“Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.” (Genesis 2:19 ESV)

It’s been well over twenty years ago now that I met Rocky. No, not the fictitious fighter and movie character portrayed by Sylvester Stalone. Rocky owned a small barber shop in Northern California. Rocky’s love for the Lord shined in his eyes as he would excitedly talk to me about his conversations with the Lord. One day he told me how he’d asked Him what He and Adam talked about when they walked together in the Garden of Eden.

What a beautiful question. “What did You and Adam talk about, LORD?” I’ve thought about it many times over the years since I last saw Rocky. By now I’m sure G-d has declared to Rocky all about His conversations with Adam. What a wonderful fellowship G-d had with Adam. It is this fellowship, I think, that Rocky desired to emulate. Like King David, who cried his desire to even be a doorkeeper in the Heavenly Temple, because it would be so much better than anything on Earth.

Our Father, Lord Y’shuaJesus, Holy Spirit. One G-d and Lord Who created us and desires this fellowship with us, too. Charles H. Spurgeon wrote “Let us note that Christ delights to think upon his Church, and to look upon her beauty. As the bird returneth often to its nest, and as the wayfarer hastens to his home, so doth the mind continually pursue the object of its choice. We cannot look too often upon that face which we love; we desire always to have our precious things in our sight.”

Like Rocky, we can begin with a question like “What did You and Adam talk about, LORD?” The answer isn’t as important as the conversation we will have if we just begin. Father G-d wants to be with us daily. He wants to be with us in our waking, in our mundane tasks, through our happiness and our sorrows. He desires us in our evenings and our nightly rests. Through The Son, He speaks through the Words He spoke recorded by His chosen Apostles, which we read daily. Through The Holy Spirit He wants to reveal Himself to us throughout our days and our nights. Through The Spirit He wants to guide us if we will allow Him to give us eyes to see and ears to hear.

We must respond in kind. We must desire G-d in His Oneness, in His Holiness.

Thank You, LORD, for desiring us, and opening our eyes that we might desire You.

“. . . Lord Jesus Christ . . . who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:14-16 ESV)

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

“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.

“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.

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.

“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. . .

“I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments. . .” (Daniel 9:4 ESV)

In the last column, I listed the following as points found in reading Daniel five:

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.

Point two states that Daniel sought the LORD in prayer, sackcloth, and ashes. Daniel opened his prayer in worship: “Ah, Lord—the great and awe-inspiring G-d who keeps His gracious covenant. . .” (v4) Flattery, yes. But it seems to me it is far more than words out of Daniel’s mouth; it is very much a cry from deep within Daniel, a groan from his heart. Daniel echoes words he’s read over and over and over in the Psalms. Daniel is steeped in the Word of G-d. He hears in his reading of Jeremiah, and begins to seek the LORD by beginning in worship. I suggest he was overcome in worship from his reading of the Word through Jeremiah.

There then follows this: Daniel acknowledged the sin of his people as his own, taking upon himself the sin of his people. Daniel outlined to the Lord how they’d brought upon themselves a curse for turning away for G-d. Daniel didn’t offer an excuse. Daniel accepted responsibility for the way his people turned away from G-d. Perhaps most importantly, Daniel acknowledge G-d as righteous though He poured out upon His people the promised curse. This then is Daniel doing penance for his people’s sin against a righteous G-d. It is wearing sackcloth and covering himself in ashes. Humility. Daniel is no better than his people.

Hummmm. There’s a familiar story told by about the prayers of two men. One is so very thankful that he isn’t like others, for he observes the laws. The other man comes before G-d remorseful of his sins. After telling the story, Y’shuaJesus says that the repentant man is justified. And we’ve heard the call for humility and prayer from many modern Church leaders. They echo the cry of G-d Himself, “. . .if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV)

To think another way about point two, Daniel discerned something from his reading. This understanding tore open his heart. From out of him came a deep groan, “Ah, LORD.” He worshiped G-d. He worshiped G-d! And from the worship came forth his seeking the LORD in sackcloth and ashes. When I think about it, Daniel’s heart wasn’t just torn, it was ripped apart by what he read, by his understanding of the Word of G-d. It was a personal Word to Daniel. It was as if G-d had spoken directly to Daniel. And Daniel’s response was, “Ah, LORD, great and awesome. . .”

May we hear the Word of G-d, and have our hearts ripped apart, so that we may cry out in unison, “Ah, LORD, great and awesome. . .” Then we can seek Him in all humility.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

“. . . I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.” (Daniel 9:2 ESV)

A small segment of the life of an intercessor is displayed in Daniel nine. Daniel casually tells us he understood something in his reading of Jeremiah.

There are at least five points to be made from Daniel’s experience as he tells it to us in chapter nine:

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.

Let’s take a look at the first point. In the English Standard Version quoted above, the word is “perceived.” The word in Hebrew is bîyn, and is defined as follows: “to separate mentally (or distinguish), that is, (generally) understand: – attend, consider, be cunning, diligently, direct, discern, eloquent, feel, inform, instruct, have intelligence, know, look well to, mark, perceive, be prudent, regard, (can) skill (-ful), teach, think, (cause, make to, get, give, have) understand (-ing), view, (deal) wise (-ly, man).”

Distinguish. Interesting. I have the sense that Daniel might have begun his day like any of us: reading the Word. As he read he began to dwell on something he might have read before. Unlike earlier times, something began to click within him, and he perceived something different. The passage became distinct, causing him to look well into it and understand something important, something that affected him, something and his people. Daniel took hold of it and didn’t let go.

Perhaps it’s a bit like a walk along a river or a pond of water. The path is one we’ve walked before and is familiar to us. We understand the seasonal changes, the way the vines and trees grow and change, the way the sun strikes the earth at different angles at different times. But today, as we walk, something attracts our attention beneath the water. Perhaps the sun is reflecting upon it in just the right way. We must step off the path, closer to the water, to get a closer look. But why bother? We could simply ignore the object. It’s probably just an old can or piece of junk metal. On the other hand it might be something of value. We must step closer to the water. In fact, we must wade into the water and reach beneath it to grasp the object.

Perhaps that’s all a bit to difficult. Why get wet. It’s probably an old bottle any way, and is useless to us. There are bugs around the water, too. Who wants to get bite and spend the day itching. We’ve got important things to do today, after all. And that water isn’t moving quite fast enough to carry away all the foam lining the bank. We’d have to wade through that yucky stuff, get dirty. Why bother?

Daniel bothered. Daniel was hooked. Daniel cared. Daniel wanted an answer to a question that formed in his mind. Daniel sought the LORD.

Let’s think about Daniel nine a bit. Let’s mull it over. I believe it sets the stage for an understanding of what it takes to be an intercessor.

LORD G-d, gracious and merciful, shine upon us, bless us, that we may bless others. In the glorious Name of Y’shuaJesus our MessiahSavior. AMEN and AMEN!