3. Intercessors, Fired Up
Intercessors, Fired Up!
Tuesday May 31, 2022
Colossians 4:2
Devote yourselves to praying with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
The Lord told me to raise intercessors.
Raising Intercessors means to wake them up.
Raising intercessors means to train them up.
Raising intercessors means to fire them up.
Raising intercessors means to send them up.
Romans 8:26 NLT — We must all enroll in the school of prayer, no matter how long we have been praying.
God wants to teach us again and again, deeper and deeper, more and more about prayers.
1 Corinthians 13:11-12
Fired up… motivated, inspired
Before we pray, we need to understand what are the obstacles in the way of our praying. What makes it so difficult for us to pray?
When we pray, what makes answers to prayers so slow in coming?
Unless we understand these things, it will be difficult for us to be motivated or to persist in prayers.
The bible deals mostly in absolutes.
God gave us the 10 commandments, not suggestions.
When asked which was the greatest commandment, Jesus said “Love the Lord your God… and Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Psalm 19:7-9 uses several words to describe God’s instructions…
The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
Jesus declared in John 3:7 “You must be born again.”
Jesus told the parable in Luke 18 to the end that men ought always to pray and not faint.
Absolutes are necessary in order for us to have clarity; there is no room for confusion.
1 Corinthians 14:8
And if the bugler does not sound a clear call, how will the soldiers know they are being called to battle?
Micah 6:8
No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
And this is what He requires of you:
To do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
No one will ever be able to say on the day of judgment, “I didn’t know,” or “But, Lord, You weren't quite clear.”
Deuteronomy 30:19 Today, I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live
!The absolutes of the Bible are firm, undebatable, offering no wiggle room. They make our options very clear.
All arguments, and debates will end on earth, before we face God. When we stand before God, we will all be in our right minds like the prodigal son was in the pit.
Luke 15:17-19 When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”
David provides us with a real life example of knowing how clear God is.
Psalm 51:3-4
For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
4 Against You, and You alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in Your sight.
You will be proved right in what You say,
and Your judgment against me is just.
In a few instances, the Bible offers us conditions. Conditions are non-mandatory. The choice is left to us. However, the consequences are baked into our choices.
Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.”
Main Text
2 Chronicles 7:14 Then if My people who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.
Prayer is a conditional instruction.
You won't necessarily go to hell if you do not pray but you will have a difficult road getting to heaven. You will endure some needless pain, miss out on some wonderful blessings and not have as powerful a testimony as you would have otherwise had.
Prayer begets prayer. Non-praying also begets non-praying.
The more you pray, the more encouraged, and empowered to pray you are.
Reverse order of the text.
We want healing for our land. We want the shootings to end. We want our economy to be improved. We want social justice, equity and justice in our land. But God requires us to do some other things first.
Our land is in trouble, in need of healing because of our sins.
Proverbs 14:34
Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people.
3. God is not listening because of our sins.
Isaiah 59:1-2
Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is His ear to deaf to hear you call.
2 It’s your sins that cut you off from God.
Because of your sin, He has turned away and will not listen anymore.
4. We hate the consequences we are faced with, yet we are not repenting. We are not repenting because we love our wrong deeds.
John 3:19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
All have sinned. Republicans and Democrats, Christians and non-Christians.
Romans 3:23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
All have sinned but God says the solution is with His people.
God is calling His people to pray, to repent of our own sins personally and our national sins; we are to seek His approval and not just His blessings, truly repent from our sins.
We would rather seek God’s hands of blessings rather than to seek His face for His approval.
Isaiah 1:18-20 NLT
“Come now, let’s settle this,”
says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
I will make them as white as wool. If you will only obey me,
you will have plenty to eat. But if you turn away and refuse to listen,
you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.
I, the LORD, have spoken!”
Why are we, His people not doing all the aforementioned?
a) Pride.
John 8:32-33
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
33 “But we are the descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free?’”
Their forefathers were slaves for 430 years in Egypt, they had been taken as captives to Babylon and even now they were under the yoke of Rome but in their pride they declared that they had never been slaves to anyone. They rejected the offer of Jesus for deliverance from bondage to sin, the greatest of all bondages.
Like them we also fail to admit our need for deliverance. We gather in our churches, we sing our songs, we do our dances, we claim to have worshiped but unless we start with repentance, how can we please God?
Pride blinds the proud. Pride deafens the proud.
Revelation 3:17-19 NLT
You say “I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!” And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
18 So I advise you to buy gold from Me– gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also, buy white garments from Me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.
19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.
NKJV Because you say. “ I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing”-- and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, so that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve. that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent.
PRAYERS
Pray that the Lord will cure the church of our foolish pride, personally and corporately. May we see ourselves the way God sees us and not the way our vanity fools us.
John 15:5 NLT — “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
2. Lord Jesus, you said apart from you we can do nothing.
In our pride, we downplayed the importance of prayer. We humble ourselves before you. We repent of our proud attitude, our proud thoughts, our proud words and deeds. Please, forgive us. Have mercy upon us, because apart from You, we can do nothing.
Zechariah 12:10 NKJV —
“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
3. Lord Jesus, you have poured out upon your body the Spirit of supplication and intercession. Holy Spirit, we move out of the way. Have your way in us. Stir us up to intercession, all over the world.
Psalm 27:7-8 NKJV —
Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
4. Lord, help us to seek Your face again and not only Your hands.
John 4:34 NKJV
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
5. When we pray, help us to be more interested in your will, in your pleasure, and in your approval than in anything else.
May Your priorities, O God become our priorities. May we value what you value and hate what you hate.
b) Bloodshed
Numbers 35:33 NKJV —
‘So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.
Lord, we repent of bloodshed in our land. For every innocent person who has been killed, we ask for mercy.
We ask for mercy for Native Americans for their war-mongering and scalping …
The colonists for their killing of Native Americans…
The slaveholders for their abuse and lynching of blacks,
Cowboy outlaws who have killed
Mafia members who have killed and robbed…
Black gang members who have killed other gang members and innocents in drive-by shootings…
All the attorneys who have knowingly let murders escape justice
All the police officers who have killed innocent people
Our political leaders who have sanctioned unjust wars all over the globe…
Our soldiers who have carried out the wicked plans of the political leaders…
All the mothers who have aborted…
All the fathers and family members who initiated or otherwise encourage such practices
All the medical practitioners who facilitated such practices
All have benefitted from any bloodshed directly or indirectly, knowingly or unknowingly
Killing Come An End
Acts 3:19
Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
2. Lord heal our land. Let times of refreshing from above be sent to us again.
Lord, let our land be cleansed from bloodshed. Let the blood of Jesus, which speaks better things than the blood of Abel, avail for us.
Let mass shootings come to an end.
Let police shootings come to an end.
Let unjust wars never be waged again.
Lord, let true revival break out in our land.
c)Next Generation
The minds of the young generation are under attack. There is a video of a boy who wants to become a murderer when he grows up.
Hosea 8:7 NLT
“They have planted the wind
and will harvest the whirlwind.
The stalks of grain wither
and produce nothing to eat.
And even if there is any grain,
foreigners will eat it.
