October 5, 2012
The Intercessor and Persistence
Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray give up. -Luke 18:1
This has been one of my favorite Bible passages because I am a man prone to discouragement and giving up especially when things appear very bleak. I have prayed very casually when I first faced my present challenges. After all, I had hope still back in May for employment and my health was relatively normal. I was fresh out of grad school with job interviews lined up and June came and July came and that began to birth a sense of urgency. When in times of urgency, I tend to be a bit more persistent. My health is a little bit better than yesterday and also my mood. Mom was invited to go shopping and to lunch at my favorite cafe, Blue Moon. It turns out the nice waitress was there too. Well, dad left the wheelchair in the van and he took the van to the bay area so I had no wheelchair. Today I can walk maybe 15-20 feet but I am nowhere near well enough to go outside so mom went shopping and to lunch while I stayed once again at home. This would be the fifth day without going out and without sunshine. These moments foster a deeper sense of persistent prayer.
"He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God. (Psalm 50:23
My husband chose to discipline his mind and think about God's Word and His promises. Together we laid this burden before the Lord in prayer. All the way to the ferry terminal, we persisted in prayer and praised God regardless of what would happen. In the end, we made it right to the line of cars waiting to leave for England, found a man with extra gas in a bottle, made it up the ramp to the ferry, and departed onlyr seconds later.
Was this a miracle from God? I believe it was. When we practiced God's presence through praise and persistent prayer, God turned our circumstances around. Does God answer praise and persistent prayer in the middle of the night in a strange country? Yes, He does.
Discipline and persistence in prayer are not always easy. Sometimes we simply have to persevere, even when it looks the darkest. We ask, How can I continue praying? Is there a way I can persevere in prayer even in difficult circumstances? Let's explore how to keep on praying even when it's hard. We'll talk about burden-bearing intercession and how to carry God's heartfelt burdens in a proper way that can change our own circumstances and those of others."
Although this passage does not specifically mention persistence, it does mention thank offerings. Praise is so important in prayer. Last night, was perhaps one of the more difficult nights emotionally and physically. I decided to look up some praise songs that express who God is and that really helped change my attitude. Immediate breakthrough in my challenges did not come, but I was able to focus more on God and less on my problems. I hope to see how God performs miracles in our worship-based prayer.
"Persistent prayer is a mighty move of the soul toward God. It is a stirring of the deepest forces of the soul toward the throne of heavenly grace. It is the ability to hold on, press on, and wait. Restless desire, restful patience, and strength to hold on are all embraced in it. It is not an incident or a performance, but a passion of soul, it is not something half-needed, but a sheer necessity. - E. M. Bounds, f. M. Bounds on Prayer'
Persistence is an important quality necessary for intercession for the needs of the world. Most of us have experienced praying for a long time for a specific prayer request and not yet seeing the answer. It takes faith to pray years and years for something. Don't give up! God continues to hear you. Persistent prayer carries a wrestling quality and an earnestness of soul. When you experience this, God is bringing you into a deeper level of intercession that is not through fleshly energy but by the Spirit of God. You will reap a harvest if you do not give up.
My mother prayed day after day for more than thirty years for my father's salvation. Many of us joined her in this prayer request, but we saw no indication on his part of even an interest in spiritual things. When he became very sick at age eighty, he easily could have died because of two major heart problems. We persisted in prayer for his spiritual and physical life. While he was in the hospital one night, he took the initiative and called us to come see him immediately. We hurried to his hospital room, not knowing what to expect. My mothet led him in a prayer to receive Christ as his Savior. God used her to answer her own persistent prayer request! This was a huge reminder to all of us that God does answet prayer if we persevere.
If God can save my father after thirty years of prayer, I know that He can do anything. He wants each one of us to persist in prayer even when the answer seems impossible."
I am right now praying for loved ones. Earlier this week on Sunday, my brother was in a car accident, and his wife and he e-mailed the family and shared the Gospel and more specifically how the situation reminded them of the Gospel and they did this knowing that my other brother would read this. They asked how my brother took the e-mail and it turns out my brother who is not saved was very apathetic about it. We have been praying for years for both my mom and brother to know the Lord but their hearts seem so hard and this looks like such an impossible thing that only God can breakthrough. This story helps me know that God is still in control even when heearts seem hard.
"She shares this picture with them: Imagine getting a big platter. Put all your burdens and prayer concerns onto that platter as you pray. Then take the platter into your hands and throw it like a Frisbee up to God in heaven. Every time that concern comes and you begin to worry, remember that you prayed and gave it to God. Throw that platter of personal concerns back up to heaven. Remember that you gave it to Him and that God's burden is light.
Colabor with God. Burden-bearing prayer means working with God. Successful intercession begins in God's heart. The Holy Spirit takes the initiative and calls us into partnership with Himself as He acts. God stirs our hearts for the things that touch His heart. Sometimes we may sense the grief, hurt, pain, or anger of individuals or nations. The burden for people, cities, or countries can last for a single prayer, weeks, months, or even years. The battle to heal nations will call for great intercession and the burden for souls. God lays His burden upon our hearts, and we have the joy of praying it back to Him. He wants us to grow in His love and pray His burdens with joy, knowing that such prayers will dramatically change the world."
I have two of the struggles mentioned here. First, when I pray and give my burden to God, moments later I find myself with that same burden, I did not really give it to God in the first place and took it back. I like the suggestion, but it does not work for me. Some people like visuallizing or physically doing something to indicate this posture of giving the burden to God but so far I have not found something that works. Also, concerning burdens I recently have been made of so many prayer concerns. I feel overwhelmed by the issues people face and whether or not God cares about these situations. I am also not sure what to do in this situation.
"The world's confusion and chaos will cease because our prayers have touched the Enemy's strategies in a supernatural way. Satan's schemes will be thwarted and God's salvation can spring forth unhindered as we help ease the misery of humankind by praying prayers that come from the heart of God Himself. These are the goals of burden- bearing intercession.
Results of Burden-Bearing Intercession
• You die to yourself faster. When you carry God's burdens, you have to deal with sin issues in your own life. You experience death to self in a deeper way daily.
• You love God more and grow in intimacy. You share the heart of God and become more thankful to God as you bear burdens with Him.
• Your Bible comes alive. You identify with the hearts of biblical men and women as you gain greater understanding of how they carried the burdens of their time.
• You experience personal repentance. You learn to hate sin, because you see how much it cost Jesus. You repent as you learn to cry out to God for other people.
• Your conscience becomes more sensitive to the Holy Spirit. You are more aware of His conviction, whether in words or action."
"Intercession is expressing a holy dissatisfaction with the way things are and taking the necessary steps to bring change through prayer. I envision a day will come when thousands of intercessors with militant, reckless abandonment for Jesus will stand for the lost, stand against the powers of darkness and stand for the Kingdom of God. They will be radical. - Alice Smith, Beyond the Veil"
I love these results of burden bearing prayer. What I especially like is having a greater consciousness with the Holy Spirit and intimacy with God. We become in tune to the heart of God and the things He cares about. I have found recently on the radio a ministry for victims of sex slavery of teen girls. This injustice and wrong happens not only in other countries but in our own backyard. God is not only a God of love but justice. The more I read the Bible and the prayers of Godly men and women the more I become in tune with what God cares about.
"Without persistence, prayers may go unanswered. Importunity is made up of the ability to hold on, to continue, to wait with unrelaxed and unrelaxable grasp, restless desire, and restful patience. Importunate prayer is not an incidental occurrence, but the main thing; not a performance, but a passion; not an option, but a necessity. - E. M. Bounds, f. M. Bounds on Prayer*"
"We, too, must persevere in prayer. If we do, many things will happen spiritually. Through our prayers, we can spiritually give abundantly to the Lord's work. The value of prayer is like a rich treasure. Your prayers are more valuable than gold.
The following are several ways you and I can be diligent in prayer:
• Stand your watch. An intercessor is also a watchman, for a watchman's task is to be aware of any danger
approaching the city. God places you as a watchman in prayer, being alert for potential Enemy attack. God is looking for intercessors to stand in the gap for entire cities and nations. What is the watch God has given you? Is it your workplace, home, neighborhood, or city? The psalmist exhorts us, "My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises. Hear my voice in accordance with yout love" (Psalm 119:148-149). Pray fervently. Fervent prayer means that we spend enough time in prayer. We do not quit easily, but we cry out with our whole heart and soul. We may even pray with tears or groans that are too deep for words (see Romans 8:26). As James reminds us, "The [effectual fervent] prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16). Pray steadfastly. We must not be tempted by the distractions all around us. The life of Jesus is our example. He set His face resolutely to go to the cross. He was set to accomplish God's will. Faithfully labor with Him in this new dimension of holy resolve and steadfast prayer. The gospel writer recounts, "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51).
Hold on to what is good in prayer. We must diligently hold fast to what is good and what has been won in ptayer, for the Enemy will try to take it away. Satan hates what is good, and he comes to rob, steal, and destroy. He is after our victories. Hold fast to what we have won, even as we pray for further breakthroughs in intercession."
Prayer:
Father, it is so hard to persist in prayer. I am prone to become discouraged and give up when I can’t see that You are at work. I have prayed so long for my brother and mom, for my neighbors and church. I have prayed for my health, my job situation, my singleness, and purpose in life. I have prayed for breakthrough in all these areas and have received Your silence. Please help me to see that You are at work, even now. Please help to strengthen my faith even when I feel like giving up.
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