Prayer & Responsibility

God's really been teaching me a lot about prayer and intercession lately and it's so interesting that I have got to share. Feel free to talk to me about any of this... I'd love to dive deeper.

I know you've heard people say God doesn't need us, He'll do it with us or without us. This is very true, but the fact is, He wants to accomplish all things through us... big difference. Let me explain this as best I can.

Fact: God can, but will not disobey His own rules. Example: God is loving and kind, merciful and gracious, but must be just and show wrath at other times. When He says the wrong shall be punished, He has to finish what He starts. The important thing is God is so loving and kind He never wants to hurt us, kill us, only discipline us... in order for us to grow. It's just that sometimes it's necessary to do the hard and what we deem as "unfair" stuff to the body because He can NOT contradict himself.

This brings me to the next revelation. God is sovereign, but what does that really mean right? His whole purpose in creation was to glorify Himself. Sounds selfish, but... He did this so that we in turn can have eternal life and be blessed throughout our life here on earth. It was and is the best for us.

He calls us to do certain things. People say you're supposed to pray just because God says to, but then people say, why should I pray if God is going to do what he wants to regardless? Here is where we miss the boat. God, in His awesomeness... first made the choice to work through us, thus He must finish the work in which He starts in us. If God did everything for us and we just lived in a great world with no sin, where there was no evil, how would be know just how truly blessed we are? We wouldn't because we'd have no comparison, so that in turn would not be the most glorifying thing for Himself and definitely would not bless us or be most beneficial for us. Follow me?

Ok... bare with me for just a few more minutes. Back to prayer... God calls us to pray. Yes, He could do what he wanted without us praying, but here's the thing. Our prayers do work. Our prayers do make a difference because it's the purest way God uses us to "intercede" for others and sometimes even ourselves. We admit our shortcomings and say God I need your help. We pleed for mercy and He gives because He is gracious. See, His desire is to love... more than anything. He says "Ask and it shall be given... Seek, knock..." This must be taken in context, but here's the point of this. God's rule was to work through us, therefore needing us to plea for others and pray in thankfulness. We intercede (Note: Misconception is that people think this means prayer itself, it doesn't... it is defined as a "meeting; go between") for what God places on our heart.

For instance, you know when someone just comes to mind. You don't know why but let's say you call them. Sometimes God places those people on our hearts for more than us just calling. He may want you and me to pray for them. They may be in danger, having a rough day, or even worse. God uses us to help others. We're responsible for this as well. Ignoring the call, or heart, is ignoring God and what you could and may prevent or aid in preventing by "pleading" the case for someone else.

Now let's take this a step further. This truly explains why catastrophic events ever happen. It really does. Keep in mind, it's all a part of the plan and God knows what is to come, but He ordains us to be a part of that.

Let's take that huge tsunami that hit Thailand a few years back. Who's to say God didn't place that nation on a group of believers' hearts to pray for them as a whole and stop that wave. Can you imagine a band of angels being commanded out of heaven to stand before that city at the edge of the sea and hold back the water. What a sight?! A true miracle of God. Who's to say He didn't place on the heart of His people somewhere, but they ignored the call. They ignored the calling to intercede on that nation's behalf. Now grant it, sometimes God just does things, but think about it... We're all wicked if we go back to the basics of the fall. Our nature is sinful. You don't have to teach a child to lie. You have to teach them not to. Therefore, ultimately we all deserve eternal damnation. So when we look at the tragedies like this... we can then "understand" why those things happen. God wants to do good through us by therefore using us to get His work done. This goes back to the whole principle that God won't break His own rules. He wants us to intercede for others because He wants everyone to have a chance. He doesn't want the "innocent" to die but sometimes it's necessary to live out His own provisions.

This puts so much more emphasis and importance on prayer. We have a responsibility to pray for those whom God places on our heart. It's a duty and privelege to know we're helping in a much bigger plan. We really do make a difference. This whole concept also makes the phrase "their blood will be on your hands" so much more real. It's literal to a degree. If God calls us to intercede and we don't, and He has to follow His rules and wipe whomever out.... blood on our hands. Judgment by God will fall on us as individuals, if He had placed it on our hearts to help in intervening.

Now, this doesn't mean we need to be scared that we're killing people if we don't pray. It just means we need to be sensitive to the spirit. We need to be walking and talking with Jesus daily so that when He speaks it's not so distant that we can't hear or understand Him. He must be our first priority. We can be better used when He is ALL we desire. Our desires then are transformed into His desires. We need to live like a Christian and not just "be" one. You never know when the person you may be interceding for is one of your own.

All this fits so perfectly together. It's amazing just how sovereign and intricate our God really is.

Until later... Love and be love.