Intercession

I'm reading a phenomenal book on intercession called Beyond the Veil by Alice Smith. She is cofounder and executive director of the U.S. Prayer Center in Houston. She states that the person who is prayerless is powerless. Our Father has called us to unite with Him to bring about His purposes and plans on earth. The Lord will entrust the power of His Kingdom to those who abide in Him in the Holy of Holies. (John 15:7 Eph. 6:12)

"Inter" means between and "cedere" means to go. When we intercede, we go between. Between what??? Intercession is going in prayer between what God wants to do on earth and what satan wants to do on earth!!! (Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Matt. 6:10)

The Lord has chosen us as his covenant partners, but if we refuse to participate, He will find another. In Isaiah 59:16 God saw that there was no one to stand in the gap, and He was appalled that there was no one to intervene!! That is a sad truth sometimes. God is a gentleman, so He will never force us to bear a burden, but what rich rewards we will have if we accept His call to prayer!!

David F. Wells, a professor of Historical and Systematic Theology, writes, "What, then, is the nature of petitionary prayers? It is, in essence, rebellion - rebellion against the WORLD in its fallenness, the absolute and undying refusal to accept as normal what is pervasively abnormal. It is . . . the refusal of every agenda, every scheme, every interpretation that is at odds with the norm as originally established by God." Intercession expresses a holy dissatisfaction with the way things are, taking steps necessary to bring God's will through prayer.

Prayer is not about changing God's mind; it's laying hold of His highest willingness, His best, His Kingdom. It's standing in the gap between what is happening and what God wants to happen.

"Speak, for your servant is listening!" (I Sam. 3:10)