Participants: Shelley Quinn
Series Code: PHP
Program Code: PHP000015
00:01 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn.
00:02 Please join us today on Pressing Into His Presence as we learn 00:06 how intercessory prayer will help finish God's work. 00:31 Welcome to Pressing Into His Presence. 00:34 On our last program we considered how God's plan 00:38 for Christians, those who have been born again, 00:41 and re-created in the image of Jesus, is to be co-laborers, 00:47 co-heirs, and co-intercessors with Christ. 00:53 Jesus serves as our great intercessor in heaven, 00:57 and He wants us to do this work with Him. 01:01 Today we're going to look at how this ministry 01:05 of intercession is part of God's plan to finish the work. 01:10 If you're following along in your companion book, 01:12 also called Pressing Into His Presence, today we are going 01:17 to begin on Page 125. 01:19 You will recall that we have studied how the school of 01:24 intercessory prayer makes us more Christlike. 01:27 To witness an amazing Christlike intercessors heart in action, 01:32 just consider Moses. 01:34 On behalf of a rebellious people, he pleaded with God in 01:40 Exodus 32:32, asking God to forgive the sin of the people. 01:46 But saying to the Lord, If not, I pray blot me out of Your book 01:52 which you have written. 01:54 He's talking about the book of life. 01:56 I don't know about you, but I must confess, I'm not there yet. 02:00 God still has a work to do in my heart before I would willingly 02:04 ask Him to remove my name from His book of life 02:08 to save someone else. 02:10 I need His divine assistance to become more Christlike, 02:14 to walk in absolute surrender, and live in perfect 02:18 self-sacrificing love. 02:19 The time I dedicate to intercessory prayer 02:23 is unsatisfactory. 02:26 There is still unfinished work in my heart. 02:30 You know, a viewer once called 3ABN to level a complaint 02:35 against me, criticizing the message I had 02:38 delivered on prayer. 02:39 What she accused me was of trying to guilt people 02:42 into praying more. 02:43 I hope you don't feel like I'm trying to guilt you 02:46 into increased prayer. 02:47 I believe the message of this book and this series 02:53 echo's a wake-up call from God to us, His drowsy children. 02:58 Christ desires to come soon for His bride. 03:02 And the bride must be prepared. 03:04 And our lack of prayer limits God's work 03:08 in our personal lives. 03:09 Are we likewise limiting His work on earth? 03:13 Neglecting our call to intercessory prayer could be 03:18 the chief reason the work isn't finished. 03:21 Let me share a story with you that will 03:24 illustrate what I mean. 03:26 In 2008 I was introduced to Dr. Paul Ratsara, 03:30 who is president of the Southern Africa Indian Ocean Division 03:34 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 03:36 And within an hour of conversing with him, 03:39 I recognized he was a Godly man. 03:42 I say this not to lift him up, but to acknowledge 03:45 the presence of God in him. 03:48 Dr. Ratsara is a man of earnest prayer, who seeks God's wisdom 03:53 for matters great and small, spending hours daily 03:57 communicating with the Lord. 03:59 And finishing the Lord's work is his passion, 04:02 and he earnestly pleads with Him for direction. 04:05 At our first meeting he shared how God had led him to encourage 04:09 a tiny church membership, only 273 people of a particular 04:15 district in his vast division, to make a two year commitment 04:21 to prayer and fasting. 04:23 The results in church growth were jaw dropping. 04:26 And I had originally planned to share that inspiring report, 04:31 both in my book, and in this program, 04:34 Pressing Into His Presence. 04:35 However, when he arrived at 3ABN in January 2010 04:40 for an interview, I presented him the rough draft to check 04:44 for accuracy, and my plan was thwarted. 04:47 After reviewing my narrative he said, Yes, Shelley, 04:50 this is accurate, but I think it best that we not 04:53 put this in your book. 04:54 You see, it was a very poor district, and recently the 04:58 country that shares its borders opened, and thousands upon 05:03 thousands of these church members flooded across to enjoy 05:07 a better standard of life. 05:08 And he said, We would not want anyone to question the voracity 05:13 of this report saying, where are these church members now? 05:17 But I was crestfallen. 05:19 It was such an incredible report of what the Lord could do 05:23 through intercessory prayer, and I just relished writing it. 05:28 And then Dr. Ratsara said, with his winsome smile, 05:32 I'll give you a report, a good report to share. 05:36 This too will thrill your heart, Shelley. 05:40 So Dr. Ratsara related the story of a devout Muslim 05:45 who had converted to Christianity, and was turning 05:50 the area in which he lived upside down. 05:53 A science teacher by profession, this regimented academia man 05:59 had found that his schedule interfered with his first love 06:03 of testifying to God's grace. 06:05 To increase his time for soul winning he decided to change 06:09 his careers, and ironically he became a farmer; planting the 06:12 friends and working the fields to support his family, 06:16 all the while laboring more fervently in the harvest 06:19 fields of the Lord. 06:20 Sometimes he conducted up to 8 evangelistic series a year. 06:26 And in the first 27 years of his, quote unquote, harvesting 06:31 business, this farmer studied his Bible, fasted and prayed, 06:36 and went forth preaching the Word of God. 06:40 His harvest was plentiful. 06:42 Get this: he baptized 24,650 people, half of whom were won 06:52 to Christ during the last 7 years. 06:54 And as a result of his ministry, 56 churches were planted. 07:00 One man! In recent years this farmer has intensified his 07:05 time of prayer and fasting up to 7 hours daily: before, 07:11 during, and even after these evangelistic series. 07:15 He earnestly intercedes for the people, and he makes 07:20 supplication for the Spirit's power to preach. 07:24 The great success that God has granted him in converting 07:29 hostile non-Christians to our Lord has made him unpopular 07:34 with certain people in this district. 07:37 Enraged, some plotted and poisoned him. 07:41 And after he ingested the lethal dose that was administered 07:46 by a trusted, but coerced assistant, the Lord miraculously 07:51 delivered him from death. 07:53 And then later a small group, bonded by mutual hatred, 07:57 framed him for murder. 07:59 And here he is sitting in prison, and he said, Lord, 08:02 I will not stop praying until you vindicate Your name. 08:07 And within three days the body of the murder victim that had 08:11 been weighted down by a 66 pound stone to prevent it from 08:16 floating, this body was discovered. 08:19 It came floating to the top of the river, and it still had 08:23 the massive rock attached to his waist. 08:26 So under cross examination, his false accusers broke down 08:30 and confessed to the killing. 08:32 God vindicated His holy name, and the farmer's as well. 08:37 And more recently this beloved brother in the Lord conducted a 08:42 four week evangelistic series in a small town which had only 08:47 80 church members in an area that is extremely 08:52 hostile to Christianity. 08:54 And this report reads like a chapter from the book of Acts. 09:00 Through this farmer, strong in the Spirit from weeks of 09:05 fasting and praying, the power of God was manifested. 09:10 And it was just an evangelistic explosion. 09:15 It reminds me of what Jesus said in John 14:12. He said: 09:36 Now this is the type of greater works to which Jesus referred. 09:40 At the conclusion of the four week campaign 09:44 3,010 people were baptized. 09:48 Our dear brother was not interested in posting numbers 09:51 for the appearance of success. 09:53 He actually postponed a good number of other baptisms 09:58 until those people, and candidates, could finish 10:02 preparation classes, and understand with certainly 10:06 the commitment they were making. 10:07 Then he embraced the Fishers of Men program. 10:13 Now I'm going to explain that in just a second. 10:15 But what happened was these newly baptized Christians, 10:19 using the Fisher of Men's program, won many more souls 10:24 to Christ in just three months. 10:26 So hearing this report, my heart leaped for joy. 10:31 But then it landed with a thud. 10:34 I've heard similar stories coming out of Latin countries. 10:38 Why isn't this happening in the developed nations like 10:42 the United States, or Europe, or New Zealand? 10:45 Oh how we need to be like this dear farmer, and Dr. Ratsara. 10:52 People who intercede for lost souls. 10:55 People who seek the Lord for instruction, and the power to 11:00 share the gospel so our Lord can return soon. 11:02 Why aren't we? Is it complacency, lack of prayer 11:09 and its accompanying power, or simply fear that we don't 11:13 know enough to share the good news? 11:16 You know, the call of Jesus in Mark 1:17, 18 is this: 11:28 Now those to whom Jesus spoke then, the Bible said: 11:35 You know, reports shared by Dr. Ratsara proved my satisfaction 11:41 it is not lack of knowledge which limits our soul winning. 11:45 Led by the Spirit, He is the one who implemented this 11:49 Fishers of Men campaign in his division. 11:52 And what they do, they simply take newly baptized converts, 11:57 and they train them to share their testimony, and they train 12:01 them to go share their faith immediately to win souls. 12:05 In June 2009 Dr. Ratsara conducted an evangelistic 12:10 campaign in Angola that resulted in more than 6,000 baptisms. 12:16 Now that sounds wonderful, but at once these people were put to 12:20 work for the Lord, and he announced a special Sabbath 12:23 in October to baptize the converts who would be won 12:28 by their witnessing. 12:30 These are brand new converts. 12:32 They give them a Bible. 12:34 They gave them a book called, Steps to Christ, 12:36 and a few other materials. 12:38 And after simple training, they were sent forth. 12:42 They each had a little more than three months to win one soul. 12:47 Like the Samaritan woman who encountered Jesus at the well, 12:52 they went with the excitement of discovering the Messiah 12:57 to their villages to tell others what Christ had done for them. 13:02 And the special baptism that was planned, and held, 13:06 in October 2009 resulted in 14,396 more souls 13:15 being baptized into Christ. 13:18 Just a matter of months later, in December of 2009, 13:23 another 22,850 people were baptized! 13:30 I haven't had an update since 2010, but at the time of the 13:35 writing of the book, Pressing Into His Presence, God had added 13:39 an increase of at least 37,246 souls. 13:47 In just six months, through the seed of those original 6,000 13:53 plus people that were baptized at Dr. Ratsara's campaign 13:58 in June of 2009, in perfect similitude to the book of Acts, 14:04 this story has no conclusion. 14:06 What would happen if church members around the world 14:10 woke up to their duty as co-intercessors, and co-laborers 14:16 with Christ? What would happen if we earnestly prayed for the 14:22 Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest field? 14:26 You know, we're actually commanded to pray that 14:29 in Luke 10:2. Jesus is speaking. 14:49 What if we all pleaded for God to pour out His Holy Spirit 14:55 in the latter rain, as commanded in Zachariah 10:1. 15:02 Look at what this Scripture said. 15:05 This is God speaking. 15:12 The answer to these questions of what would happen if we 15:18 earnestly prayed, finds a witness in the personal stories 15:23 of those 273 church members, the farmer, and the Fishers 15:29 of Men, and our dear brother Dr. Paul Ratsara. 15:33 Fervent prayer would bring about greater workings of the 15:38 Holy Spirit in our churches, and in our individual life. 15:42 If we would be like those who pattern their lives after 15:46 Elijah, and prayed earnestly. 15:50 You know, over the last few programs that have been 15:54 dedicated to intercessory prayer, we have covered six 15:59 of the seven points that we promised to present 16:02 on intercessory prayer. 16:03 Now lets move to the final point, and in a moment I'll 16:08 recap all seven of them. 16:10 Our final point is this: intercessors have their reward. 16:17 They are doubly blessed. 16:20 Let me start by sharing about my husband. 16:24 He is the kind of man who knows how to make 16:29 everyone feel special. 16:30 J. D. is never too hurried to acknowledge each and every 16:34 person around him; taking time to uplift them in conversation. 16:39 And when we attend events he frequently tells me in advance, 16:43 All right honey, we should plan on leaving at a certain hour. 16:46 And at the designated time I dutifully check my watch, 16:51 and I head for the door. 16:52 Sometimes it appears that I'm anxious to leave, 16:55 only to wait for him while he circles the room 16:59 on his goodbye tour; capping off the occasion with words 17:03 of encouragement to everyone. 17:05 Sometimes these tours are quite lengthy. 17:07 If anyone shares a problem with J. D. he will immediately 17:12 pray with them. You know, I try to respond in the same 17:15 manner, but sometimes I fall short on my efforts. 17:18 It seems that I am destined to rush from one deadline 17:22 to another. And perhaps that's a destiny of my own making, 17:26 I don't know. But I'm geared to bolt off of the elevator as soon 17:30 as the door opens, just like a race horse out of its stall, 17:34 whether we are on the right floor or not. 17:38 And I hate to confess, but I have on more than one occasion, 17:44 mouthed these words: I'll pray for you, 17:47 and later forgot to carry through. 17:50 I've learned that it's best to pray with people immediately, 17:54 if possible, when we know that they have a need for prayer. 17:58 Praying for another in their presence is still a form 18:02 of intercessory prayer. 18:04 When we learn of someone's problems, whether through a 18:08 firsthand report, or even discernment, 18:10 God is inviting us to pray. 18:13 The personal difficulties of others are not revealed to us 18:17 so that we may wag our tongues to start a whisper campaign. 18:21 You know gossip is nothing more than Satan's sick 18:26 counterfeit to intercession. 18:29 In my race against time I sometimes can't always pray 18:34 with someone immediately, but in those instances I ask God 18:39 to bring their need to my remembrance, and cause me 18:42 to be a faithful prayer warrior for them. 18:46 Keeping a prayer list handy would be ideal, 18:50 but I don't always do that. 18:52 But my prayer journal serves this purpose. 18:55 I can review the segments on intercessory prayer, 18:59 and I can be promoted to intercede again for someone 19:02 who has yet to see the answer. 19:04 You know, when I do pray with someone personally, 19:07 I try to remember afterward to share one piece of advice 19:10 with them, and this is it: pray for others who are 19:14 in your situation. 19:15 I advise you to do the same. 19:17 For example, if you had just suffered a divorce, 19:21 intercede for others who are facing similar emotional strain. 19:26 This advice serves a good purpose. 19:29 Just as praying for the salvation of someone who has 19:33 hurt you can introduce forgiveness to your heart, 19:37 interceding for a person in a similar situation to yours 19:41 can foster patience and endurance in you. 19:45 Often as you sincerely seek God's mercy and comfort 19:50 for someone else, you will find a greater measure of mercy 19:54 and comfort for yourself. 19:56 You are, in a sense, casting your bread upon the waters. 20:01 God's Word says in Ecclesiastes 11:1 it will come back to you. 20:07 When you give a measure of sympathy, and devotion, 20:11 and intercession God measures it back to you. 20:15 In fact, just as God established the law of gravity, 20:20 He has established a law of reciprocity that Jesus shared 20:26 in Luke 6:38. Listen to this: Jesus said... 20:44 When we pray with mercy and love for others, mercy and love 20:49 is measured back to us. 20:51 Certainly we should avoid praying for others with a 20:54 selfish motivation of gaining personal benefits. 20:57 That would be displeasing to God. 21:00 But He's the One who knows your heart, 21:03 and He knows when you're sincerely asking for others. 21:07 And there is a reward that accompanies 21:10 intercessor's prayers. 21:12 Intercessors are doubly blessed. 21:16 I'm sure most of you are familiar with the story of the 21:20 ancient patriarch Job. 21:22 Ah, poor Job! The devil had a heyday with him, didn't he? 21:26 Satan did everything he could to ruin Job's life, 21:30 including placing an unsympathetic spirit in Job's 21:34 friends who were there to comfort him. 21:38 And I would say that with quotes and unquote's. 21:41 So what happened was after enduring a long-winded dispute 21:46 with his companions, Job finally turned his eyes toward heaven. 21:50 And guess what he did? 21:52 He prayed for his friends. 21:55 He interceded on their behalf. 21:57 And what happened? 21:58 Mercy and forgiveness flowed. 22:00 And God responded by giving Job a double portion blessing. 22:07 Listen to this. Job 42:10 says: 22:26 Now all intercessors may not be flooded with earthly fortunes, 22:32 but God will multiply His love, His mercy, and His grace to you. 22:37 Intercession inspires a living relationship with the Lord. 22:43 Your double portion blessing on earth may be spiritual. 22:49 It may be spiritual growth. 22:51 It may be an increased intimacy with God. 22:54 But in heaven it's going to be a joy inexpressible. 23:00 As we pour out our hearts in the priestly work of intercession, 23:06 we are pressing into the presence, 23:09 right into the heart of heaven. 23:13 And when we stand in the gap to plead for the perishing, 23:18 God's blessing comes down on us. 23:22 We're praying down His blessings on the world, 23:26 and we demonstrate Christ's love for the lost 23:29 and the suffering. 23:31 And our faith in God's power to deliver absolutely 23:37 goes through the roof. 23:38 God shines His face on us when we are interceding for others. 23:43 He looks on us with approval. Halleluiah! 23:49 Well, our time is quickly slipping away, 23:53 so what I'd like to do is recap the seven points that we've 23:58 covered in these last four programs that we've had 24:02 on intercessory prayer, because I think that these 24:05 are very important points. 24:07 First I'm just going to go through all seven. 24:54 You know that should be plenty of motivation for us to get 24:58 serious about intercessory prayer. 25:00 When God was first teaching me to press into His presence, 25:05 He impressed me of a need to follow the leading 25:09 of the Holy Spirit to learn how to pray like this. 25:16 And the Holy Spirit impressed me to start with praise, 25:21 which is such a faith builder. 25:23 Then He added repentance as the next segment, so that I could 25:30 come before the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart. 25:34 And then affirmation as the next segment of prayer; 25:38 where I took God's Word and I prayed it back to Him. 25:43 And then afterward, when I was praying and I said, 25:48 Lord how should I go? 25:50 How should I continue? 25:52 Then what He did was He impressed me to first practice 25:57 intercessory prayer before I prayed for myself. 26:01 And I can understand why as what He did was take me to... 26:07 You know, when we pray for others first, 26:09 it certainly squashes our self-centeredness. 26:12 I understand that completely. 26:14 But why did He have me intercede? 26:18 By beginning with the broader circle of humanity, 26:21 then slowly narrowing my focus to those with whom I share 26:26 a common bond, and finally to focus on my beloved husband. 26:32 I believe it was for the very reason of increasing intimacy 26:37 in prayer, before He took me to the next segment. 26:42 My appeals for world situations, for the downtrodden, 26:47 for Christians around the world, and for my associates 26:51 were sincere. And prayers for my church family, and my friends 26:56 engendered even greater enthusiasm. 26:59 And at the point of praying for my extended and close family 27:04 members, I was praying with heartfelt confidentiality. 27:10 Ultimately though, praying for my husband J. D. aroused 27:16 intimate and passionate prayer. 27:19 God was preparing my heart to be laid bare before Him. 27:25 As I pressed further into His presence, with openhearted 27:30 humility, openhearted intimacy, I was ready to make meaningful, 27:37 honest supplication on behalf of my own life. 27:41 So please join us next time as we move into this next 27:47 segment of prayer, supplication, where we are praying for God's 27:52 help to overcome the things that are going on in our personal 27:57 lives, when we are praying for God to grace us with the grace 28:02 our Lord Jesus Christ, His love, and the fellowship 28:05 of the Holy Spirit. 28:07 And that's our prayer for you, too. |
Revised 2015-01-26