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 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 5: Daniel, A Man Of Prayer

Daniel praying

Another example which supports our need for prayer is found in the life of Daniel. In 606 B.C. Israel had been taken captive by another nation because of its sin.

Years later in Daniel 9 we're told that while reading the prophet Jeremiah, Daniel discovered it was time for Israel's captivity to end.

Jeremiah had not only prophesied the captivity of which Daniel was a part, but he also prophesied the duration: 70 years.

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.

The 40 Days Of Intercession Starts This Weekend!

You are invited to join us as a church as we enter a period of praying and fasting during our 40 Days of Purpose Spiritual Campaign.

Each year we have seen God's mighty hand upon us as a church and upon us individually as we enter this period of consecration.

If you have been looking for a break through in an area of your life or need deliverance or a need to rekindle your first love for God, please join us as we seek God's face together.