![A Man of Prayer Waits Constantly Before God and Intercedes for What's on His Heart [Quote: Watchman Nee, Obtaining an answer to prayer is not the highest goal of prayer. The purpose of prayer is that we be one with God's will so that God can work]](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/watchman-nee-being-one-with-gods-will-for-him-to-work.jpg?resize=800%2C530&ssl=1 "A Man of Prayer Waits Constantly Before God and Intercedes for What's on His Heart [Quote: Watchman Nee, Obtaining an answer to prayer is not the highest goal of prayer. The purpose of prayer is that we be one with God's will so that God can work]")
In Gen. 18 we see how God came to visit His friend Abraham in a human form, and He spent some time with him to eat together and converse together.
Abraham was one who was dealt with by the Lord and he learned the lesson of not being hasty to ask God for things or to inquire of Him, but just to listen to Him.
We need to be men of prayer who constantly wait before God, according to our forefather Abraham’s pattern. In such an intimate time between us and the Lord, in our conversation with Him, He can tell us what is on His heart.
God came to visit Abraham and to reveal to him two things: that the very next year Sarah will have a son and that God wants to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Isaac is a type of Christ, and Sodom and Gomorrah are a type of Satan, who will be destroyed by God.
In Abraham’s time with the Lord he was unveiled to see God’s desire and purpose even in creating man (Gen 1:26): He wants Christ to come forth (to express Him fully in His image) and He wants to destroy His enemy (and for this He needs intercessors who pray for those who still belong to Satan).
How much we need to be those who wait in the Lord’s presence that He may reveal what is on His heart for us to pray it back to Him!
A Glorious Intercession = An Intimate Conversation
To intercede is not to do your best to pray for everything you can think about concerning a person, a situation, or a thing.
Abraham’s glorious intercession in Gen. 18 was an intimate conversation between two friends – a human, intimate talk according to what God unveiled to Abraham that is on His heart (see Gen. 18; Rom. 4:12; 2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23; S.S. 1:1-4; Rev. 2:17; 1 Tim. 2:1, 8).
We need to be those who learn the lessons of prayer and wait before God, listening to Him, and then slowly getting into prayer.
We shouldn’t be quick to hastily open our mouth and express our ideas, our feelings, and our desires. Even though we may see an urgent need, a terrible situation, or even a disaster approaching, we need to learn to stop and put aside our thinking and feeling, so that our whole being would be open and waiting before God.
Don’t think that God’s revelation concerning intercession comes in a sudden, miraculous, or “Pentecostal” way. To receive such a revelation we need to pass through a long process so that God may visit us in our time with Him.
God wants to spend time with us, even human intimate time, having a conversation with us and opening up His heart to us. In our conversation with God we learn that our intercession is firstly an intimate talk with God according to the unveiling of His heart’s desire.
The most glorious and powerful intercession we can make before God is an intimate talk with Him, a heart-to-heart conversation with God where we respond to His heart’s desire.
More Christ and Less Satan!
As we spend time with God and commune with Him, fellowship with Him, He will unveil us to see what He desires to do.
Abraham was enjoying sweet fellowship with God, and he received a revelation from Him regarding the birth of Isaac and the destruction of Sodom (see Gen. 18:9-22).
God wants to bring forth Isaac (a type of Christ) and He wants to destroy Sodom (a type of Satan). In other words, God wants to work Christ into us and bring forth Christ through us, and He wants to destroy anything of Sodom in our church life, our Christian life, our family life, our work life, and in every aspect of our life!
God wants that Christ would be revealed in us (Gal. 1:15-16), Christ would live in us (Gal. 2:20), and Christ would be formed in us (Gal. 4:19).
For this, our entire Christian life should be a feasting life – let us keep the feast (1 Cor. 5:8)! We need to enjoy Christ as our banquet, our rich supply of life, and we need to get rid of any leaven (a type of Satan). More Christ and less Satan!
This is God’s original intention when He created man – that man would express Him in His image and likeness, and that man would deal with His enemy (Gen. 1:26).
He will gain this in and through His people who are willing to be open to Him, receive a revelation concerning His desire, and pray according to this revelation that God would do it!
All Impossibilities Become Possibilities with God!
![When Sarah (who was 90 years old) heard that God promised Abraham that she would have a son, she laughed. Humanly it is impossible for someone that old to still conceive. [In the picture: Is anything too hard for God?]](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/nothing-is-impossible-with-god-is-anything-too-hard-for-thelord.jpg?resize=430%2C323&ssl=1 "When Sarah (who was 90 years old) heard that God promised Abraham that she would have a son, she laughed. Humanly it is impossible for someone that old to still conceive. [In the picture: Is anything too hard for God?]")
When Sarah (who was 90 years old) heard that God promised Abraham that she would have a son, she laughed. Humanly it is impossible for someone that old to still conceive.
If we look at ourselves, our situation, our condition, we all will admit, Lord, it is humanly impossible that I would live Christ at home, at work, on the street, in the church life, and when I am by myself.
But with God, all human impossibilities become possibilities! In our intimate fellowship with God, as we listen to Him and converse with Him concerning what’s on His heart, we receive the revelation that all the impossibilities become possibilities with Christ (Gen. 18:14; Luke 18:27).
It may seem impossible that we would live Christ and that Christ would be formed in us. But, “Is anything too marvelous for Jehovah?”
Every experience of Christ is marvelous in our eyes – it is a wonderful doing of the Lord. It’s not of us, and with us humans it is impossible, but with God and in God it is possible!
Our Christian experiences are always wonderful because our Christian life is a life of impossibilities who become possibilities with Christ! What we cannot do in ourselves God can do in us! And this is wonderful!
God will take us on until Christ is formed in us, Christ lives in us, and Christ is magnified in us! Also, God will defeat and crush Satan under our feet shortly! Hallelujah!
Lord Jesus, we love You. Keep us fellowshipping with You. Keep us in Your presence, lingering with You that we may receive the revelation of what’s on Your heart. Work Christ into our being, and may He be formed in us. Lord, keep us feasting on Christ as our banquet without leavened bread. Remove any “Sodom” from our life! Lord, keep us in a face-to-face fellowship with You that we may be the intercessors You need for the fulfillment of Your purpose!
References and Further Reading
- This portion is inspired from brother Dick Taylor’s sharing in the message and portions in, Life-study of Genesis (msgs. 50, 51), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on Prayer and the Lord’s Move, week 2 (entitled, A Man of Prayer).
- Further reading: 1 Cor. 5:8 (and note 1); Rom. 8:34 (and note 3);
- Hymns on this topic:
# Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / List’ning earnestly to Him; / Be impressed with His intentions, / Yielding to Him from within.
# All things are possible to God; / To Christ, the power of God in me.
# Lord, I would linger here, / Still seeking after Thee, / Continue in the Word and prayer / Till Thou dost flow thru me. - Pictures credit: Inspiration Unlimited, and, Is Anything too hard for the Lord? (here)
About aGodMan
INTERCESSION
Gen 18:23 & Abraham came near & said, Will You indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked?
25 Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked…Far be it from You! Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justly?
27 & Abraham answered & said, Now behold, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord, though I am but dust & ashes.
‘…proper intercession is not initiated by us but by God in His revelation…God came to Abraham because He was seeking an intercessor…intercession is…an intimate conversation…according to God’s righteousness…Abraham was not praying; he was talking to his intimate Friend on a human level.
PTL, our God is not only for bestowing Grace, but also demands that we live a life of prayer. This is how we walk with God. Gen 5:24, 1 Thes 5:17.
Genesis 18 records the fact that God appeared especially to Abraham and was entertained by Abraham in his tent. On that occasion Abraham served continually before God and asked nothing of Him. God finished the cakes and the calf and spoke the thing concerning Sarah. After He rose up to leave and Abraham walked with Him for a distance, God stopped and said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (Gen. 18:17). At that time, God made it clear that He had come to earth in order to judge Sodom. When Abraham heard this, he immediately understood God’s desire and knew that He was concerned for Lot, who was in Sodom but who belonged to God. Then Abraham immediately prayed according to God’s concern. This shows that he was truly one who waited before God. (Lessons on Prayer, pp. 40-41)
What touched me was how close Abraham was to God. In Genesis 18, the glorious intercession Abraham made before God was a human conversation between two good friends. He had an intimate conversation with God according to the unveiling of God's heart's desire. This is the principle of intercession. Lord, we want to have intimate conversations with You!
We need to stop ourselves, our thinking and our feelings, so that our whole being is waiting before Him before slowly entering into prayer. To be men of prayer, we need to abide in Him, waiting wholeheartedly before Him.
Before God can reveal His heart's desire to a man, that man must be prepared, disciplined, trained, circumcised, and terminated. As Abraham was enjoying such sweet fellowship with God, he received revelation from Him! In our fellowship with God, Christ must come in and sin must come out.
Every experience of Christ is marvellous in our eyes. Christ is marvellous and wonderful in all our experiences of Him. Genesis 18:14 – "Is anything too marvellous for Jehovah?". May we all have more marvellous experiences of Christ!
I really enjoy this as well- a real intercession is a human conversation, an intimate talk with God as our friend. To be God's friend, we must spend time with him before He can reveal His intention to us, just like Abraham REMAINED with God in Gen 18:22.
Oh Lord Jesus, how we love Your presence, how we love to sit at Your feet and spend intimate time with You and waiting on You. Lord Jesus we desire to have intimate conversations with You to know what's on Your heart. Oh Lord remove any "Sodom" from us Lord, make us those who are fully consecrated and fully obedient to You Lord for Your move today. We give to You our full co-operation Lord.
What I enjoyed most in the morning revival book is our praying to receive the life supply from the Father. We are saved not for ourselves but for the Lord's purpose. And His purpose is to have an expression, through us, on the earth. If we continue to live in ourselves and do everything in ourselves then we express ourselves, not the Lord. So in order for the Lord to express, move, work and have dominion on the earth we need to be filled with Him. And the way to be filled is through prayer. Therefore our intention in prayer should be to seek the life supply. And the totality of these riches is the Holy Spirit. When we pray ourselves into God, we should remain in God to receive the Holy Spirit as our life supply. This life supply nourishes not only ourselves but also all those under our care.
Is anything too marvelous for Jehovah? At the appointed time… Sarah shall have a son. (Gen 18:14). Abraham walked with them… And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? These two verses show us that on God side, He wants to give us Christ and destroy Sodom, and on our side, we need to be one that is ready to receive God’s revelation and understand God’s heart and able to intercede according to God. For us to be such a man of prayer, we must come all the way from Ur of Chaldea through many places until we come to the oaks of Mamre. Abraham had many experiences of God and has become a friend of Jehovah. In Genesis 18, Abraham did not open his mouth hastily, he was serving Him and as He was leaving, he remained standing before Jehovah. Then he came near and intercede for Lot.
May we be those who are prepared, disciplined, trained, circumcised, and terminated to be useful to Him. May we be those whom God can come and visit and reveal His intention. God wants to bring Christ to His children and deal with Satan, the “Sodom” in our home life, work life and church life. In ourselves it is impossible, but with God this is possible, but we must pray according to Him. May we become a friend of God, waiting on Him, listening to Him, instead of opening our mouth hastily… O Lord, You need many friends on earth…
Amen! HalleluJah!
Come Lord Jesus!
all the impossibilities become posibilities with God