October 1, 2012
The Intercessor and Faith
Today is the first of the Month. When there is a new month there is always the chance for a new beginning. I have prayed for breakthrough since May upon the onset of my health condition for not only this but the other impossible areas of my life that include finding a job, serving in a ministry, and marriage. This chapter draws attention to the difference between the pagan and the Christian for the Christian is a person with faith and the chapter opens with that famous verse in Hebrews:
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone wh must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly - Hebrews 11:6
Faith is not the only marker of the believer. There is also conduct and world view. One brother had gotten in a car accident and he had let us know about the situation the other brother who is not yet a believer responded with some indifference. It once shocked me to see how much uncaring and indifference the people who are not born again are. I'm sure there are loving people who are not born again, but I personally have not met any. And then when the brother came home from work he is like instantly asks my mom where is the mooncake that his girlfriend got the family. I mean it was a family gift from his girlfriend and here he was demanding it like it was for him only. I'm glad I don't eat mooncake otherwise his wrath would be directed towards me over this small insignificant mooncake. People of God share with others and they genuinely care about others. There is a major difference in the way a Christian lives. However, I cannot say that I am all that Christian either. My health condition has not been good these past couple of days. So my mood has been very down and yesterday I began having pain in my toe that was present for a couple of hours while I sat and finished my paper. Not even mooncake from my girlfriend was able to lift my mood. I think nothing this day at all could have had a positive influence on me. What is more, I was reminded of the impossibility of this relationship there being 10,000 miles that separate us at this time and I don't have the health or the finances to see her now. My last semester of grad school was so promising as God enabled me to finish very strong with every assignment and all six classes averaging nearly a 4.0 when I have never taken that many classes and never done so well. I had job interviews line up even before graduation and a week after graduation, my health condition came, the interviews did not go well, and everything at this present moment just sucks. Everything went from possible to impossible within a period of less than a month. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Right now, I have so little faith.
"The entire staff and crew dropped whatever they were doing and quickly gathered in the main lounge. The captain urged us to pray that God would give us a safe passage through the Strait of Magellan so that we could arrive on time. Because of the seriousness of the situation, we needed prayers of faith for the impossible. We were absolutely dependent on God for our future on that vulnetable old ship. Only He could save our situation. We immediately gathered in small groups, praying fervently that God would calm the seas. Within minutes, God answered prayer: The seas became still, and the ship passed peacefully through the narrow passage.
I sat on deck at the bow of the ship with a young man, admiring the beauty of God's creation in this gorgeous part of the world. Actually, this was our first date — one we would always remember in the years after we married. During that passage through the Strait of Magellan, we saw many shipwrecks right in the midst of the natural beauty of massive rocks and clear blue seas. This was a vivid reminder of God's powerful answer to our desperate prayers. Are prayers of faith for the impossible effective? Yes! Our ship was able to reach its destination safely, and we were able to continue our conferences and evangelistic programs right on schedule. God used the situation to build our faith.
You may be asking, How can I develop my faith in God? How can I pray for the impossible in my life circumstances? How do I tap into God's unlimited power when I feel so weak? Let's discover how faith-filled ptayers are developed through delay and how we can pray with faith fot the impossible — even surrendering our weakness inro God's strong supernatural power."
I think of the disciples and Jesus on the stormy sea and when they found Jesus sleeping during the storm and they were all full of fear and woke Jesus up. He calmed the storm like it was nothing. God allowed this ship to pass through safely through the power of prayer even when they saw so many shipwrecks as they passed through. It reminds me of the exodus from Egypt while Israel pass through on dry ground and the Egyptians drowned into the sea. God products His own it appears. God brings us into storms and we often grow so worried and frantic. That is sure my natural response. Somehow, someway, He gets us through and calms the storm, but not always immediately. When He does, we know it is Him and all glory goes to Him in this impossible situation. I am right now going through a storm but it has not yet been calmed. Some days it seems pretty bad. Some days I think I am going to drown. I cannot see that He is at work and protecting me even though He is probably by my side.
"Faith does the impossible because it lets God undertake for us, and nothing is impossible for God. How great-without qualification or limitation-the power of faith isl If doubt can be banished from the heart and unbelief is made a stranger there, what we ask from God will surely come to pass. . . . Prayer throws faith on God and God on the world. Only God can move mountains, but faith and prayer move God. - E. M. Bounds. E. M. Bounds on Prayer1
Are you trusting God for something bigger than yourself, for something that only God can do? Are you stepping out of your comfort zone, beyond what is normal in your sight, asking God for things that are God-sized and not man-sized? Are you filled with the plans and purposes of God, with an anticipation of what God will do if you believe and do not give up?
This is what God wants. We need to come to Him in faith with a great expectation of meeting with Him and seeing Him answer our prayers. Let us believe that God rewards faith and those who diligently seek Him (see Hebrews 11:6). Fairh is the currency of heaven. The question we must ask is, "How can our faith be enlarged so that we have this cutrency of heaven?" One of the most significant ways is through delay.
Yet faith is often called upon to wait patiently befote God and is prepared for God's seeming delays in answering prayer. Faith does not grow disheartened because prayer is not immediately honoted. It takes God at His Word and lets Him take what time He chooses in fulfilling His purposes and in carrying on His work. There is bound to be delay and long days of waiting fot ttue faith, but faith accepts the conditions.2"
Faith takes God at His word. I read so many of God's promises and as the days go by I wonder if these promises are true anymore today and then it becomes is the Bible true and then satan really gets me to doubt His word just like he did with Eve from the beginning. When we doubt His word then we doubt who He is and His plans for us. I think once satan can get us or anyone to believe that God's word isn't true, than he has planted the seed to destroy our faith and relationship with God. Taking God at His word is the hardest thing when going through difficulties. It is easy when things are going well because we can visibly see God's blessings and God's goodness. I like the Bounds quote, God can move mountains but faith moves God. So indirectly we can see moved mountains through our prayers. I am trusting God with many things bigger than myself, things that only God can do like my health, my relationship with my girlfriend, my joblessness situation, my ministry. All these are bigger than myself and are God sized situations and concerns that only He can provide. Yet, delay causes me to weaken in faith. How do we handle the moment by moment difficulties when we don't see God's goodness in the meantime?
"Jesus used delay in the interest of a gteater good. Look at the story of the death of Lazatus (see John 11:1-44). The faith of Mary and Martha was tested. Jesus waited; Lazarus died. This was a seemingly impossible situation. What is more hopeless than death — not only physical death but death of all dreams, plans, and hopes? If God delays in answering your prayer, wait for Him. Waiting is not being lazy or going to sleep. It is not giving up. Rather, it is activity under command — being ready for when the command comes, and doing nothing until it comes. In His own good timing, God will give the command and break through all the obstacles. He will come and will not be late.
When starting the ministry of Intercessors Arise International, I ran into many difficulties. I knew what God wanted to do, but numerous obstacles came my way. Over and over again I ran into computer problems, and over and over again I had to lay them in God's hands and pray. The Enemy fought hatd, and I finally made a decision to pray through all the obstacles and wait until God broke through. I knew in my heart that He wanted to raise up a vehicle to encourage intercession. It was a big test of my faith, a mountain that had to be conqueted, and God broke through. It was an assignment in ptayer that was too big for me but was conquerable for God."
This has been one of the most encouraging chapters I have read. What can be more impossible than death. The death of Lazarus was surely an impossible thing and Mary and Martha were surely upset that Jesus did not come through sooner. Yet Jesus came right on time, in time to provide a miracle that only He could do. When all of my interviews for working at mental health agencies serving the Chinese population failed, I felt a death of a dream. I spent nine years as an undergrad and two years as a grad student to go into social work and here I am sitting at home not finding any work. I had a strong passion to help people and right now I cannot even help myself. I love this illustration with starting this international ministry. It is a God sized task and only one where God needed to come through. So we pray through and wait through and listen and see how God may be working in our situation. We feel joy looking back just as I feel joy looking back and seeing how God came through so many times in grad school in very impossible situations.
"God answered prayer, and now my faith has been enlarged to believe Him for much greater things regarding Intercessors Arise International. I believe that the test of faith was absolutely necessary for what God wanted to do. Whatever obstacle you are facing, whatever impossibility you are praying through, don't give up. God wants to enlarge your faith through the difficulty and the delay. Believe that one day He will break through in abundance. Thank Him now for what He will do even when you don't see it. Remember, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Delay is often the test and the strength of faith. How much patience is required when these times of testing come! Yet faith gathers strength by waiting and praying. Patience has its perfect work in the school of delay. In some instances, delay is of the very nature of the prayer. God has to do many things before He gives the final answer. There are things that are essential to the lasting good of the person who is requesting the favor from Him. - E. M. Bounds, E. M. Bounds on Prayer'1
I really like this passage. God wants to enlarge our faith through difficulty and delay. As I mentioned in the last section, grad school each day was an impossible thing and I felt like I was going to quit from the difficulty almost every week. You would think that my faith would enlarge from seeing God come through, but here I find myself with bigger difficulties but God hasn't changed. He is the same God that got me through grad school and He is the same God who can help me today. Many people often remind me to don't give up but this is so hard when we cannot see anything good happening. God needs to do many things before the answer. The bigger the concern, the more God needs to do. Some answered prayers are instant like finding keys but some are longer. It is these longer things that are hard to wait and trust God.
"It seemed impossible at the time, but to God all things are possible. God wants to answer prayers of faith for the impossible. Are we willing to step out into this dimension in our prayer lives?
What impossible assignments has God given you in prayer? Is it the salvation of a loved one, revival in your city or nation, healing from an illness? To you it may seem impossible (and the Devil would want you to believe that), but God loves to answer impossible prayers because He, the creator of all that is, lives in the realm of what seems impossible. He wants us to be obedient in prayer so that He can stretch our faith to the place where He dwells. In this place of faith-filled obedience, He makes the impossible possible, by His might and power alone. And He wraps His strength around our weakness, bringing our faith to a new level.
The first day at sea on this voyage was miserable for most of us, and we had three more days to endure. But God was at work realigning our lives with His, conquering in a small way the self-life so that His life could shine more brightly through, and strengthening us in faith by answering our prayers for calm seas. We all have a tendency to get discouraged at the enormity of the task before us, in the weariness of the battle when the storms of life seem overwhelming, and when we perceive our own inability to have strength or faith for what is ahead.
We must realize that we are not alone. God is powerful, and He is with us through every storm and danger in life. I once heard the story about a house that caught on fire one night and was being consumed with flames. A young boy was forced to climb out on the roof to escape. His father stood below with his arms outstretched, calling out loudly to his son, "Jump! I will catch you." The only way to save his life was to get the boy to jump. But he saw only the huge flames and black smoke and was terribly afraid. His father kept yelling frantically, "Jump! I will catch you." The boy fearfully protested, "Daddy, I can't see you. I can't see you," to which the father replied, "But I can see you, and that's all that matters."
God breaks through if we don't give up in prayer. Sometimes we feel the darkness of life just like that young boy on the roof. We can't see our way through a situation, but we pray fervenrly to God for rhe answer. We may say, "God, I can't feel Your presence. Are You with me?" And He says to us, "I can see you, and that's all that mattets. I will never leave you or forsake you. You can trust Me." We must realize that God is there and that He will catch us even though we can't see our way through. He will grant us victory stepby-step as we continue in prayer. Don't give up in prayer, because He will win the battle for you. Remember that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Let us pray for one another that our faith may not fail. Faith honors God. He answers prayer according to our faith (see Matthew 9:29). We link our humanity to His omnipotence when we pray in faith."
The illustration of the little boy and the father is right on for me. I feel like the little boy and God both literally and figuratively is that father on the outside. He tells me to jump but all I see is the fire that is overwhelming. I can’t see God, but He’s somehow there. He sees me and that should be enough. Faith by nature of what it is is difficult. I cannot see or hear God but somehow today and right now, God is present and He is able to catch me when I jump to safety from the fire.
"God can calm the stormy seas in your personal life, family, city, and nation. He longs to do the impossible in answering the cties of intercession. Prayer is the avenue to see all needs met. Prayer and faith go together."
"Don't discount what is possible with God iPhilippians 4:13). When God gives an assignment, it is no longer an impossibility, but rather it is an absolute certainty. When God gives you a seemingly impossible task, the only thing preventing it from coming to pass is your disobedience. . . . How do you respond to assignments that seem impossible? Do you write them off as unattainable? Or do you immediately adjust your life to God's revelation, watching with anticipation to see how He will accomplish His purposes through your obedience. God wants to do the impossible through your life. - Henry and Richard Blackaby, Experiencing God, Oay-by-Day"
"As a child of God, you ought to expect God to answer your prayers. Do you ask God to do something without adjusting your life to what you are praying? If you are praying for revival, how are you preparing for its coming? If you are praying for forgiveness, are you still living with guilt? If you have asked God to provide for your needs, do you remain worried and anxious? Ask God to increase your faith, and then begin living a life that reflects absolute trust in Him. - Henry and Richard Blackaby, Experiencing God. Day-by-Day"
"Unbelief and independence trap us. But God wants to enlarge our territory. He wants to bless us with increase, because His nature is to bless. Our lack of faith and our fear of stepping out in dependence on God are what get in the way. The truth is, the things we do for God should be outside of our own abilities; they should be evidence we are trusting in His supernatural ability. When we back away from dependence, we are not living by faith. We need to be willing to attempt things big enough that unless God steps in, we are sure to fail. Faith is like jumping out of an airplane ar fifteen thousand feet or sailing across an ocean in the oldest floating passenger ship in the world. If God doesn't catch you, you will fall or drown. But how do you know unless you jump? This is the kind of faith and dependence He is looking for in our lives.
Remember the prayer of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:10: "Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, 'Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.' And God granted his request." Jabez cried out to God to enlarge his territory and bless him. He cried out for God's hand to be with him. Jabez was greatly blessed by God because he didn't let obstacles become larger than his faith. He knew the character of God and knew that God loved to bless. We, too, are made for destiny. We have a God-inspired desire to impact out world. Created for something bigger than ourselves, we are designed to touch a lost world. We long to make an impact on our land for eternity, whether it is where we work, live, or minister."
The prayer of Jabez is a controversial one in modern times because it goes against what conservative Christians are told about the prosparity gospel. I mean whenever we hear people talk about God blessing people with money, there is this spiritual alarm system that goes off. Televangelists especially have been put into question who preach this kind of Theology. However, the more I meditate on the word of God I see God’s nature is to bless. The material blessing in the Bible, like healing seems to be very absent today. We don’t see healings in the conservative church and we don’t see people who are Christian who get absurdly rich that is unless they have a high-paying job. I sometimes have a little bit of doubt because I don’t see the God of the Bible right here in my own life.
"Faith frees us to trust God who has all the resources of heaven. Why are we afraid to become dependent on a God who has unlimited resources? God has all the resources in the world. His power is limitless. He wants to bless us, but we must have faith. If we pray for God to enlarge our borders, we must depend on Him and prepare to believe for miracles that only God can bring about.
God gives us the desires of our hearts, and He wants to answer extraordinary prayers combined with extraordinary faith. He wants us to live beyond our self-imposed limits. He wants to give us favor, but many of us don't believe it. I encourage you to begin to pray big prayers, because God is able to bless.
I realize that I must demonstrate my dependence on God continually by stepping out by faith in whatever way He leads. And then I watch Him perform the miracle. Bruce Wilkinson says the following:
The most exhilarating miracles in my life have always started with a bold request to expand God's kingdom a lot. When you take little steps, you don't need God. It's when you thrust yourself in the mainstream of God's plan for this world — which are beyond our ability to
accomplish — and plead with Him, Lord, use me — give me more ministry for You — that you release miracles.6"
"What step of faith is God asking you to take today? Will you put everything into His almighty hands, adjust your life to what you are praying for, and step out by faith in whatever way He leads? When you do this, you become dependent in His dependable hands. He is waiting for your invitation to enlatge yout faith.
If seeking God's blessing is our ultimate act of worship, and asking to do more for Him is our utmost ambition, then asking for God's hand upon us is our strategic choice to sustain and continue the great things that God has begun in our lives. That's why you could call God's hand on you "the touch of greatness." You do not become great; you become dependent on the strong hand of God. Your surrendered need turns into His unlimited opportunity. And He becomes great through you. - Bruce Wilkinson, The Prayer of iabei"
Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, I learn today about Your bigness and Your desire to bless. Yet, I can’t see it today. I face very impossible situations with my health, my long distance relationship, my joblessness situation, my lack of ministry and purpose in life. I feel lost right now and wonder where is the God we read about who gives generously and who heals and who is able to do the impossible. Right now I am really struggling in my faith. I want to see You do the impossible and provide in a big way and give me open doors for ministry and career to expand Your kingdom but right now I have so many doubts. I want to reach this city but feel so small. I want to dream God sized dreams and pray big. I want to seek Your favor and blessing so that I may give generously. Father, help me see that You are the same God in the Bible as You are today, a mighty and loving God who seeks to bless to give generously and to heal completely. Father, I desire meaning and purpose in my life, but right now I feel so lost and powerless. I need You to make this lifeless and hopeless situation of my life be raised alive by Your power.
