Intercessory Prayer, We Miss You!

I recently received this stirring article about intercessory prayer - i had to share it. We can't have revival without prayer!

This is just a line to let you know how things are since you’ve gone. It’s not the same without you, nor will it ever be. Although our lives seem shallow and empty when you’re not here, we’ve learned to make up for you in other ways. We’ve learned to live without you.

We now run the aisles, leap for joy, jig to the music, sing catchy choruses, and tap our feet in time to the rhythm of the drums. We use sticks, banners, black lights, and our sign teams do a tremendous job acting out recorded music. We’ve learned to worship without you.

The prayer rooms are mostly silent now. Those that do go there, for the most part, come away dry-eyed. A lot of praying now is chanting and singsong style. That’s how we know we’re in the groove. We pray memorized phrases that come automatically. We love what we call Prayer Walks. Most of us don’t even close our eyes anymore during prayer. We just walk and pray while we look around. We pray because it is required. No one prays till they break through anymore. We just pray till our 10 minutes are up.

Too, Too Busy
Family altars are almost unheard of now. You can’t imagine how busy we are and how hectic our schedules have been. It’s unbelievable. We get up in the morning and never stop till we go to bed at night. We do try to make it to church most services and get some praying in there during the service, but prayer at home is kind of out of the question. That may be another reason you haven’t heard much from us.

Oh sure, we still believe in prayer, as such. But not very many of us are anxious for you to come back. (You were always the polite type, you know, never forcing yourself on anyone. You never came uninvited. You only left because you were ignored.)

The sad truth is you’re not really needed anymore. You see, most of us have hospitalization insurance now. (It sure takes away that old desperate feeling we used to have.) So now, there’s no need to pray more than the few minutes it takes to drive to the Emergency Room. Also, we don’t have to ask for our daily bread like we used to. We now have better jobs with good benefits and government programs to fall back on.

If we lose our jobs, there is always unemployment or welfare. If we retire or become disabled, Social Security now supplies our needs. So, you can see, we’re doing okay. Other things have filled the void in your absence. Sure we miss you. But we’re getting over it somehow. Actually, we’re too busy to entertain you right now, even if you tried to come back. I hope you understand.

Easy Revivals
We are having revivals now without you. It’s not hard. The pastor fasts and prays, along with a couple others. The evangelist preaches mostly just to sinners now. Most of us try to get to church in time for the first song or two. We justify the fact that the number of new converts is down. Yes, there seems to be diminished conviction, less lasting victory, fewer miracles, and many young people are backsliding. We agree, however, that it’s not us that are at fault here; it’s just the times we’re living in. It’s like this everywhere.

As your friend, I’m writing this to you, knowing how much it must hurt you to have folks say they miss you . . . and yet in their material and intellectual progress, they’ve weaned themselves away from the haunting memory of you.

What hurts, I know, is that we were children you personally raised. You were always there when we needed you. (But now we don’t.) You taught us about faith. You taught us about miracles. You taught us about a move of God. You taught us about revival. You taught us about how to touch God. Thank you for that, but you see, this is a new day and we are trying to go to the next level. Our services are structured differently now.

Can you believe that now when you are ever mentioned in church, everyone gets real quiet? (They all feel guilty I’m sure.) It’s like they experience a momentary twinge of guilt while they consider their part in your disappearance. Once in a while some even get misty eyed when we talk about the old times you shared with us. Yet all that feeling vanishes along with the pizza right after church.

Happy Memories
By the way, do you remember all the folks of yesteryear coming into the sanctuary with red-rimmed eyes? Remember the baggy looking knees in mens’ suits? Remember all night prayer meetings? Remember the depth that was in worship? Remember when sinners couldn’t sit in their pews any longer, and would run to the altar? Remember when you could feel unity and brotherly love? When folks helped bear one another’s burdens? When the saints didn’t watch the clock? When they could hardly wait to enjoy the after service atmosphere, praying around the altar until the wee hours of the morning? Boy, those were to good old days. We call that “Old School.”

Well, it’s pretty much all gone now. But you ought to see our new Hammond C-3, our new drum set with a cage and everything. Electric bass guitars are just awesome and the electric guitars, too. We use praise singers to help cover up the fact that our congregations don’t sing like they should or used to. We let them do most of our worship for us. Our choirs just do terrific on the new style songs. Old saints don’t like the new songs much, but the younger crowd seems to like them. Many music directors don’t even know some of your old favorite songs, so they don’t get played much anywhere.

You would be proud of our church buildings. Carpet on the floors, there are pews now instead of benches and they are padded besides. The arched beams are beautiful; we also have the loveliest of imported chandeliers. Our pastor has polish too. He doesn’t preach long. We are more concerned about sermon length now, than content. Our pastor spices up his sermons with cute sayings but I guess that’s progress for you. “Win some, lose some.”

Speaking of “lose some,” we’re losing a surprising percentage of our young people. An unbelievable number of marriages have gone on the rocks. Many lives have been in jeopardy. But that’s to be expected, I guess. Teenagers seem to be at war with their parents and want to dress more and more like the kids at the public school. Our youth meetings may not have much in the way of prayer, but we have great icebreakers, skits and games.

No Offense Intended
I hope you’re not offended. I don’t mean for you to be. You’ll always have a special place in my memory. You were kind and generous to me. You sure got me out of some hard times. I can’t thank you enough! Still, this is a generation now that doesn’t know you at all. Your coming would probably scare them.

Remember the night when my mother sat at the piano bench and you joined her there?

Remember how she wept and groaned in the Spirit and slumped to the floor during the revival service and how some tried to call the ambulance because they thought she was sick? They never knew you and her were talking.

That’s what I mean. A good many never got to know you well. And most never knew you at all. Those that knew you personally have waited so long to talk to you that they are now, to say the least, embarrassed.

So while we are trying to work out our feelings about you, and see where you might fit into our plans in the future, you might try your luck someplace else. Try Brazil, Ethiopia, or how about the Philippines? You might have better luck in Third World Countries, or behind the Iron Curtain. You might even luck out and find someone to talk to you in some little storefront on the other side of the tracks. Surely someone somewhere needs you.

We’re terribly sorry, Intercessory Prayer, we miss you, but we really don’t need you . . . right now!

© 2008, Martyn Ballestero Sr.

When the Power Breaks Forth

God wants Spirit-filled Christians to have an impact on the world around us and He has equipped us with everything we need – that is the power of the Holy Spirit. We must recognise that before God can use us in the way that He plans, there must be a breaking of the outward man so that the inward man can come forth. Our ineffectiveness as Spirit-fill Christians is not the fault of someone else, but it is our fault. Our Spirit seems to he wrapped in a covering so that it cannot easily break forth.

Nature has its way of breaking. Jesus said "Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it abides alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit" (John 12). I remember watching seeds grow when I was at school. The outer shell of the seed had to be broken before the life could come forth. In John 12, Jesus is clearly saying that unless we are broken we are of no use.

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). So the treasure is in the earthen vessel, but if the earthen vessel is not broken, who can see the treasure within?

What is the final objective of the Lord's working in our lives? It is to break this earthen vessel, to break our alabaster box, to crack open our shell so that the Power can break forth. It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing (John 6:63).

That’s my five minutes!

Releasing the Spirit

The greatest hindrance to the release of the Spirit in our lives is the flesh! That is, to reach out potential as Spirit-filled Christians we must die to the grasp of the flesh.

In studying the topic of “brokenness” I came across a very interesting story and an ancient temple in Asia. Anthropologists found an altar area that was literally buried under shards of smashed pottery. Further research revealed that the people in that region were pottery makers who regularly sacrificed the fruit of their craft to their god. Having created their masterpieces, that work which stood to gain them the most fame and profit, the craftsmen would take the vessels into the temple and smash them to pieces before their stone god. The broken fragments were mute testimony that, in sacrificial worship, the craftsmen had given up all hope of gain from the vessels.

What a perfect picture of what God calls us to be as Spirit-filled Christians. Hudson Taylor called it the “exchanged life” – the life that is indeed “no longer I, but Christ that livetth in me”. Only when we are broken on the altar of the Living God can we know the power of His life in and through us! Acts 1:8 says that we receive power when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. The scriptures go further to say that we have that power to be witnesses. That is, we are filled with the Holy Spirit to show forth – to witness. God expects there to be a release of the Spirit that testifies and witnesses to others!

What stops this release of the Spirit – it is the flesh! It is because of the flesh that many are not where God wants them to be, not reaching their God-ordained destiny or purpose and not serving God as they have been called – a recipe for frustration.

I am not saying that if you aren’t filled with the Holy Spirit and I am not saying that you aren’t saved. I am simply saying that you aren’t where God wants you to be, you aren’t what God wants you to be and you aren’t doing what God wants you to do.

There is just one basic thing that will enable man to be useful before God: brokenness. We’ll explore “brokenness” further, but for the meantime…..

That’s my five minutes!

Shut up you fool - you'll get us both fired

Desperate for employment, a depression-era farmer applied at a passing circus. At the circus office door he made an impassioned plea. "I'll do anything," he begged.
At this, the manager's eyes lit up. "You're hired, I need a new gorilla. The old one has died, and we cannot afford to import one. We have skinned old Kong out, and I need someone to wear the suit and do the gorilla act”.

The farmer's reluctance dissolved at the mention of a sizable salary. Pride gave way to necessity, and his new career was launched – a circus gorilla.

As it turned out, the farmer enjoyed it. His act was dramatic and crowd-pleasing. He would swing out over the lion's cage on a rope and chatter excitedly at the enraged beast below. The rope was carefully measured to ensure the risk of being eaten alive by the lion was minimal.
But during a matinee one day, miscalculation brought catastrophe and the gorilla tumbled into the lion's cage. The lion leapt upon him immediately and, placing a massive paw on either of the gorilla's shoulders, began to roar in his face.

"Help", screamed the man in the gorilla costume. "Help me! Someone please save me!"
"Shut up, you fool!" the lion whispered in his ear. "You'll get us both fired."

Unfortunately, a great deal of what passes for true Christianity is nothing more than just “monkey suit” religion. We need to stop and consider our Christianity and ensure that we aren’t just playing church and religion and pretending that we have some sort of relationship with God. We must be very careful that our Christian walk doesn’t decline to the level where holiness has become more about obeying rules (and wearing the costume) than it is about becoming more like Jesus. It is my belief that many that profess to be Christian have simply mastered the act of looking like a Christian. Many are simply wearing a Christian costume and just hoping that they don’t get found out!

Christianity is not so much about the outer “costume” that we design, but it is about an inner change that results in an outer change. That inner change is the infilling of the Holy Spirit. As the old song says, “Jesus on the inside, working on the outside”.

The Bible says that when we are filled with the Holy Spirit that are filled with power (Acts 1:8). So, over the next few posts I want to explore why it is that there are so many Spirit-filled Christians that are not exhibiting this power! What is it that is stopping the “power” breaking forth?The greatest hindrance to the release of the Spirit in our lives is the outward man, the flesh, the carnal man – the costumes of Christianity that we wear as a substitute for the real thing! “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing” (John 6:63).

That's my five minutes!