as we continue to look at the concept of interceding for one another, we wanted to tie it in The "Light" of God.
God is light,
and we are children of light,
so how does his light and our representation of that light reveal itself through interceding for one another.
God's light sometimes is overseeing an atmosphere much like the sunlight on the earth. His light can be seen wherever you go and it makes people's lives warm and comfortable. When this is true the atmosphere we carry with us makes those around us also sense God's warmth and love.
As we pray for others one of the ways we can intercede for others is that God's light brightened and warm the atmosphere around someone. By being more specific about what we want God to do his presence and allows our prayers to be felt deeper.
As far as deepening the effectiveness of the light, our next point is this
God's light can be focused through prayer much like a magnifying glass focuses light on a specific spot. I personally see this more in line with pinpoint intensity of God's love and warmth, although it does have some tie into God's judgment. Sometimes God allows us to know exactly where he wants his light to be shown any wants to bring it powerfully in a specific way. I believe this is the magnifying glass of interceding brothers.
God's light can also be a place of judgment. He can become so hot in a general sense that it can also be uncomfortable and carry a judgment effect on all it touches.
The important thing is when God's judgment is called for, it is not up to us to judge. The judge is God. When we are called to intercede for judgment we need to call forth the judge to come and do what is righteous and just to be done.so many Christians pray for the specific judgments on the ungodly but the judge is really never invited into the prayer.
It is important when you intercede for judgment that you pray for the characters of the judge to be seen by those on whom he will be judge.characteristics like mercy, grace, righteousness, peace, justice, and that they would hear the judge and turn from their wicked ways. These are the things that we are to intercede for, and not to call forth specific judgments on people, governments, communities, or churches.
God's light can also be like lightning, or sometimes it's called a consuming fire. Lightning is powerful, memorable, attention getting, and damaging. Lightning also cracks the darkness. One of the ways we can intercede for others in prayer is called forth God to crack the darkness with a powerful display of his light. This powerful display is something that can definitely get people's attention.
Only pray this prayer and intercede for God to crack the darkness, in the end it is not in an effort to cause damage or to direct where that lightning should strike. Our job is to ask God to crack the darkness let him direct where the lightning may land or display across the sky.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Elevate March 13
we looked at a really awesome passage in the book of Romans, chapter 8.
We started in verse 23 but specifically emphasized versus 26 and 27 and 34.
The idea that the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ work together with our prayers so that they are presented to the father appropriately and in ways we cannot understand is amazing.
But the two main things we wanted to emphasize on this Sat night were.
First, the Holy Spirit helps our prayers end up exactly where they need to. Many times during our prayers we begin to feel like we're fluttering back and forth without a lot of a direction.much like a butterfly looks to us as the flies across the field. Dutch sheets calls this "the butterfly anointing".
This fluttering back and forth up and down to us looks very random, but ultimately the butterfly lands exactly where it's supposed to. The Holy Spirit helps us to do that in our prayers. He may bring things to our spirit to pray for, and we think it seems a little disjointed or up and down, but he is taking us exactly where we need to be.
Secondly the Holy Spirit helps us by lending his weight/power to our needs. It's the concept that the Holy Spirit comes along side of us. All that the Holy Spirit is as God is available to us. Not to be temporarily infused with his power but to have his power, strength, wait come alongside us in partnership to accomplish whatever miraculous opportunity lays before us.
These are two things at the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ do for us when we pray. We have the opportunity to represent Jesus Christ whom we intercede for others in the same way.
We can help them land exactly where they need to land. We can bring them along side God so they can see miracles happen.
Our prayer lives are far more complicated, and really far more interesting when they involve communicating with God and interceding on others' behalf.
Do not let your prayer life become like leaving a message on God's voice recorder, with the hope that he'll get around to listening to it. He is actively participating in making our prayers affective on this earth.
We started in verse 23 but specifically emphasized versus 26 and 27 and 34.
The idea that the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ work together with our prayers so that they are presented to the father appropriately and in ways we cannot understand is amazing.
But the two main things we wanted to emphasize on this Sat night were.
First, the Holy Spirit helps our prayers end up exactly where they need to. Many times during our prayers we begin to feel like we're fluttering back and forth without a lot of a direction.much like a butterfly looks to us as the flies across the field. Dutch sheets calls this "the butterfly anointing".
This fluttering back and forth up and down to us looks very random, but ultimately the butterfly lands exactly where it's supposed to. The Holy Spirit helps us to do that in our prayers. He may bring things to our spirit to pray for, and we think it seems a little disjointed or up and down, but he is taking us exactly where we need to be.
Secondly the Holy Spirit helps us by lending his weight/power to our needs. It's the concept that the Holy Spirit comes along side of us. All that the Holy Spirit is as God is available to us. Not to be temporarily infused with his power but to have his power, strength, wait come alongside us in partnership to accomplish whatever miraculous opportunity lays before us.
These are two things at the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ do for us when we pray. We have the opportunity to represent Jesus Christ whom we intercede for others in the same way.
We can help them land exactly where they need to land. We can bring them along side God so they can see miracles happen.
Our prayer lives are far more complicated, and really far more interesting when they involve communicating with God and interceding on others' behalf.
Do not let your prayer life become like leaving a message on God's voice recorder, with the hope that he'll get around to listening to it. He is actively participating in making our prayers affective on this earth.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Elevate March 6
so we took a look at interceding for one another.
Interceding is the concept of prayer that for me made prayer interesting again.
Most of my conservative upbringing involved praying through a list. Whether the list was given verbally at a prayer meeting, or was written down in some devotional book, or a piece of paper kept in the Bible, prayer was a matter of a list.
But I now see that:
Intercession is about bringing together two parties. If there is an intercessor there will be a meeting.
Jesus intercedes for us and allows us to meet God. We can intercede for others allowing them to meet God. We then fulfill our role of representing, or re-presenting God here on this earth.
Intercession has within it's definition coming along side of someone, to help them stand up. Kind of like a stake in which a tomato plant is tied to. Without something to be connected to the plant would fall to the ground and the fruit would be wasted. An intercessor can come along side of someone and hold them up/bear them up so they do not fall over, and are able to produce beautiful fruit.
Intercession also has within it's concept that of coming along side someone, and carrying their burden for them. This is more than just coming along side and standing/lending strength to someone. It's the idea that you take the burden that they're bearing and help them carry it to the cross where they can lay it down and be relieved of it.God does not want any of his creation weeded down with burdens that he is more than capable of removing from them. Intercession allows us the opportunity to accomplish Gods will on earth, as it is in heaven
I think it is important to consider that intercession may take on a physical form, spiritual form, or an emotional form. You may also have combinations of prayer and physical or emotional intercession as well.
What moves intercession out of just a list of people and things to pray for is revelation.
Intercession involves ascending to the throne of God and asking him to reveal to you what needs to be prayed for.
Without revelation intersession cannot take place. It is important to remember that God requires that prayers are presented before His actions can take place. His plan is for us to manage his creation, and to represent him here in this earth. That plan involves us going to him as our creator and asking him to do the things that we know he wants done here in this earth. Asking God is more than those big corporate concepts, and involves understanding what he is asking us to pray for individuals, communities, the church, and nations.
Intercession requires that we go before God and listened to him so that our prayers are specific and flow within the will/plan of God.
The power that is available to us in prayer/through prayer is what keeps the enemy so busy interrupting, fragmenting, and destroying our desire to pray.
Interceding is the concept of prayer that for me made prayer interesting again.
Most of my conservative upbringing involved praying through a list. Whether the list was given verbally at a prayer meeting, or was written down in some devotional book, or a piece of paper kept in the Bible, prayer was a matter of a list.
But I now see that:
Intercession is about bringing together two parties. If there is an intercessor there will be a meeting.
Jesus intercedes for us and allows us to meet God. We can intercede for others allowing them to meet God. We then fulfill our role of representing, or re-presenting God here on this earth.
Intercession has within it's definition coming along side of someone, to help them stand up. Kind of like a stake in which a tomato plant is tied to. Without something to be connected to the plant would fall to the ground and the fruit would be wasted. An intercessor can come along side of someone and hold them up/bear them up so they do not fall over, and are able to produce beautiful fruit.
Intercession also has within it's concept that of coming along side someone, and carrying their burden for them. This is more than just coming along side and standing/lending strength to someone. It's the idea that you take the burden that they're bearing and help them carry it to the cross where they can lay it down and be relieved of it.God does not want any of his creation weeded down with burdens that he is more than capable of removing from them. Intercession allows us the opportunity to accomplish Gods will on earth, as it is in heaven
I think it is important to consider that intercession may take on a physical form, spiritual form, or an emotional form. You may also have combinations of prayer and physical or emotional intercession as well.
What moves intercession out of just a list of people and things to pray for is revelation.
Intercession involves ascending to the throne of God and asking him to reveal to you what needs to be prayed for.
Without revelation intersession cannot take place. It is important to remember that God requires that prayers are presented before His actions can take place. His plan is for us to manage his creation, and to represent him here in this earth. That plan involves us going to him as our creator and asking him to do the things that we know he wants done here in this earth. Asking God is more than those big corporate concepts, and involves understanding what he is asking us to pray for individuals, communities, the church, and nations.
Intercession requires that we go before God and listened to him so that our prayers are specific and flow within the will/plan of God.
The power that is available to us in prayer/through prayer is what keeps the enemy so busy interrupting, fragmenting, and destroying our desire to pray.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Elevate February 27
one of the verses that jumped out at me in the book of James is chapter 5 verse 17. It says that Elijah was a person just like me. And when he prayed earnestly that the rain wouldn't fall the rain didn't fall. And 3 1/2 years later when he prayed the rain would return, the rain came back.
Can I do that? Are you serious? He was just like me?
So we took a brief overview of that story from 1 Kings 17-18. And what we see is that politically and spiritually things had taken a very ugly turn in Israel. Elijah prayed that the rain would stop, and God answered his prayer. God then protected him and fed him. God moved him into a small apartment and made sure that everyone in the house was fed. God answered another prayer of Elijah and raised the widows son from the dead. God performed a miraculous sign and showed the foolishness of following after another god. God heard Elijah"s prayer and sent the rain back again.
That was very brief, but not meant to be flippant.
Elijah was just like me. He had the same opportunities I have to connect with God. He clearly understood what God was saying and took the opportunity to pray God's plan back to God.
Why does God need us to do that?
It's very hard to explain the why, but we do know the when.
In the garden, with Adam and eve God shows us the pattern of how he works. He chose to make Adam and Eve and managers, overseers, administrators, caretakers of his creation. Their job was to represent God on the earth. Their authority and position was initiated and maintained by their relationship with God. And wherever they were seen they re-presented God.
Every day/throughout the day God communicated with Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve had the opportunity to ask for and receive whatever they needed in order to represent God, and manage God's creation.
At salvation God does more than just make sure we can get to heaven. God seeks to restore us back to our original calling. He wants each one of us as humans to re- present him wherever we are. What we need to administer and manage his creation is what he wants to give us so that everyone within his creation can see him clearly.
Elijah is just like us. Elijah understood his position, his job, and God's plan. What Elijah prayed for God wanted to do, and Elijah knew this because he knew God. One of the many ways Satan has waged battle against Christians is by limiting our concept of salvation, and therefore greatly reducing our influence and representation of God to his creation.
Limiting our prayers to only what we think we want to get by for the day, is a practical result of the enemies attack on our understanding. God wants to restore, wants to provide, wants to resurrect, and wants to revive his creation back to himself. He also wants us as his representatives to ask for it.
just like Elijah did.
Can I do that? Are you serious? He was just like me?
So we took a brief overview of that story from 1 Kings 17-18. And what we see is that politically and spiritually things had taken a very ugly turn in Israel. Elijah prayed that the rain would stop, and God answered his prayer. God then protected him and fed him. God moved him into a small apartment and made sure that everyone in the house was fed. God answered another prayer of Elijah and raised the widows son from the dead. God performed a miraculous sign and showed the foolishness of following after another god. God heard Elijah"s prayer and sent the rain back again.
That was very brief, but not meant to be flippant.
Elijah was just like me. He had the same opportunities I have to connect with God. He clearly understood what God was saying and took the opportunity to pray God's plan back to God.
Why does God need us to do that?
It's very hard to explain the why, but we do know the when.
In the garden, with Adam and eve God shows us the pattern of how he works. He chose to make Adam and Eve and managers, overseers, administrators, caretakers of his creation. Their job was to represent God on the earth. Their authority and position was initiated and maintained by their relationship with God. And wherever they were seen they re-presented God.
Every day/throughout the day God communicated with Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve had the opportunity to ask for and receive whatever they needed in order to represent God, and manage God's creation.
At salvation God does more than just make sure we can get to heaven. God seeks to restore us back to our original calling. He wants each one of us as humans to re- present him wherever we are. What we need to administer and manage his creation is what he wants to give us so that everyone within his creation can see him clearly.
Elijah is just like us. Elijah understood his position, his job, and God's plan. What Elijah prayed for God wanted to do, and Elijah knew this because he knew God. One of the many ways Satan has waged battle against Christians is by limiting our concept of salvation, and therefore greatly reducing our influence and representation of God to his creation.
Limiting our prayers to only what we think we want to get by for the day, is a practical result of the enemies attack on our understanding. God wants to restore, wants to provide, wants to resurrect, and wants to revive his creation back to himself. He also wants us as his representatives to ask for it.
just like Elijah did.
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