Did You Say, “Intercessory Soccer”?

Apparently, I needed more of the message I shared last.  When Daddy began to speak to my spirit, I thought I was being corrected for having forgotten what He already told me.  As He continued, though, it was obvious He was building on that foundation, even in the reminder.

Just stop!  It’s not yours to carry.  You are not meant to carry the world . . . even in prayer. You are meant to walk where I am walking with you – not everywhere I’m walking.  Certainly, you may ask Me about the peoples, the awful situations, etc.  But don’t assume I’m giving it to you to carry.  I may only have you speak one word and then move on in faith in Me and My ability to carry it out.  It’s an emotional drain the enemy loves My body to get sucked into, especially when you’re told by others it’s what you should do, and it is no more than a work of the flesh.  He (the enemy) doesn’t have any problems with those, for often they are beggar prayers, not prayed from your place seated at My right hand above.

One word spoken in My authority, when initiated by My Spirit, shuts the mouths and binds the appendages of the lion.

In that moment, I was reminded of watching my son’s soccer games when he was only five.  They were so cute, and quite entertaining, at that age, as they had no concept of the nuances of soccer strategy.  The ball was set in play after each coach forced their players to point to the end of the field they were to kick the ball, and the entire team chased it, scrum-like all over the field.  Occasionally all that kicking, by both teams, led to a ball in the goal – sometimes even in the right goal.

What did that have to do with what the Lord had just spoken?  The image of those cute kids all in the same place, infrequently completing the goal, too often resembles our prayer efforts when following the crowd instead of the Spirit.

The enemy sets a ball in play with well-timed disasters or threats.  Out of a sense of should, we chase that ball in an effort to get it out of play.  Meanwhile, he adds more balls to the same field.  Most of the scrum leaves the first for the next and the next and the next, until they are overwhelmed and worn out.  If some choose to remain with a specific ball, sides begin to form as each determines theirs to be the most important.  The enemy laughs as we weaken through division he has sown.

It doesn’t have to be this way if we stop accepting every ball the enemy throws out, using up our time in fleshly efforts.  Instead, each of us only receives the balls Holy Spirit places in our specific fields of play, only does with those balls what He directs, at His designated time – speaking one word, or waiting, or speaking many words, going, or staying put.  Then we find ourselves resting in Him as never before as we live (not do) intercession, without the heavy should.  In this, we live the victory of Jesus Christ in the earth!

Advertisement

Steps Along the Way

You are invited to join me on a journey in progress – one I’ve been exploring for a while without sharing.  For reasons I will probably address in coming posts, I’ve been stingy.  But I can no longer keep these things to myself, so I hope you’ll join me.  Most come from conversations I had with Daddy, so some is in dialogue form, some sudden understandings by the Spirit, others indescribable.  That’s the reality of living by the indwelling Spirit of Christ.  What an interesting journey!

As I talked with Daddy about the terrible situation in Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Israel, and so many other nations, a familiar heaviness overwhelmed me as I considered how much I needed to pray for the entire Middle East.  People’s lives hung in the balance, spiritually and physically, but I didn’t even know where to start.  Then I heard it – His still, small voice – reminding me, “But you’re not supposed to carry it.”

Of course. None of us are supposed to carry it.  Yet the emotional appeal that bombarded social media, the one fraught with unspoken guilt, told us our duty as Christians was to carry these hurting ones in prayer.  Our emotions latched on, but they misled.  Intercession is called for, not based on emotion, though emotion might be evidenced in the process.  Rather, our intercession comes from Daddy’s perspective, from the victory He accomplished through Christ.

When we intercede, whether for far-away nations or next-door neighbors, asking (sometimes begging) God to do what He’s already done is ineffective.  Instead, asking Him what He would have us declare and decree by His Spirit concerning what will and will not take place is called for.  After all, we are not only priests, but kings.  Kings don’t ask.  Kings declare and decree.  One word or many, spoken from the heart of our King Jesus, allows us to rest and stand, regardless of what we see or hear.

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place]. AMP

With that understanding, I was stirred to intercede for my brothers and sisters all over the world.  For all who are stuck in natural as they pray, exerting much effort with little effect, finding only frustration and even condemnation for not having prayed enough or hard enough.  What an unforgiving treadmill!  “Lord, what would You have me declare for them that they will see the reality of intercession from our seat next to Jesus and find rest there?”

Another understanding:  We have been blinded and deceived, relying on religion to teach the Bible, to teach prayer, to teach only what religion wants us to know.  But the very one who blinds and deceives and controls is the one at the root of religion!

By Your Spirit, I declare, “No more!  In Your grace, I call forth the real body of Christ, the new creation born again in Christ’s resurrection after dying with Him in His death, hungering to live and move and have their being in Christ alone, no longer by religion’s deception and control.  The body I call forth is fully alive in the righteousness of Christ in them, declaring and decreeing that same righteousness throughout the earth, in the infinite ways You speak it.”

With that, my session with Daddy ended that day, though it wasn’t the end of what He would share with me.  Stay tuned for more of this journey . . .

(This one’s for you, Donna. I long for the revelation of Christ you now have, but I thank you for spurring me on.)