SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #181 ---- 7/2/01
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Fight the Good Fight of Faith
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SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #181 ---- 7/2/01
TITLE: "Prevailing Prayer ---- Why We Don't; Why We Must"
My Dear Friend and Ministry Partner:
Today I greet you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and wish above all things that "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him . . . .you may prosper in all things, even as your soul prospers" (III John 1:2) With Paul, I pray "that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward [you] who believe." (Eph 1:17-19a)
That's my desire for you today. I just pray that God blesses you really "Good!".
This past week has been a real mixed bag for Jo Ann and me. Having pretty much recovered from our recent trip to the Balkans (we've actually been home 10 days now), we naturally anticipated last week would be a relative uneventful one.
Not so.
Both lawn mowers went down again ---- and again. My father ended up in the hospital with a serious infection in his leg. The final prognosis on my "crashed" computer was the worst possible, losing virtually everything. Gratefully everything was backed up except pictures from our most recent trip and my most recent address book and correspondence.
Yet, in it all, God has been good, and the thrill of enjoying our blessings both here and abroad more than compensate for the adversities.
A FAVOR TO ASK:
In light of the loss of many e-mail addresses, I ask you a favor. If you and I have corresponded personally in the past, would you please drop me a note right now and send me your current e-mail address. This would help so much to rebuild my address book. I really appreciate that.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS:
I find it intriguing that, of all the subjects about which I have written these past three and one half years, this one on Prevailing Prayer has prompted almost no written responses to me. Now that fact neither disturbs me nor causes me to question the validity of what I have shared. I simply find it something to ponder with a fascinated curiosity.
I could take time to detail possible reasons, but you can well do that for yourself. One thing is certain,however . . . . . I have absolute confidence that God has engaged me to probe these depths and prod His people to hopefully new dimensions of prayer. Experiences are still fresh in my memory and pictures are still vivid on my mind of seeing God's people crying out to Him in prayer for their cities, their families, their nations.
And I continue wondering why praying of this dimension is such a neglected command . . . . . no, a disobeyed command . . . . . given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and illustrated not only in the Bible but in the annals of history such as I described last week.
I even must ask myself why I do not engage in such praying as I should, or as I once have in the past.
So, here is what I could not send you last week, for lack of space.
WHY WE DON'T INTERCEDE:
A question that has haunted my own conscience of late is why there are so few intercessors who will stand in the gap for the souls of men and the deliverance of nations. A more probing question, however, is why I don't. Is it because it's a special calling to which God has called some, but not me? Is it because I'm ignorant to its need? Is it because I'm unwilling to pay the price?
Just what hinders the ministry of strategic intercession? Maybe these are some reasons to consider; I'm sure there must be more as well.
1. We are preoccupied with our own agendas and needs. It is a natural thing to have our focus on things that are of such importance that they are on our own agendas or represent our own perceived needs. So, don't condemn yourself over that.
However, what if some of those things are not on God's agenda for you? What then?
That's a bothersome question, my friend. What if my agenda doesn't match up with God's? What if things I perceive as my needs are not matters that are important to Him?
To be totally honest, one of my ongoing struggles is with obligations, agendas, and needs that exist in both my calendar and mind which, although apparently very important, may actually get in the way of my doing what is heaviest on my heart . . . . . going to the Balkans and engaging in ongoing strategic prayer initiatives. And, when I think of them, what would I eliminate?
Would I leave my father's welfare up to someone else? Would I bury the burden I have for reaching cities and ministering to pastors in America? Would I walk away from the responsibilities I feel I have to our children and grand children?
How do I tell which is which on my agenda? Which is of God and which may simply be my own ideas? Which needs are real and which are simply felt but are not genuinely real? Jo Ann and I find ourselves torn constantly between these two poles. And they both seem so legitimate . . . . so valid.
We feel a lot like Paul must have felt when he wrote the Roman believers. That's why Romans 1:11-12 is my "signature" scripture: "I long to see you in order that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine."
All I know is that agendas and needs often keep me from coming before my Heavenly Father in behalf of strategic locales or events and crying out to Him for His mercy, His deliverance, and His power to intervene in the affairs of man.
I suppose if one is to have something that hinders him from strategic intercessory prayer initiatives, it would be better to have this struggle than some of the others. But even that is no excuse.
Perhaps, then, . . . .
2. We are too busy. I'm convinced that we are all too often easy prey to, as one writer put it, "The Tyranny of the Urgent". I know I am; I spent most of last week dealing with "urgent" things, so much so that I was never able to focus my attention on things that were really drawing my heart into the presence of the Father.
Isn't that a tragedy!
Just in case you think I have my act together regarding spiritual matters, I openly confess that, after 57 years as a believer and 45 years in vocational Christian ministry, it is still a battle. While my heart cries out to be like Mary, I find myself acting more like Martha, doing lots of good things . . . . even important things . . . . but not doing the most important.
Even as I write you just now, I remember some of my good pastor friends in Wisconsin who never got in on some of the incredible pastors' prayer meetings we had for three years . . . . simply because they felt they were too busy. I remember that Croatian pastor in 1996 who, when I asked him if pastors there ever got together to pray for their nation, simply said, "No, we're all too busy for that."
That response is not just territorial. I've heard it in New Zealand, Jamaica, Ukraine, Bosnia, Croatia, Colombia, and all across the United States.
We claim to have placed our lives in full surrender on the alter of sacrifice; we even allow our High Priest to light the fire. But, too frequently we never use the flesh hooks that rest on the alter. We resist the short hook of "decision" that draws us into the center of the fire, and then we totally reject the long hook of "discipline" that makes certain all the pieces of the sacrifice are brought into that same center and fully consumed.
Now, this is different from my first point. Being too busy encompasses more than priorities, agendas, and needs. It includes that useless busy work that has little or no eternal value. Sometimes we bring it on ourselves, but we often also allow others to pile it on us. Sometimes we don't dare refuse because we want to stay in the good graces of some church member. Just this past week, even though I'm not a pastor, I allowed a sincere lady to burden me down with a "Christian duty" that was not mine to carry out. But, I tried to carry it out anyhow, to no avail.
When we're too busy to lay ourselves out before God in intercession for something He has placed on our hearts, we are far, far too busy. And the Holy Spirit is grieved, perhaps even quenched; and the purposes of the Father are hindered. He is wanting to set some people free, but His servants are too busy to stand in the gap.
Or, maybe . . . .
3. Our minds are too cluttered. While this is connected with the first two, it really has more to do with attitude and concentration. There are times when I sit here in my study and try to pray for those things the Holy Spirit has burdened me with, and I can't even focus clearly enough to know how to pray. I am too distracted with other things on my mind.
Why is this so serious a problem? Because the kind of praying I'm talking about is not a "shoot from the hip" casual praying, but rather a strategically planned concentrated praying that requires you to have heard God speak specifically about this matter. For example, I'm certain that some were offended by examples I used last week. They would look at those who felt God had given them specific verses of scripture to guide their praying for Osijek or Sarajevo and would label them as radicals, emotionalistic fanatics, or spiritual cripples.
And yet, those same people will stand in the pulpit and preach a sermon from a passage of scripture they're convinced God gave them. Why one, and not the other? Is it possible they find it easier to talk to people about God than they do talking to God about people? And, why would one think that way in the first place?
Maybe because their minds are so cluttered with their own thoughts, the latest news report, their perceived expectations from others, and other stuff that they can't hear God's still small voice telling them to stop what they're doing and cry out to Him for that brother down the street, that city under siege, or that sub culture so desperately in need of deliverance.
A cluttered mind is an unhealthy mind.
Then, sometimes . . . .
4. We are too comfortable with the world. It offers us so much to enjoy, to try, to gain. The apostle John saw this more clearly than many of us ---- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life. In other words, the drive to do something, to have something, or to be something . . . . .all apart from God and His plan.
John goes on to say that such stuff is on the way out, passing away with the world. So, why do we allow ourselves to get so comfortable with something that is doomed for disintegration, when things of eternal value are in such desperate need of intercessors?
Because preoccupation with the world and all it offers is both easier to engage in, and it still gives us a change to put on the appearance of spirituality and Christian ministry. All we have to do is do something in the name of Christ (though in the energy of the flesh), gain something for the name of Christ (such as more members than anyone else), or have a reputation "for the Lord, of course", or become somebody in our own right ---- and there we are.
And, to be quite honest, the world has a lot to offer in the way of fame, fulfillment, and fortune. And the more we gain, the more we have to maintain, protect, and decide where it belongs in our lives.
Not only are we often too comfortable with the Things of the world, but we also are with the Ways of the world. We forget that the world has never thought the way God thinks, it has never had the same goals and ambitions . . . . and it never will. When we begin approving, embracing, and practicing the ways of the world, we will always . . . . I say Always . . . . be led away from things that God wants us to do.
And, that most certainly includes strategic prayer initiatives, whether it's for a family in your church, for your city, or for a nation. When we're too comfortable with the things and ways of the world, we're cutting our own throats to effective ministry.
This is such a subtle thing! We can even do it in our own personal time with God. Take it from me; there have been many times when I went to seek the face of God and ended up settling for a good sermon idea. The world (including the religious world) has taught me that I should always have a good sermon idea when I meet with God, when all God wanted was time with me.
It is no less true when it pertains to a life of strategic praying.
Finally, it could be . . . .
5. We know such praying is costlier than what we are willing to pay. As I've already written, this type of praying is one that takes you to higher levels, greater realms, and deeper depths than any other kind of praying. Since I already wrote about that a few weeks ago, I'll not elaborate only to say that intuitively sensing the cost of such intercession quickly scares off all except the bravest of prayer warriors.
Like Gideon's army, most will not pay the price. In fact, most will not even pay the price of a basic life of prayer, in spite of the fact that Jesus demonstrated it, taught it, and commanded it. Many of us have actually become pretty brazen in our disobedience when it comes to prayer. We have either become highly selective, choosing only the type of praying that makes us feel good, or we have become totally derelict of prayer altogether.
WHY WE MUST INTERCEDE:
I'm certain you can sense my adamancy over this subject, and you may wonder why I'm being so blunt. I don't know . . . . maybe it's because of some things I've seen, heard, and read in recent months. Maybe it's because of what God is doing in my own life right now.
Or, maybe it's because there is a great need in the Body of Christ for it to recover the lost ministry of Intercession. Since the Reformation, as I mentioned recently, most of the crucial teachings of the Bible have been restored to the Church at large. Most of the aspects of ministry have been revitalized ---- evangelism, teaching, mentoring, training, ministering, healing, etc.
And, while prayer is vital to all these areas, it seems to me that much of the world is still on its way to hell simply because God's people are either not aware of or have not taken seriously the urgency of prayer that binds on earth what has been bound in heaven and loosens on earth that which has been loosed in heaven. Maybe it's because we still haven't figured out yet that the war for souls, tribes, and nations is still in the heavenlies rather than down here on earth.
So . . . . why must this ministry be restored? Well, first, perhaps . . . .
1. Because it is a ministry that belongs only to the Church. You can be sure nobody else is going to do it. All you have to do is take a look around you at all the other institutions of government, politics, education, justice, economics, and militia to see that none of them is equipped, is capable, or, for that matter, has been commissioned to preach the Gospel to the poor, bind up the broken hearted, set the captives free, recover sight to the blind, or declare the ministry of restoration.
Why should we expect anyone other than the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ to engage in such ministry, a ministry that will be fulfilled only when borne on the wings of aggressive, strategic, focused, prevailing, intercession that won't quit and won't turn loose until God answers????
And then, . . . .
2. Because it is the only way the Church will again be dramatically effective in it's obedience to the command of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the battle isn't down here .... it's up there and out there. It's not something you can see with the visible eye, and you can't sufficiently plan for something you can't see. The only way we can effectively do what God has called us to do is to come before His presence in such praying.
Have you ever noticed that of all the armor listed in Ephesians 6, the one thing most of we preachers miss is the call in verse 18 to come into the presence of the Commander in Chief to give our "reports" and to get our "orders"? Don't you think we'd get it by now?
Then, consider it must be done . . . .
3. Because it's the only way captives will be set free. Again, the war of liberation is against forces greater than ourselves. I'm convinced that the Bible declares there are demonic forces more powerful than we are who are holding people captive. Paul tells us the "god of this age" has blinded eyes so they cannot see. Isaiah tells us in chapter six that we often preach to people who "hear but will not understand".
How much more clear must it become before we understand it?
It is authoritative and passionate intercession that breaks things loose so people can comprehend and understand. All it takes is a little serious reading of Scripture to see this reality. People like Corrie ten Boome, E. M. Bounds, Frank Laubach, Peter Wagner, R. A. Torrey, J. Wilbur Smith, and others have been telling us this truth for generations.
Now it's time for such a ministry to be restored to the Church if we expect to see the captives of darkness freed to walk into the fullness of the Light of the World.
We must do it also . . . .
4. Because it's the only way the Great Commission can be completed. It awes me today when I realize that as far as technology goes, every spot on the face of the earth can receive the message of the Gospel. It impresses me that resources to print, project, and broadcast the message of the Gospel are absolutely limitless. It thrills me that financial resources to do absolutely everything needed to proclaim the Gospel are fully available, if God's people will turn loose of them.
But, one thing is lacking . . . . . the spiritual thrust to launch such an endeavor with enough force to maintain it until Christ returns. Any project, whether local, regional, continental, or international, will never survive unless it is undergirded with this type of praying.
We also must . . . .
5. Finally, Because it is the way the Kingdom of God will be ushered in. If you study the subject of the Kingdom of God, all the various interpretations and attempted explanations notwithstanding, you will find that one of the very first references Jesus Himself made to it was in the context of teaching His disciples to pray ---- "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it has been done already in heaven."
If we believe, as most Christians do, that the Kingdom of God is spiritual and not political, it then stands to reason it must be promoted, empowered, and motivated on a spiritual plane. The highest form of spiritual battle, ministry, and proclamation is found within the parameters of strategic, focused, prevailing intercession.
IN CONCLUSION:
Does any of this stir your heart, my friend? Or do you just see my comments as some ranting and raving carry over from my recent trip? Frankly, I'm not even sure about all I've written these past few weeks. I'm still trying to figure out where Jo Ann and I fit into this scenario, much less try to tell you where you fit. This may not be God's call for you at all, but I do know God is trying to raise up people all around the world who will become bold, courageous, tenacious prayer warriors for the nations . . . . whether it be family by family or by people groups, or by entire nations.
It is not a new message, but it is a new day.
As you consider your role in such an endeavor, keep in mind the heart of Nehemiah. What was it that made him enter into such praying?
He knew who he was, he knew where he was, and he knew where his heart was. While all that helped, that wasn't the real motivation to his prayer in behalf of his beloved city and people.
It was what he knew about God.
I've written this before, but let me review. Nehemiah interceded the way he did with such courage and boldness because . . . .
1. He recognized God's majesty and power (1:5) . . . . the "Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God".
2 He recognized God's honor and faithfulness (1:5) . . . . the God "who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness . . . ".
3. He recognized God's reward for obedience (1:5) . . . . the God responds to "those who love Him and keep His commandments".
4. He recognized God's compassion and grace to hear and forgive (1:6) . . . . "let Thine ear now be attentive and Thine eyes open to hear . . . ".
5. He recognized and respected God's purposes (1:8-9) . . . . "If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you, . . . . but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, . . . I will gather . . . ."
Dear friend! If you and I know God the way Nehemiah did, then entering into such a ministry of strategic prayer initiatives of all types should be something to seriously consider.
Better yet . . . . do it.
God wants to draw all nations to Himself. He has offered the nations as part of the inheritance for His Son (Psalm 2:8). He sent Jesus to do that (Isa 6:1-4). Jesus said as He had been sent, He was sending us as well (John 20:21). He has blessed us so we can participate (Psalm 67:7). He has promised to honor our obedience.
So, what else is left?
Have a great week as you deliberate over my rambling thoughts. I love you, and appreciate you and your ministry more than you'll ever know this side of heaven. I really do pray that you will prosper in everything you put your hand to, proportionate to the prospering of your soul.
I look forward to getting your e-mail address if you're one with whom I've corresponded in the past.
In His Bond,
Bob Tolliver, Exec. Dir
Life Unlimited Ministries
Copyright July, 2001
<[email protected]>
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