July 27, 2012

Intercession of the Spirit

I have been wanting to write this post for a while because I am learning so much in this area.  I finally got around to it...

Prayer is one of the most important disciplines of a follower of Jesus.  Along with clothing ourselves with the armor of Christ, prayer should always be our first line of defense when the fiery darts of spiritual warfare are thrown at us.  Yet, it is too often my tendency to try and "fix" things instead of going first to God in prayer. Lately, there have been situations in my life that have been completely out of my control, and through these situations I have learned more about the importance of prayer than I have ever before.

Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest said, "God brings you to places, among people, and into certain circumstances to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you." Each person and each situation in our lives give us an opportunity to let the Spirit work in us through intercession.  The best thing about Oswald's statement here is that part that says "to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you."

You see, the glorious thing is that the Spirit in us intercedes on our behalf. "For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."  Romans 8:26-27

What a relief! The Spirit intercedes when we do not know what to pray! And, the Spirit always intercedes according to the will of God. How comforting to know that when we are lost for words or when our words aren't what they ought to be, the Spirit steps in and goes to the Father on our behalf.

The same holds true when we are responsible for praying for the people in our personal "spiritual jurisdictions." As Chambers points out, we are put in certain circumstances among specific people by God's design so that we can fulfill the purpose of intercession.  Crying out to God in genuine dependence on Him and on behalf of others is one of the most powerful things that we can do for people that we love.  And when we do not know what to pray, we can ask that He focus the intercession of the Spirit on the people and circumstances on our hearts.






July 19, 2012

1000 Things I'm Thankful For: Part 4

61. Having known all of grandparents and most of my great-grandparents

62. Morning devotion at work

63. Superhero movies

64. That I love my job

65. Sitting on the back patio in the mornings

66. The smell of a freshly brewed cup of coffee

67. Chick-fil-A

68. The sound of our neighbor kids splashing and playing in the pool

69. My small group

70. The Book of Philippians

71. The way sun rays shine through the clouds

72. Raspberry Lemonade Crystal Lite

73. Hair cuts

74. Watching my pup as he enjoys our big backyard

75. The beach

76. The godly women I work with that serve as mentors for me

77. Ten key calculators

78. Hymns

79. HGTV

80. My Chaco sandals


July 16, 2012

Marking Off the List

During my absence, I was able to mark a few things off my 30 Before 30 list.


I got Bailey a backyard.  Granted, it's only temporary, but he surely loves it. He also loves 
his constant companion, Ruby- the flying dachshund.


I got a Coach purse for Christmas.  It was a fantastic deal at the outlet stores.


I have definitely been drinking more water than Diet Coke, consuming around a gallon a day!


I also have been more serious about getting healthy, learning to eat clean and implementing a 12-week workout program. I'm on week four. YEAH!

So, I would say I am making some progress. I still have a ways to go...especially the bigger things like seeing the Grand Canyon and going back to visit my friends in India.  I'll get there though, I'm sure of it!
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