DAY 17: Carry the Burden Away

Isaiah being ready

The second word is bastazo meaning "to bear, lift or carry" something with the idea being to carry it away or remove it. It is used in Romans 15:1-3 and Galatians 6:2 which we will look at shortly.

An amazing and little understood aspect of intercession is exemplified by Christ in which He performed both of these bearing concepts. We have already established that His intercession for us was not a prayer He prayed, but a work He did. It was a work of "going between" to reconcile us to the Father and break Satan's dominion. And, of course, understanding His work in this area paves the way for an understanding of ours.

DAY 9: Distributors For God

Five loaves and two fish

Our prayers of intercession are an extension of Jesus' work of intercession.

We are distributors for God not producers. We don't have to produce anything-reconciliation, deliverance, victory, etc.-but rather we distribute, as the disciples did with the loaves and fishes (see Matthew 14:17-19).

Our calling and function is not to replace God, but to release Him.

* The Producer simply wants to distribute through us.
* The Intercessor wants to intercede through us.
* The Mediator wants to mediate through us.
* The Representative wants to represent through us.
* The Go-between wants to go between through us.
* The Victor wants His victory enforced through us.
* The Minister of reconciliation has given to us the ministry of reconciliation (see 2 Cor. 5:18, 19). We now represent Him in His representation ministry. God continues to incarnate His redemptive purposes in human lives.

DAY 8: Christ, The Ultimate Intercessor

Pray without ceasing

Jesus came and drew us a picture of God! Now we know what He looks like.

But that's not the only direction of His interceding. Great irony exists in the fact that Man who was meant to be God's intercessor, mediator or representative on earth now needed someone to mediate for him. He who was made to represent God on the earth now needed someone to represent him to God.

Christ, of course, became that representative, intercessor or mediator. Not only did He represent God to man, but He also represented man to God. This God-man was the attorney for both sides!

He is the ultimate, final and only go-between. He is "the Apostle [God to the human race] and High Priest [the human race to God] of our confession" (Hebrews 3:1). He is Job's great go-between, hanging between heaven and earth placing one hand on God and the other on humans (see Job 9:32, 33).

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.