...Plain Upon Tablets

Day 12 of Andrew Murray's The Secret of Intercession poses the following question: Why must all our prayers of intercession be based on Christ's prayer, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10)? Murray lays out the answer to this in a few short pages, but we get the answer in the first paragraph: "When He made man in His image, it was, above all, that man's desires were to be in perfect accord with the desires of God" .... "in the human flesh man was to be the embodiment and fulfillment of God's desires" (48). In short order, Murray tells us that man's fall set God in doing "the great work of winning man back to make the desires of God his own" so that man could once again be in perfect accord with God (48). Through Christ, that opportunity for perfect accord is at hand. "The Son, as man, said in agony and blood, ' Thy will be done ,' and made the surrender even to the point of being f...

I have to say that I come to Day 11 of Andrew Murray's The Secret of Intercession with some major trepidation. And it's all for fleshy reasons. With some of the heartbreaking goings on in the world these days, it's been hard for me to think Christlike. It's been hard for me to pray for some transgressors. And that's unfortunate considering this is a vital staple of being an intercessor. It's easy to pray for those we love, those who aim to do right and walk good, giving, loving paths. It's not so easy to do that for those who commit heinous crimes, those who might do any number of things we deem wrong . A few months ago, a major altercation presented itself directly where I live, and it left me shaken, scared, angry, and full of rage. After the tears washed away some of the fear, what was left was this vigilante that wanted to rip and run the streets, find the person that had shaken my world terribly, and take. him. down. Sometimes, even now, wh...

In day 10 of Andrew Murray's book, The Secret of Intercession , he concludes with the following question: Why is it essential to be filled with the Holy Spirit before you can be an intercessor? Day 10 speaks specifically about this question. Murray starts the day with the words "Abba, Father," using them to tell us what the words meant when coming from Christ's mouth while in Gethsemane: "it was the entire surrender of Himself, even to death, so that the holy will of God's love in redemption of sinners might be accomplished" (40). Through his total surrender, through this short, yet poignant prayer, Christ "exercises the wonderful power of intercession and the power to pour down the Holy Spirit" (40). So, from the start, we see that "The Holy Spirit has been bestowed by the Father to breathe the very spirit of His Son into our hearts" (40). Christ surrendered his all, even his life, for our lives, our souls. And, as intercess...

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full....At that day ye shall ask in my name. - John 16:24, 26 Day 9 of Murray's book, The Secret of Intercession , focuses on the importance of our connection to Jesus Christ and the power that resides in that connection. Murray asserts that many Christians do not see the full understanding of what Christ says in the passage above: ... there is such a lack of knowledge of their oneness with Christ Jesus, and of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of prayer, that they do not even attempt to claim the wonderful promises Christ gives here. (36-37) But what brings that understanding is FAITH, "faith in the power of Jesus' name and in our right to use it that will give us the courage to follow on when God invites us to the holy office of intercessor" (37). In this short chapter, Murray concludes by saying that when Christians have this faith and understanding, when they know...

In Day 8 of Murray's book, The Secret of Intercession , he seems ready to take us to school on what we need to give if we are to be the partners of Christ on earth in intercession. What are we to give? He shows us what Jesus gave up by quoting Isaiah 53:10-12: "When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed....He shall see of the travail of his soul....Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great...because he hath poured out his soul unto death." In this passage, we see soul  mentioned three times. This is important to note because for Murray, "the pouring out of the soul -- that is the divine meaning of intercession" (33), and because Jesus gave "Himself over to live and die that He might save the perishing was a revelation of the spirit that has power to prevail with God" (34). Because Jesus is the  example for us, and he poured out his soul, gave of himself for others, as intercessors, this is what we are to ...

In Day 7 of Murray's book, The Secret of Intercession , he compares watchmen to intercessors. The watchmen warn men of impending danger... and call to God when they need his help with a threatening enemy. In tying the watchmen to the intercessor, he says, "The great mark of the intercessors is that they are not to hold their peace day or night, are to take no rest, and are to give God no rest, until the deliverance comes" (29). "Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him" (Luke 18:7). After a short commentary about the need for more intercessors, the need to have a united, fervent community of intercessors to ignite the power of the Holy Spirit, Murray asks, "Will you not, dear reader, offer yourself to God for this blessed work of intercession and learn to count it as the highest privilege of your life to be a channel through whose prayers God's blessing can be brought down to earth?" (30) With every "day,...

Some time ago, I began posting on Andrew Murray's book, The Secret of Intercession . The book contains 31 chapters, each chapter constituting a "day." In each day, Murray highlights a facet of intercession: what it is, why it's important, and how we are to come to it, among others. I posted on days one through five previously, and those links are below. Today, I'm talking on Day 6, "Christ as Intercessor." In this short chapter, Christ is called the true Intercessor as "God Himself would provide the true Intercessor, in Christ His Son, of whom it had already been said, ' He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors '" (Isa. 53:12; Murray 25). Murray provides other places in the bible where Jesus intercedes for man (John 17; Luke 22:32) before concluding with the most poignant prayer from Jesus to God - "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34) as Jesus was on the cross (Murray 26). With Jesus ...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...