The Building Blocks of Intercession

PBS recently broadcast a special on the "Leaning Tower of Pisa." Located in Italy, the Tower stood for centuries, despite its tipsy condition. The latest efforts to fix the spire began with a bidding contest between companies. The winning business had to modify its plans several times, based upon discoveries made during the excavation work.

After the job was done, though the Tower of Pisa still leaned, it would not topple over. One of Italy's national treasures could stand for another century or two, because of its shored-up foundation.

Many of us enter intercession with a base similar to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. There are higher levels of intercession that our hodge-podge foundations simply won't support. In this series, my goal is to help even out and reinforce the underpinnings of your intercession. That way, you can attain the higher heights of prayer.

We begin this series by focusing on the first cornerstone that under girds our prayer life. That cornerstone is: You must make sure of your position in Christ.

To begin, you must make certain of your position in Christ. I'd like to address two aspects of our relationship to Jesus: our salvation and our standing.

Aspect #1 - Our Salvation

First, consider our need for salvation. Why? Our relationship to Christ affects our fruitfulness. Jesus said: "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you" (John 15:5-6).

Those without a relationship with Christ can accomplish little good in the supernatural realm.

If a Christian doubts their salvation, they also have little impact in the unseen world. Once, I went through such a phase. I didn't know about the enemy's condemnation. So when a demon reminded me of a confessed sin, I'd assumed it was the Holy Spirit's conviction. Or, I felt the fact that I did sin was evidence that I wasn't saved. Or, I wondered if I'd unknowingly committed the unpardonable sin.

My prayer life became a morbid exercise in introspection. I constantly asked the Lord over and over again to forgive my sins and come into life. That was the theme of my prayers. I was so focused on my concerns, that others' concerns were neglected. Eventually, God got tired of the same old conversation.

God needed to settle the issue in my heart. Why there? I knew many verses that spoke of the assurance of a believer's salvation. But, my security with Him hadn't become a foregone conclusion in my spirit. The Lord remedied that condition in three ways. A Christian brother pointed out that my concern over my salvation was evidence that I hadn't committed the unpardonable sin. He also pointed out that few commentaries agreed on what the unpardonable sin was. And, I learned of new verses, such as Philippians 1:6, that spoke of God's work to ensure the perseverance of the saints. These thoughts became more than apologetic arguments; they formed Rhema words that quieted my spirit (Hebrews 4:12).

It's also important to be sure of our salvation, because the enemy deceives people into believing religious activity can substitute for a right relationship with God. Jesus warned us about the lie: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven--Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS'" (Matthew 7:21-23).

As I mentioned, the error centers on mistaking activity for intimacy, religion for relationship.

Whether you are from a liturgical, evangelical, or charismatic background, one fundamental does not change: "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation" (Romans 10:9-10).

If you aren't at peace as we review these truths, and you can't look back on a time when you invited Jesus into your heart, I'd like to invite you to do that right now. Jesus said: "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out" (John 6:37).

God is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:

"Lord Jesus, thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."

If that prayer expresses the desire of your heart, I'd invite you to pray the prayer right now and Christ will come into your life, as He promised (Revelation 3:20).

Or, if you've invited Jesus into your heart, but still encounter doubts, ask God to establish the certainty of your salvation in your spirit. Perhaps the Lord will quicken a verse to your heart, or whisper something into your spirit at an opportune time. He may surprise you in how He brings that assurance into your life.

Aspect #2 - Our Standing

We need to pursue our standing in Christ. We should strive to take possession of our position. There is nothing more basic to prayer than that. It determines whether we approach God as a pauper, begging for a crumb, or as a prince, pleading our privilege.

The Bible indicates that we are seated with Christ on His throne in the heavens (Ephesians 2:6-7). I'd like to use the word, "positionally," to recognize the fact that while our spirits are seated with Jesus in the heavenlies, in practice, few of us have appropriated the power of that position. We profess more power than we possess.

What's the secret? How many conferences have you attended, hoping to discover the solution to that riddle?

The answer isn't found in a puzzle; it's found in a person--Jesus. When the disciples were on the Mount of Transfiguration, their persons didn't glow; His did. I've had the opportunity to hear Heidi Bakker of Iris Ministries speak on a number of occasions. All you hear from Heidi over-and-over is intimacy, intimacy, intimacy. And the hand of the Lord is clearly on Iris ministries.

I'd like to encapsulate three points I've heard. To begin with, we need to pursue a close relationship with God. He is the well, we are the pumps. A pump that isn't hooked up to a well is a dry. And thirsty people don't flock to dry wells. For God's stuff to flow through us, we must be hooked up to Him. Intimacy keeps our plumbing lined up with God's power, and keeps our priorities pegged to His priorities. And intimacy isn't automatic (Hebrews 4:14-15).

As intercessors, we need time with the Lord, strictly devoted to Him. How can God communicate His priorities to us, if we aren't quiet before Him? Often, I've prayed through the people on my list in the allotted time, with all the precision of a Martha. Then suddenly, I felt that the Lord wanted me to put down the list, and sit at His feet like Mary. I'm still learning about this one.

Next, we must practice acts of power before the acts are empowered. Your have to act as if you are anointed before the anointing comes. God has used Heidi to heal many blind eyes. But, for the first year or so, Heidi regularly prayed for blind eyes to open and nothing happened. John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard Churches, also continuously prayed for different people to be healed over several months before God began to answer his prayers (source: Power Evangelism). New pumps require several movements of the pumping mechanism, before water from deep water tables is drawn up to the spout.

If God assigns you to intercede for people and projects, you must to pray until God's power manifests itself. That's why we spoke so much about how to wait on God during our previous series, "Praying to Obtain God's Best." In some instances, God doesn't always make you wait. When you operate under the covering of a Minister who's already primed the pump, their anointing flows through your prayers. For example, when my son goes on Randy Clark trips to Brazil, God uses the overflow of Randy's anointing to empower my son's prayers.

And last, we will possess the power of His person. We've moved from profession to possession. The process is not static. Since your authority flows from intimacy with Christ, you must continually pursue Him. Otherwise, you'll end up like Samson, trying to do a Holy Spirit-size task in your own strength (Judges 16:2-21).