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Model for Intercession
Intercession and Calling, Draft #2
How intercession should inform our calling
INTRODUCTION
I imagine that most people in ful -time ministry wil confront moments in their
lives where they consider the question of whether they are stil called to ministry
as a vocation. These moments may confront ministers at various points of their
ministry, but may be most amplified when they find themselves discouraged by
their particular ministry context.
I found myself in such a moment a few years ago. My ministry brought me to a
place of discouragement. After nearly 15 months of laboring on a large public
university, I had a very small group of students who were connected in
community. In addition to the lack of fruit, there were conflicts and tensions on
our staff leadership team that required most of my energy. In these moments of
discouragement, I questioned my calling into ministry and God's faithfulness to
me.
Discouragement contributed to a sense of defeatism. I thought I was done with
ministry as a vocation. I felt like a failure and totally defeated by the
discouragement. I reduced my cal ing to a job I have to do, and my faith for
what God can do on campus and through me was minimal and pathetic.
God eventually delivered me from my defeatism and brought much needed
perspective and healing to my particular situation. But a couple years later, I
found myself struggling with disappointment again. This time, my struggles with
disappointment brought renewal and motivation for ministry. This bout with
disappointment did not defeat me, but gave me a renewed sense of vision for
ministry. The difference between these moments lay in my response to
discouragement and incorporating intercessory prayer into my life.
The discipline of intercessory prayer moves us to recognize who we are before
God and who God is in all of his glory. I recognize there are many excellent
books and resources on intercessory prayer. And many of those have deepened
my prayer life. In this paper, I seek to draft a model for intercessory prayer that
strengthens our calling in ministry. As I have grown deeper in my prayer life, I
have recognized how prayer has shaped me to know God, and how the lack of
prayer has power to lead me farther from God.
Too often, prayer can be relegated as an afterthought. It may be the thing we
do to start or end a meeting. It is the time where we take prayer requests during
a Bible Study. And it is the thing we might do when we start our day. But in the
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life of my ministry, I have discovered prayer to be the discipline that has led me
to know God and know his purposes, especially in light of difficult and trying
situations.
This model for intercession has paved the way for me to recognize the
importance of prayer in my personal and ministry life.
THE WAY TO DEATH
Being in ministry, I am often confronted by the
realities of sin and its impact on people. There are
injustices that are committed against people that
break my heart. To see people assaulted by the sin
that exists in our fallen world makes me wonder if
God is powerful enough to confront those
principalities and deliver people from such darkness.
Other times, we see people choosing into
disobedience and dealing with the consequences of
choosing against God.
Our world is fallen and it is impossible to escape the
corrupting effects of the world around us. Any
reflection or examination of these realities leads me
to discouragement. I am easily discouraged when I
Figure 1: The way to death
recognize the world for what it is. One pastor
commented that ministry is "the call into the hell of people's lives."
But it's what we do with the discouragement that shapes our next steps.
Discouragement can easily lead to hopelessness. To feel defeated in ministry and
be discouraged by the realities of our world can lead to be hopeless.
Hopelessness is a powerful force that can strip away any thoughts or faith in
God. Hopelessness strips God from bringing change when everything else looks
dead.
And hopelessness wil lead to spiritual death. That death wil make me numb to
the realities and saving powers of God. My eyes wil stop seeing the work of God
and my mind wil start believing that either God has abandoned me or that he is
not at work in my life or in my ministry.
Spiritual death, as bad as it is in of itself, wil eventually also inform my calling.
Rather than lead with vision, I wil lead with cynicism.
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THE GIFT OF INTERCESSION
But rather than turn to hopelessness when
confronted by discouragement, we can turn
to intercession. By going to God, we gain
truth. We gain truth about the situation. We
may see spiritual realities and have a much
better and informed perspective about the
situation at hand and the realities of the
world. Out of our time with God, our calling
wil be informed. We wil see how God is
calling us into the "hell of people's lives."
And when we are with God, God wil
empower us with wisdom (James 1.5). And
he wil equip us with what we need to enter
into the realities of our world and to
confront whatever the situation may be.
I believe we have a choice. We have a
choice to respond by interceding and going
before God or we can dwell in our
hopelessness. Our response to
discouragement wil inevitably shape our
calling and sense of mission.
Figure 2: The way of intercession
TWO CHOICES
When we confront discouragement, we have two choices--either to turn to
intercession or to turn to hopelessness. And each path wil lay a set of
consequences. From experience, hopelessness tends to be the default mode for
me. In other words, it takes more energy, discipline and intentionality to choose
to intercede for a situation or person, rather than to be hopeless about it.
And though it would be easier if we only had to face the decision once, the
reality is that we are constantly confronted by the issues associated with the
realities of our world. We may choose to intercede and gain the proper authority
from God to minister within that reality, only to be discouraged again.
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Figure 3: A model for intercession
The continued and regular process of discouragement may over time thwart us
from intercession to hopelessness. At the moment we open the door to
hopelessness, we are inviting defeat and death into our lives. Success as a
minister is not just defined by fruit (though fruit in ministry should give us some
sense of direction). Success as a minister must also be defined by our resilience
to suffer well (in light of discouragement), to turn to God for our identity and
authority, and persevere as we re-engage the mission field.
Once a leader or minister turns to hopelessness, he or she has opened the door
for defeat and failure in his or her ministry.
BIBLICAL CASE STUDY
In Numbers 13, Moses sends out 12 spies to scout the land that God has given
to them. These spies see how rich the land is and they recognize that the land is
a gift from God to the Israelites. As they spy out the land, they recognize the
reality of their world--that the land may be great, but the inhabitants are
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dangerous. The report back to Moses was negative--that the Israelites did not
have what it takes to take over the land.
When they are disappointed by the realities of their world, the spies (save Caleb
and Joshua) and what seems like the entire nation (Numbers 14.1) is devastated
by the report. The entire nation is upset and disappointed, to the point that they
would rather be in Egypt rather than at the frontiers of the Promised Land. There
is no more hope left. Caleb and Joshua try to bring the word of hope, but the
other spies drown out their voices. Hopelessness turns to desire for slavery.
Rather than turn toward God, the nation is turning away from God. As a
consequence of their lack of faith and their hopelessness, God prevents anyone
from that generation (except for Caleb and Joshua) from ever possessing the
Promised Land. The Israelites' hopelessness turns to death. They wil die in the
wilderness without experiencing the gift of God.
The Israelites' lack of obedience informed their decision to turn against God's
vision. And that lack of obedience plays itself out throughout the 40 year
journey. At the end of Numbers 14, the nation deceives itself into believing that
by apologizing, they can regain God's trust to take the land. Their desire to go to
battle is yet another act of disobedience. In other words, their cal ing is being
formed by disobedience and they re-engage realities through that lens.
The Israelites chose the path that leads to death. Contrast their story with that
of Paul in Acts 18. His preaching produced mixed results. Some people
responded in belief while others reviled him. And knowing Paul's story, the
apostle was persecuted and beaten for his faith and his preaching. Paul
recognizes the realities of the world and it does lead to disappointment. In Acts
18.6, he declares to the Jews, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent.
From now on I wil go to the Gentiles."
Paul is disappointed with the Jewish response to the gospel. Immediately
fol owing this incident, God speaks to Paul in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but
speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one wil lay a hand on you
to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people" (Acts 18.9-10). I
imagine that Paul's disappointment was turned to intercession and Paul
connected with God. In connecting with God, Paul had his calling re-enforced.
Luke then tells us that Paul stayed in that place for another 18 months. Paul's
disappointment took him to God. And God reinforced his calling to stay in the
very place he may have abandoned.
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PERSONAL CASE STUDY
I have found myself on both sides of the intercession diagram. I have found
myself allow disappointment turn to hopelessness to the point of death. And I
have found myself turn to intercession and reconnect with God.
In 2003, my ministry was falling apart. There was little fruit to show for our
labor, and my partners in ministry were abandoning me. I felt lonely, confused
and disappointed by my realities. At that point, I tried turning to God, only to
find myself unable to connect with Him.
My disappointment drove me to be hopeless which only served to chip away at
whatever life remained in me. One pastor counseled me that I should count
getting out of bed in the mornings as victory. My life had come to the point
where simply choosing to wake up would constitute some sort of victory. My soul
was dying as fast as my ministry.
This death began to inform my cal ing. I questioned whether I was adequate as
a minister and especially as a minister on a col ege context. I questioned my gifts
and my faith. And I re-visioned for my campus ministry context. I had small
hopes for my students. I had small hopes for myself. My calling into ministry was
ful of faithlessness and ful of small hopes. I began to believe the lies that this
mission field was far too hard.
I traveled a cycle of death that hardened my heart to the vision of God. I felt
ashamed and defeated, and I had plenty of excuses for all who were interested.
At the end of this cycle, I decided along with other wise friends and advisors to
change my ministry context. Though the decision to leave this ministry was wise
at that point, it only reinforced my feelings of faithlessness and failure.
But I am grateful that God preserved a small remnant of faith within me that
would take a couple years to be nurtured. In the summer of 2005, I found
myself again disappointed by the realities of my world. I was disappointed by my
leadership and by the lack of joy in ministry context. During that period, I began
to study the book of Esther and I was struck by Mordecai's admonition to his
niece:
"For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance wil rise for
the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father's family wil perish. Who
knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this"
(Esther 4.14).
The Lord spoke to me through this passage, asking me to consider whether I
want to see him work or not. Would I shrink back or would I engage with God in
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ministry? Would I believe that God could bring deliverance to people's lives
through me? Would I allow disappointment to lead me to perish? The decision
before me was whether I would trust God to be with me and lead me in the
areas of disappointments that had historically defeated me.
My disappointments began to be filtered through intercession. As I interceded for
students and for the ministry, I sensed myself becoming closer to God and
gaining a clearer picture of God's work in my life. During those months, my wife
and I were discerning whether to transition from ministry. As God formed my
calling, he gave me new vision for the ministry, particularly the invitation to go
back to the very ministry that once invested in my faithlessness and failure.
Intercession led me to God, and he defined my calling. And part of that calling
was to re-engage a broken world. God sent me back into my initial campus
context.
BEST PRACTICES
As I mentioned in the footnote above, there are many definitions for intercession
and this paper is by no means a final or complete word on the subject. My hope
through this paper is to articulate and clarify how intercession can inform our
calling in ministry and how the lack of intercession can defeat us.
Here are some practical ways that have aided my intercession:
·
Read the Bible: The more I read the Bible, the more I know the
character and heart of God. I am better at connecting with God when I
know him.
·
Keep a journal: I keep a journal where I record my joys and
disappointments. This gives me a record of what is irritating me and what
is propelling me to joy.
·
Be real: Work hard not to explain away or avoid disappointments. I want
to experience the disappointment for what it is. The more I can recognize
the disappointment, the more equipped I feel in connecting with God and
asking him for transformation. By expressing my feelings toward the
disappointment, I am able to better articulate the pain I feel and why I
want God to bring change. Disappointment may be the most valid
emotion when we confront the realities of the world. Avoiding it wil not
help us articulate how we need God's transformation in our lives and our
situations.
·
Ask for input: I am not as self-aware as I would like. Having people
speak into my disappointments and realities, allows me to recognize if I
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am avoiding my problems and disappointments, or engaging them, which
then propels me back into intercession.
·
Struggle with God: By entering into intercession, I find myself praying
and struggling with God for wisdom. I like the picture of Jacob who
wrestles until the Lord gives him a blessing. Our best intercession, and
best engagement with the world, wil come when we're persevering and
wrestling in need of direction.
·
Believe the word: When God gives us a word, we need to believe and
act on that word. That word can be a word of hope in the midst of
empirical data that suggests otherwise. Faith is to believe and act on that
word.
EPILOGUE
Intercession is an important and necessary practice that wil lead us closer to
God's heart and vision. Without the practice embedded in our lives, we wil al ow
disappointment to have the final word and it wil shape our decisions. With it, we
wil experience new life and inspiring vision to engage our calling.
Disappointment is an expected emotion in ministry. People wil disappoint us and
our ministry contexts may often seem fruitless and bleak. We have a choice to
respond to disappointment by turning to God or by turning to hopelessness.
Hopelessness wil invite defeatism and death into our spiritual lives. But when we
turn to intercede, we invite ourselves to be shaped by God.
Ultimately, our calling wil be shaped by God or by the emotional and spiritual
death in our lives. A cal ing that is not rooted in God wil have little faith for
transformation in our world.
Disappointments in my life brought despair, cynicism and death. My faith was
shaken and vision for people was uninspiring. I believed less and less in a God
that would bring transformation and almost left ministry as a vocation. But when
I chose to turn to God in intercession and receive promises and words that are
from God, I experienced a renewed sense of calling into a world ful of despair.
The road to death invites us to receive our calling from the world. The road to
life invites us to receive our calling from God. Ultimately, only God's voice wil
inspire a cal ing that is compelling and powerful that wil believe in God's
transforming power in our world.
Eddy Ekmekji
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Updated: 11/02/07
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