INTERCESSION OF CHRIST

INTERCESSION OF THE SPIRIT

PRAYER

PRAYER

WORSHIP

WORSHIP

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men – the testimony given in its proper time………I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputation.” (1 Timothy 2:1-6, 8)

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance to God’s will.” (Romans 8:26-7)

Dictionary definitions are not very helpful in defining the difference between prayer and intercession. For in reality, there is a blurring between the two. But to me, the key distinction between interceding and praying is contained in three words, ‘on behalf of’. For Jesus gave His life ‘on behalf of’ us. Now He intercedes with God the Father ‘on behalf of’ us. So we are to intercede ‘on behalf of’ others, in accordance with God’s will, as we are led by the Holy Spirit. Prayer is our own direct communication with God. Intercession is the heart cry of God being offered back to God. Now I realise that this definition of intercession doesn’t make a great deal of sense to our natural mind, but it is of vital spiritual importance to God.

The expression of God’s will through us, is a hugely powerful weapon in the battle with Satan’s evil army. Our ongoing declarations of God’s will are the hydrogen bombs of the spiritual world, devastating and defeating the demonic forces arraigned against us. For Satan cannot defeat the will of God. And the job of overcoming Satan has been delegated to us, as expressed in our key verse of Revelation 12:11.

The process of intercession is a classic practical example of ‘dying to self’ that this verse expresses. For the intercessor powerfully prays in submission of their personal will to that of their God the Father, as guided by the Holy Spirit, under the all-encompassing protection of the blood of Jesus. A winning formula if there ever was one!

By now we know that Jesus made the way for us to enter the Holy of Holies when He died upon the cross. We became ‘pure’ in God’s sight through the forgiveness of our sins. However we also understand the practical reality that we don’t yet always walk in this purity – well at least I don’t. So what has been done for us ‘positionally’ has yet to be fully experienced.

We also know from the example of the Tabernacle of Moses, that the way into the Holy of Holies is through worship and prayer, as symbolised by the Incense Altar. Now, while I cannot justify this with scripture, my personal observation and experience has been that the people who are leading the way into the Holy of Holies are the intercessors. Come to think about it, this likely does reflect the fact that, at least for a time, the intercessor is operating in God’s will rather than their own. For they intercede on His behalf.

The key to entering into the Holy of Holies is purity. Purity, normally expressed as sinlessness, is probably better expressed as ‘walking in God’s will’. For that encompasses not only the aspect of sinlessness, but also includes the positive aspect of doing what God wants us to do with, and in, our life. For our walk is not one merely avoiding the Old Covenant negatives of ‘the law’ but also one of living the positives of the New Testament commandment of love of God and our fellow man. In the words of the old (before my time) famous song, we should ‘eliminate the negative’ and ‘accentuate the positive’. Not a Christian song but one with a real message, in that part, at least. So, intercessors, walking in the will of God, are leading the way into the Holy of Holies.

Many have tried to walk in holiness in their own strength and dismally failed. Others of us have not bothered to try for we perceive it is unattainable, alright maybe for the super spiritual, but we’re not good enough, so we won’t try.

But did you know that holiness really comes from God? For He places the desire in our hearts. All we have to do is make the positive choice to go along with His desire for us. To put aside the memory of our past failures and not be held back by them. To yield ourselves to our God and let Him build us up. To choose to align ourselves with our God. To choose to flee from sin. To choose to move to a new level of faith. To repent. To attain a new level of reverence and awe of our God. To instil the positive ‘fear’ of God in our lives.

If we are prepared to make these positive choices as God lays them on our heart, holiness is not a big deal. It is a natural progression of the submission of our selves, of our will to that of God. It doesn’t make us ‘super spiritual’ or ‘holier than thou’ – indeed the reverse. For a godly humility (not man’s definition of ‘weakness’) grows in our lives.

While there have always been a few people who have chosen to follow this path, at God’s leading, the call to holiness is now being stirred in more and more people’s hearts. It is to be a major characteristic of the kingdom (Tabernacle) Church movement, people consenting to walk the way of holiness.

But holiness is not an end in itself. It is the means by which we are genuinely motivated to help others, and as a bright beacon for God, attracting others into the kingdom. Holiness is not self-centred, as has effectively often been seen to be the case in the past, but 100% God centred. Holiness indeed, is the reflection of not loving our lives “so much as to shrink from death.”

For this is the commitment God is calling us to in these days. But as with everything else in God, it is not, indeed cannot be done in our own strength, but only through letting the power of God work in our life. By resting in Him. Isn’t it marvellous! If only we let Him, truly give Him the authority to change us, He will do it all for us!

As we have a look at intercessory worship and the 'road to God'.

The key element in intercession is to give up on what we want to do what God wants!

Sounds simple, but is very difficult in practise as our selfish human nature continues to remain strong within us.

From the River of Egypt to the Euphrates

King David's authority reached as far as the Euphrates River in the north, all the way down to the Gulf of Aqaba and the River of Egypt (45 miles southwest of Gaza). It is disputed whether or not this or the Nile River is the River of Egypt mentioned in the Lord's promise to their ancestor Abraham and their descendants over 800 years earlier. Genesis 15:18 "On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates…" Israel was not to be compared to the mighty empires of the ancient world like Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece or Rome, but David was undoubtedly the strongest ruler of his day.