Prayer and Intercession
(Eph. 6:18-19, Col. 4:2-4, I Thess. 5:16-18)
Pray without ceasing. Simply stay in constant communication with the One who sits on the throne. He remains a faithful high priest. He is constantly our Savior. I find as I go on after more than 40 years that I always need Him as my Good Shepherd. Prayer is as much, or more, listening rather than speaking. We make our requests, our needs known to Him. This is always a part of our life with Him as our Father and we are His children. We then listen to His response and seek understanding.
As we grow, as we mature, we come into a fuller understanding of our Father’s purposes in our lives, in the lives of our brothers and sisters in the church, and His purpose in the lives of everyone we meet. He will not involve us in things for which He has not prepared us. If we refuse some lessons, some painful experiences, He will not involve us in certain areas. It may be we have not refused Him, or a lesson. It may be He has other intentions for us. It is not for us to choose our place, or mode of service. This happens too often, that we step into areas where He has not led us, but we also learn from such mistakes.
Missteps happen when we miss His voice. It can be that He speaks clearly but if it is so unlike a previous direction, we may simply not obey. This can become a valuable lesson even while it may seem like a distraction or diversion. Such mistakes are no surprise to Him and we learn to simply follow what He says. We can ask for help to understand when it seems contrary to us. He may the use circumstances to bring us on to a closer walk with Him. Others will also have the opportunity to learn if they look to him for understanding as they may observe or be affected by our missing Him.
Over the years and after many lessons the Lord brings us to new levels. Some of these are gradual but some are significant promotions. In the last few years I have experienced such a promotion. This was not isolated to myself alone but happened in connection with new relationships among His people. I found myself in an atmosphere of hunger for the Lord Jesus Himself. I had been prepared for this and was accelerated because of His purpose in my life. At such a time in our lives, the Lord, our Father, takes the initiative. This is a truth for all true spiritual growth in our lives. He takes the initiative and we follow. We say yes, take His yoke on us and cooperate with Him by the Spirit. We all know that this is never automatic because we are human, we are frail, we are flesh and blood. He is faithful and will complete the work that He has begun. Same idea here in this scripture; He is the initiator and we follow His lead.
So, during this promotional experience, in my spirit, I saw seats in the heavenly realm, in His presence. This was simply a revelation of the truth that we are seated with Him. He brings us into a reality, an experience of this. We begin to see more clearly from his perspective. We know a greater measure of His mind, His heart, and His will. We often think, and it is true, that we begin with the will of God but this causes us trouble. We must then press on to know Him in His fullness. Without His mind and heart, our doing of His will becomes a dead obedience. As we see empty seats in the heavens and hear His call to take our seats with Him, we are brought into closer alignment with Him.
In these days the call to be with Him in the place of intercession is strong. We are hungry to sit at his feet to listen to Him. Do you hear the call to be still and know that He is God? Along with that I hear a cry for the fear of the Lord to return. Yes, but we need to go on from there because the knowledge of the only One is understanding. We need His mind and heart and the understanding, the wisdom that comes directly from Him alone. Here is the truth concerning Issachar who knew the times and season and what the church, His bride, is to do. Issachar is representative of sons of God today. We are His children growing in maturity as sons to do His will. Then we pray His heart and mind; we declare a thing and it is so because like the son, Christ Jesus, we say what we hear the Father say and do not speak from ourselves.
therichesofchrist.com 
Good word here, Mark. I read your comment on Doug Addison’s blog (that you’d been published in MS Journal). Congrats! That is really exciting. I read your article there and it encouraged me. Thought it’d be cool to connect and invite you to visit my site http://www.healingwriter.com as we both write for Him. Blessings on the new doors Abba has for you this year!
Hey, sis. Brought to weeping today even as I write. Struggle and failure bring me to my inner knees. I posted again today and sometimes think I am only writing into the air but at His encouragement I can only continue in that to which He has called me. I am learning still that He has finished my bad self and last night’s sporadic pity party is left behind. As Terry Bennett said to me recently, the self-life dies hard. Oh to let go quickly of every thing that distracts from Him and His best. God bless you in the coming year. Thank you for listening and keep writing.