Intercession Bonhoeffer

by | May 19, 2015 | Intercession

We are to Intercede for One Another

 

A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner. This is a happy discovery for the Christian who begins to pray for others. There is no dislike, no personal tension, no estrangement that cannot be overcome by intercession as far as our side of it is concerned. Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual and the fellowship must enter every day. The struggle we undergo with our brother in intercession may be a hard one, but that struggle has the promise that it will gain its goal.

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The help through prayer

by | May 19, 2015 | prayer

Help from God through Prayer

The qualifications for spiritual leadership today include almost everything but devotion to God’s word and prayer. Leaders are expected to be organizers, counselors, and individuals with winning personalities whose charm alone can draw people. In Luke 18, Jesus challenges our modern traditions. He asks, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (v.8). His question is a warning to Christians who would limit the power of God at the end of the age. Jesus is calling us to resist the downward pull of our traditions. He is asking us individually, “Will I find faith in you?”

            Before we respond, let us note that Jesus associates faith with “day and night” prayer (Luke 18:7). He is not asking, “Will I find correct doctrines in you?” the Lord’s question does not so much concern itself with right knowledge as with right faith. What we believe is important, but how we believe is vital in securing the help of God.

            Indeed, procuring the supernatural help of God is exactly the point of Jesus’ parable in Luke 18. His intent was to show that “at all times” we ought to pray and not to lose heart” (Luke 18). To illustrate the quality of faith He seeks, He followed His admonition with a parable about a certain widow who petitioned a hardened judge for “legal protection” (v.3). Although the judge was initially unwilling, yet by her “continually coming” (v.5) she gained what was legally hers.

            Jesus concluded by asking: “If an unrighteous judge will respond to a widow’s persistence, shall not God avenge quickly His elect, who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?” Jesus said, “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them speedily” (See Luke 18:1-8.)

“The Power of Covenant Prayer”   Francis Frangipane

Spiritual Warefare

by | May 17, 2015 | Spiritual Warefare

Winning Spiritual Battles

You and I are just about as effective as a crew of workers attempting to tear down a building with loud mouths, sticks, and stones when we try to break down our strongholds with carnal weapons like pure determination, secular psychology, and denial. God has handed up two sticks of dynamite with which to demolish our strongholds: His Word and prayer. What makes prayer so powerful? Prayer keeps us in constant communion with God, which is the goal of our entire believing lives. Without a doubt, prayerless lives are powerless lives, and prayerful lives are powerful lives; but, believe it or not, the ultimate goal of God has for us in not power but personal intimacy with Him. We will never win any spiritual battles without prayer.

            Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word