Intercession and Redemption

Yesterday I came across a devotional by Oswald Chambers in his My Utmost for His Highest. One of the things that pricked my heart was his words, "You cannot truly intercede through prayer if you do not believe in the reality of redemption."

Did you get that? We cannot truly stand in the gap for a people or a situation, before a holy and mighty God if we DO NOT believe in redemption. If we don't truly trust that God can and will redeem people then we are not interceding. Chambers says that we "will simply be turning intercession into useless sympathy for others."

According to Oswald "True intercession involves bringing the person, or the cirumstance that seems to be crashing down on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude toward that person or circumstance." Oh my, oh my. How difficult is that? Don't we want quick fixes from convenient prayers. Prayers that are nothing more than spiritual "fast-food".

How many times have we seen or met someone at church, work, socially and think, "they need help," or "those poor souls," or "they deserve this or that," or "they could really use ________" (you name it). When we pray on the basis of redemption we see people differently. We begin to see them through God's eyes - from His perspective. We begin to see their need for restoration, for re-creation, for redemption. Here's the problem, we can't give them these things. They only come from a restoring, re-creating, redeeming God. They may only receive it when someone like you and me intercede on their behalf believing God can redeem them. We we pray from a desire to see some one or situation redeemed we begin the quest for God's heart.

Praying like this take time and especially energy. Satan DOES NOT want us interceding for someone. He isn't especially excited when we boldy submit our prayers to God with the belief that God can redeem anyone and any situation!!

So. . .be encouraged. Be lifted up. Be on your spiritual knees. Someone in the valley needs God's perspective of them in us. They need you and they need me on our face before a redeeming God.


Believing in Redemption

Mike