Intercessory Prayer: How God Can Use Your Prayers to Move Heaven and Earth (Large Print 16pt)

by Dutch Sheets

  One final thought in introducing this subject of warfare: It is important to know that in our wrestling we are not to wrestle with God. I don't know about you, but the very thought terrifies me! The verses most often used to teach that we should are from Genesis 32:22-32, where Jacob wrestled all night with the angel of the Lord. Many a dynamic message has been preached using the words of Jacob as an example for what we should do in prayer: "I won't let you go until you bless me" (see v. 26). I've done it myself.

  However, Scripture does not present this wrestling match as an example of how we are to pray. The reason it lasted so long is (1) God allowed it-the angel could have flipped Jacob into orbit had he wanted to. He once sent one angel to destroy an army (see 2 Chron. 32:21); (2) God and Jacob were after different things. Jacob wanted protection from Esau; God desired a nature change in Jacob.

  Notice what, on the surface, seemed like a ridiculous question the angel asked Jacob: "What is your name?" Doesn't it seem strange to you that in the midst of this wrestling match they began to have a nice little conversation trying to get acquainted? That is not really what was happening. God was trying to get Jacob to acknowledge the truth about his nature, which was described by his name. The Amplified translation demonstrates this clearly: "[The Man] asked him, What is your name? And [in shock of realization, whispering] he said, Jacob [supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler]!" (Gen. 32:27).

  That's all the Lord needed: revelation and confession. Immediately grace was released and a nature change occurred. His name was also changed to Israel. A study of Jacob from this point on shows the great difference in his nature.

  "But Jacob prevailed," some might say.

  Only by losing. The only way to win a wrestling match with God is to lose. If you win, you lose; if you lose, you win. The only way to find our lives is to lose them (see Matt. 16:24-26; Luke 9:23-25). Jacob lost Jacob and found Israel. Such sweet defeat!

  The point of our study, however, is to reveal that this story is not an example of how we are to petition our heavenly Father. We are to approach Him with bold confidence (see Heb. 4:16), knowing He is our Friend and Father. We are to ask "according to His will" (1 John 5:14), not try to wrestle from Him something He might not want to give. We are laborers together with Him (see 2 Cor. 6:1), not warring against Him. We storm the gates of hell (see Isa. 28:6; Matt. 16:18), not the gates of heaven.

  Persistence in prayer is necessary, but it is not to overcome God's reluctance. This is vital to know and remember. It is impossible to ask in faith, which is a requirement, if a person does not believe it is God's will to do what he or she is asking. Why then, is persistence necessary? That is for another chapter. He who persists will find it!

  The purpose of this chapter, however, is to say: There is a warfare or wrestling necessary at times in our intercession. Paga includes the concept and the Scriptures teach it. We must do it with balance and understanding, but we must do it! To ignore Satan is to abdicate to Satan.

  In the next chapter, we will apply this concept of warfare to doing it for the lost. We have a vital role to play in setting the captives free. Let's make a gain on the kingdom of darkness!

  Questions for Reflection

  1. What are the two opposite activities usually needed in intercession? Why are both necessary? Does the meaning and use of paga reinforce this?

  2. Explain 2 Corinthians 2:11. How does it reinforce the fact that we're not to ignore Satan?

  3. Can you explain the connection between worship, waiting and warfare? How does Joshua picture this? Similarly, what insights can be gleaned from Mary and Martha concerning this?

  4. Why would spiritual warfare ever be necessary if Christ defeated and destroyed the powers of darkness? Include comments on the difference between authority and power.

  5. Are we supposed to wrestle with God in prayer? Explain.

  6. Define the word pro from Ephesians 6, commenting on its connection to spiritual warfare.

  7. Why is it important to choose preaching interpreters carefully? (Hint: "I won't say that.")

  C H A P T E R T E N

  MOST HIGH MAN

  Peeling Off the Veils

  I watched the cesarean section delivery of a baby on television once. It was on one of those educational channels that enlighten us to some of the things we need to know to survive in life. Thank God for cable!

  I also saw a face-lift on the same channel. They peeled the skin right off the face! Then they sucked up a bunch of cellulite. I don't know what kind of cells those are, but they also sucked up some fat-I knew what that was. Seemed to me they should have left the "lite" cells and sucked up the fat cells, but I reckon they had some reason for doing what they did. The things we do to look better. Believe me, now I know why they say beauty is only skin deep.

  The delivery of the baby fascinated me the most. I always figured they just cut the skin and out plopped the baby. No way! They pert-near (that's Texan for nearly) turned that poor woman inside out. Pulled out and pointed out things I didn't even know I had (!)-ovaries and stuff like that. When they finally got to the baby, it was all they could do to pull it out. I don't know why it held on like it did. If it had been seeing what I was seeing, it would have wanted out of there fast.

  Anyway, all of us need to be educated on the finer points of C-sections and face-lifts. And if you're gonna read a book by someone, you probably want to know that person is well versed in many areas of life. We don't need no more dumb authors!

  Hopefully by now you know there is a method to my madness and somehow-perhaps minutely-but somehow, this relates to intercession.

  The Bible says there is a veil that keeps unbelievers from clearly seeing the gospel:

  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:3-4).

  My lexicons told me the word "veil" means "to hide, cover up, wrap around."' The Greek word is kalupsis. They said the inside of a tree is veiled by bark; the inside of a human body is veiled by skin. I understood immediately!

  The New Testament word for a "revelation" is simply kalupsis with the prefix apo added-apokalusis. Apo means "off or away,"' so literally a revelation is an unveiling, an uncovering. As I watched those surgeries, I received a revelation of the inside of a human body-at least some of it.

  The Veil in the Unbeliever

  This chapter is all about spiritual warfare for the lost. It is perhaps the most important in the book. The primary purpose of the previous chapter was to prepare us for this one. We have a part to play in lifting the veil off the mind of the unbeliever. Second Corinthians 10:4, which we will elaborate on later, speaks of strongholds that are a part of this veil. We participate in the destruction of these fortresses. Strongholds are not demons; they are places from which demons rule.

  We will look closely at several words from these two passages to gain a more thorough understanding of what is being said. The passage in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 tells us there is a veil or covering over the minds of unbelievers that keeps them from clearly seeing the light of the gospel. It is important to know they don't see the gospel because they can't see it. They don't understand it because they can't understand it. They must have an unveilinga revelation.

  Recently, I was visiting with a brother in Alaska who was telling me about a friend to whom he has been witnessing. He said, "It's just like you teach, Dutch. The man actually said to me, `I know there is something to what you're saying because it's obvious what it has done for you. But I can't yet fully see it"' (emphasis added).

  In times past it always seemed difficult for me to understand how some people could hear and reject powerful gospel presentations. Now I know. When "hearing" it, they didn't hear what I heard, see what I saw or understand what I understood. What the unbelievers heard was filtered through a belief system-a veil-that caused them to hear somet
hing totally different. The fourth verse of 2 Corinthians 4 clearly states this: "that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (emphasis added). They simply do not see the same "image" of Christ that we do. To clearly see Him is to love and want Him. We'll describe some of the components of this "stronghold" in more detail later in the chapter. At this point it is imperative to establish that it exists.

  A Distorted Perspective

  This distorted perception of the unbeliever is well illustrated by the story of a woman driving home alone one evening when she noticed a man in a large truck following her. Growing increas ingly fearful, she sped up, trying to lose her pursuer, but it was futile. She then exited the freeway and drove up a main street, but the truck stayed with her, even running red lights to do so.

  In a panic, the woman wheeled into a service station, jumped from her car and ran inside screaming. The truck driver ran to her car, jerked the back door open and pulled from the floor behind her seat a man that was hiding there?

  The lady was fleeing from the wrong person. She was running from her savior! The truck driver, perched high enough to see into her back seat, had spied the would-be rapist and was pursuing her to save her, even at his own peril.

  As was this lady's, the perspective of unbelievers is distorted. People run from the pursuit of a God who is desiring to save them from destruction. Those of us who know Him realize we love God because He first loved us. When sinners, however, hear of a loving God who wants only their best and died to provide it, they often see instead only the promise of loss and a lack of fulfillment.

  Letting in the Light

  The word "light" in 2 Corinthians 4:4 is photismos, which means "illumination."4 It is similar to another word in Ephesians 1:18, "enlightened," which is the word photizo-"to let in light."' We can almost see the English words "photo" or "photograph" in these Greek words; they are, indeed, derived from them. What happens when one takes a photo? The shutter on the camera opens, letting in light, which brings an image. If the shutter on the camera does not open, there will be no image or picture, regardless of how beautiful the scenery or elaborate the setting.

  The same is true in the souls of human beings. And this is exactly what is being said in these two verses in 2 Corinthians 4. It sounds like photography language. It makes no difference how glorious our Jesus or how wonderful our message-if the veil (shutter) is not removed, there will be no true image (picture) of Christ.

  Oh, sometimes we talk people into a salvation prayer without a true revelation (unveiling), but there is usually no real change. That is why fewer than 10 percent-I've heard figures as low as 3 percent-of people who "get saved" in America become true followers of Christ. The reason is that there is not true biblical repentance, which only comes from biblical revelation.

  Repentance does not mean to "turn and go another way"a change of direction. That's the Greek word epistrepho, often translated "converted" or "turn," and is the result of repentance. Repentance-metanoia-means to have "a new knowledge or understanding"-a change of mind.

  In biblical contexts, repentance is a new understanding that comes from God through an unveiling (revelation). It is the reversing of the effects of the Fall through Adam. Humanity chose their own wisdom, their own knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong. Humanity now needs a new knowledge-from God. Paul said in Acts 26:18 that he was called "to open their eyes"-enlightenment, unveiling, revelation, repentance-"so that they may turn [epistrepho]6 from darkness to light."

  Information Versus Revelation

  We need to understand-and I'm afraid most do not-the difference between information and revelation. Information is of the mind; biblical revelation, however, involves and affects the mind, but originates from the heart. Spiritual power is only released through revelation knowledge. The written word (graphe)7 must become the living word (logos)." This is why even we believers must not just read but also abide or meditate in the Word, praying as the psalmist: "Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Thy law" (Ps. 119:18). The word "open," galah, also means "unveil or uncover"9-revelation.

  Information can come immediately, but revelation is normally a process. As the parable of the sower demonstrates, all biblical truth comes in seed form. Early in my walk with the Lord, I was frustrated because the wonderful truths I had heard from some outstanding teachers were not working for me. When I heard the teachings, they had seemed powerful to me. I left the meetings saying, "I will never be the same!" But a few weeks and months later, I was the same.

  As I complained to God and questioned the truth of what I had heard, the Lord spoke words to me that have radically changed my life: Son, all truth comes to you in seed form. It may be fruit in the person sharing it, but it is seed to you. Whether or not it bears fruit depends on what you do with it. Spiritual information seeds must grow into fruit-producing revelation.

  Knowledge or information alone, which is what humans have glorified and where they have begun their quest for meaning ever since the Fall, does not produce salvation. It does not necessarily lead to a true knowledge of God. Jesus said to the Pharisees, "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me" (John 5:39).

  The Pharisees knew the Scriptures (graphe) probably better than you or I, but they did not know God. Many theologians today know the Scriptures thoroughly but don't know God well. Some, perhaps, do not know Him at all. They couldn't sit quietly in His presence for two hours without being bored silly. They have much information, but little or no revelation. Revelation makes the Scriptures "spirit and life" (John 6:63). It makes them live.

  Why is this so important? Because we are forever shortcircuiting God's process and, in so doing, short-circuiting the results. It is revelation that leads to biblical faith and true change. Without it we are simply appealing to a fallen, selfish, humanistic mind that is always asking, "What's in it for me?" When we appeal to this mentality through human wisdom and intellect alone, we often preach a humanistic, "What's in it for them" gospel, and we produce-at best-humanistic, selfcentered converts.

  If, on the other hand, we preach a pure gospel, including repentance and the laying down of a person's own life (lordship of Christ), unbelievers are sure to reject it unless they receive a biblical revelation. In fact, our gospel is often ridiculous or moronic to them: "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised" (1 Cor. 2:14). The word "foolishness" is moria, from which we get the word "moron."

  Birthing True Repentance

  What is the solution? We must allow the Holy Spirit time to birth true repentance in them through God-given revelation. This produces God-centered Christians, not self-centered ones. God knows we could use some of those, especially in America.

  Two or three years ago, a lady we'll call Sarah related to me a testimony of praying for her sister and brother-in-law. Although generally nice people, "they were very anti-Christian, and were my husband's and my greatest persecutors spiritually, mocking and making fun of us."

  Sarah had been praying for them for 20 years, but they had shown no interest in the gospel. "Because of their attitude toward God and the gospel," Sarah admits, "I had developed a hard heart toward them. I was religiously proud against them and praying out of a wrong motive."

  After listening to me teach on intercession, Sarah's hope was renewed and the Holy Spirit prompted her with the question, When areyougoingto do this foryour family? She repented of her attitude, got her heart right and forgave them for their attitude toward God. Then she began to pray as I had instructed.

  Sarah's need to repent personally and change her own attitude is a valuable lesson for us. Attitudes in our own hearts often keep God from being able to answer our prayers. Isn't it ironic and tragic that our own sin might hinder our prayers for another sinner? Jesus said, "First take the log out of yo
ur own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye" (Matt. 7:5). You may need to forgive your spouse, child or loved one before God can use you to deliver him or her.

  Sarah prayed several things and remembers praying specifically "for the veil to be lifted off of their eyes so that they can see and understand the truth of the gospel." Also, she prayed "that they would come to Christ together so that one would not persecute the other."

  A couple of months later-remember, before applying these principles and dealing with her own heart she had prayed for 20 years-Sarah called to speak with her sister. She heard this amazing report: Earlier that day her brother-in-law had awakened and felt they should go to church. (They never went to church.) So they found a small church and, during the altar call, both of them gave their lives to Christ. She then apologized to Sarah for the way they had treated her-their attitudes totally changed. They are still walking with the Lord. About nine months later, Sarah's father also came to the Lord.

  This will work for you, too!

  Blinded by Pride

  How does Satan blind the mind of the unbeliever? What gives place to this veil? I believe the Lord has shown me a valuable clue. The word "blinded" in 2 Corinthians 4:4 (KJV) is tuphloo, which means "to dull the intellect; to make blind."" The root word, tupho, has the meaning of making smoke," and the blindness in this passage is like a smoke screen that clouds or darkens the air in such a way as to prohibit a person from seeing. This made sense to me, but it didn't seem to fully answer how he did it. Then I made a fascinating discovery.

  From this same root comes a word (tuphoo) that is used for being high-minded, proud or inflated with self-conceit."Z The picture is of one who is "puffed up," much like smoke puffs up or billows. When I saw the connection between the words "blindness" and "pride," a major missing link was supplied for me. I realized immediately it was the sin of pride, passed on from Lucifer to humankind in the Garden, that Satan uses to blind them. I realized that most rejection of Christ, whether from the works motivation of most false religions or the simple fact most people just don't want to give lordship of their lives to another, is due to pride. It is the ultimate enemy of Christ and will ultimately be dealt with in finality when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Christ is Lord. Pride will be dealt its final blow!