...Plain Upon Tablets

Are you ready to be an intercessor? Are you ready to up your game as an intercessor? In Isaiah 59:16, it is written: And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor . In this chapter of The Secret of Intercession , Murray talks of God's desire to have intercessors to have those that love "the people enough or who had sufficient faith in His power to deliver, to intercede on their behalf" (21). God is looking for those people, those who love others enough and believe in him enough to prayer for others. It's not an easy position. It was the  position of Christ before he took his place on the throne. When Christ took the throne, man was given the obligation to extend God's kingdom. As Murray writes, "He [Jesus] ever lives to pray. Prayer is the highest exercise of His royal prerogative as Priest-King upon the throne. All that Christ was to do in heaven was to be in fellowship with His people on earth" (22). He also

No, sorry, it's not THAT kind of party. I just knew the title would get you here. The post IS about stripping, however, so sit back, have a read, and learn a bit more about me. I do believe things happen for a reason, so I should have known that reading a post about "dying to self" from fellow author and Tag Team Sister in Christ Tracey Michae'l Lewis-Giggetts would propel me into my own dying episode. Yesterday was a bad day for me. A lot of things in my life are coming to head. Recently, I compared it to an abscess, this growing pocket of pus that's so ready to be popped so that the poison can drain away, the pain can subside, and things can be made well. I went to sleep with a heavy heart and woke up tired, battered, and a little bruised. I went to Facebook on my phone and saw I had a response on a quote I posted the day before by poet Gwendolyn Brooks: "I am a writer perhaps because I am not a talker." A friend of mine, jokingly (kind of

The very last paragraph of Day 4 in Andrew Murray's The Secret of Intercession  moves me: Christian warriors are pleading with God for the power of heaven to be sent down into the hearts of men. Oh, that God might burn into our hearts this one thought: intercession in its power is according to His will and is most certainly effectual!  (19) As Murray states in this chapter, God sees intercession as the  strongest power of man. It is "the highest expression of His people's readiness to receive and to yield themselves wholly to the working of His almighty power" (18). This chapter provides a general narrative of our receiving of this power. We all know of Adam and his role in God's narrative to do as all that was with and through God. We know of the sin, and we know of the world falling under this sin. But God gave us Jesus, and through Jesus, who interceded for man as man, that we are giving this wonderful, empowering, life-changing power to intercede, to ha

In Day 3 of Andrew Murray's The Secret of Intercession , Murray talks about man's place in God's plan. He starts with this passage: The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth hath he given to the children of men. - Psalm 115:16 Murray goes on to talk about the perfect goodness, holiness of God's place, heaven, but also how we are to make sure His will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10). It, like the other days of the book, are very brief, but in this day, his message is makes a powerful impact just like the first two: God has supplied us with an earth full for hidden potential and possibility and that God has instill man with the ability to uncover these hidden treasures and make the earth a better place for God's people. Intercession is one way in which we can begin to uncover these treasures. The more we conduct the "unceasing intercession of God's people" (15), the faster we will realize earth as it is in hea

I sit, lethargic, before my computer, staring at the screen with a mind that is active but a body that wishes not to be put into motion. In my right ear, I hear, "What's going on?" I shrug as I feel the tears build because I know he hears me. ME: Don't think I can do this. GOD: Do what? ME: This, this Ph.D. I mean, you and I both know I'm going to if for no other reason than I hate to disappoint, and I fear people looking at my differently. GOD: Even though I told you it's not about what others think--it's about the good path you've chosen to take and the missions that must be accomplished while on that path...? ME: Basically. (sighs) I just don't think I'm smart enough. I'm not really smart, you know? I think I play smart well, but I don't embody it all that much. Silence ensues, and I look around, sit still, hoping to hear him again. Finally, he sighs, and I feel his hand on my back. I sob. GOD: Didn't I tell

Andrew Murray, in The Secret of Intercession , starts day two by talking about Elisha's prayers -- first for the God to protect his young servant (and in doing so, allowing him to see chariots of fire and horsemen upon a mountain) and second for the Syrian army, that had been struck with blindness and led into Samaria, to have their eyes open. Murray goes on to talk about the importance of OPENING OUR EYES, "to ask that our eyes may see the wonderful provision that God has made for His church in the baptism with the Holy Spirit" (8) and to ask "that God may open the eyes of those of His children who do not as yet see the power that the world and sin have upon His people" (9). This opening of our eyes is not just about us seeing what's in the real world, what's going on right before our faces, though this is vital, too. It's also about asking our father to allow us to see in the spiritual sphere as well. At the end of the day two section, a quest

Intercession ~  prayer, petition, or entreaty in favor of another In Andrew Murray's book, The Secret of Intercession , day one focuses on intercession--its meaning and its importance in our lives. It's a rather short chapter, but there is a vitality to it, a read this now and act  feeling to it. At the end of the day one section, a question is posed: How are those who pray for others blessed themselves? When I think on this question, two verses instantly come to mind. 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. Praying for others is the epitome of that love we are to give to others, share with the world. So often, it is easy to turn our cameras on ourselves, to get so focused on self that we forget

What are you blessed for?

When I first arrived in Lubbock, TX, I started buying several books on prayer and on spiritual warfare (that comes with its own long story). One of the books on prayer I bought was The Secret of Intercession by Andrew Murray [ buy! ]. It's a small book, less than 150 pages, but within it, you find 31 days of lessons that aid you in becoming the great prayer warrior you are destined to become. Around 2003, prayer became a very integral part of my life. Not so much for the praying I did for myself but for the praying I did for others. Many times, at three or four in the morning, I would be pinched out of my sleep with the need to pray. As hard as it is sometimes for me to move with my back and knees, without effort, I would slip from the bed to the floor, hands clasped together, to pray fervently. Sometimes I wept. Sometimes I ended up pacing my home, speaking in tongues and unleashing whatever it was that weighed my chest. But it was never for me. God would just put in my spi