I am re-reading Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets. This is partly because I have a tendency to read too fast. Although during my first reading of the book I read several chapters over and over, I still didn’t fully grasp the meat of the message. It is also partly due to the fact that I feel woefully inadequate when I fall down on my knees to intercede for a brother, a nation, or situation. I lack the motivation at times….or the perseverance…..stamina….or just the words.
My paradigm on prayer has shifted…..dramatically. It began to shift during my 1st reading and is completing that process right now. I am a person who needs to talk things out to process them and fully understand them. It was part of the motivation to start a blog. As I write out my thoughts, I process and solidify what I’m thinking. Then, because I own it, I can more easily put it into practice. So, most of this is a part of me processing of what I’m reading about intercessory prayer.
When we fully understand the necessity of prayer, it fuels our motivation to prayer, strengthens our perseverance and extends our stamina. If our motivation to pray is just because we’re told to do it, we lack perseverance and stamina.If we believe that God’s going to do what He’s going to do and He doesn’t need us to ask, we won’t bother making as much time for it in our busy lives.
So that brings us to some questions: Is prayer really necessary? And, why? Is it necessary only because it’s a “spiritual discipline”? Does it really have any effect on the outcome of anything? More to the point, can my prayers-or yours-frustrate or limit God’s will being accomplished? The real question is: Does a sovereign, all-powerful God need our involvement or not?
Yes. I realize some would counter with the thought that God does not need anything from us. Bear with me.
Gen. 1 tells us that God made man to rule over the created world. Again, in Psalm 8, God says,
“When I consider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou has ordained; what is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him? Yet Thou has made him a little lower than God, and dost crown him with glory and majesty! Thou dost make him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet.…”
The insinuation is that we when we consider who God is, we realize how puny we are. But then we read that God made us just a little lower than Himself. In fact, we were created in His image. The word “image” used in Gen. 1 is ‘tselam‘ which means “shadow, phantom or illusion”. An illusion is something you think you see, but on closer inspection, you realize it’s something different. God created us to be an illusion or shadow of Himself. And, then he gave mankind rule over the earth. The word for rule indicates governorship or stewardship. Psalm 115:15 confirms this:
“The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.”
Another word for given in this passage is “assigned”. He didn’t just give us the earth as a place to live. He assigned us the earth to rule and have dominion over it. The earth was Adam’s assignment-it was under his charge. How things went on planet earth, for better or worse, depended on Adam and his offspring!
No one would argue that Adam-and subsequently all of mankind-is to be God’s representative here on earth. A representative is one who re-presents the will of another. It also means: “to exhibit the image and counterpart of; to speak and act with authority on the part of; to be a substitute or an agent for”. This is what we are called to do here on earth on God’s behalf.
Imagine if a president of a company assigned a certain branch to you. You have complete authority over that branch. You still answer to the president of the company. But, you are in charge of that particular branch. If it fails, it’s on you. If it succeeds, it’s on you. Now, we humans would interfere if the person we assigned blew it. But, God doesn’t. He limits His involvement and chooses rather to work through us, not independent of us.
So complete and final was this authority over earth that mankind had the ability to give it away. Look at the words of Satan:
“I will give You all this domain and its glory for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.” Luke 4:6
Jesus even called Satan, “the ruler of this world” several times in the Gospels.(Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11) He knew that rule of the world had been given to Satan….by Adam.
God was so committed to do things on earth through humans that He had to become part of the human race to regain what Adam gave away!!. Without question, humans were forever to be God’s link to authority and activity on earth!
“Prayer is essentially a partnership of the redeemed child of God working hand in hand with God toward the realization of His redemptive purposes on earth.” –Jack Hayford
This is why the earth is in such a mess! Not because a loving God remains inactive or unwilling. He wants to act! We are the ones who are inactive! That doesn’t mean we’re not doing anything, just that we’re not doing enough of the most important thing.
“You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed….Prayer is striking the winning blow….service is gathering up the results.” S.D. Gordon
Jesus told us to ask that His kingdom and His will be done on earth(Matt. 6:10). Why tell us to ask that if He’s going to do it anyway? He told us to ask for our daily bread(Matt. 6:11) Yet, He knows our needs before we ask. He told us to pray that laborers be sent into the harvest.(Matt. 9:38) Doesn’t God want that harvest more than we do? Paul said to pray that the word of the Lord would be spread rapidly and be glorified(2 Thess. 3:1) Wasn’t God planning that anyway?
All these things are God’s will, yet we are told to ask for them to happen. So, basically, I am supposed to ask God to do something He already wants to do. Is it possible then that my asking somehow releases Him to do it?
“God does nothing on the earth save in answer to believing prayer.” John Wesley