Intercession Invites a Turn

Intercession invites God to do what He loves to do the most; bless and turn the captivity of His people.

I recommend a short prayer to you…

Lord Jesus teach me to pray for others in such a way that my prayer becomes the birthing place for you to bless mankind.

Ever asked yourself why exactly did God select Job for one of the most horrific trials recorded in scripture?  Let’s see if we can discover the answer.

And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.  Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.  So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.  And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Job 42:7-10 (KJV)

We pick up the story of Job’s life near the tail end of a horrific trial God hand-picked Job to endure.  After God convinces Job of his complete ignorance concerning the depths and riches of God’s wisdom, God gets down to the nitty-gritty of the trial.

• In verse 7 God reveals His anger toward Job’s friends for their woefully ignorant advice concerning Job’s trial or captivity.  Carefully consider what’s happening in verse 7.  Job’s friends, without hesitation, did a whole lot of talking about the nature and reason for the trial/captivity Job was in.  Man, I can just about hear the scripture laced explanations they gave Job that sounded so spiritual during this period in Job’s life.  However, God is so upset with their arrogance that God Himself speaks to the most spiritual one of the group and commands them to take a sacrifice and go to Job.  Why didn’t God simply tell them to make a sacrifice and pray for themselves?  The answer is simple, God looks for intercessors to intervene when His holiness demands justice.  Since Job successfully came through this trial/captivity without speaking wrongly about God, Job earned the stripes of an INTERCESSOR.   This should serve as a strong wake-up call for quite a few people.  Some of God’s children are so convinced they understand what God is doing in the life of the next person, they fail to consider the possibility that they could be wrong as two left shoes!  Well, God finally sets the record straight with Job’s friends.
• I find it amazing that God Himself rebukes Job’s friends using Job’s character and confession.  This should teach us a plain lesson about the character of a true intercessor.  As a result of constant, earnest and selfless prayer, the true intercessor speaks correctly about God.  This happens for one reason, in the process of intercession, the heart of the intercessor is transformed in a way that allows her or him to see God correctly.  Matthew 5:8
  
• Now we come to a profound truth hidden in this book.  There are saints in God’s Kingdom who cannot stand in the gap or interceded on the behalf of others.  They simply do not have the spiritual character necessary to withstand the onslaught of attack that automatically comes to the true intercessor.  The constant suffering causes most people to begin blaming God for the trouble.  The moment we blame God incorrectly in our minds and proceed to speak incorrectly about God, we disqualify ourselves as intercessors until our perspective and our confessions are corrected.
• God Himself told Job’s friends, unless this man prays for all three of you, I will punish all of you.  Wow!  Take a second and really consider the impact of this truth.  Intercessors are a true reflection of the very work God the Father sent Jesus to earth to accomplish.  Intercessors not only stand between Satan and his plans for God’s people.  They also stand between the all consuming righteous judgement of God and the very people He gave Himself to save.
• For the second time God makes it clear that the intercessor is the one He’s willing to reason with.  Oh Lord of Glory, let this truth strengthen the heart of intercessors worldwide.  At this point, the reason for God repeating himself should be clear.  For Job’s friends, it’s not that they weren’t intelligent and well versed in the scriptures.  It wasn’t that they weren’t articulate and able to clearly pontificate on their opinions.  The sticking point was clear, they were not intercessors.  Job’s friends were more than willing to share their twisted opinions concerning Job’s condition, but neither one of them chose to simply intercede for Job.  So God takes the golden opportunity to show these seemingly intelligent men what’s really important; someone willing to stand in the gap.
• Let’s answer the question I asked at the beginning.  Why exactly did God select Job for one of the most horrific trials recorded in scripture?  God chose Job because he had an established track record as an intercessor in the books in heaven.  In the eyes of God, intercessors are the strongest, most resilient and enduring members of the body of Christ in the earth.  They are the ones God looks to stand between His wrath, Satan’s works of darkness and those who think they know, but don’t have a clue.  Now, if this is true, and it is, doesn’t it make sense that God would choose this heritage of believer when He needs someone to demonstrate His power over Satan in the earth?  So, if it seems as though you go through some of the most ridiculous trials ever imagined, be encouraged, it’s only because God never puts more on us than we can bear and because you’re an intercessor, you’re in God’s heavy weight class.
• I find it truly amazing that God never asked Job’s friends to pray or intercede for Job (at this point I really want to stop calling them Job’s friends).  In addition, there’s no record that God ever spoke to Job about interceding for these men.  God simply tells the men to take a sacrificial offering and go to Job for prayer.  It’s almost as though God is saying…”based on my records, I know what my servant Job will do when you go to him and ask him to interceded for you, despite the asinine advice and so-called wisdom you attempted to give him”.  This is the clear evidence of Job’s record in heaven as an intercessor.  Oh God, grace us to be intercessors you accept and among those known in heaven!

All of that said, our Father in heaven is never in the business of sending us through trials or captivity for no reason.  Everything God does contains His eternal purposes.  Other than birthing a new level of intercession in Job, God’s intent was to show Satan the toughness of true intercessors, the power and resilience invested in those that accept the intercessors mantel and to restore double for Job’s trouble.

Know this, if you know you qualify as an intercessor based of what we’ve seen in scripture, know this, the tight place you’re in is a setup for God to show you off as His intercessor.  One who God accepts as the hedge between Satan and his intent for God’s people and between God and His righteous judgement of His people.  Yes, it’s the most difficult place a Christian in the earth will ever tread.  On the flip side, the suffering doesn’t compare to the lives that are preserved and the damage to Satan’s plans in the earth.

Finally, as you continue to stand in the gap for God’s people, know this, God will TURN YOUR CAPTIVITY AND RESTORE DOUBLE FOR ALL THAT WAS LOST!

I recommend a short prayer to you…

Lord Jesus teach me to pray for others in such a way that my prayer becomes the birthing place for you to bless mankind.