DAY 14: She-Bear Meetings

Torn veil

Let's progress in our thinking to the breaking aspect of intercession meetings-enforcing the victory of Calvary. I call this "the bear anointing" because of Proverbs 17:12: "Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs, rather than a fool in his folly."

A wise old woodsman provided the following wisdom about the art of surviving bear encounters: "Son, try to avoid them, if possible! But if you can't and it's a female you run into, don't ever get between mama and her cubs. Because if you do there's fixin' to be a meeting, and you're gonna be on the receiving end!" The word for "meet" is our Hebrew word translated "intercession," paga. Other Hebrew words could have been used, but this one was chosen partly because it often has a very violent connotation. In fact, paga is frequently a battlefield term (for examples see: Judges 8:21; Judges 15:12; 1 Samuel 22:17, 18; 2 Samuel 1:15; 1 Kings 2:25-46).

DAY 7: Defining Intercession

A guiding light to all nations.

According to Webster, intercede means "to go or pass between; to act between parties with a view to reconcile those who differ or contend; to interpose; to mediate or make intercession; mediation." 

Mediate means "between two extremes; to interpose between parties as the equal friend of each; to negotiate between persons at variance with a view to reconciliation; to mediate a peace; intercession." 

Please notice that these terms are largely synonymous with some of the same words used to define each-between, interpose and reconcile. Notice also that one is used to define the other: mediation defines intercession and intercession defines mediation.

As can be clearly seen from these definitions, the concept of intercession can be summarized as mediating, going between, pleading for another, representing one party to another for, but not limited to, legal situations.

All intercession is not in the sense of an attorney. That's only one example. Any work of representation or mediation between is intercession.

Now, let's think about this concept in light of the Creation and the Fall. Adam was supposed to represent God on planet Earth-managing, governing or ruling for Him. God told Adam what He wanted and Adam re-presented Him to the rest of the earth. Adam was a go-between for God. Literally, Adam was God's intercessor or mediator on the earth.

Adam, of course, failed and God had to send another human called the "last Adam" to do what the first Adam was supposed to do and fix what the first Adam messed up. So Christ came to re-present God on the earth. He became the intercessor or mediator, going between and re-presenting God to humanity.

According to John 1:18, Jesus exegeted God for us: "No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him." The Greek word translated "explained" is actually exegeomai from which we get our English word "exegete."

You have probably heard of the small child who "was drawing a picture and his teacher said, 'That's an interesting picture. Tell me about it.'

'It's a picture of God.'

'But nobody knows what God looks like.'

'They will when I get done,'" said the young artist.

Shalom,

Rev. Obadiah Swen

Pastor, Bethel World Outreach Church - Virginia

DAY 4: Elijah's Fervent Prayers

Elijah and Ahab

In 1 Kings 18 we find the story of God needing and using a person to accomplish His will through prayer. It is the account of Elijah praying for rain after three years of drought. James 5:17, 18 also mentions this occasion, and we know from his account that not only did Elijah's prayers bring rain, but they also stopped the rain three years earlier. We know we're in trouble when the prophets are praying for drought!

In 1 Kings 18:1, after three years of this judgment, God spoke to Elijah and said, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth." Then at the end of this chapter, after several other events have occurred, Elijah prays seven times and finally the rain comes.

According to the statement in 1 Kings 18:1, whose idea was it to send rain?...Whose will?...Whose initiation? Answer: God's, not Elijah's.

DAY 1 - Is Prayer Really Necessary?

Does a sovereign, all-powerful God need our involvement or not?

Is prayer really necessary? If so, why?

I believe it is necessary. Our prayers can bring revival. They can bring healing. We can change a nation. Strongholds can come down when and because we pray. E.M. Bounds said:

“God shapes the world by prayer. The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil....The prayers of God's saints are the capital stock of heaven by which God carries on His great work upon earth. God conditions the very life and prosperity of His cause on prayer.”

The answer to why prayer is necessary lies in God's original plan when He created Adam. What God intended for Adam, He intended for the entire human race. He gave Adam and Eve and their descendants dominion over the entire earth and all creation.