after He had blotted out the whole nation of Israel! How many people would not be delighted with the prospect of becoming the unique head and founder of a great nation? But, Moses was not concerned with his own personal glory; he was greatly concerned for God's glory.


Moses reasoned with God, "Why should the Eqyptians speak, and say, 'He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'" (Exodus 32:12)?


If God had blotted out the whole nation of Israel His power and integrity would be in question!


Notice the basis of Moses' appeal to God. He appealed to two things - God's Oath (His promises) and God's Word (V. 13). I think the basis of which any intercessor comes to God must also be God's Oath and God's Word. This is one of the keys of a successful intercessor. God's response and answer to our prayer and intercession is always based on His Word, His promises, and His Will - and His promises are in His Will.


Immediately, the next Verse (V. 14) says, "So the Lord relented from the harm which He said he would do to His people". In other words, the Lord changed His mind. God does not change (Malachi 3:6), but His mind can be changed or influenced to be changed by intercession. The intercessor can change the mind of God in the direction of His hightest will. This was precisely what Moses did!


By the act of intercession of just one man (Moses) the whole nation of Israel is saved from God's wrath. This is the power and possibility of intercession.


The Intercession of Queen Esther


Esther was a beautiful Jewish maiden living in the Persian Empire at the time the Jewish people were exiled from their land. She was an orphan girl brought up by her cousin Mordecai. Mordecai was an important official in the court of the Persian king.


When Queen Vashti was displaced by the king, Esther was chosen to be the new Queen. However, Esther had never publicly revealed that fact that she was Jewish. Harman who hated Mordecai was also an official in the court of the Persian king. Harman sought to destroy all the Jews living in the provices of the Persian Empire and the surrounding districts. he obtained a decree from the king to this effect. This was a desperate situation. When the decree went forth from the palace, Mordecai sent a message to Esther in the Queen's palace that it was her responsibility to get to the king and to persuade him to change his mind about the decree. But initially Esther didn't want to go to the king on behalf of her people for reasons given in Esther 4:11.


However, Mordecai persuaded her with these words, "For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14, emphasis added)?


Mordecai was under the conviction that Esther was called to the kingdom to do the will of God - "For such a time as this". In other words, the purpose of her being chosen as the Queen was to be used as an instrument to protect the Jews. She and her father's house would perish if she failed to do God's will, but God would find another way to protect the rest of the Jews!


I believe this also applies to us as Christians. We are a Kingdom of priests. We have come to the royal position, "for such a time as this" - the end-time. We cannot turn away from our responsibility and and be indifferent any more than Esther could. We must be willing to identify ourselves with the rest of God's people. We can't hide away by saying that this crisis does not concern us. If we do, we shall perish, but God's own mighty arm will bring deliverance to those whom He had shown mercy. We must be willing to lay down our lives, to risk all, to stand by the poeple of God, to identify ouselves with God's purposes, and to take up the prayer burden!


Esther replied Mordecai immediately: "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night and day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish" (Esther 4:16, emphasis added)!


Notice the commitment of Esther - "If I perish, I perish". She was, in effect, saying, "Whether I live or die is not the most important question. I am willing to lay down my life for God's people and do what I can on behalf of them."


Esther knew that prayer alone was not good enough. All of them must fast and pray for three days and three nights. Only after that she would go and meet the king. Chapter 5 tells us how Esther went in to meet the king in the king's palace.


"Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace ...." (Esther 5:1, emphasis added).


Intercession always means coming into the Inner Court (Tabernacle of Moses) - in the immediate presence of the Lord. Similarly, it was in the inner court of the king's palace that the king held out to Queen Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. This was the evidence that the king was prepared to show mercy to Esther and he would not apply the law that she would be put to death.


The rest of the Book of Esther unfolded the consequences of her intercession. Victory was won for the Jewish people! Mordecai was honored by the king, but Haman was hanged.


Notice that when Esther went in before the king she didn't go in as a beggar. She put on her royal robe, and stood in the king's presence in her rightful position. Similarly, as intercessors we stand before God in our rightful position. We are not to beg, but to arise and sit on the throne that God had offered us that we may rule with Him in prayer and intercession.


The intercession of Esther changed the course of history. You and I can do the same with our intercession!


Characteristics of the intercessor


Certain features have been emerged from our study of the ministry of intercession - taking examples from Abraham, Moses and Esther. We discover certain features that characterize those who have mastered the art of intercession:


1. Intimacy with God. This is seen in Abraham and Moses. They talked to God just like a man talking to his friend.


2. Boldness. This is also seen in Abraham and Moses. They spoke out to God. They, in a sense, challenged the Almighty God.


The writer of Hebrews said, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).


3. Conviction of God's absolute justice. We see this particularly in Abraham who fully acknowledged that God's judgment was entirely just.


4. A concern of God's Glory. This is seen in Moses who disregarded his won personal interest and ambition.


5. Dedication to the task at all cost, even the cost of life itself. This is seen in Esther.


6. The willingness to identiy with those to whom they intercede. This is also seen in Esther.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Importance of Intercession

The word "intercession" comes from the Latin root which means "to come in between". The Greek word for "intercession" is "entunchono" which also means "to come in between" or "to meet with" or "to stand before". Therefore an intercessor is someone who comes and stands between God and God's just wrath and judgment. The intercessor stands before God and positions himself between God and those who deserve God's wrath and judgment. The intercessor, in effect, says to God, "Lord, You have every right to smite these people, but if You smite them You are going to smite me first, because I am standing between You and them!"


Intercession is the act of earnest appeal of a believer to God on behalf of others, believers or non-believers. One of the most important ministries of the Christian life is the ministry of intercession. It is God's method for involving His people more completely in the totality of His plan. In no other way can the believer becomes as fully involved with God's work as in intercessory prayer - and in fact all forms of prayer.


Paul said, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercession, and giving of thanks be made for all men, ..." (1 Timothy 2:1, NKJV, emphasis added).


The prayer life for a local Church, local assembly or a group of Christians, begins with the ministry intercession (and all prayers). The phrase "first of all" indicates that there can be no highter priority for Christians who assemble together, except to make intercession for all men.


It is said that, no man is greater than his prayer life. It is also said that, behind the pulpit a man preaches and reveals his knowledge of the Word of God. In prayer, he reveals his knowledge of the God of the Word! That is why prayer and intercession are so important.


Jesus, the great Intercessor


Jesus not only taught His disciples the Lord's Prayer when they asked Him to teach them how to pray, He also taught them by examples for being the great intercessor Himself.


The most beautiful and touching prayer ever prayed by Jesus is in John 17. In this chapter, Jesus prayed for Himself (John 17:1 - 5), He prayed for His disciples (John 17:6 - 19), and He prayed for all believers (John 17:20 - 26). In my opinion this prayer should be called the Lord's Prayer. But the commonly known "The Lord's Prayer" should be called the disciples prayer. The reason being, Jesus wound not pray the Lord's Prayer and the disciples could not pray what Jesus prayed in John 17.


Prophet Isaiah painted a glorious picture of Jesus, the great intercessor in Isaiah Chapter 53. This chapter, commonly known as the Atonement Chapter, gives a glorious description of the atoning work of Jesus. Let us look at the last verse of the Chapter:


"Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12, emphasis added).


The four things accomplished by Jesus as recorded by the above verse are:


1. He poured out His soul unto death. Leviticus 17:11 says, "The life (or soul) of the flesh is in the blood". That means Jesus poured out every drop of His Blood for you and me.


2. He was numbered with the transgressors. Jesus was crucified with two thieves.


3. He bore the sin of many. He became the perfect Sin Offering for you and me.


4. He made intercession for the transgressors. He started this intercession from the Cross! He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34, KJV). What Jesus meant was this, "The judgment that is due to them let it come upon Me!" And it did!


Hebrew Chapter 7 says, Jesus, after His death, resurrection, and ascension, became our Great High Priest sitting at the right hand of God (Hebrews 7:24, 25). He ever lives to make intercession for all of us! If we study the life and Ministry of Jesus, we"ll arrive at some rather interesting time comparison. He spent 30 years in obscurity living a perfect family life, 3 and a half years in dramatic and powerful Ministry, and more than 2000 years in intercession! This is telling us How God thinks about the importance of intercession!


The Prayer Life of Jesus


Jesus had a meaningful and effective prayer life during His time with His disciples. The gospel according to Luke gives us some details of Jesus' prayer life. Here are some incidences:


1. Matthew, Mark and Luke recorded the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan. But only Luke said while Jesus was praying the Holy Spirit discended upon Him.


"When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed the heaven was opened" (Luke 3:21, NKJV, emphasis added).


2. Only Luke recorded that Jesus was praying when He was hanging on the Cross.


"Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.' And they divided His garments and cast lots"(Luke 23:34).


3. Only Luke recorded that Jesus spent the whole night in prayer before He chose His apostles from among His disciples.


"Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called his disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles" (Luke 6:12, 13, emphasis added).


Notice that Jesus did not call for a nomination committee meeting, or obtain a consensus by the casting of votes among the disciples. Why? His group of apostles (leaders) must be the choice of God and not the choice of men! All he did was pray and wait upon the Father. Jesus Knows His Father always hears Him and tells Him what to do (John 11:42).


Surely the Church of Jesus Christ can learn something from what Jesus did. It is God's will that the appointment of leadership positions (Bishops, Elders, Pastors and deacons and so on) must be a choice of God and never the choice of men.


4. Only Luke recorded that Jesus was praying when He was transfigured.


"Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening" (Luke 9:28, 29, emphasis added).


5. Prayed for God's will at the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36 - 46; Mark 14:32 - 42; Luke 22:39 - 46).


All three gospel writers, except John, recorded this prayer burden of Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus found the perfect will of God - His crucifixion!


Jesus took Peter, John and James to the Garden to watch with Him for one hour, but not to pray with Him (Mark 14:32). The word rendered "watch" means, literally, to be vigilant and to abstain from sleep. In the context, it menas unite with Jesus in seeking divine strength and support. But three times Jesus went away to pray and three times He found them sleeping. Some Bible teachers said that disciples' grief and sorrow were so great that they naturally fell asleep. But for whatever the reason, Jesus said, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak".


Does our flesh prevent us from watching and praying?


Situations where there was no intercessor


Both Isaiah and Ezekiel painted a vivid but grim picture of a situation where God's people were backslidden (separated from God) and where the Lord could not find a single intercessor.


According to Isaiah (Isaiah 59:1 - 16)


Isaiah Chapter 59 contains a terrible list of the sins of God's backslidden people. I believe this chapter was written to backsliders, to people who had known God but subsequently turned from Him; to people who were religious but in rebellion against God. What amazes me is that these backsliders acknowledged and confessed their own sinful condition and yet repentance was never found!

"For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities we know them (Isaiah 59:12).


Read this Chapter carefully and see for yourself whether the description fits the condition in some of our local Churches - backslidden believers, from the highest leadership to the "least important" members of the congregation.


Let us look at just three verses that describe how the Lord assessed this backsliding condition of His people:


"Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice, He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; ..." (Isaiah 59:14 - 16, emphasis added).


Here are some statements of truth:


1. There is no justice and righteousness among God's people.


2. They have rejected the truth and failed to do right.


3. Anyone who chooses to do right and departs from evil becomes a prey (victim) in such a backsliding congregation.


4. The Lord saw the situation and was not pleased that there was no intercessor. Notice that the fearful list of transgression and failure of God's people come to its climax with the statement - "There was no intercessor". God was looking for just one and not many intercessors.


According to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 22:23 - 29)


A similar situation that was appalling to God can be found in Chapter 22, Ezekiel. This time God listed the wickedness and wrongdoings of all categories of His people. Amazingly all start with the letter "P" - prophets, priests, princes and people. Read the entire chapter and you will realize that God laid the blame, primarily, at the doors of the spiritual leaders - prophets and priests. The wickedness of the princes (the secular rulers) and the people are the reflections of the failures and wickedness of the spiritual leaders.


In Old Testament time, the prophets were responsible to declare the counsel of God to God's people and the priests were responsible to take care of the daily life of the congregation of God's people. Elders and Pastors, deacons and leaders, respectively, have similar duties in the local Church. All sections of the entire nation of Israel in the days of Ezekiel were held guilty before God because of the failures and wickedness of the spiritual leaders. Similarly, it is reasonably to suggest that all the people of God in every nation of the world at present are held guilty before God because of the failures and wickedness of the spiritual leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ.


The general characteristic of guilt before God is - The ruthless pursue of selfish end. Everyone was putting his own selfish gain before the interest of the fellowmen and before the interest of God. The spiritual leaders were also found to be lacking spiritual knowledge and very often deceive God's people with man-centered and man-pleasing doctrines.


God's response to this desperate situation of wickedness is:


"So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads" (Ezekiel 22:30, 31, emphasis added).


The intersting thing is that in this deperate situation God did not look for a large group of people to organize a prayer vigil of praying and fasting. He did not ask them to seek the Lord for direction! All these activities were good but that was not His primary concern. What He looked for was just one man, a man who would lay down his life, build up the wall and stand in the gap before Him for the Church, the land, the city and the nation. The man He looked for was the intercessor!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Categories of Prayer

The Scripture reveals four categories of prayer. There might be more, but generally, any prayer that a believer ever prayed, falls into one or more of these four categories.


Entreating God's Favor, God's Help and God's Power


This is the primary form of prayer and the most common type of prayer. It is calling out or crying out to God. It is opening our needs up to God and asking God to do things for us. Most prayers, including intercessory prayers and supplication are under this category.


1. Elijah's prayer


A good example of a prayer under this category is a prayer that led to Elijah's victory at Mount Carmel where he confronted 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah.


This was the prayer that brought victory to Elijah:


"Lord God of Abrahem, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that you have turned their hearts back to You again" (1 Kings 18:36, 37, NKJV, emphasis added).


James said, "The effective, fervent prayer of the righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produce its fruit" (James 5:17, emphasis added).


Here are some statements of truth:


1. Elijah was a prophet of God. He was a righteous man with a nature like ours. He had the same weakness and problem as any other person. But he prayed effectively and fervently.


2. Elijah prayed according to the will of God. He hated what God hates and loved what God loves. He detested the prophets of Baal, and so is God. He wanted the people to know that the Lord alone is the God of Israel, and so is God.


3. Elijah was obedient to God and to His Word. He said: "I have done all these things at your word."


4. Elijah's main concern is God's Glory. He said: "... that this people may know that You are the Lord God, ..."


5. Elijah wanted the people who were deceived by the prophets of Baal and the prophets of Asherah to come back to God. And this pleased God.


2. Samuel's Intercession


A good example of entreating God's favor and God's Power by crying out to God can be seen when the Philistines came against Israel at Mizpah, during the time when Samuel was judging Israel (1 Samuel 7:1 - 11). The children of Israel asked Samuel to intercede for them so that the Lord would help them to overcome the Philistines:


"So the children said to Samuel, 'Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.' And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him" (1 Samuel 7:8, 9, emphasis added).


Basically, intercession includes "crying out to the Lord". The next verse says, the Lord brought confusion to the Philistines and they were overcome before Israel.


Transacting Spiritual Authority


God is the source of all Authority. In Christ, all believers are under the Authority of Christ and therefore have authorities to come against any situation according to the will of God. When we command in God, in the Name of Jesus, we are transacting Spiritual Authority. This is the basis of Warfare Prayer in Spiritual Warfare. God willing, my messages on Spiritual Warfare are forthcoming.


Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:18 - 20, NKJV, emphasis added).


Here are some statements of truth:


1. As we take authority (or command) in Him, Jesus exercises the same Spiritual Authority in heaven as we evercise on earth. Notice that the initiative is not with Jesus but with us. Our actions of "binding" and "loosing" on earth change the course of events in heaven.


2. A condition attached to our exercising this authority is given in verse 19 which says, "two of you agree" when they ask or pray in "binding" and "loosing". The Greek word for "to agree" is "sumphoneo" which means, "in symphony" or "in harmony".


We can read verse 19 as: "Again I say to you if two of you can harmonize on earth concerning anything that they ask, ...".


3. Jesus was talking about harmony in the Spirit. It has nothing do with two believers having a casual decision to pray for someone. In other words, in exercising this spiritual authority two or more believers must be in right relationship or rightly related to one another in the Spirit - being united in the Holy Spirit.


4. Verse 20 explains why the believers can exercise this spiritual authority. When believers are brought together in Jesus' Name to fellowship with one another and to pray, Jesus is present with them. It is the presence of the Lord that enables us to exercise the authority of binding and loosing.


I believe when we fulfill the above conditions and take authority on earth, God releases power from heaven into the heavenly realm where Satan dwells. We are actually issuing a legal restraining order against Satan telling his demonic forces that they cannot operate any longer in the unseen realm. And at the same time God releases angelic beings with restraining orders to forbid these demonic forces to operate in any situation that is against us! The Bible is full of examples of angels involved in answers to prayers (Acts 5:18 - 20; Acts 12:5 - 17). Michael, the archangel, is not mentioned in the Scripture except in relationship in Spiritual Warfare. And in every case when he is mentioned people were praying (Daniel 10:11 - 14; Daniel 12:1; Jude 9; Rev. 12:7).


The first time the apostles used the authority of the Name of Jesus was when Peter and John were on their way to a prayer meeting in the temple at 3:00 pm one day (Acts 3:1 - 10). At the Gate of Beautiful Peter said to a certain man lame since birth:


"'Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.' And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength" (Acts 3:6, 7).


Notice that Peter did not ask God to do anything for that man. He did not ask God to heal him, and to give him a good life, or ask God to command him to rise up on his feet!God had already given Peter the authority to use His Name by faith. Peter helped the lame man to get up in order to release his faith.


Tapping Spiritual Secret


This involves sharing our secret with the Lord and the Lord sharing His secret with us. When we pray the Lord confides with us and He reveals His secret to us.


Daniel said, "And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him" (Daniel 2:21, 22, emphasis added).


Daniel said the above because he realized that the key to tapping spiritual secret and to answers to prayer is by fearing God! I believe this is the foundational truth for all believers if they want their prayers to be effective.


The Bible says that fear of the Lord is the beginning of Knowledge (Proverbs 1:7) and the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10 and Psalm 111:10). This means that if we do not fear the Lord we lack knowledge and wisdom. Because of this lack, our prayer would not be as effective as it should.


The psalmist David was consistent with Daniel when he said:


"The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them" (Psalm 25:14, NIV, emphasis added).


The word "fear" in describing the fear of the Lord means to show reverence and respect to God. Respect is the act of noticing with attention to God. This means showing consideration to God and wanting to please Him. When you reverent God you want to be with Him. And that is what happens when we pray. We want to be close to Him. And because we are close to him He confides with us. We fear God is the sense that we reverent Him but not frighten of Him.


Please read my earlier messages: "Walking in the Fear of the Lord" and "Walking in the promises of God".


Developing Spiritual Love


The only way to develop Spiritual Love is to know God and not just to know about God. To know God is to acquire knowledge about Him through our personal relationship with Him. To know about God is to learn what is written about Him in the Bible. In order to really know God we need to seek Him diligently, to dwell in His presence, to commune with Him, to touch Him with or worship and prayer.


Many of us are seeking things from God under the pretence of seeking God. When we are sick, we seek healing from God. When hard financial times hit us, we seek money from God. The one who truly seeks God expects only one thing - God Himself. He is looking for God, not just the things God can give him. He knows when he has God, he has everything!


Jesus said, in part of His Priestly prayer to the Father, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3, emphasis added).


Jesus' desire is that you and I know God and know Him, and consequently, have eternal life. In other words, if we fail to Him and God, the Father we may not have eternal life!


This is of great spiritual significance concerning our personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Whether we really know God or not, makes the difference between eternal life and eternal death! God makes Himself known not to casual intellectual curiosity, but to passionate thirst.


Great men of God had passionate spiritual love for God:


1. Paul - "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death" (Phil. 3:10, emphasis added).


2. Daniel - "... but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits" (Daniel 11:32, emphasis added).


In Hebrew the word "know" is "yada" which means "intimate knowledge". In fact, "yada" represents a high level of knowing - knowledge that is gained only from direct intimate contact. "Yada" speaks more of heart intimacy than it does of head knowledge. The word "strong" means "stand firm and durable" and "exploits" means "bold deeds and daring acts".


If we paraphrase Daneil 11:32 we have, "The people who truly know God intimately shall stand firm and carry out bold deed and daring acts".


3. Joshua - Joshua was an Old Testament hero who knew his God and carried out bold deeds and daring acts (Joshua 5 and 6). When Joshua looked toward the towering Canaanite fortress of Jericho, he was looking at a problem. But suddenly, he saw the Solution - in the form of a Person, the "Commander of the army of the Lord" (Joshua 5:14). It wasn't a strategy or a concept; it wasn't a battle plan but the Person Jesus! Joshua knew he was in the presence of the Lord whom he knew. He did not ask his Commander specifically for a strategic plan to help him to conquer Jericho. He was simply caught up in Jesus. In reverence and awe, flat on his face, he pleaded:


"What message does my Lord have for his servant" (Joshua 5:14, NIV)?


Joshua, no doubt, was waiting for a physical battle plan, but the Lord simply said, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are stading is holy" (Joshua 5:15, NIV).


Instead of a battle plan, a specific spiritual warface strategy was given to Joshua (Joshua 6). The rest is history! Israel's ultimate victory over Jericho was brought about by Joshua's reverence and obedience to the God he truly knew!


The four categories of prayer we have discussed include all types of prayer that believers are expected to pray - all personal and corporate prayers of supplication, intercession, petition, and warfare prayers.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Effective Praying

Prayer is one of the greatest opportunities, one of the greatest privileges and one of the greatest ministries available to all Christians. Jesus did not teach His disciples how to preach but He did teach them how to pray. I believe everyone who seeks to be a disciple of Christ should seek to learn how to pray effectively.

God's attitude toward our prayers

The first thing we need to do is to understand God's attitude toward our prayers. The Scripture teaches the willingness of God to answer our prayer, both in the Old Testament and in the New New Testament:

In the Old Testament

1. Solomon said, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight" (Prov. 15:8, NKJV, emphasis added).

The word "delight" means "strong pleasure".

"The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous" (Prov. 15:29).

If you are upright, sincere and you come to God with prayer He delights in your prayer and He loves to hear you.

2. The Song of Solomon depicts the love relationship between Christ the Bridegroom, and the Church as His bride. Christ said to the Church:

"O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely" (Songs of Solomon 2:14, emphasis added).

God desires to hear our (the Church) voice lifted up to Him in believing prayer.

In the New Testament

The New Testament emphasizes the fact that God wants us to pray and He wants us to receive what we prayed for. The revealed will of God for all believers in Christ is that they should pray and that they should receive that which they prayed for:


1. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said in three diffrent ways, that God wnats you to get what you prayed for:


Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given to you, seek; and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matt. 7:7, 8, emphasis added).

Notice, not one negative suggestion in all these words.


2. Jesus said, "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive" (Matt. 21:22, emphasis added).


How can any promise wider that that?


3. Jesus made similar statement according to Mark, "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believing that you receive them, and you will have them" (Mark 11:24).


4. Jesus said, "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it" (John 14:13, 14).


What could be more emphatic or more embracing than this statement?


5. Jesus said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done to you" (John 15:7).


If you want to know how wonderful the above promise is, read my ealier message, "The Power of Prayer".


6. Jesus said, "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24).


In my opinion, there is nothing more joyful than having our prayers answered. What could be more wonderful to know that the creator of the universe, the all powerful almighty God, is attentive to the voice of our prayer and delights to do that which we asked?


Basic principles and conditions


It is very unfortunate that there are Pastors, Bible teachers and evangelists, carelessly and conveniently built a ministry out of some of the statements made by Jesus, without realizing that conditions which must be applied before we expect God to hear and answer our prayers. Therefore in this message I attempt to list out some of the important, yet basic, conditions and principles for receiving regularly, answers to our prayer.


1. We pray in the Name of Jesus (John 14:13, 14)


When we pray in the Name of Jesus it means this - We acknowledge that we have no right of access to the almighty God at all apart from our Lord Jesus Christ. If Jesus had not come and had not become our sacrifice, our substitute on the cross, had not risen from the dead and then to became our mediator, and our High Priest at God's right hand, we would have no right of access, whatever to the almighty God. But in Jesus we have absolute right of assess with complete liberty and boldness to God, so that when we pray in the Name of Jesus we are reminding ourselves that the only basis of our assess to God is what Jesus had done for us on the cross.


On the above condition God opens all treasures in heaven and makes them available to us in the Name of Jesus:


Paul said, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things" (Romans 8:32, NKJV, emphasis added).


Notice the condition for receiving all things is - with Him. Apart from Jesus there is nothing; in and through Jesus there is everything! That is exactly what we are declaring when we come in prayer in Jesus' Name.


Paul said, "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us" (2 Cor. 1:20).


All God's promises are made available to us, but only in Him - Jesus Christ.


2. We come with praise and thanksgiving (Psalm 100:4)


The psalmist said, "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations" (Psalm 100:4, 5).


We do not praise because of feelings. We praise God because of the fact that God is good and His mercy and truth endure forever. His gate of access is thanksgiving and His court of access is praise. God wants us to get into this kind of relationship with him so that He can answer our prayers and so that we can receive what He has for us. But if we don't come with praise and thankgiving we don't have access to the almighty God. Then we will feel lonely, shutoff and for removed from Him.


God spoke through Isaiah, "... but you shall call your walls salvation, and your gates Praise" (Isaiah 60:18).


Every gate of assess to the presence of the almighty God has the same name - Praise. Our salvation is called walls because walls speak of security and protection.


Paul said, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ..." (Phil. 4:6, emphasis added).


Paul did not leave out the thanksgiving. Why? Because as you begin to thank God for who He is and for what He had already done, faith rises in you heart for the next thing that you are going to pray for.


3. We approach God without condemnation


The psalmist said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer" (Ps. 66:18, 19).


"To regard iniquity in my heart" means "I come to God but I am conscious, in my heart, something that condemns me" or "Every time I try to approach God with faith, Satan reminds me of the thing that is not right, that has not been dealt with, or that has not been confessed and I have not received God's forgiveness". Or put it simply, "I am conscious of this sin in my heart all the time". Because self-condemnation hinders my prayer and therefore, I must remove the consciousness of sin from within my heart. The way to do it is to confess, repent and trust God for the forgiveness and the cleansing as He had promised.


John said, "If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all runrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).


The psalmist went on to say that God had "attended to the voice of my prayer" (V. 19). In other words, he understood Satan's attempt to condemn him and tried to make him feel guilty.


John went on to say, "For if your heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God" (1 John 3:20, 21).


We don't have to keep anything from God and when we have confessed our sins we have the confidence that God will never remember it and will never hold it against us any more. When we are set free from condemnation we can come to God boldly because He had dismissed the whole question of guilt.


The writer of Hebrews said, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16, emphasis added).


Notice that grace is enthrone with God in His throne. It is not justice we are coming for; it is grace. We do not come on the basis of our merit or our own righteousness; we come boldly without condemnation. We come boldly because it is the throne of grace.


4. We come with the right motive


God searches our motive when we come to Him in prayer; He is very conscious of the reason for which we pray.


James said, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures" (James 4:3).


In other words, your prayers are self-centered and you are aiming to get something for your own personal satisfaction and indulgence, which is of the wrong motive. What is the right motive? The answer is found in John 14 where Jesus said:


"And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John 14:13, emphasis added).


The right motive is a prayer that is prayed sincerely so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in answering that prayer.


5. We come with the right relationship


In the model prayer which Jesus taught His disciples, commonly known as the Lord's Prayer, Jesus emphasized the importance of having the right relationships between us and our God, and between us and our fellowmen.


"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Matt. 6:12).


Jesus here tied us down to asking God for forgiveness only in the proportion we forgive others. In the same proportion that we forgive others God will forgive us. One of the reasons why Christians fail to receive the answer to their prayers is because they fail to forgive others.


Jesus said, "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses" (Mark 11:25, 26).


6. Prayer directed by the Holy Spirit


Paul said, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Romans 8:14).


In the original Greek, the above is of continuing present tense. In other words, the only way to live daily as a child of God in the world, you have to be regularly, continuingly led by the Holy Spirit. Only those who are regularly led by the Spirit of God are living as sons of God.


Paul said, "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know that we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26, 27, emphasis added).


Our weaknesses are - sometimes we do not know what to pray for, and do not know how to pray even if we know what to pray. You might know your wife needs prayer, or your son needs prayer but you still don't know how to pray. God's solution is - the Spirit of God comes to your help by taking over and He makes intercession through you and He prays according to the Mind and Will of God (Please refer to my earlier message - The Power of Prayer). This is one of the glorious blessings of being truly baptized in the Holy Spirit. When you cannot pray, He prays through you in an unknown tongue that you can be sure you are praying according to His will.


7. Prayer in accordance to the Word of God


The central issue of effective praying is praying according to the revealed will of God which is the Word of God. And the Word of God is packed, from Genesis to Revelation, with divine promises. The apostle Peter called these promises as "exceedingly great and precious promises" (2 Peter 1:4).


When you find the promise, given in the Word of God, that relates to your situation and meets your need, that promise is God's will for you. God never pomises anything that is not His will because that would be inconsistent for Him to do so. Let me illustrate this principle with two examples, one from the Old Testament and the other from the New Testament:


1. God's covenant with David (1 Chron. 17)


God promised David through the prophet Nathan that "the Lord will build him a house". The word "house" in the context means "A Royal Dynasty", or "A Roya line of Household" which would endure for ever (Vs. 10, 11).


David's reply was, "And now, O Lord, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, let it be established forever, and do as You have said" (V. 23, emphasis added).


I believe the five short words of one syllable each - "and do as You have said", contain the essence of effective praying. If God had said He would do it and you asked Him to do it, you can be absolutely certain that He is going to do it!


2. God's promise to Mary (Luke 1)


In my opinion the greatest single miracle that ever took place in the life of anordinary human being was the virgin Mary, who became the mother of the Son of God. Mary received the Word of God, through the angel Gabriel, which brought fulfillment by His (the Word) own Power.


Mary's response was, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38, emphasis added). With this, ushered in the greatest miracle in human experience!


When you pray on the level of the Word, you pray on the level that is far above your human ability to wish, to ask or to think (read Eph. 3:20). Notice the above two prayers were intimately connected with the coming of the Lord Jesus. God promised David the Son and the promise was fulfilled through the birth of Jesus Christ, conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary. And in each case the key to the prayer is the same - "God You said, You do it".


You will never pray a higher prayer or pray a more effective prayer than when you go to God, guided by the Holy Spirit, go to the Word and find the promise of God that relates to you and your situation. This I believer is the secret of effective praying!