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For all seek their own, not the things Which are Jesus Christ’s Phil2:21
I
think it is safe to say that for
the thirty years I’ve been a Christian, most of my prayer
life has been focused
on me or on those for whom I have been fortunate enough to come in
contact. I have
prayed from self-will,
self-understanding and self-interest.
I
can say after thirty years I have sought my own not the things which
are Jesus
Christ’s. To
seek the things that are
Jesus Christ’s one must have the mind of Christ. The gift of intercession
is the gift whereby
God puts in your spirit his intentions with respect to the person or
persons He
wants you to pray for. Not
even the gift
of prophesy is the gift of intercession.
Prophesy is for edification, exhortation, and
comfort. Intercession
is for healing, deliverance, and
salvation. In order
to enter into this
ministry one must devote one’s life to prayer, fasting, and
the word. One must
sacrifice the natural for the
spiritual. One must
open oneself to
luminal space and the freedom of clarity of mind.
To do this one must break free from the
tyranny of the mind into the freedom of the senses by spending time
with
nature, looking at trees and sky and sea, and birds and cats and
flowers,
simply looking. One
must spend time each
day praying in the spirit without any thought or agenda, mindful
only of the
intention to be mindful. It
is in
sacrificing the natural, the things of our own, and realizing that our
spirituality is not about me, my holiness, my bank account, my family,
but all
about God and what God wants, that intercession is born. And that is why there are
so few
intercessors. Few
are willing to pay the
price and far fewer see the importance of intercession, only their own
importance. To be
used of God means something beyond
sanctification. Sanctification
deals
with our own holiness. The
gift of
intercession deals with God and God’s interest in ourselves,
our acquaintances,
and our world. Intercession
is not about
me and my opinion of me at all. It
is to
die to self, die to self interest, and die to self acquisitions. It becomes a life that may
not be pleasing to
self but immensely pleasing to God.
There may be no fame, power, wealth, or sensual
stimulation but a life that
is wholly devoted to God. It
is no
wonder why there are so few intercessors.
To be an intercessor is not self chosen.
It is a gift from God.
One can
only dispose oneself to the gift in order to receive it. Be open to the gift and
life along other
lines will no longer be available if God chooses to bless you with the
gift.
Spend time in the spirit to receive the gift and pray for intercessors.
Then
the kingdom of God will reign. Amen |