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One old adage says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Sometimes, that is a good course to follow, especially when you don't know what you're doing. One home improvement commercial shows one man after another standing over the wreckage of a home project. Each man, in turn, raises his hand, asking for help with the mess they've made. Many of us, in the same way, stand over the jumble we've made of our lives. Some never raise their hands for help. Others redouble their efforts, throwing up their hands in terror, as their lives burst into flames. A few walk away from the disaster.
God didn't design life to be a self-improvement project. The Lord planned us for His input. When we don't get that, things break. We have difficulties admitting when we have problems, especially to God. God's purpose for our brokenness won't be realized without His participation. This is very important for intercessors. Often our prayers cannot take the people we intercede for beyond the triumphs we've realized. Our victories pave the way for their victories. This phenomenon is described by Norman Grubb in the life of Rees Howells:
"Mr. Howells would often speak of 'the gained position of intercession'...[where] the price is paid, the obedience is fulfilled, the inner wrestling and groanings take their course, and then 'the weak channel is clothed with authority by the Holy Spirit'" (Rees Howells: Intercessor, by Norman Grubb, 1979, p. 90).
As intercessors, we often plead a promise over a person. That promise is often pled in its 'Logos' form. When we plead a position of victory over an individual, the promise is pled in its 'Rhema' form. When God enlivens the word to us, by the breath and authority of His Spirit, He uses our prayers to apply our Rhema to others.
In this lesson, we want to examine how aspects of brokenness affect a prayer warrior's work. Some parts of this study will elaborate on points made during a prior study, "The Difference between Doubt and Brokenness" in the "Praying to Obtain God's Best," series. The aspects we want to highlight include:
We will examine and expand on each of these four aspects. (We will talk about the first one in this lesson, and then talk about the other three in subsequent lessons).
God's Perspective On Brokenness
First, we need to understand God's angle on brokenness.
Brokenness doesn't mean we are bankrupt before God--that is a lie of the enemy. It means God is digging up the treasure that's inside us. In doing so, the Lord turns over many rocks, and uncovers many scurrying things we're ashamed to have disclosed. Yet, it's those things that hold us down and keep us from moving into our destiny. Many of us are like an oyster to God. To get to our spirits (the pearl), He has to break through our hard shells.
Brokenness is the process of removing obstacles within us that prevent God from fully using us. John the Baptist captured the essence of brokenness when he said: "...He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
God does utilize people despite themselves; we are all He has to work with. Notice how the Lord used Samson's impurities to accomplish His purposes:
"Then Samson went to Timnah and saw...one of the daughters of the Philistines. So he told his father and mother, 'I saw a woman, one of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.' Then his father and his mother said 'Is there no woman among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?' But Samson said to his father, 'Get her for me, for she looks good...' However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel" (Judges 14:1-4).
The Lord used Samson's God-given desire (to be married) despite his worldliness (to an unbeliever) to get His will done. Yet, Samson didn't rise to his full potential, until the Philistines broke him (Judges 16:20-30).
Do your prayer requests include a plea to walk in a higher level of a gifting, or to receive a gift you don't have? According to John Paul Jackson, God is more willing to give gifts than we are able to receive them. We are not ready to receive them, because the accolades that come with their use would corrupt us. God would then have to judge us for the misuse of His glory. God is more willing to give gifts than we are able to receive them ("Maximizing Heaven's Help, Part 2" Eyes and Wings Prophetic Conference, Bethel Church, Redding, CA, February, 2007). There are places God would lead us, and gifts He would give us, but because of our issues, He was not able (Matthew 23:37).
It's like having a need to get to school, praying for a car to drive there, but being too young to obtain a license. You may be waiting for God to answer a prayer request, one that was even promised by a prophetic word. Yet, are you willing to let God eliminate anything in you that might stop Him from answering your petition?
That's where we fall short. God isn't obligated to give us anymore light than we're willing to live up to. That obedience gap lengthens our wait. We then blame God for something we fail to do. Paul wrote to two different congregations where the lack of obedience prevented them from going deeper with God: "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?" (1 Corinthians 3:1-3).
"Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil" (Hebrews 5:11-14).
God uses brokenness as one way to remove barriers to our obedience. Our response to His work determines whether we are freed up enough to take God's next step, or if He has to repeat the process.
We must leave no stone of obedience unturned. The Lord may require changes in you before you can reach the next level of intercession. That submission aligns your will on earth with our Father's will in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Will you leave cherished comfort zones to pursue needed steps of faith? Often, the door of answered prayer swings on hinges of obedience.