God Guides Us with His Eye – From Psalm 32:8

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Stephen Nielsen

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 32:8,

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.

 I shared this verse with a group of guys the other day, and I said I didn’t really know what it meant “I will guide you with My eye.”  One of the guys suggested this: he said that a dog looks to see where his master’s eyes are looking and that’s how he knows where to go.  Another guy in the group suggested that in football a good defensive player knows where the quarterback is going to throw the ball by watching his eyes.

 I never considered this as a possible explanation of this verse.  It’s not what the commentators say.  Albert Barnes in his Barnes Notes gives this commentary:

 The literal meaning is, “I will counsel thee; mine eye shall be upon thee.” DeWette, “my eye shall be directed toward thee.” The IDEA is that of one who is telling another what way he is to take in order that he may reach a certain place; and he says he will watch him, or will keep an eye upon him; he will not let him go wrong.

 Quoting from Matthew Henry,

 “I will give thee the best counsel I can and then observe whether thou takest it or no.” Those that are taught in the word should be under the constant inspection of those that teach them; spiritual guides must be overseers.

 Here are two verses that may add some insight:

 Ps 33:18-19

 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.

NKJV

 

Ps 34:15

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.

NKJV

 

I like the idea of God watching me with his eyes.  That’s comforting.  I also think that with our minds eye we can watch God’s eyes and we will know which way He is going and which way He wants us to go.  That’s an interesting thought.  But how do we do that?  Any thoughts?

Here’s something I found a minute ago, from a sermon by Rev. Maurice Roberts, that Ithought was good:

There is a way in which the eye helps us. We give guidance to people with our eye. Perhaps we don’t always realise this but a master gives guidance to his servants at a feast. The master’s servants are standing to attention at the side of the room. All he has to do is indicate and they come with a fresh dish of food. He guides them with his eye. They know what he means just by a movement of the head or a gesture of the finger. His eye is upon them and so they come. So it is with thousands of angels waiting on God and as soon as they get the nod, as it were, from Him – I speak in reverence – they will come as ministering servants and spirits to minister to the people of God who love Him in this world. His eye is upon His angels to command them to help us in every time of need.

 Thanks Maurice.

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Paul’s Prayer Request’s for His Disciples – 8 requests from various verses

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Stephen Nielsen

  1. That God would give you wisdom to see clearly and really understand who Christ is and all that He has done for you (Eph. 1:17).

  2. That your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can see something of the future He has called you to share (Eph. 1:18).

  3. That you will realize that God has been made rich because we who are Christ’s have been given to Him (Eph. 1:18).

   4. That you will begin to understand how incredibly great His power is to help those who believe Him (Eph. 1:19).

   5.  That out of His glorious unlimited resources He will give you the mighty inner strength of His Holy Spirit so that Christ may be more and more at home in your heart as you trust in Him (Eph. 3:16,17).

  6.  That your roots will go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love so that you will be able to feel and understand how long, how wide, how deep, and how high His love really is; and that you will experience His love for yourselves and be filled with the fullness of God (Eph. 3:18,19).

  7.  That you will overflow more and more with love for others, and at the same time keep on growing in spiritual knowledge and insight so that you will be able to see clearly the difference between right and wrong, and to be inwardly clean, so that no one will be able to blame you for anything (Phil. 1:9,10).

  8.  That you will always be doing those good and kind things which show that you are a child of God (Phil. 1:11).

(I used the Living Bible and in some cases my own paraphrase.)

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Eight Groups of People We Should Pray For

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Stephen Nielsen

Paul wrote, “first of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men” (I Timothy 2:1).  We see from this verse that there is a sense in which our prayers must include the whole world.  They must go beyond our own families, our churches, our friends, and our country.  What a great and awesome responsibility we have.  And at the same time what a great privilege and honor God has given to us to be able to touch a soul on the other side of the world.

I have laid out for you what I have found from my study to be the main groups of people we should pray and intercede for.  Here are those groups, eight in all.

 

1.  Secular leaders (1 Timothy 2:2).  Under the heading of “all men,” the first group that Paul instructs us to pray for is, “for kings and all who are in authority.”  This would include all chief executives, representatives, lawmakers, diplomats, etc.  For a city it would be the mayor, the chief of police, the fire marshal, the president of the school board, the editor of the local newspaper, etc.

 We should pray for them basically for two reasons: (1) In order that all believers who are under their leadership may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity; and also, (2) so that those who are not saved would have a greater opportunity to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (vs. 4).

When we pray for them, we can pray according to Romans 13:1, that they would realize that their position of authority has been established by God.  We can also pray that God would give them His grace and wisdom to make the right decisions.  There are many other things that we could pray for them.  Perhaps you may want to call them and ask them what their needs are; and tell them that you will pray for them.  What a great testimony that would be, and it would bring them well on their way to becoming a Christian, if they are not already.

2.  Spiritual leaders.  When I speak here of spiritual leaders, I am not just talking about those pastors and leaders in your own church.  I think we need to look beyond just our own ministry and church.  We need to pray for all spiritual leaders.  Think of those pastors, evangelists, missionaries and Sunday school teachers who may not have prayer warriors behind them, such as your own church has.  They all desperately need our prayers.

Cameron Thompson writes, “Seldom do we hear a Bible teacher on the radio pray for another Bible teacher.  Each sheep bleats within its own fold.  Like safety matches, we strike only on our own boxes.”

I believe that Satan works extra hard to discourage those who are called by God to lead.  It is our grave responsibility to pray for them all, that God will send them showers of refreshment.  As Thompson writes, “Dry and withered flowers lift their heads when rain comes; so do the tired and discouraged saints when someone prays.”

Here are four things that we can pray for our spiritual leaders, all of which were the requests of Paul:

(1)  For boldness to speak the gospel (Eph. 6:19).

(2)  For clarity of speech when they preach and teach (Col. 4:4).

(3)  For deliverance from evil men and those who are disobedient (Ro. 15:31).

(4) That they would feel accepted (Ro. 15:31).  This is so important, especially for new pastors.  For unless the pastor feels welcome and accepted there will be an incredible burden upon him as he wonders what he has done wrong or what he has not done right.

Also, along with praying for the pastor, the congregation should pray for each other that they would accept him; for how can a pastor feel accepted if he is not?

3.  All believers (Ephesians 6:18).  Whenever we pray there should be a sense in which we are praying for all believers.  The Lord’s Prayer begins with “Our Father,” not My Father; and so, we pray as part of a great family that is also talking to God.

Now, when we are open to the Holy Spirit, He will always move us to pray for those believers who are on His heart.  Most of the time, in my experience anyway, He will cause us to read a missionary letter, or a news report in a Christian magazine, or even a book that contains missionary prayer requests.  From those readings He will put on your heart a desire to pray for certain missionaries or certain Christians in other countries.

4.  Those believers whom God has especially given to you to disciple (John 17:9).  These are the ones who are always on our heart, because we are with them most of the time.  We minister to them and work along side of them; and when we leave them to go to our homes they are still on our mind. And, as with Paul, we thank God for our remembrances of them.  And we are always offering up prayers for them with joy, because they are the ones who are our comrades in the gospel (Phil. 1:3-5).

This special group of believers may consist of members of your Sunday school class, or your Bible Study.  They may consist of those Christian friends who you socialize with, or perhaps those whom you council, either professionally or as a friend.  This group may consist of family members, or perhaps Christian work associates, or those Christians whom you spend most of the day with, working side by side with.

Now when we pray for them we will naturally thank God for them (Phil. 1:3, 1 Tim 2:1, Phil. 4:6).  And we should pray for both their physical needs as well as their spiritual needs.  Their physical needs are usually the requests that come first: an aching back, sickness, need more money to pay the bills, need a car, need a home, need a wife, etc., etc….

But the spiritual needs are not always as obvious, and so we scratch our heads and wonder what to pray.  Maybe that is why the apostle Paul gave us a few examples.  In his letters to the Ephesian church and to the Philippian church we have three different examples of prayers: in Ephesians 1:17-21, in Ephesians 3:16-19, and in Philippians 1:9-11.

 

5.  For all non-Christians.  God desires the entire world to be saved, so we must pray for the world to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4).  God desires whole nations to be saved, so we need to pray for nations to be saved (Rom. 10:1).  God desires that entire cities repent and turn to God, so we must pray for cities (Jonah 4:11).

The best way to reach a city, and a country, and the world is to first begin to pray for all “who are in authority” (1 Tim. 2:1).

I would first suggest that you start with your own city, and then go to another city, and then another.  You may also, at the same time, pray for state, national, and world; however, it may be wise to spend most of your prayer efforts on your own city leaders because they are the ones that you are the closest to and will have the most contact with.

When you pray, pray of course for their salvation, but pray also for their felt needs if you can discover them.  Ed Silvosa, author of the book, That None Should Perish, suggested that we go to our city leaders and ask them what their prayer requests are.  He said, “They already know that many of the problems they face require a miracle”… and so “they will tend to hope for a miracle if they need it badly enough.”  Silvaso also stated that “people in authority are open to prayer.”  He said, “The best way to pray intelligently for the unsaved, and especially for those in authority is to get to know them and to maintain contact with them in order to pray for their felt needs.”  Then he said, “When we pray for their felt needs and God answers, their eyes are opened to the reality and the power of God, and this in turn leads them to recognize their need for salvation.”

6.  For those non-Christians whom God has placed within your sphere of personal influence.  In addition to praying for those in authority, it is also very importance that we pray for those whom God has placed within your sphere of influence, whether they are leaders or not.  And if God has helped you to win a few non-Christians as friends, they are your first candidates for salvation.  Continue to win them over to the Lord and pray for them daily. Pray for some of their felt needs, so that they will see God working in their life; hence, that the soil of their heart would be softened and prepared for the planting of the seed of the gospel.  Pray also for their repentance, that they would be convicted of their sin and liberated from the power of Satan.

7.  For your enemies (Matthew 5:44).  One of the hardest things to do is to pray for our enemies.  But if you want to remain at peace with all people and be free from anger and bitterness, practice praying regularly for them.

What is an enemy?  I think we may classify an enemy as any person who doesn’t give you the proper respect; and by whom you feel hurt, rejected and mistreated.  Even friends sometimes mistreat you, and so in those times they are your enemies.   Such was the case with Job.  His friends were not much comfort to him when he was suffering.  Instead of comforting him they accused him of hypocrisy, argued with him, and looked down upon him as one who had sinned.  But Job prayed for those so-called friends, and the Lord richly blessed him (Job 42:10).

Now when you have decided that you ought to pray for a certain person who has mistreated you, the first thing that I suggest you do is to pray for yourself that God would give you a love for that person.  For we are to love our enemies; and we must treat them as we want them to treat us (Lu. 6:31).  Then as you feel that God has warmed your heart a bit toward that person, begin to pray for him.  Pray whatever God lays on your heart.  No doubt, as you begin to feel pity for that person you will pray that God would forgive him for mistreating you.  Such was the case with both Jesus and Stephen before they died (Lu. 23:34; Acts 7:60).

8.  For the sick (James 5:14, 15).  If there is one thing that people most often pray about it would have to be for the healing of the sick.  And that is understandable, for since we have all suffered at one time or another with some kind of sickness, we can sympathize with those who are sick; thus, prayers for the sick will come rather easy, especially for those whom we know and love.

But we would be negligent and even disobedient if we did not also call on the elders of the church to pray for the sick.  For the elders are considered to be the ones who are strong in faith.  They are the ones whom the entire church has elected as being just and devout (Titus 1:8).  We may even say that they are the more righteous men of the church; hence, their prayers will be more effective (Ja. 5:16).

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What Is intercession? A 7 Point Summary

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Stephen Nielsen

BASICS OF PRAYER

Here is a seven point summary of Intercession from this book Basics of Prayer: 

1.  It is standing in the gap or praying on behalf of a person who needs help, and in many cases, for whom Satan is trying to destroy.

2.  It is praying for those whom God has given to us—for those whom God has put on our heart; most often it is for those whom we have a ministry with.

3.  It is a particular kind of prayer that demands our unselfish devotion to God, to a pure life, and to those whom we pray for.  It demands our willingness to loose ourselves for others and for the will of God.

4.  To be an intercessor we must feel a concern and a responsibility for those we are interceding for.  We must associate with their sins and their needs.

5.  The prayers of an intercessor must be bold, stubborn, unceasing and persistent.

6.  Intercession is appealing to God’s mercy for another and it is basing His requests not on his own merits but on God’s compassion and His faithfulness to keep His promises.

7.  When an intercessor prays, he prays with a high view of God.  He is always concerned for God’s name and for His glory.

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A Prayer for God’s Presence and Leading – Psalms 32:8

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Stephen Nielsen

Lord, be next to me always today.  When I don’t feel well, when sadness and depression comes near me You be their to help me.  Give me the strength to make it through those times.  Would you please give me a direction and a plan and motivate me to do it, and to complete it.  Be there with me always.  Don’t ever leave my side.  If you are there I will have no fear; I will be strong.  My strength is in You.  Instruct me always in the way I should go.  Guide me.  Show me the path, and lead the way.

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Daniel the Intercessor: Five Things to Learn from Daniel’s Intercession

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Stephen Nielsen

 

Dan 9:3-19

3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day — to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.

8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12 And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.

 13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day — we have sinned, we have done wickedly!

16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. 17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

NKJV

The thing about Daniel that I appreciate most is his devotion to God and to a pure life.  From his youth he “made up his mind that he would not defile himself” (Dan. 1:8).  He also had a practice of praying on his knees three times a day (6:10); and much of his praying was with fasting (9:3; 10:3).  If we are to stand in the gap for others this must also be our manner of life and devotion.  We must lose ourselves for God and for others.

Here are five things we may learn about intercession from Daniel’s prayer:

 1.  An intercessor has a life of devotion to God.

 2.  An intercessor must associate himself with the sins of the ones he is interceding for.  When Daniel prayed for the people of Israel he counted himself as one who was guilty.  And so, instead of praying, “Lord, they have sinned”, he prayed, “Lord we have sinned.”  So if we are to be a true intercessor, we, as Daniel, should not position ourselves above those we are praying for, but we should humble ourselves, remembering that “there is none righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10).  If anybody was found righteous in the entire Bible it would have been Daniel.  But he knew that he was a sinner just like all other men, and so he put himself in the same boat with them. This is the first point of our association with the sinner as we intercede.

But there is another point of our association with the sins of others.  An intercessor not only associates with the sins of others in terms of mutual sin—such as, you’re a sinner and I’m a sinner too—but he in fact makes their sin his sin.  And so, just as with Daniel, if we are truly interceding for others, we will feel as if their sin is ours, and we will feel the pain of that sin.  Now, we won’t in reality come to believe that their sin is actually ours, but in our identification with them and their sin we will become so burdened down with their sin that we will actually feel the same burden and sorrow over the sin as they feel, and also, even more, as Christ feels.  For we as believers mystically share in the sufferings of Christ for sin; Paul called it the fellowship of His sufferings (Phil. 3:10).

3.  An intercessor must have a correct view of God.  As we address God we must give Him His due adoration.  Observe how Daniel viewed God from the following verses of Daniel 9.

 Verse 4 – “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy…”

Verse 7 – “O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face…”

Verse 9 – “To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness…”

Verse 14 – “The Lord our God is righteous in all the works which he does…”

4.  An intercessor bases his requests not on his own merits or on the merits of the one he is interceding for, but on God’s compassion (v. 18).  This is evident in this prayer by the amount of time that is spent on praising God and confessing sins.  No time at all is spent on bragging to God about good deeds, etc.  If anyone could boast about his merits it would be Daniel, but he instead humbled himself in recognition that only God is truly righteous.

5.  Intercession must be only for God’s glory and for His name (v. 19).  If one has a desire to be healed, if there is deliverance that is sought, if there is even a soul to be saved, it must be for the glory of God and not for personal gain or recognition.

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A Picture of Intercession from the Book of Esther

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Stephen Nielsen

Esther approachingThe story of Esther gives us a clear picture of how intercession works. In the story, Queen Vashti was divorced from King Ahasuerus because she refused to dance before the king and his guests at a banquet.  Later, after the king’s anger had subsided, a search was made for a new Queen.  Esther was chosen, and the king loved her.

 Soon afterwards, King Ahasuerus appointed a man named Haman as Prime Minister; and as the king commanded, all the king’s officials were to bow down to him.  But Mordecai, who was Esther’s cousin and the one who reared her, refused to bow down to Haman because of his Jewish faith.  Upon hearing this news Haman was furious and immediately began to plot the destruction of all the Jews, out of which a decree was issued and signed by the king that all Jews would be killed on the 28th of February of the following year.

When Mordecai and all the Jews heard of the decree, they were shocked and in great despair—they wept and mourned and fasted. Then Mordecai sent a message to Esther that she must plead before the king for her own life and for all the Jews.

But Esther sent word back to Mordecai saying that if she came before the king without being summoned she would be put to death unless he held out his golden scepter to her.

But after Mordecai reminded Esther that she risked death either way, she decided to go before the king.  And so, on the third day of a three-day fast by all the Jews, Queen Esther put on her royal robes and boldly went and stood before the king.  When the king saw her, she obtained favor in his sight, and he held out to her the golden scepter.

Well, to make a long story short, Queen Esther requested that she and her people be spared; and the king granted her request by writing a second decree giving the Jews the authority to unite and defend their lives against the certainty of the first decree (for a kings decree in those days could not be broken).

Now, King Ahasuerus, who was lord over his entire kingdom, may symbolize God.  Haman, who was the villain, represents Satan.  Queen Esther, who stood in the gap for her people, is the intercessor.  Mordecai fills the role of the Holy Spirit, because he communicated the will of God to Esther.

As we observe these characters in the story we see how intercession works.  It is always the same.  God the Father, like King Ahasuerus, sits on His throne waiting to hear our petitions.  He will extend the scepter to us if we will be bold enough to enter.  Satan, like Haman, is always trying to destroy God’s people.  But like Esther, we can be the one to stand in the gap for those whom Satan is trying to destroy.  When we go to pray, just as Esther listened to her cousin Mordecai and heeded his council, we must listen for the instruction of the Holy Spirit. He will show us who to pray for and how to pray.  He will draw us to the throne of God.

I just want to make one more observation.  Esther was welcomed to approach the throne of the king, and her request was granted because of a previously developed love relationship.  As God’s children, we are always welcomed to approach His throne. But if we are to get God’s ear and to get Him to give us the things we desire, we must practice a steadfast abiding relationship with Him.  For, as John 15:7 says, if we abide in Him and His words abide in us, we may ask whatever we wish and it shall be done for us.

           

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Following God’s Directions, Like Putting Up a Tent – from Exodus 40:1-33

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Stephen Nielsen

Today’s Reading: Exodus 40:1-33

Then the Lord said to Moses: 2 “Set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the first month. 3 Place the ark of the Testimony in it and shield the ark with the curtain. 4 Bring in the table and set out what belongs on it. Then bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5 Place the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the Testimony and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

6 “Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting; 7 place the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it. 8 Set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard.

9 “Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. 10 Then anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar, and it will be most holy. 11 Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them.

12 “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. 13 Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest. 14 Bring his sons and dress them in tunics. 15 Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue for all generations to come.” 16 Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded him.

17 So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year. 18 When Moses set up the tabernacle, he put the bases in place, erected the frames, inserted the crossbars and set up the posts. 19 Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering over the tent, as the Lord commanded him.

20 He took the Testimony and placed it in the ark, attached the poles to the ark and put the atonement cover over it. 21 Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtain and shielded the ark of the Testimony, as the Lord commanded him.

22 Moses placed the table in the Tent of Meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the curtain 23 and set out the bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him.

24 He placed the lampstand in the Tent of Meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle 25 and set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him.

26 Moses placed the gold altar in the Tent of Meeting in front of the curtain 27 and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord commanded him. 28 Then he put up the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

29 He set the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it burnt offerings and grain offerings, as the Lord commanded him.

30 He placed the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, 31 and Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to wash their hands and feet. 32 They washed whenever they entered the Tent of Meeting or approached the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses.

33 Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.

NIV

 

As I was laboriously reading this text I began to pray, “Lord, is there anything here at all for me to learn?”  Then suddenly it came to me.  Just as all the tabernacles pieces had to be made exactly as specified by the Lord and put together exactly as order by the Lord, our lives here and now, and our worship, and our churches, and ministries also must be in obedience to the Lord if we expect to hear God’s voice and follow in His steps.  Just as God had a plan for the tabernacle so that God could dwell with them and so that they could worship Him properly, He also has a plan for our lives and for the way He wants us to live and worship Him. And if we follow His leading then He will prosper us—I mean He will make us holy and fit vessels for His service. 

Have you ever put up a tent?  How about putting together a swing set?  Well, if it’s new, it will probably come with directions.  You see what I am getting at?  The Tabernacle had to be put together according to God’s directions so that worship could be done properly, so that God would be honored.  The things that we do in life, God has a plan for the way it is to be done. Though it may seem laborious to do things His way all the time—like going to church every Sunday, and having a devotional time every day—those thing we do as a matter of practice will help to keep us from sin and keep us strong in purity.  Just as Moses had to obey the Lord in every detail of making the tabernacle and putting it together, we also must obey the Lord in everything He wants us to do as well.  Our orders from Him are contained in His word and also from our spiritual leaders who are following His word.  

I guess today’s reading wasn’t so bad after all.  God has really spoken to me.     

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Four Ways the Holy Spirit Intercedes for Us

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Stephen Nielsen

The Holy Spirit is the person of God who intercedes for us on earth.  Here is a picture of His intercession.

 1.  He prays for us.  A big part of the intercession of the Holy Spirit is His prayer for us.  While Jesus is praying for us in heaven, the Holy Spirit is praying for us here on earth in our hearts. 

Romans 8:27 says that He intercedes for us “according to God.” Most translations say that He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  However, a literal translation should read “according to God”, leaving out “the will of”.  William Newel states, “We feel that the introduction of the words ‘the will of’ before the word God, merely obscures the meaning.”  He states that the phrase “according to God” is a more “all inclusive” and “blessed expression.”  Newel says it this way: “We know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit makes intercession in us, ‘according to God,’ according to His nature (of which we are partakers); according to our needs, which He discerns; according to our dangers, which He foresees—according to all the desires He has towards us.”

And how does He pray for us?  Romans 8:26 says “But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words” (NLT).  These groans I think are the deep, inexpressible sighs and feelings of love He has for us.  He loves us with an everlasting love; and He longs for that day of our full redemption (Rom. 8:23).

Now His prayers for us are not at all separate from ours.  In fact, His groanings are the same groanings we have.  When we groan in prayer He groans in prayer; and when He groans in prayer we groan in prayer.  For He dwells in us.  And when He prays for us He prays in us and through us.  Therefore, His prayers become our prayers.  Thus whenever we pray we are praying “in the Spirit.”

 

2.   He teaches us.  The Holy Spirit is our teacher in all of life. He helps us to understand the Word—all that God has said to us and is still saying to us.  From the Word He shows us what the will of the Father is; and He brings us to His side.  He also teaches us how to be patient and how to abide in Christ. 

He teaches us to pray.  The Bible tells us (in Romans 8:26) that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.  In this context, the weakness is that we do no not know what we should pray for; hence, it is how we are in the flesh without the filling of the Spirit.  But when we set our mind on the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:6), and when we by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body, then we make ourselves available and teachable so that He can teach us how to pray.

When the Holy Spirit teaches us how to pray, it isn’t as if He stands in front of us, lecturing us; but rather, He teaches us as our private tutor, someone who is always with us and near us.  He is in fact in us, bringing us close to the Father and the Son.  Yes, the Holy Spirit is the agent that carries us to the Spirit of the Father and of the Son (Rom. 8:9).  And so He brings us into the fellowship of the Godhead.  There He teaches us the will of the Father, shows us the love of the Son, and makes us feel His own groanings.

 

3.  He aids us.  Along with praying for us, the Holy Spirit helps us, or aids us in bearing our trials and in prayer (Rom. 8:26).  Intercession isn’t just praying for another, it is coming along side and helping.  In His aid to us He comforts us, speaks to us, and strengthens us.  He is our friend who helps us bares our burdens.  Sometimes He says to us, “Climb on my back and I will carry you.  We will go together.  We will pray together.” 

He is also our creator who breathes His life and His prayers into us.  As E.M. Bounds has said, “We pray by Him, through Him and in Him.  He puts the prayer in us and we give it utterance and heart.”

But in saying that, we must not get the idea that we have no will in our praying—that because He breaths His prayers into us, we have no choice but to pray whatever He prays.  That is not the case at all.  He gives us a clear choice all along the way.  We choose to abide in Him.  We choose to follow Him.  We choose to pray according to His will.  When He breathes His prayer into us, it is what we have desired all along.  So, we don’t just pray what He desires.  They are in fact our desires as well.

 

4.  He brings our prayers to God and interprets them to God.  Do you ever worry that your prayers are not adequate, that you don’t pray too well?  Well, we don’t have to worry about that, because the Holy Spirit interprets to the Father what is really on our heart.  This is partly what it means in Romans 8:26 when it says that the Holy Spirit “makes intercession for us.”  What I think He actually does is He makes sense out of everything we pray and He straightens out and corrects every prayer so that they come out perfect, according to how we really feel.  Yes, the Spirit expresses to the Father our own feelings much better than we ever could; and the Father accepts them as our own prayers. 

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The Intercession of Jesus Christ for Us — 10 Points

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Stephen Nielsen

agony-in-the-gardenChrist is the person of God who intercedes for believers (and for those who will become believers) before the Father in heaven.  Here, in ten points, is a picture of His intercession.

1.  He is our High Priest.  God the Father appointed His Son as our High Priest.  As our High Priest His job now is to serve us and to be our representative before God the Father (Heb. 5:1).  Though He sits on the right hand of the Father in heaven (Heb. 8:1), He understands us and our weaknesses because He lived on this earth, had a body like ours, and was tempted like we are, yet without sin.  Hence, He is fully qualified to help us in all our weaknesses and temptations (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:15).

2.  He is our mediator.  As our mediator He has positioned Himself between God and us, and He pleads with God on our behalf.  Hence, He stands in the gap for us and makes himself responsible for us.

3.  He is also called our advocate.  An advocate is one who is called to one’s side, to one’s aid.  This word advocate, parakletos, is used in a court of justice to denote a legal assistant, or a lawyer.  Generally he is one who pleads another’s cause.  In the widest sense, an advocate is a comforter.  Some lawyers may be very good at pleading ones case, but they may not be very capable of comforting their clients.  Christ as our advocate is a good comforter.

4.  His intercession is constant and continual.  He has always been in the service of men.  As William Barclay has said, “On earth He served men and gave His life for them; in heaven He still exists to make intercession for them.  He is the priest forever, the one who is for ever opening the door to the friendship of God and is for ever the great servant of mankind.”

Wesley Duewel points out in his book, Mighty Prevailing Prayer, “There are indications in scripture that… Christ has had an intercessory role from the time of Adam and Eve till today.”  Duewel states, “We know that Jesus accompanied Israel throughout their desert wonderings (Ex. 14:19; 33:14; Is. 13:9; 1 Cor. 10:4)… if Jehovah-Jesus in His preincarnate form constantly accompanied Israel, sharing their sorrows, undoubtedly He interceded for them constantly, adding His intercession and amen for example to the intercession of Moses (Ex. 32) and the prophets (Is. 62).”

5.  His intercession saves us completely.  In His role as our High Priest He works continuously to bring us to a completed redemption.  Even before we were saved He was praying for us; and He continues to intercede for us until we are like Christ.  He does it for each and every person that is elected by God to salvation.  Hebrews 7:24-25 says that because He lives forever He has a permanent priesthood; therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him.

 

6.  His intercession is not a sacrificial offering.  His intercession to the Father is not work in the sense of a sacrificial offering, as to appease God in His wrath.  As Newell has stated, “Our blessed Lord Jesus Christ has forever met all Divine claims against sinners.”  His death and shedding of blood has saved us in the past, present, and future. His work of Salvation was completed on the cross.  Christ does not need to die any more for sin, nor does he need to suffer in any sense as to appease God’s wrath.  Sin has been completely taken care of on the cross, for all times, in that He died “once for all” (Heb. 7:27; 9:12, 25-28; 10:14).  So if you picture Christ in heaven sweating it out on His knees before God in order to keep us saved that is a wrong picture of what He is doing!

What is He doing then?  The following three more points will help explain what He does for us as our intercessor.

7.  He continually testifies to the Father that He died in our place and paid the penalty for our sin. He is our advocate and the propitiation for our sins (1 Jn. 2:1-2).  As our advocate He pleads our case with the Father, and also comforts us.  The case He brings to the father is based on the fact of His propitiation—that He died for our sins and brought us into fellowship with God through His blood.  And so in the court room in heaven, He simply points to the cross and testifies to the Father (who is also our Judge) that He died in our place.  He also, all the while, comforts us, assuring us that our case is won and that our sins are forgiven.  He does this by His Spirit that is in us.

8.  He loves us and cares for us.  He sits now at the right hand of the Father, not to judge us or to condemn us, but to love us and to care for us.  Nothing will separate us from His love (Rom. 8:34-35).  In His daily prayers for us He bears our burdens (Ps. 68:19); and even when we are old and gray He will still carry us along and deliver us out of trouble (Is. 46:4).  He accomplishes all this through His continual work of intercession.

9.  He prays for us.  There are many things Jesus is asking the Father to do for us.  I’m sure the list is long.  However, I want to take a look at what Jesus prayed for Simon Peter in Luke 22:31-32, and also what He prayed for His disciples and for the church (for all of us who are believers), recorded in John 17.  Both of these passages, according to F.F. Bruce, are “…illustrative of Christ’s intercessory work for believers, a work which is doubtless still being performed for them in heaven.”

Luke 22:31-32. In these verses, Jesus said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”  Here we see that Satan requested of God that he put Peter to the test.  It is the same as when Satan asked for Job (Job 1:6-12, 2:1-6).  In both cases, God gave Satan permission to sift them as wheat.

But in verse 32 we see that Jesus also requested something of God. He requested that Peter’s faith would not fail. In this verse the Greek word for “prayed for you,” or “requested of God for you,” according to G. Campbell Morgan, is “…a word that has as its root a thought of binding; and I have asked for you, committing myself for you as your Bondsman, your Surety.”

And so Jesus committed Himself as a slave to intercede for Peter all during the time that Satan was sifting him so that his faith would not fail.  According to Morgan, though his hope and courage failed, his faith never failed.  I believe Jesus is still praying for us that our faith will not fail.  I am continually amazed that God has kept my faith alive.  I owe it all to the intercession of Christ.

John 17.  In this chapter there are five things that Jesus prayed for His disciples and for the church: (1) that they would be unified spiritually with each other and with God (v. 11, 20-23); (2) that they would be kept from the evil one (v. 15);  (3) that they would be sanctified in the truth, or in the word which was true (v. 14); (4) that they would soon be with Him to behold His glory (v. 24); and (5) that they might share the Father’s love (vv. 25,26).

Like we mentioned earlier, Jesus is still praying these things for us now.  I’m sure He talks to the Father about everything in our lives.  Andrew Murray has said, “[His intercession] engages all His time and all his power.”

10.  He leads us in our intercession.  As the head of the church (which is His body), He leads us in our intercession and brings us into His intercession.

Moreover, as we grow in prayer under His leadership we will soon discover that the prayers we pray are not just coming from our own heart, but from His heart.  That is because as we abide in Him we share His life and also His prayers.

When He is burdened in prayer for a thing or a person, we catch that same burden, because we are united with Him and feel His heartbeat.  Hence, those who abide in Him are truly partners with Him in His intercession.

As His partner, we partake of the benefits of His intercessory work.  In fact, in our prevailing with Him we rule with Him and extend His rule.  What a glorious life we choose when we decide to abide in Him and in prayer with Him.

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