Intercession

Lord Jesus, I come before you with a request. Your child, Brandon B., is struggling right now. You know his issues. You know his concerns. You know the weight he carries. I pray that you would reveal your will to him, so that he may have peace with everything going on around him.

Michael, you are asking for someone else to have peace, which is kind-hearted, but not how peace is attained. Brandon is not at peace because he is in doubt. His anxiety comes from a lack of assurance that certain paths in his life are right for him and whether he or his family will be ‘OK’ through the tribulations he faces. All of my children face earthly tribulations – you cannot completely avoid them – but how you respond to them is a matter of the heart. You can have faith and trust in my plan, if you come to me regularly for guidance and you follow it (obey).

Peace is a fruit of obedience, but obedience is only possible through a true communion with me, where you seek and expect to receive my personal guidance for your life.

I understand.

After re-reading what you said, isn’t obedience possible simply through obeying your word in the Bible?

Yes, Michael, but those are foundational truths, guidance and promises. As you know, I have personal guidance available to you. My personal touch on your life results in direction. Receiving that direction, and then obeying it, creates blessing. Associating the blessing with the obedience, and the obedience to the direct personal communion with me builds trust in our relationship. Trust builds until it gets to a point when you come to me readily and without delay for all your tribulations and doubts (for specific guidance, not for a magical recovery of a spiritual condition), have complete faith in my guidance, and you obey readily.

You know that I have answered every doubt that you’ve put before me. It’s the doubt that you don’t put before me that can consume you. But in Brandon’s case, praying for a magical recovery is not the way it works. If it did, Brandon would fall back into the same trap. I want him to develop true communion with me, where he’s consistently hearing my voice, so that I can personally provide him with the comfort and guidance he needs.

Do you want me to invite him to read this?

Yes, Michael. That is the answer to your prayer. Prayer is not a substitute for action. The answer to your prayer for Brandon to find peace stems from your action.

…

Lord Jesus, I’m somewhat uncomfortable with what you’ve taught me here, so I have researched a bit on intercessory prayer. It seems that the church believes that intercessory prayer is an effective way to ask for your help for others.

It is, in the case when the others do not have a personal communion with me (which you usually won’t know if they do or not), or when a miracle is needed that my answering would not cause future harm.

Can you explain “future harm”?

Ask me about the single verse you’re concerned about.

Well, I found this verse in some information on intercessory prayer on http://www.allaboutprayer.org/prayers-of-intercession-faq.htm. Many verses are OT, and my understanding is that those are not valid for us now, as Jesus is our intercessor, and that trying to take his place with our own intercession is like saying that his intercession is not good enough, but ours is. The verse that causes me concern is Acts 12:5.

Michael, you are right in asking these questions. This is exactly what I want in our relationship. There are truths that are hidden in plain sight that require our direct communion to uncover. This is one of them.

So what is the truth you’re referring to?

The truth is, intercession doesn’t hurt, but it doesn’t always help either.

Well that’s great. So what am I supposed to do then?

When the person or people you’re praying for need a change of spiritual condition, you act (teach, reprove, etc). When you want to request for my intervention in a situation that by intervening I will not promote that person’s poor spiritual condition, I will respond. The problem is, you won’t know whether what you’re asking for would promote a poor spiritual condition.

Ok… can I have an example?

Brandon’s anxiety is an example. Brandon doesn’t need a magical cure. His perspective needs to be shifted more fully toward me. I want personal communion with him in the same way we share personal communion. His anxiety exists for a reason – it’s a warning sign. Magically solving his problem doesn’t help him long term. Learning how to properly orient his perspective will – that requires instruction – your instruction in this entry.

So, you’re telling me that this entry is for Brandon’s benefit? I thought that this journal wasn’t supposed to be used to communicate specifically to others.

It wasn’t, not until you were ready for it to. This entry has nothing to do with your wisdom. This is my wisdom and guidance. You should learn from it, but the primary benefit to you is in sharing it with Brandon and seeing the blessing of your obedience. Trust me, obey, and reap the fruit. It’s simple.

Ok, Lord. I do trust you.

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Lord, Jesus. Above you said that intercessory prayer is effective for those who do not have a personal communion with you.

Let me stop you right there. Intercession for a person like this is effective only in the way that asks for them to have a personal communion with me. You don’t intercede for someone who does not have personal communion with me for things other than attaining personal communion with me, because without personal communion with me, nothing else matters. You don’t intercede for someone who has personal communion with me, because they can get their own guidance and peace directly from me. The exception is for a miracle that does not have to do with an issue with the spiritual condition of the person. But again, generally you won’t know if the issue is because of a poor spiritual condition, so it’s generally good to ask.

So, in Brandon’s case, what situation applies?

That’s not your concern, other than I want greater communion with him, as I also do with you. Through reading this, he will recognize how I am calling him personally.

Ok, Lord. I trust you.