Tag Archives: intercede

July 27, 2015 · 6:56 AM

Equal Access

  
Have you ever worked for a company that uses a badge or FOB system to be able to get through doors? I have. All doors require you to use a badge to get through them, even the bathrooms. In a system like this, your badge may only get you access to certain rooms. Some badges have access to everything. When you don’t have access to something, you go around looking for someone who does so you can get what you need.

Some Christians feel like Christianity is that way. They feel their level of access to the Father is determined by the level of their faith. They think they have access to the Outer Courts, but not to the Throne Room where God is. The truth is that God doesn’t use a badge system. Each of us have complete access to Him whenever we need Him. We don’t have to rely on someone more spiritual or with a higher clearance to let us in.

Ephesians 2:18 says, “He (Christ) treated us as equals, and so made is equals. Through Him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father. (MSG)” Jesus puts us on equal terms when it comes to having access to the Father. You and I can walk boldly into the Throne Room of God because we have been given access by Jesus. God wants to be accessible to us and made a way for that to happen. Don’t be afraid to open the door, walk through, approach the throne and to make your requests known. You have equal access to Him as Jesus does.   

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September 23, 2014 · 7:59 AM

Prayer Changes Us

In II Timothy 2:1, Paul says, “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf and give thanks for them.” When I read those words, I wonder if they challenged Timothy as much as they do me. Paul didn’t tell him to just pray for people he liked. He didn’t tell him to just pray for Christians. He told him to pray for all people and to ask God to help them.

To me, that’s hard to do. There are people that selfishly I don’t want God to help. I’m like Jonah a lot of times. I know God’s desire is to bring others to repentance, but I don’t always act in accordance with that. When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, he disobeyed because he didn’t like them. We know that because later, when God spared the city, Jonah threw a hissy fit. He said, “I knew you were a merciful God. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.”

I wonder if Timothy was beginning to show the same signs. I wonder if he was being selective in who he shared the Gospel with. It’s not up to us to be selective with it or with our prayers. God doesn’t want anyone to perish. When we truly get that, we will start praying for others. We will intercede on their behalf. We won’t hold back from sharing the Gospel because we know that’s what God’s heart is.

God knows we let our human emotions get in the way of His will. We let how we feel about someone to override how He feels for them. Paul knew the remedy for the situation is to pray for them and to give thanks for them. When we begin to pray blessings on people we don’t like and thank God for them, our vision of them changes. We stop seeing them as humans and start seeing them as souls. We quit looking at their value to us, and see the value God places on them.

I’ve always heard that prayer changes things. One of the biggest things it changes is us. That’s why Paul urges Timothy to pray. He knew as a young minister, he could fall into the trap of being selective with the Gospel. He knew that Timothy needed a greater vision. One that included all men, not just a few. It’s a vision that you and I need today. The way we get it is to begin praying for all and asking God to help them. If we truly want to see the world changed, we have to get on our knees and spend some time interceding.

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