The Building Blocks of Intercession

Self-help books are the bread and butter of publishers. You can improve your golf game, your financial picture, your marriage, your job performance, your dancing, your pet's obedience, and a myriad of other things. All you have to do is follow an author's ten easy steps, and you too, can experience their success. These books give you a "before and after" picture so you can evaluate the degree to which you have improved yourself.

Is there such a thing as a, "before and after," picture of a person's prayer life? Have you attempted to apply the tenets of speed dating to prayer, only to find that 3-minute sound bites aren't enough time to get to know the Lord? Have you attempted to substitute quality time for quantity time with God and later, felt yourself estranged from Him?

In this lesson, I'd like to address two ways to enhance the effectiveness of your intercession:

1. By operating in the prophetic.
2. By avoiding condemnation.

Prophetic Intercession

One way to increase your intercession's effectiveness is to seek the gift of prophecy. Why you may ask? Let me refer you to a specific promise of God concerning those who are prophetic: "Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).

I know that there is an office of the prophet (Ephesians 4:11), and that God hasn't called everyone to fill that job. God anoints such prophets to speak to geographic and institutional macrocosms with authority. Their spheres of influence can include international, national, regional, states and cities.

But I do believe that as we ask God to teach us how to operate in the prophetic, and we seek opportunities to practice the gift, that we condition and position ourselves to receive more of His revelation. As you function in the prophetic, God give you insights in the microcosms He holds you accountable for: your church, office, family and friends. And that's where the promise of Amos 3:7 begins to benefit your intercessory work. As God grants us insight about something He wants to do on earth, that revelation becomes the basis for effective prayer. In effect, you are bringing into agreement your prayers on earth with Jesus' intercession in heaven. When heavenly and earthly intercession agrees, God gets done what he wants to on earth:

"Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven" (Matthews 18:18-19).

Is it possible for most Christians to prophesy? Paul, who wrote the handbook on spiritual gifts, seems to say yes: "Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy; and greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying" (1 Corinthians 14:5).

Paul indicated that, as it is possible that all could speak in tongues, many people could function in the prophetic. Of course, that doesn't mean that everyone is going to operate at the same level. And it's not necessary to, "pray in tongues," in order for your intercession to be effective. But I've personally seen people who didn't consider them- selves, "prophetic," nevertheless operate in an overflow of that gift, in the presence of a person with a heavy prophetic anointing. If you've ever personally attended one of Teresa Seputis' prophecy seminars, you've seen this. And if you practice prophesying at every opportunity, or when a gifted prophetic person is around, some of the overflow lodges in your own gifting reservoir.

In practice, many intercessors often operate in the prophetic. They just call it something else. Being, "led by the spirit," or, "as the Spirit leads," are examples of God's prophetic insights seeping into your prayers.

As you operate in the prophetic on a regular basis, you prime yourself for God's revelation to percolate into your intercession in greater measure. You are homing in on God's guidance. You won't feel like you're praying so blindly. And as you align your will on earth with God's will in heaven, your prayers availeth much.

Avoiding Condemnation

A second way to make your intercession more effective is to avoid majoring on the minors. We must avoid two extremes, or our prayers will be rendered impotent.

1. We must not allow ourselves to be defined by a negative self- image. Instead we need to allow God to define us.

2. Avoid needless self-examinations. Don't condemn yourself when God is not condemning you.

Let's look at both of these in more detail.

1. LIVE IN GOD'S REALITY.

First, we should prayers according to how God sees us versus how we see ourselves. God's opinion of us is truth, while our self-opinions can be warped. Such distortions can compromise our desire to pray.

I'd like to use an illustration from the gem world to explain my point. All natural diamonds contain flaws to some degree. Often, those inclusions consist of a tiny speck of carbon. They appear as black flecks in the otherwise sparkling gem's presentation. Other blemishes look like grains of sand. If a gem-cutter tried to rid the stone of its flaws, it might shatter the diamond.

In the same way, we are like a diamond. We are so close to our imperfections, so aware of our flaws and sins, that we get overwhelmed. Our imperfections rub us the wrong way, like sand in a shoe. We literally ruminate over the darkness we see in ourselves. And we lose sleep over our faults and weaknesses.

After all, as conscientious believers, we want to please God, not displease Him.

Self-condemnation doesn't exist in a spiritual vacuum. Religious spirits, which infect much of Christianity, are quick to point out our deficiencies. They use words to bar our way to God. Soon, our feet follow our feelings. Instead of boldly approaching the throne, we back away from it. Our fear of God feels greater than His love for us. We hide and shrink from the Lord when such a spiritual nearsightedness afflicts us. That's one reason why Adam and Eve hid from God after they ate the apple (Genesis 3:8).

When we are unsure about God's feelings towards us, we fear rejection. We don't hang around people and places where we don't feel wanted. There's nothing like feeling like a, "third wheel," in God's throne room.

If we are double-minded about God's opinion of us, our prayers may go unanswered (James 1:6-8). The requests go unanswered because they go unuttered. We are afraid to ask God to do something for us, just as the Cowardly Lion was afraid to ask the Wizard of Oz to do him a favor. Or, our petitions go unanswered because our hearts aren't in them. We pray out of a sense of duty rather than a sense of privilege, for fear of provoking God further.

That behavior in prayer is not condoned as proper, but condemned as unscriptural: "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:15-16).

In fact, Jesus' own struggles to resist sin while He was in the flesh-- real temptations that He could have succumb to, but did not. This should advance, not obstruct our path to God's throne.

How can we avoid self-condemnation? For starters, we need a revelation from the Lord to see who we are in His sight. Our spiritual man requires that insight for inner healing to occur. If you grew up in a religious household, this step may take time.

I heard something once that shook me up, and seemed too good to be true. The comment went something like this: The Father takes as much pleasure in you and I, as He took in Jesus when He walked the earth.

In the same vein, you need to study bible passages that focus on who you are in Jesus Christ. Such a scripture is Romans 8:23-39. You should take apart what the passage says, until its truths percolate down to your emotional level. Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate the truths, to shed new light on them, so they can shed new light on you. During this period, limit your exposure to Old Testament passages that reinforce the cycle of self-condemnation.

2. AVOID NEEDLESS SELF-EXAMINATIONS AND SELF-CONDEMNATION.

Next, avoid needless self-examinations. Don't pass judgments on yourself; let the Lord be the judge. Paul said: "I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God" (1 Corinthians 4:3b-5).

In the same frame, avoid people who judge you based upon their religious traditions. The length of a man's hair, the version of a Bible used, and the clothing one wears mean much more to some believers than they do to God. Religious strongholds and self- condemnation go hand-in-hand. Why should we crucify ourselves over something that the Lord is silent about?

I want to make it clear that I am not condoning sin. However, I do believe the Holy Spirit is perfectly able to examine us without our help, or the help of others.

As we grow confident in our relationship with God, and our time before His throne grows, we may still relapse into old ways of thinking about ourselves. If that occurs, we need to restudy the passages that speak of who we are. Memorize scriptures that encapsulate God's feelings towards you. Romans 8:32 is such a passage, although it's best to memorize the passages that the Holy Spirit quickens to your spirit. Also, if you want to disconnect the condemnation cycle from any religious spirits that energizes the critical words' sting, rebuke the critical thoughts in Jesus name.

In time, the effectiveness of our prayers will increase because the wall of condemnation, which bricked over the entrance to God's throne room, topples.