Classroom: Intercession 02-12-07
Intercession 02-12-07
Mary (guest speaker from Cyprus Day 1 of 2)
Never disregard something the Lord says to you during intercession time. It’s something where you step out into an adventure.
Question from Melissa: “How could you understand that this was God calling you to intercession and not just your imagination?”
Mary’s answer: Because of the preparation for intercession (which I’ll be going through later) – it’s all about submitting your prayer time into the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So if your faith in that submission-- because you step out in faith to say that “God, we have cast out the enemy, and whatever comes we know it’s from you,” you step out in faith. You don’t just rely on one thing. Just because somebody has a picture, you don’t rush out and say “yes, that’s what God wants us to do.” It’s the Spirit and the Word – you need biblical back-up as well. That’s why, when you’re in a group, you need agreement – so you have the Spirit, the Word, and agreement. So you don’t just go out on a wild, imaginative spree. You have to be in agreement together that this is what the Holy Spirit is telling you. You have to share in the experience.
[In these ways, God confirms what the Holy Spirit says to you.]
A lot of prayer times of intercession are just between me and the Lord. Being a solitary intercessor – you get to know the Lord quite intimately.
If you’re an intercessor, you’re an intercessor whether you’re on your own, or in a group.
Melly: “Is it possible that you hear your own mind asking you to pray for something and not the Lord? And is it bad if you pray for things from your own mind and it isn’t from the Lord?”
There is an entire seminar in these questions – but I will try to answer briefly and we can go back to it later. I have never heard an actual voice; but my husband has heard. And he looked around wondering why nobody else heard it because it was so loud. The only way I can explain it is to say that I know it when the Lord is speaking to me. It’s in my “know” – and I know I need to write it down. I know it’s His voice because I know Him. The only way to get to know His voice is the same as when you get to know a friend’s voice. And the only way you get to know someone is by spending time with them. The time you spend with the Lord is the most important time you will ever spend. The time you spend reading His word is the most important time. After you’ve spent time reading His word, you know, and you communicate with the Living God. I know in my life, if there have been times when I’ve been so busy to miss that time – everything seems to go wrong. It’s like if you have a good friend and you don’t bother speaking to them for a while, you miss them and they miss you and when you speak to them again there’s great joy in that. And if you’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit, you recognize His voice even more. I was born again a year before I was filled with the Spirit. I was doing a lot – reading and studying – working for Him. After I became filled with the Spirit, I was working with Him. That was difference. I was working for Him instead of with Him. And we get very tired working for Him – but when you work with Him it gets exciting.
Melly: “So it’s like… practice-- ?”
Yes. I’ve been with Him for 25 years and I’m still practicing.
Melly: “It won’t always be big things, right? We’ll be fine putting our prayers into little things—“
Uh-huh (yes).
Chris: “I know God wants us to pray intercession in groups and on our own – but would you say that one is better than another at times? Would you say that there are certain times when you should seek intercession in a group rather than alone – or the other way around?”
I will answer that in the next session because that’s what I’ve been planning to do.
You need to go through the Bible and look at different examples of intercession because there is a point in it – it’s God’s point. And we are told to do it. So it’s back to obedience. You don’t question Him (before being obedient) [but you can question the purpose during obedience].
[If God says to do it – it is good and it has a reason and a purpose. It has a positive effect. Intercession is another way we can be a part of God’s plan.]
Part of intercession is repentance – and humbling ourselves is not easy, especially is a church leader. So answering your question: In faith I believe that our intercession helped and it was encouraging [it probably taught something and brought them closer to God.] But I don’t question God because He is God and we have an enemy – who seeks to destroy. That is what Spiritual warfare is about.
Mankind gave a perfect world away – and it’s been getting worse ever since. God has given us free will and we cannot escape the consequences of that free will.
Isaiah 19:19-21
In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them.
Jesus said “when you pray” – he did not say “if you pray” – and Paul is saying the same thing.
1 Timothy 2:1
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
So intercession is different from prayers, supplication, and thanksgiving. When you bring your list – that is prayer and other things. They are all important. There is no scale going up steps – they are all equally important. Thanksgiving and prayer, thanksgiving and worship – and we may need to bring our own requests to God. Obviously we all have our own requests for our future and family and other things. We need to bring those before God. He is our loving Father, and when we come to prayer or prayer meetings, He is a loving Father and He wants us to bring everything to Him. Where ever there is a prayer meeting, God is there. And Jesus covered that prayer when he taught us how to pray.
“Our Father in Heaven” he began by acknowledging God
“Kingdom come”
“daily bread” all our needs, not all our wants
for forgiveness… and as we forgive others we will be forgiven
help us to resist temptations
keep us from the evil one
So what is the difference with intercession? Intercession is the expression of a relationship. And in that relationship, God is showing you whether you have a dream, or a picture, or a word in your heart.
This relationship grows from a friendship into a love affair. I’ve been doing a study into a song of Solomon – or song of songs. It’s a love story, and it’s how He loves me. He is my lover and I am His. It’s getting deeper into the relationship every time.
Intercession is a complete surrender.
After the Lord’s prayer, Jesus was with his disciples. He was saying that it was so important that He died so the Holy Spirit could be sent to earth.
No self effort, please. Don’t try to bring something that “He told you” just because you remember. I’ve sat in an intercessory meeting and haven’t heard anything at all; but you’re working as a team. It doesn’t matter. You’re there to pray. Nobody sees what you’re doing in intercession. It’s a hidden ministry.
Melly: “Sometimes when we pray, God gives people Bible verses to read or share with others. How does that work? Does God give us Bible verses that we know of and we remember to share them? Does He give us a verse and a number and we don’t know what it says but when we read it, it suits the situation? Do we just open our eyes and open the Bible and where we open it is where we read?”
My answer to that is “Yes”. It’s all of those things. We’re all different and it works in different ways; He wants to bring that difference out.
We all need to be interceding. There’s no question about that. Just like evangelism, we all need to be sharing and spreading the gospel – some people get a special calling in those areas, though, to give them more attention.
Mary (guest speaker from Cyprus Day 1 of 2)
Never disregard something the Lord says to you during intercession time. It’s something where you step out into an adventure.
Question from Melissa: “How could you understand that this was God calling you to intercession and not just your imagination?”
Mary’s answer: Because of the preparation for intercession (which I’ll be going through later) – it’s all about submitting your prayer time into the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So if your faith in that submission-- because you step out in faith to say that “God, we have cast out the enemy, and whatever comes we know it’s from you,” you step out in faith. You don’t just rely on one thing. Just because somebody has a picture, you don’t rush out and say “yes, that’s what God wants us to do.” It’s the Spirit and the Word – you need biblical back-up as well. That’s why, when you’re in a group, you need agreement – so you have the Spirit, the Word, and agreement. So you don’t just go out on a wild, imaginative spree. You have to be in agreement together that this is what the Holy Spirit is telling you. You have to share in the experience.
[In these ways, God confirms what the Holy Spirit says to you.]
A lot of prayer times of intercession are just between me and the Lord. Being a solitary intercessor – you get to know the Lord quite intimately.
If you’re an intercessor, you’re an intercessor whether you’re on your own, or in a group.
Melly: “Is it possible that you hear your own mind asking you to pray for something and not the Lord? And is it bad if you pray for things from your own mind and it isn’t from the Lord?”
There is an entire seminar in these questions – but I will try to answer briefly and we can go back to it later. I have never heard an actual voice; but my husband has heard. And he looked around wondering why nobody else heard it because it was so loud. The only way I can explain it is to say that I know it when the Lord is speaking to me. It’s in my “know” – and I know I need to write it down. I know it’s His voice because I know Him. The only way to get to know His voice is the same as when you get to know a friend’s voice. And the only way you get to know someone is by spending time with them. The time you spend with the Lord is the most important time you will ever spend. The time you spend reading His word is the most important time. After you’ve spent time reading His word, you know, and you communicate with the Living God. I know in my life, if there have been times when I’ve been so busy to miss that time – everything seems to go wrong. It’s like if you have a good friend and you don’t bother speaking to them for a while, you miss them and they miss you and when you speak to them again there’s great joy in that. And if you’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit, you recognize His voice even more. I was born again a year before I was filled with the Spirit. I was doing a lot – reading and studying – working for Him. After I became filled with the Spirit, I was working with Him. That was difference. I was working for Him instead of with Him. And we get very tired working for Him – but when you work with Him it gets exciting.
Melly: “So it’s like… practice-- ?”
Yes. I’ve been with Him for 25 years and I’m still practicing.
Melly: “It won’t always be big things, right? We’ll be fine putting our prayers into little things—“
Uh-huh (yes).
Chris: “I know God wants us to pray intercession in groups and on our own – but would you say that one is better than another at times? Would you say that there are certain times when you should seek intercession in a group rather than alone – or the other way around?”
I will answer that in the next session because that’s what I’ve been planning to do.
You need to go through the Bible and look at different examples of intercession because there is a point in it – it’s God’s point. And we are told to do it. So it’s back to obedience. You don’t question Him (before being obedient) [but you can question the purpose during obedience].
[If God says to do it – it is good and it has a reason and a purpose. It has a positive effect. Intercession is another way we can be a part of God’s plan.]
Part of intercession is repentance – and humbling ourselves is not easy, especially is a church leader. So answering your question: In faith I believe that our intercession helped and it was encouraging [it probably taught something and brought them closer to God.] But I don’t question God because He is God and we have an enemy – who seeks to destroy. That is what Spiritual warfare is about.
Mankind gave a perfect world away – and it’s been getting worse ever since. God has given us free will and we cannot escape the consequences of that free will.
Isaiah 19:19-21
In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them.
Jesus said “when you pray” – he did not say “if you pray” – and Paul is saying the same thing.
1 Timothy 2:1
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
So intercession is different from prayers, supplication, and thanksgiving. When you bring your list – that is prayer and other things. They are all important. There is no scale going up steps – they are all equally important. Thanksgiving and prayer, thanksgiving and worship – and we may need to bring our own requests to God. Obviously we all have our own requests for our future and family and other things. We need to bring those before God. He is our loving Father, and when we come to prayer or prayer meetings, He is a loving Father and He wants us to bring everything to Him. Where ever there is a prayer meeting, God is there. And Jesus covered that prayer when he taught us how to pray.
“Our Father in Heaven” he began by acknowledging God
“Kingdom come”
“daily bread” all our needs, not all our wants
for forgiveness… and as we forgive others we will be forgiven
help us to resist temptations
keep us from the evil one
So what is the difference with intercession? Intercession is the expression of a relationship. And in that relationship, God is showing you whether you have a dream, or a picture, or a word in your heart.
This relationship grows from a friendship into a love affair. I’ve been doing a study into a song of Solomon – or song of songs. It’s a love story, and it’s how He loves me. He is my lover and I am His. It’s getting deeper into the relationship every time.
Intercession is a complete surrender.
After the Lord’s prayer, Jesus was with his disciples. He was saying that it was so important that He died so the Holy Spirit could be sent to earth.
No self effort, please. Don’t try to bring something that “He told you” just because you remember. I’ve sat in an intercessory meeting and haven’t heard anything at all; but you’re working as a team. It doesn’t matter. You’re there to pray. Nobody sees what you’re doing in intercession. It’s a hidden ministry.
Melly: “Sometimes when we pray, God gives people Bible verses to read or share with others. How does that work? Does God give us Bible verses that we know of and we remember to share them? Does He give us a verse and a number and we don’t know what it says but when we read it, it suits the situation? Do we just open our eyes and open the Bible and where we open it is where we read?”
My answer to that is “Yes”. It’s all of those things. We’re all different and it works in different ways; He wants to bring that difference out.
We all need to be interceding. There’s no question about that. Just like evangelism, we all need to be sharing and spreading the gospel – some people get a special calling in those areas, though, to give them more attention.
posted by CarbonChris at 5:05 AM
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