Intercession in view of the Tabernacle

  Often  people view prayer as boring, or just too difficult. 
The truth is that this often stems from a lack of understanding about 
prayer's what, how , why.  This blog focuses on Intercessory prayer. But it is good to define the various types of prayer so that one has a clearer picture of WHAT prayer involves and then you know HOW and WHY you pray specifically at a given time/situation. Then we will be able to move on the seeing how all this works via the pattern of the Tabernacle.
  Petition vs. Intercession: 
Simply put, petition is a form of prayer that asks for something. It is a
"vertical" type of prayer from one person to the Father.
Intercession is both vertical and horizontal in that the one interceeding  is standing beside another person, or in a situation( which of course involves people) and before God, on their behalf. 
Intercession involves not just asking, but a breaking, and a binding and the use of God given authority to bring freedom from the onslaught of the enemy. 
The structure and pattern of the tabernacle is seen in our preparation and practice of intercession. Intercession is a priestly practice.

The first step toward intercession involves one's own heart. A soldier never goes out into battle unprepared. Intercession is both bearing another's burden, and doing battle to see that burden lifted.  The preparation begins with your own heart. A pure heart is vital to seeing results in intercession.  A time of quietness, reverence and cleansing before the Lord is necessary. 
  

The Lord commanded the priests to put on garments of fine linen, which were created according to His design. These represent the righteousness of Christ. As we accept Christ's sacrifice, we "put on Christ".  This was done before any service was rendered. 
 For the Levites, this garment was  a prayer shawl worn over the fine linen; The High priest, the only one permitted to go into the actual presence of God wore very specific garments. Each part is a symbol of our Christian faith and the truths  reflected in it.
 
As they entered the tabernacle, the  brazen laver was first seen:

 It was a polished metal which created a mirror effect. You were to see

yourself in that laver- your sin and your cleansing. This act of cleansing was a requirement in order to proceed toward the presence of God and 

the ministry of the priesthood. 

Too often we find ourselves questioning our "unanswered prayers". Could it be because we didn't take the time to reflect, inspect and repent, first? 

We just rushed right in and gave a list of petitions, when the Lord was really wanting the act of intercession? 

Next in the tabernacle journey is the Brazen Altar.

The Brazen altar represented the sacrifice of Jesus. 
There were four horns on the altar- four representing the points of a compass- North, South, East and West. The sacrifice covered all the earth- is available to all men.  The horns were the horns of a bull, the highest sacrifice in animals due to its expense. The expression "grabbing onto the horns of the altar" expression comes from this. We lay hold of the gift given in Jesus' sacrifice, one that not even a bull could accomplish- and find forgiveness and freedom from bondage.

You have heard it said that you can lead where you won't go? Well, to intercede for another while you have unresolved sin or bondage will be futile, and most likely lead to great frustration and discouragement.  
Those that work in altar ministry should/must know these truths. If everyone who desires to minister to others practiced just these three steps toward the tabernacle, wouldn't we see a great change come over the Body of Christ?  How many more positive results to prayer might we find?    Selah.
You might be amazed to learn that a great majority of believers minister in their own knowledge and strength and the effect is minimal.  The next post will shine light upon God's plan for us to minister in His power and grace!


I would also like to recommend a really intriguing article found HERE.

Looking toward Sunday

The past two meetings we have established that:
1. God's original plan was for man to rule the earth
2. We rule in accordance with His direction
3. Prayer is fellowship with the Lord and intercession creates a meeting between us, God and other individuals

That's a VERY condensed version of our meetings!
This coming meeting goes even deeper and some things about prayer might surprise you as we delve deeper into this multifaceted topic!  Once you get beyond the traditional thoughts regarding prayer, you find how fascinating and marvelous it really is and you will never want to return to that place of indifference and ambivalance! :) 
   Why do we often have to pray about a matter more than once? Isn't that an indication of lack of faith? What is "warring" in prayer?


   See you Sunday when we discuss these and other aspects of intercession!

Paga: What it is...

Paga. What is it?

In Spanish it means to pay.  But in Hebrew, it means intercession, more specifically, to "create a meeting".  It is also the word used for the action of pulling back an arrow in a bow, and aiming to shoot.
  So, what makes understanding paga so important?
Well, the Body of Christ, especially in America has for decades fallen deeper and deeper into the error of thinking that  petition is the same as intercession. True intercession has died out in many areas of the Body. Brief and passing "I need..." and " I want..." have replaced the bearing of one another's burdens. The Body is not connected to the Lord as it could be, and most definitely not to each other as we should be, as we MUST be. Our survival depends upon it.
 Soulish prayers have weakened the Body and hindered our effectiveness. We have lost our salt in the earth because we are not connecting - creating a meeting between the Lord and ourselves, and then ourselves and others.
  What's the difference between Soul Directed Prayer and Spirit Directed Prayer?

When we pray from our minds and even our emotions, we are praying Soul directed prayers.  These prayers will be light on faith, wisdom, discernment and effectiveness, and heavy in emotions, knowledge and tradition.  They will lack power and effectiveness.
  Spirit Directed Prayer is the opposite:

 The key to effective prayer is to pray what the Lord directs you to pray,
whether it seems logical or agreeable to you or not!
When we pray "in His name"- we are approaching the Throne, the Righteous Judge, with Jesus as our Attorney. He is representing us and we come "in His name". He does not pray for us, instead, He represents us to the Father that our prayer will be heard. The prayers that are directed by Him are full of wisdom and anointing. We will hit the mark, create a meeting between the two parties when we first become still and listen to what He has to say about a situation.
   He will tell you what the root of a matter is so that it can be addressed according to His instruction. HE has the strategies! HE gives them to us and when we pray them, we are coming into agreement with Him and that brings about perfect results. They may not seem perfect to us at first, but as we begin to think like Him and listen to Him, we will then see the wisdom of His leadings.
So, to recap:
For effective prayer that creates a meeting and agreement between you and God and the situation at hand:
1. Still and Quiet your soul. Ask for cleansing of your heart and any erroneous thinking.
2. Meditate upon who He is.
3. LISTEN.
4. Do not respond until you have His word on the matter- it may come as a scripture, a simple direction, even lyrics to a song can point you in the direction to seek Him more.
 5. Pray what He tells you!  That is pulling the arrow of prayer back with confidence that when released, His word will go forth and not return void. That prayer will hit the mark- PAGA!

Welcome to Burden Bearers & World Shakers!

Burden Bearers & World Shakers is connected to the Bible Fellowship Group on Intercessory Prayer, called;
 "Go to Meeting" at Restoration Church for the purpose of connection, communication and further sharing. We welcome questions and comments from other believers or seekers.