“Daniel: Intercession” (continued) - part 4

Not only in the particular encounter of Daniel in the lions’ den, (ch 6), but throughout his life, the Scriptures make very clear how Daniel was a man who gave himself to the ministry of prayer.

Last week, in the episode concerning Darius, the king, and  the conspirators who persuaded the king to issue an edict to trap Daniel, we saw how Daniel’s witness honored the Lord, his God.

Here was a divinely-appointed opportunity to measure the degree of grace Daniel had, the ease with which he faced the situation, the faith and the confidence he had in his God. 

Obviously, he would allow no cloud to gather between himself and the Lord, for it is clear that sin is like a cloud between God and man - a cloud that blocks prayer from reaching the Lord: ‘Thou hast covered Thyself with a cloud that our prayers should not pass through.’, Lam 3:44 reads.

And, ‘If our conscience does not condemn us, then we approach God with confidence, have boldness toward God.’ found in 1 Jn 3:21.

He surely practiced this - since he seems to have left his slanderers unanswered - we find no where any retaliation, any rebuttals at all - it was simply a matter of carrying his case to the Lord, taking refuge in Him, committing everything into His hands.

Daniel could have easily said, in certain incidences, as the Psalmist did in Psa 109:4, when lies and hatred were fiercely hurled at him, ‘...but I give myself unto prayer.’

‘They are sinning against me,’ he could say, ‘but I make it my business to pray and am in my element when I pray - I give myself to prayer.’

Other translations have it: ‘In return for my love, they accuse me; but for my part, I pray for them.’

‘I give myself to prayer’ - oh what a powerful, what a compelling, what an effective way to meet any problem - 
‘I give myself to prayer!’

And this is what I would like to address tonight: the 
‘giving of ourselves to prayer.’

Let me start with the question: Have you ever tried answering your accusers, your antagonists, those who can be so abrasive toward you, by prayer - by taking their injustices directly to the Judge of the whole earth, to the One Who is the only One Who can right the wrong?

Does this sound like a ‘cop-out’? 

It may, at first glance, but oh, no - this takes more strength and greater courage and manliness than an impertinent, frosty comeback does.

How did Jesus answer His accusers? 

We are told, in Luke 23:34 when - as He hung - bleeding, broken, and dying - on the Cross, - that He prayed for them: ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’

He prayed when the whole world around Him was dark, dense, full of sin’s corruption, dishonor, and disgrace, and He loved when He saw only hate being cast back.

He prayed - prayed in order to keep the heavens open to the need His tormentors had - the need to cross the dividing line from death to life, to life that changes the hurting, destitute, unenlightened soul.

Is it possible for the love of God to reach such untamed brutes as He faced?  Oh - yes it is!

Look at Stephen in Acts 7:55-56.

‘But he [Stephen], being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said: ‘Behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man [Jesus Christ] standing on the right hand of God’.’

‘And he [that is, Stephen - with stones still being hurled at him] kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, ‘Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.’ (v 60)

And - how far did his prayer reach?

It stretched right into Saul’s heart, for, later, in Acts 22:20, the apostle talked of this very scene - Saul, the prime persecutor, the man feared because of his brutal fierceness, his relentless murdering zeal, - this man was the one tamed, transformed, by the power of Christ.

Stephen demonstrated that this kind of praying, praying with a heart of love and forgiveness, opens the heavens for both parties - the accused and the accusers.

It shows the same spirit of commitment and forgiveness of Christ Himself when He prayed for His enemies.

I dare say that Daniel’s predicament was quite similar - both men were tracked down - the way a hound hunts a fox - but it was their giving themselves to prayer that kept them unsoiled from personal resentments and bitterness, in order to release God’s grace to their enemies.

Giving one’s self to prayer is the work of God’s people, the work that can - and does - subdue such attacks - the work that prepares toward the greater divine work of honoring God.

When Christ has come to take up residence within us, and the encompassing ministry of the Holy Spirit carries out His activity in and through Him, this kind of praying goes on in the heart all the time - it is evidence of Christ’s saving action constantly, consistently reaching out to others. 

For - it is always He Who is stretching out to strengthen and heal those who are diseased by sin, to repair those who are broken hearted, to receive back those who have driven themselves away from His healing balm, to banish the clouds of sin.

It is for these that the heart of an intercessor, of the praying believer, is, therefore, reaching out, having ‘given himself to prayer.’

In 1 Thess 5:17, Paul had come to the place in his walk when he recognized this, for he encouraged the Thessalonians to ‘pray without ceasing,’ and to be ‘constant in prayer.’ (Rom 12:12) and to ‘pray in the Spirit at all times...’. (Eph 6:18)

Is this humanly possible? 

Do we actually just ‘pray’ all the time, every moment of every day?

Some have tried it on their own, resorting to gibberish to themselves all day long, but - believe me, such an approach is short-lived.

The only way it can be done is to give ourselves to prayer - ‘I give myself to prayer’ - to let communion and fellowship with the Lord flow freely between ourselves and Him.

To give ourselves to prayer in this way, we can start with praying for those who anger us - start with praying for those who use you, for those ‘who despitefully use you...’,  Jesus exhorted in Mat 5:44 and Lu 6:28, - praying just as Daniel did, as Stephen did, and - more importantly - as Christ, our Lord did, and - we will find that, increasingly, the focus of the heart will always tend toward prayer - become as natural as breathing, - keeps moving and stirring within, not necessarily always with words, but in the constant agreement and harmony with the Lord. 

And - how do we come to this place?

In the first place, we develop this spontaneous, natural ‘habit of spiritual life’, that integrated being into the Person and Character of Christ Jesus, by walking consistently - by walking consistently - in righteousness, just as Daniel did. 

Yes - we all have our moments when the fact of ‘Christ within us’ is being ignored, and we are failing to heed the Holy Spirit’s warnings. 

But - I am speaking of that habitual unrighteousness - of being someone who is known as ‘explosive’, or someone who is known as ‘unjust’, or being known for any other habitual practice of unrighteousness - those are the practices that need to be dug up and cast out.

The area where prayer must start is from the platform of righteousness, the platform built on Christ’s holiness.

That is the first condition in giving ourselves to prayer. 

Now - I know what I have to say next may sound like a contradiction, perhaps, but - please hear me out with this.

Next, when you start praying for those who anger you, you will find, as we all do, that you are impotent to actually do it - just not able.

Why? - Why is this so? - It is because your first prayer must be to Christ within you - the sincere prayer that He will exchange your heated emotions with His love and His kindness, to exchange your ashes for His beauty.

The reason? - The ‘old man’ is unspeakably stubborn, tenacious, and unyielding.

It will not even want to consider Christ first.

It will struggle - with all its might - for the battle is a fierce one.

We do not always see this, but this is one of the Lord’s ways toward effective intercession - His way of preparing the vessel in righteousness - of casting away all unrighteousness.

It does us a service when we remember this one Gospel truth about effective prayer, found in Ps 66:18: ‘If I regard or cherish iniquity, or delight in doing evil, in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.’

When the exchange has actually taken place - from the ashes of sin to the beauty of Christ’s holiness - then we can pray for the one who has angered us - and we then pray aright - with love, kindness, patience, and understanding spilling out from the innermost being. 

It is then that praying becomes the natural thing to do - leaving the accuser to go on accusing, if he pleases, but we ‘giving ourselves to prayer’, being more concerned of the Person of Christ reaching out than of self-vindication.

Does this all sound too easy - perhaps even like a formula?

Well - it is not, for - you see - there is still one main ingredient missing that gives prayer ‘life’, as opposed to an established method.

It is the ‘life’ in prayer - the ‘Spirit of life’ Who gives such praying its force and its power to work - He is the compelling strength while Christ is judging the sin and revealing Himself in that moment.

I would like to draw your attention to a passage, in 
Eph 6:18, that is often overlooked or perhaps cut short in the exposition of it that may make it clearer.

But let us first start in Isa 59 where Isaiah is rehearsing the sins of the people before the Lord.

And, it is said of Jehovah in v 16, ‘...He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.’

The sight of this total depravity that Isaiah painted stirred both the Lord’s displeasure and His compassion and He saw no one available to present the case of these evil people before Him - there was no intercessor, no one to press this sinful condition close and into God’s heart, no one to remove the cloud of rebellion toward Him, for all the injury done to His honor. 

There was no man, for - the ‘man’ - that is, the nation of Israel as ‘one man before God’, failed in its calling of bringing honor to his God.

Then, in v 17, we are told that God Himself stepped in and He clothed Himself with the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation, the same armor the ‘new man’ wears in Eph 6.

Rebellion against the Lord - rebellion, God’s enemy, came in like a flood, but the promise of deliverance followed by ‘the Spirit of the Lord [Who] shall lift up a standard’, in v 19, setting up Christ as the Standard to overcome the enemy’s grip was brought in. (v 20)

So, we see how God stepped in because an intercessor was needed.

And what did He do?

Now - let us go over to Ephesians.

God, Who ‘...hath chosen us in Him [Christ Jesus] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love...’ (Eph 1:4), now were ‘made nigh by the blood of Christ...in order to create, through union with Himself, from Jew and Gentile, one New Man...’. (Eph 2:13,15)

And, by this, the old, former behavior, the dirty clothes of the old way of living, of the natural man, of the way that is destruction that always follows its own desires and its deluded passions, the self that wasted its aim on false dreams and is corrupt - that old man can be cast off, can be stripped away, ought to be thrown out.

And - it does not stop there - for the mind also is to be renewed - the New Man is to be put on - putting on the fresh, clean clothes of the New Man which is created, made by God’s design of righteousness and holiness - the New Man which ‘after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.’ (Eph 4:20-24)

And that is important for the intercessor since, he - who makes up the Church - is exhorted to put on this ‘breastplate of righteousness,’ along with the other articles of defence, in order to pray ‘...always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.’ - v 18 of ch 6.

Can you see the connection?  

The armor in Eph 6 is for the purpose of always praying, with the praying fused with the Divine Intercessor and the Divine Spirit. 

This is the point where this passage is usually, left incomplete, in an exposition of it.

God has ‘found’ His Intercessor, and has made provision for His people to be strong in Him and in the power of His might in order to fulfill the occupation of intercession - effective intercession that is to come through His divine Intercessor, Who is the armor and the outfit for His people.

The mystery of intercession lies here - the One New Man, Christ and His Church, cooperate one with the other, keeping open that continuous cycle of fellowship and communion that exalts the honor of God.

And, this intercession must be done in a spiritual manner, brought to life and quickened by His Spirit.

It is through this saving life of Christ that the Church has ‘access by one Spirit unto the Father.’ (Eph 2:18)

Look at v 18 in ch 6 again: ‘Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints...’.

‘In the Spirit’ - in the power of the Spirit, in line with the Holy Spirit’s will, is how this praying is to be done.

If He is not in our praying, the armor is of no benefit to us.

The spiritual application of the armor is found in being in this vital, living relationship to Christ, receiving what is needful to carry out this privilege, this right, and this responsibility of prayer, since He ‘...evermore liveth to be interceding’ on behalf of those who come to God by Him.

It is Him, His armor that is to be ‘put on’ for the purpose of being ‘strong in the Lord and in the power of His might’, of being empowered by Him, in the scope of righteousness, in finding strength in union with Him, in drawing from Him and in the power which comes from His might of His Spirit.

Let me repeat - praying always, and praying always in the Spirit, is possible only in being strong in Him and in the power which His supreme might imparts - His spiritual armor to master the brutal spiritual battle.

For - you see - it is ‘in the Spirit’ where the real essence, the very life and spirit of prayer lies - ‘...for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.’ (Rom 8:26-27)

This is the most vital, the most significant, the most weighty ingredient about any praying and needs to be carefully and prayerfully considered.

If the Holy Spirit is not in the prayer, it is not really praying.

If it is mechanical, if it is purely recitation or vain repetition, if it is mere habit or custom, if it is a certain form or ritualistic, it is not acceptable to God - it is merely uttering words.

‘Praying in the Spirit’ means that He is directing the prayer, He is creating the prayer in us, He is the strength to offer it and to pray it - making intercession in us, ordering our minds - ‘giving us the prayer’, if you will.

Without this divine Advantage of Christ’s Intercession and the might of the Holy Spirit, the full armor of God, there is no prayer worth praying.

This is the ‘giving of ourselves’ to prayer.

It is the Christian’s right, it is his privilege, it is his responsibility, and it is his joy to give himself in prayer unto the Lord - and - since the Lord has told us to ‘pray always...in the Spirit’, it is equally the Christian’s privilege to be ‘strong in Him and in His mighty power’ fully fitted to carry out His will in intercession.

Oh - I pray that we will let the Holy Spirit lead us to a greater knowledge of Christ to glorify Him through such giving of ourselves in this prayer ministry.                                   

                                 AMEN!

Song: ‘We worship You, O Lord, in spirit and truth. We worship You before Your throne - we praise You, Lord...’