Lip Service

“You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their conscience.” (Jeremiah 12:2 HCSB)

“Small Town Southern Man” by Alan Jackson played; I sat in wonder at the chorus: “. . . and he bowed his head to Jesus, stood for the country, and loved one woman. . . .” I like country music when it includes this type of theme. I like Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” I hope, I pray, that it is not only with their lips that they speak of our Lord; I want desperately to believe they bow their head, their lives, to our G-d. I have hopes that people will hear and understand that it’s really okay to live an observant Christian life, to have a life that encompasses Y’shuaJesus.

Am I naive? Do they, rather: “. . .play lip service to [G-d], but do not serve, do not worship [G-d].”

Previously we have looked at service based upon an obligation that we have as children of the Creator, believers in the salvation wrought upon the cross by Y’shuaJesus, empowered to live by the Holy Spirit. Noblesse Oblige! But what marks us as believers? Can we preach the Gospel without words, as St. Francis said? Are we observant of any Biblical regulations, though not a requirement for salvation?

What is an observant people in light of the freedom we have in Christ as the fulfillment of the Law? Since we no longer feel a compulsion to observe the 613 laws derived from the “Old” Testament, as our Orthodox Jewish brethren do, what do we observe? Will we continue to call legalistic anyone who would observe a regulation based upon the Bible. We are free to live without regulation. We are free spirits, blown in the Spiritual breeze. Our salvation is assured. We didn’t earn it. So we can forget the Law?

Am I cynical to say that the only time regulations are spoken of from the pulpit is when it’s time to play the tithe card, or when it suits the preacher? We teach children about the Ten Commandments, but do we teach them to live them? What do we teach new believers in Messiah about obligations and regulations?

I don’t have answers. I have questions that demand examination. We need to each examine the different Laws for ourselves: the dietary; the rituals that include dress codes; and the moral codes. I think we can agree we have an obligation to continue observance of all moral Laws, at least.

If we observe the moral laws, then this must mark us as slaves of Y’shuaJesus. Yet even non-believers observe moral laws. So what marks us as Christians? Is it having a fish on our cars? Is it wearing a cross around our necks? If I read the Bible in the morning, if I pray throughout the day, will you know that I’m a Christian? What marks me as different? Think about it.

Perhaps nothing external marks us as belonging to Messiah, being a Child of G-d. Perhaps! Yet faintly I hear in my mind the chorus of a song we sung back in my days with Calvary Chapel of Susanville, California. “They will know we are Christians by our love.”

It is our love that marks us as Christians, disciples of The Messiah, believers in the Son of G-d, the Son of Man. It is love that binds us together. It’s not about external stuff, it’s not even about external actions. It’s about love. G-d loved us first. Now we love.

May G-d grant us the mind of Messiah and the love of G-d to worship with holiness with our lives. Amen.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

From Child to Son/Daughter

“So that you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, also an heir of God through Christ.”
(Galatians 4:7 MKJV)

Looking for a starting place. Looking through my notes. Some thoughts float around in the sea of my conciousness. I am not a slave, but a child to G-d. I don’t want to fear coming to our Creator, our Heavenly Father; and also don’t want to presume to come to Him as a buddy. A.W. Tozer mentioned in one a sermons his dismay when a preacher came to the podium saying he’d just come from a huddle with G-d.
Perhaps our Father asks us to sit upon His lap, to cuddle with Him, even to have a huddle. But first we must come to Him with awe and respect, as a soldier approaches his commander and chief, standing at attention, waiting to be asked to come forward.

Some years ago a movement began in America that helped us understand better how to relate to our Father, our Creator. For many of us, our image of G-d was to view Him as the military General or Supreme Court Judge: standing far off, rigid in his authority, only a select few being allowed in His presence. For some of us that image forever ended with “The Jesus Movement” of the 1960s.

It was during this movement of the Spirit that we came to understand the love of the Father by observing Y’shuaJesus in the Gospels and other writings. We saw how Y’shuaJesus wept at the pain of Mary and Martha when their brother lay in his tomb. We saw the compassion of Y’shuaJesus for the sick, the sinful, the possessed. We discovered He desired to be with us, in our sorry and dirty condition. We found that He would clean us up. This countered the notion that we might come into the presence of the Holy One if we straightened ourselves out, cleaned up ourselves.

Then another shift happened in America. It was in the mid-1980s that churches began to popularize the liberty and freedom we have as children of G-d. The teaching produced a great following that thought they would be happy all the time, wouldn’t suffer any pain or disease, that our buddy Jesus would take care of everything for us. This led to many to play the name-it-and-claim-it game. It led to preachers running to the pulpit proclaiming, “I’ve come from a huddle with G-d!”

It’s a narrow road we walk upon the ridge with liberty in one valley and bondage in the other. There is the pagan way of idolatry, worshiping to get the idol to do the worshipers bidding. The worshiper is the center of the universe, the chief end to all that is. This is humanism, in modern jargon. One the other side of the ridge lies legalism that binds us with laws we can’t observe, guilt that holds us captive, leaving us with a gulf between us and our Creator.

Y’shuaJesus came that we might have life! Abundant Life! This is true liberty, freeing us from the law that we can’t live anyway. This is accepting our salvation in Messiah Y’shuaJesus and relationship with the Holy One, in a relationship with our Father. The veil that separated the Holy of Holies is torn away, and we come into the presence of the Father. But, as the great Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, teaches, we are not to take that liberty for granted. We are more than children of G-d; we are maturing into sons and daughters of the Most Holy Father. This maturity means we not only have the right but the mandate to come before the King, our Father. We come into His presence, seeking an audience, unafraid, yet with awe and reverence. He is the true center of the universe. He is the King. He takes pleasure in us, and all that we do.

May His Will Be Done in our lives and hearts. Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Take Me Back

“Whom do I have in heaven but You? And I desire nothing on earth but You.” (Psalms 73:25 HCSB)

Take me back, take me back dear Lord
To the place where I first believed you.
Take me back, take me back dear Lord where I
First believe.
Chorus of the song Take Me Back by Andre Crouch

These simple lines speak of desire. It is the soul’s desire after the Lord Y’shuaJesus. It is a deep desire to look upon Him with undiluted, unwavering, rapture. It speaks of wanting to go back to simpler times, when a past life left behind was forgotten, and a totally new life lay ahead.

It speaks, too, of purification. “Jesus said to him, ‘The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean. . .’ ” (John 13:10 ESV) When we first came fully into the fold of Believers, we were washed by the Blood of the Y’shuaJesus. No longer is it necessary to, or wise, go back to that initial washing, asking again for Messiah to die for us. But an occasional foot washing is always needed. For the way in which we travel, we get our feet dirty. This dirt includes cares related to the world and even cares related to ministry.

This foot washing is also a return to the original doctrine, being cleansed of things that might have gotten in the way since the time we first believed in Y’shuaJesus. The letter to the Hebrews says: “to teach you again the basic principles of G-d’s revelation. You need milk, not solid food.” (5:12) Those Messianic Believers are being told that before they go on with more complex things, they need to return to the basics.

The author lists those basics as:
1) Repentance from Dead Works;
2) Faith in G-d;
3) Ritual Washings;
4) Laying on of Hands;
5) Resurrection of the Dead;
6) Eternal Judgment.

In Revelation, our Lord makes the need to return to the place where we first believed paramount in our experience with Him. “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:2-4 ESV)

This return, this cry of “Take Me Back,” is not a cry to go back to the foot of the cross. No! We’ve been there and need not return. But perhaps we need to go back to the ascension of our Lord Y’shuaJesus, to the desire of His disciples. “. . . [Y’shuaJesus] was lifted up while they were beholding, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. And while they were gazing intently into Heaven while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them; and they also said, ‘Men of Galil, why do you stand looking into Heaven? This Yeshua, Who has been taken up from you into Heaven will come in just the same way as you beheld Him go into Heaven.’ ” (Acts 1:9-11 MRC) (Emphasis Added)

We are called to gaze intently into Heaven, to seek earnestly our Lord, our Savior, Y’shuaJesus. We are called to desire Him more than anything else. He must not just be in our thought, but must BE our thoughts upon waking, throughout the day, and at evening as we lay down to sleep. And every once and a while, we need to clean the dirt from our feet. We must rid ourselves of all that isn’t of G-d. We must cleanse ourselves from the dirt of unproductive preaching and doctrine, of unproductive ministry efforts, of relationships that lead away from our first love.

Lord, enable us to return to You, our first love, with the power that burns away the chaff and tarnish, that we may gaze intently into Heaven, then certainly we will see You coming as You left, that we may be gathered up into Your arms, as the Good and Faithful friends You desire us to be. We pray in the Glorious Name of Y’shuaJesus. AMEN.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

And the Bells Rang!

“And [Y’shuaJesus] answered and said to them, ‘I tell you that if these should be silent, the stones would cry out.’” (Luke 19:40 MKJV)

Parking at Frank’s Trucking Center, I wondered if this was the place I was suppose to be for the remainder of Saturday and on Sunday, before delivering my cargo on Monday. Being early in the afternoon, I took a walk. While located near two major highways, the truckstop is surrounded by small farms and rows of trees. It wasn’t too long before I saw a sign pointing to the “New Life Baptist Church.” I followed the road to the church. It sat unpretentiously behind a farm house.

As I approached to read the sign, check for the service times for Sunday’s service, I noticed the steeple and the cross above it. It didn’t fit the building style, which was more of a farm shed than the traditional church. But, as steeples with crosses perched upon them are becoming a thing of the past in favor of modern architecture, this was an effort to continue tradition. To my surprise, as I drew nearer, I spotted a bell over the entry to the church. Church Bells, how I love the sound. But, as I previously declared, they’re too silent in America these days.

Noting the time of the service, praising G-d for allowing me to be here and at least see a bell at a church, I thought again, “Perhaps this is where I’m suppose to be, that there is a purpose for me here.” I thought, too, it would be nice to hear the bell ring. It would ease my doubt. You see, earlier in the afternoon, I’d been at another truckstop, but moved to Frank’s. Once settled, and realizing there were not many other trucks or people, or amenities, I’d doubted myself. So I said, “If the bells ring tomorrow. . .” then walked back to the truck.

Back in the parking lot, a driver stopped to talk, asking me if the food was good. I said I’d not eaten in there yet, but heard it was good. We spoke for a minute, and he invited me to join him. We ate and talked. It was a friendly conversation. We finished our meals and he was headed to his truck, to bed, to sleep before leaving in the middle of the night. As we parted, I offered him the “Road Home New Testament for Truckers,” explaining that it contained many stories by truckers as well as the New Testament. He accepted it and thanked me.

“Is this what You wanted, LORD?” I asked and prayed for this trucker.

The next morning I walked to church. A breeze cooled me a bit in the warm, humid morning. I approached the church, parking lot nearly empty. There was no one in front of the church, no one to ring the bell. Just a symbol. Just for looks. I set one foot on the parking lot and bells in a cow pasture rang out. “Oh, LORD, how wonderful You are!” If the show bell won’t ring out, G-d provides another to take its place. As the Psalmist sang, as Y’shuaJesus quoted, even stones will cry out.

And on I went, to the task at hand: Receiving what the Lord had, giving what I might be able to give. For perhaps, too, there are other reasons to be where in a particular place, at a particular time. Lord knows, and encourages me along the way.

Lord Encourage you, too, and Bless, Keep, and Shine upon you always.

Church-bell Deaf

And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of their gloom and darkness. (Isaiah 29:18 MKJV)

The movie “D-Day” played at the post theater in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. My father attended the Command and General Staff Officer College, I attended sixth grade at a local elementary school. While my father rarely spoke of his war experiences with the glider regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, I recall him saying he’d heard about a particular experience recounted in the movie, of a paratrooper.

It happened in Ste. Marie Eglise, France, that a soldier’s parachute caught the church steeple, suspending him above the ground. He remained there for hours. Once the unit secured the city, he was helped down. But he couldn’t hear. It seems the church bells rang and rang throughout the time he hung from the steeple. He was church-bell deaf. Once at the medical unit, medics tried to scream loudly to him, but he still couldn’t hear.

On D-Day, in this French town, a church bell sounded victory. It sounded on and on as a battle raged. It sounded victory even before victory came. It sounded the coming of victory.

I can’t recall the last time I’ve heard a church bell ring out its call to the faithful: its call of fellowship; its call to prayer; its call to worship. But perhaps I’ve not been listening. Perhaps I’ve not heard one because I’m deaf to something that I’ve tuned out. There’s a lot of noise in our cities these days. Perhaps in a small town somewhere, on Sunday morning, when the busy times of the week have passed, I’ll hear the bells call.

I think about the ears of none-church-going folks who, by the weekend, are overwhelmed by the cares of the world. Are they sort of church-bell deaf too, to the call of our Messiah, our Christ. Have they heard it all before, the evangelizing, the tracts, the Christians who invite them to attend church. I think, “What does it take to open these deaf ears to the call of Y’shuaJesus?”

Devotionals reach the hearts of believers. What reaches the heart of the unbeliever? We are called to take the Gospel throughout the world. We are called to live the Gospel, and be the light to the world. We are all called. Period. Each has a different gift to give.

So here’s what I think. I think we each, guided by the Holy Spirit, do our part in opening the ears of the church-bell deaf. I don’t think we take all the ear wax out at once, either. Perhaps our Lord, in His wisdom, allows each of us to do a small part in opening the ears. Seeds planted by one, watered by another. And why not? We are all One Body with many parts.

Are these only clichés? I hope not. My prayer is that today we all over our days as a witness of the redemption we’ve experienced in Christ, the joy of His salvation. His salvation is a living salvation in us, in our lives.

May G-d have mercy upon us, and upon those to whom we are called to reach, one bit at a time.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine

Noblesse Oblige; More Thoughts

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses. . . to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 HCSB)

Previously we’ve established that we are nobility. We are the children of The King. With this privilege comes a responsibility, an obligation. It is the obligation of the noble–noblesse oblige. Furthermore we agree that we did not earn this place as children of G-d and our eternal salvation, but were grafted in to the Kingdom through the sacrifice of Y’shuaJesus, His death and resurrection. Now let’s move forward, and talk about fulfilling our noble obligation.

Last week I wrote that our life might well be summed up as seeking righteousness and seeking humility. In all situations into which we are thrust, we weigh options, consider responses. It is to our benefit if we seek a righteous response, if we seek humility in all situations. To do this we are not alone. We have been given Spiritual power to live, to act, to love. Y’shuaJesus said that we’d have the Holy Spirit come upon us to be His witnesses to the ends of the Earth.

But Friday I didn’t feel much like a witness of Y’shuaJesus. My kids were getting on my nerves. It was hot. It was humid. The traffic was terrible as we returned from Perimeter Church where they’ve been attending an outdoor course. They were tired. I was tired. They squabbled. I wanted it to stop. I finally said to be quiet or else. I don’t really know what the “or else” actually means, but they quieted down and the hot wind coming through the half-opened windows put them to sleep.

Once home, I fretted that I really don’t feel like I have power over situations. There are so many things I can’t control. I don’t even feel as though I have the power to truly respond to situations in a holy manner. I don’t feel. . . And here’s what Peter wrote: “For His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. By these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:3-4 HCSB)

It seems to me that the point is that Peter didn’t say I’d feel powerful and holy in sharing the divine nature. He tells me that in the “knowledge of Him who called us. . . we have promises.” And that we “escape the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.” As I write this it occurs to me that sharing in the divine nature shapes my desires. And my desires are being shaped that they are not evil desires. Perhaps it is not so much what we do, how we react within the drama of our daily lives, but it is what we don’t do, how we don’t react, that makes us witnesses of G-d.

We are children of G-d. We are nobility. We are being shaped by the indwelling Spirit of G-d. We grow in our knowledge of Messiah, in His promises, in His ways. When we stumble, we have forgiveness. And we are able to forgive. Our growth is that we always are seeking righteousness and seeking humility.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon you, this week and eternally. Amen.

Noblesse Oblige ReVisited

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” (Matthew 24:45-46 ESV)

In our second time with Noblesse Oblige, let’s begin with the end in sight. There are two possible scenarios: first, our flesh dies then our spirit flies to Y’shuaJesus; second, we greet our Lord when He returns to Earth. In either case, our lifetime is summed up in what we are doing when we meet Y’shuaJesus. We can see this in light of the parable of the talents, too: Y’shuaJesus will settle accounts with us when we see Him. (Matthew 25:19 HCSB)

Point One: Yesterday I walked into the room where my kids sat, idle, and reminded them that they had a couple chapters to read for today. I said, “Your mom will be home soon, it’s worth some points if she catches you reading.” It occurred to me at that moment, that’s how it is when we see Y’shua; we’re rewarded for our continued service to Him.

Point Two: We’re not talking about service that earns salvation. We are, however, talking about continued service that does earn rewards. When I was young I was a Boy Scout. I was a Boy Scout with out having to earn any awards. But I did earn some rewards. The rewards are called merit badges. During meetings we proudly wore our merit badges on a bandolier, or sash, across our chests. Perhaps at the Feast, the Wedding Supper, we will take our assigned seats wearing crowns with badges affixed showing the services we’ve performed.

Point Three: I said we’re rewarded for our continued service to Him. This is our noble obligation. Paul wrote, “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not give up.” (2 Corinthians 4:1 HCSB) We must not become discouraged. I love Habakkuk’s third pray in which he expresses his confidence in our Lord. He says “Though the fig tree does not bud and there is not fruit on the vines. . . yet I will triumph in the LORD. . . .” (Habakkuk 3:17,18) We don’t see the fruit of our service. We look around at the world and see horrid conditions, evil seeming to abound. Are we tempted to give up? Let us remember Habakkuk’s prayer. Let us remember that the Lord is faithful to gather us to Himself.

Point Four: Our noble obligation might well be summed up as seeking righteousness and seeking humility that we might be “concealed on the day of the LORD’s anger.” (Zephaniah 2:3) Hard times are ahead for us all in these days of woe. We must continue on in our work. Peter wrote, “Based on the gift they have received, everyone should use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God.” (1 Peter 4:10 HCSB) Do we always know what our service is to be? No. We have doubts at our effectiveness. We stress that we aren’t doing enough. We turn to the Word, the lamp and the light, and we hear what Zephaniah cried out. We take it as a Word to us.

Point Five: Our salvation is assured. Our noble obligation is our service to the King. So what else is left. We rest in the Spirit of G-d, raise hands high in praise to G-d, to His Son, our Lord Y’shuaJesus. We take joy in being available for Kingdom’s sake. And in all we do, we do as to Y’shuaJesus. And today we may be joyful in our spirit, because His Spirit is within us. And G-d takes pleasure in His people.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon us today. Amen.

Daniel The Intercessor—Part Five

“He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.”(Daniel 9:22 ESV)

Daniel chapter nine still captivates me. I’d thought last time we’d wrapped it up at point five simply as G-d answers. But I believe there is more here to cover. To recap, a number of points came to me from Daniel nine, as follows:

Point 1: Daniel understood something distinct from his reading of the Word;

Point 2: Daniel sought the LORD in prayer, sackcloth, and ashes (v2,3);

Point 3: Daniel put it this way, “speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people. . .” (v20);

Point 4: Daniel presented petitions to the LORD (v20);

Point 5: G-d answered Daniel.

No Daniel’s intercession, Daniel’s prayer, is to understand. That prayer time took Daniel through confession for himself and G-d’s people, Israel. In a sense, Daniel prayed for Israel’s healing and restoration to its place in the G-d’s Kingdom. Daniel Chapter Nine might be a model prayer for an intercessor praying for his or her nation.

There is another type of intercession that we’ve mentioned briefly: interceding for an individual in obedience to the Lord. Let’s call again upon an example from the life of Rees Howells, intercessor of Wales. Mr. Howells knew that through various actions in obedience to the Spirit, he would gain a “place” or “position” in intercession. He would arrive at a point of faith, an assurance of the answer, a “realization of things hoped for, the proof of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). In many instances throughout Mr. Howells life, he was called to announce in advance the answer to a particular prayer, thus displaying his faith. Now this isn’t like the stories of prayer meetings when a “healing prophet” has people destroy their glasses, telling them they’ll be healed, only to have to be led from the chapel when the healing doesn’t occur. Mr. Howells might be in prayer for an individual any where from four to six months.

In one particular test, Mr. Howells was directed by the Spirit of G-d to announce the healing of his uncle—who hadn’t walked any distance from pain in thirty years—in four-and-a-half months, on May 15th. To make it even harder on Mr. Howells, and to ensure that he take no credit for the healing, no praise, Mr. Howells was instructed by G-d to leave the area for a couple of weeks just before the date of the healing. Mr. Howells’s uncle was shown by G-d that after the healing, he would walk the three miles to chapel on Sunday. On the day of the healing, two friends of Mr. Howells walked through the uncle’s town on the way to have tea with Mr. Howells. When they were at tea, they said they’d heard nothing of any healing in the town while passing through. Norman Grubb, in his biography “Rees Howells, Intercessor,” wrote: “ It was a day of testing [for Mr. Howells]; and the one topic at the tea table was: Had Uncle Dick been healed? Although his best friend failed to hold out in his believing, God kept His servant steady until eleven o’clock on Monday night, when some of his friends called out under his window “It was marvelous to see your uncle in chapel!” They thought he knew all about it, as they had sent word to him on Sunday; but the messenger entrusted the giving of the message to another, and it never arrived.

“Mr. Howells’ comment was, “If I had doubted, would I have rejoiced? The Lord will never give the witness unless we believe; and if we believe we can afford the delay.”

Mr. Grubb summed it up when he said that “there was something greater than the healing—it was the further confirmation that the position of intercession had been gained and could be used in any case where God willed it.”

Let me point out again, Mr. Howells was called by the Holy Spirit to intercede where G-d desired to do a work. It began small, and progressed as “positions of intercession” were gained. It was work. It meant Mr. Howells’s humiliation, in some cases, and a great sacrifice. Mr. Grubb wrote: “But if at the beginning the world was affecting him, by the end it was he who was affecting the world, for people sensed the presence of God with him, and said so. Even some with no religious faith would take their hats off when they passed him in the streets.”

For Rees Howells, the fasting, the hours in prayer, and the almost outlandish actions required of him, were not simply lessons in living, but living through a death to the influence of the world upon him. He know from personal encounters, personal experience, what Paul wrote, “The slight trouble [affliction] of the passing hour results in a solid glory past all comparison,” (2 Cor 4:17)

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon you and through you all your days on Earth. And let us meet together in Heaven with our Lord, that we may raise our hands, cast our crowns at His feet together, you and I, as we worship our G-d, our King. AMEN.

Daniel The Intercessor—Part Four

“O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.” (Daniel 9:18 ESV)

Daniel chapter nine has held me captive now for some weeks. From this chapter a number of points came to me, as follows:

Point 1: Daniel understood something distinct from his reading of the Word;

Point 2: Daniel sought the LORD in prayer, sackcloth, and ashes (v2,3);

Point 3: Daniel put it this way, “speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people. . .” (v20);

Point 4: Daniel presented petitions to the LORD (v20);

Point 5: G-d answered Daniel.

We have covered the first three points, and now arrive at point four, in which Daniel prays. One might ask how it is that in speaking about intercession it has taken all this time to come to prayer. Let me illustrate.

Some years ago I hopped on my bicycle and rode five or so miles (8 kilometers) out through ranch land where I, at the time, lived. I rode fast. I completed my ride in less than an hour. I was amazed at how easy it was to ride that far, that fast. The last time I’d ridden my bike, several years before, had been such an effort for much less distance. But I was prepared. I’d worked out regularly for over six month, throughout a cold, snowy, northern California winter. Six months of preparation went into that ride.

The same can be said of the songs we hear on the radio. Most are less than four minutes of lyrics and music. But the preparation that goes into each song must be hours and hours.

So briefly, regarding prayer, let’s look together at some scriptural guidance. Y’shuaJesus said, “. . . when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6 ESV) Most of the preparations themselves, for intercessory pray, have been in private. We have been warned not to practice our righteousness in front of people, to be seen by them. (Matthew 6:1) We don’t want to bring attention to ourselves so that that attention becomes the reward for our work. I’m not saying that all preparations are in secret, without others’ knowledge. But if others are involved, it is to bring attention to our Lord, not to bring attention to ourselves. For our preparations for prayer, and our prayer itself, is for the glory of G-d.

There is an interesting guidance on prayer in First Samuel 12:23 that tells us that as priests of the Most High G-d, we have an obligation to pray. Samuel tells us that not praying is sin. Samuel feels an obligation to teach the people of G-d the good and right way. It is here, in this scripture, that I see the functions of intercessor, prophet, and teacher merging. The lines that separate them blur, and they become one holy priest and vessel of the Lord, for the Lord’s perfect purpose.

In many ways our prayer includes the preparations themselves, including (but certainly not limited to) scripture study, fasting, acknowledgement of sin in confession, repentance (turning away from sin). Intercessory prayer is a bit like a circular path having no beginning and no ending. We walk the path crossing the stones or steps again and again. We see in the scripture, seek G-d for understanding, identify with a people or person, confess our sins and the sins of the people, repent. We are informed by G-d, though His Spirit and with confidence present His words to Him.

Finally, one last thought on prayer from Paul’s letter to the Roman Church. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27 ESV)

And as we walk that circular path of intercessory prayer, we know that God hears and answers. Point Five in Daniel The Intercessor is simply: “G-d answers.” Period.

Daniel The Intercessor—Part Three

“To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you.” (Daniel 9:7 ESV)

In part one, Daniel understood something distinct from his reading of the Word. In part two Daniel sought the LORD in prayer, sackcloth, and ashes. Now, in part three, Daniel puts it this way, “speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people. . .” (v20), Daniel identifies with his people. Daniel confesses his sins and the sins of his people. To do this, Daniel identified with all those for whom he prayed. He takes upon himself a spiritual form of everyman. He is Israel. Israel’s sin is his sin. G-d will cleanse him, and at the same time, Israel will be cleansed as well.

We may identify with others, too, in order to intercede for them.

My twelve-year-old daughter informed me yesterday that she is getting ready for a “blind day.” She plans on spending the day sightless, eyes covered with a blindfold. Why? She wants to know what it would be like to be without eyes. Exercises such as this are done occasionally in church youth groups to help develop empathy by identifying with a person or group of people. Now empathy is an interesting word that comes to English from Greek. It is a combination of words meaning affection plus suffering. The dictionary defines empathy as: “the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.”

In his biography of Rees Howells, “Rees Howells Intercessor,” Norman Grubb tells a story of one of Mr. Howells experiences with identifying with a group of people for which he felt G-d impressing upon him to pray. Mr. Grubbs wrote: “In all this the Spirit was leading [Rees Howells] more and more into the secret of intercession—the identification of the intercessor with the ones for whom he prays. He had called him to associate with Will Battery, which had touched his pride. He had made him responsible foe the debts of Jim Stakes, which had toughed his pocket. How He called him to share in the physical sufferings of the destitute, which would touch his body. He was to learn a little how to feel as they felt and sit where they sat. Tramps did not have the plentiful food that other people have, and God called him to come down to their level. The Government lodging houses provided two meals a day for tramps, and the Lord told Rees Howells to live in the same way. . .”

In another place in the biography of Rees Howells, Mr. Grubb wrote: “Perhaps believers in general have regarded intercession a just some form of rather intensified prayer. It ism so long as there is a great emphasis on the word “intensified”; for there are three things to be seen in an intercessor which are not necessarily found in ordinary prayer: identification, agony, and authority.”

When we pray for people, we are praying not for a people out for a Sunday stroll; often we pray for people in the midst of intense anguish and despair, even if it is an invisible anguish, held inside. To understand them we must identify with them. When we identify with them, we take upon ourselves some of the struggle, some of the anguish. At some point in the process of interceding, we reach a final position—a position of authority. Our prayers are then mature, bold, in that particular area of intercession.

Lord, have mercy upon us, allowing us the privilege of identifying in people’s struggle and anguish, and rescuing us from it once we have attained the position of authority in which we may truly, intensely pray. AMEN.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .