Intercession
There seems to be a fresh spirit blowing through our church. People speak of a discontent with the status quo, and a desire for a fresh infilling of God’s spirit. Every Sunday at the conclusion of the service we are given the opportunity to pray at the altar, and it’s not the slightest bit contrived or high-pressure — just an invitation to pray, for the church and for an increased openness to God. Talking with a friend from out of state the other day, we learned that the same thing is happening in his church. They’ve had full altars for several Sundays running, with many of those kneeling coming to the Lord for the first time.
I think too of what has happened at our old church, in which the strongholds are finally breaking. God is in the process of restoring and healing there. He is rescuing his flock, as promised in Jer. 23.
When I listen to people talk and think about what’s happening, I am reminded of Francis Frangipane’s teaching that there will be a great coming together, a great “repairing of the breach,” in the church before Christ returns. “There will be a time of unusual grace,” he writes, “in which the living church of Jesus makes ‘herself ready’ (Rev. 19:7).” He goes on to describe “an unparalleled season of preparation,”
in which those who are alive in Christ shall realize a level of holiness and blamelessness of the quality in which Jesus himself walked (I Thess. 3: 1-13; Eph. 5:26-27; Phil. 1:9-10). The result of this new level of holiness will be a new level of unity. Fault-finding and gossip will disappear. In their place will be intercession and love. Wholeness will return to the church.
All I can say is, that’s an exciting thought.
I mentioned that our pastor is emphasizing prayer, personal and corporate, in these days — for preparation and purification, for the lost, for the church, for boldness. I like Frangipane’s words about intercession:
You do not have to go to college to find fault with the church. In fact, if you remember, you could find fault with the church even before you became a Christian. You do not need skill to find fault. But if you want to be like Christ, you have to die for people’s sins. You have to be an intercessor who “stands in the gap.” The “gap” is the distance between the way things are and the way things should be. You stand in that space, cast down the accuser of the brethren, and intercede! Have you seen something that is wrong? It is only because Jesus wants you to stand in the gap and see it changed. That is the only reason.
If you want to be like Jesus, you have to die for people’s sins. I’ve never heard it expressed that way, but that packs a punch!
8 Comments
Amy @ Hope Is the Word
Thanks for sharing this this morning, Janet. I needed to read it. It has been a dry season of unbelief and fault-finding in my life, and I’m ready for the wind of the Spirit to blow through, cleansing me of all that is dead and dying.
Dennis King
What is the Frangipane title?
The winds of the Spirit continue to blow. We had a deeply meaningful and heartfelt time of sharing and prayer at our LIttle Church group last night. May we stay in the Spirit’s current as long as it takes for Him to do His thorough work in us!
Janet
Amen and amen (as my piano teacher used to say).
The book is ‘The Three Battlegrounds.’ I reviewed it here awhile back — it was very enlightening to me, even though I wasn’t sure how to take every part of it.
Barbara H.
It’s hard to know sometimes where that fine line is between discerning something that needs to be brought to someone else’s attention and what is just a fault-finding, critical spirit, but definitely the first step is prayer — both in seeking the Lord’s help is making that discernment and then taking that issue to the One who can do something about it and make both the heart of the intercessor and the one being interceded for more open to His work.
Carrie, Reading to Know
How beautiful and inspiring/exciting to think about. And I keep getting distracted by your photos…which isn’t the point but this picture perfectly accompanies that verse!
JenLo
I was reading in a marriage relationship book this morning about the importance of having a PIT Crew specifically to pray and intercede on your (anyone’s) behalf. It was specifically talking in the context of keeping a marriage strong, but the book was citing Igniting Prayer Action and falls right in line with what we’ve been hearing about in church.
http://www.ignitingprayeraction.org/personal_intercessory_teams__pit_crews_
Janet
Neat. Thanks for the link!
GretchenJoanna
“…if you want to be like Christ, you have to die for people’s sins. ”
I haven’t heard it put so sharply before…
thank you for passing this on.