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In this blog, I provide encouragement and biblical teaching on the subject of prayer.

As the Scripture says:

"Pray, then, in this way..." (Mt 6:9)

"But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." (Mat 6:6)

Some of the topics covered include the Lord's Prayer, the intercession of the saints, the intercession of Christ, thanksgiving, proclamations, promises of God concerning prayer, and the importance of the attitude of the heart and mind in prayer, as well as the importance of the attitude of the body in prayer.  I hope this will be an edifying and encouraging experience for you that will help you to grow in your walk with the Lord.

The Disciples’ Prayer	Standing in the Gap	Covenant Prayer
Who intercedes for us?	Personal Proclamations of Faith	Crying Out to God Loudly
When God Does Not Seem to Answer	Taking Heaven by Force	Prayer that Pleases the Father's Heart
Giving Thanks in Everything	Prayer Promises	Lifting Hands in Prayer
Lifting Your Face in Prayer	Keeping a Prayer Journal	Blessing Others
Keys to Prayer	The Power of Two or Three	Scriptural Make Believe
The Blessing of Abraham	Being Blessable	The Authority of the Believer

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. "Prayer Warrior" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist.

Author's Note:  I also invite you to visit my collection of blogs at "Writing for the Master."  Now let me ask you a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Blessing of Abraham

I would like to show you what the seven-fold blessing of Abraham is that God gave to him and how it relates to you as a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The LORD had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Gen 12:1-3)

He took him outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." (Gen 15:5)

I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Gen 22:17-18)

Components of the Blessing
Let's look at the seven components of the blessing:

1. The promise to bless Abraham

2. The promise that he will have a great name (reputation) 

3. The promise that he would become a great nation (have many descendants)

4. God will bless those who bless him

5. God will curse those who curse him
6. Abraham will be a blessing

7. All nations will be blessed through Abraham

Fulfillment of the Blessing
Here are some biblical examples of how the blessing of Abraham is fulfilled:

1. Abraham 

a) Great name: Had a great name and was considered a mighty prince among the people (Gen 23:6)

b) Many descendants: Had many descendants through Jacob and Esau/Edom his grandsons. 

• Ishmael became a great nation and had 12 sons who became chiefs
• Isaac’s son Jacob had 12 sons, who became 12 tribes
• Esau had 12 male descendants (among his 5 sons and 10 grandsons) who became chiefs of 12 tribes in Edom (aside from Amalek born to his concubine)
• Esau’s descendants had a part in the founding of Ancient China and Japan, and played an important role in Russian history.
• Abraham had 6 sons through Keturah: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Of course, from Midian came the Midianites, who lived in the Arabian Peninsula.

c)   Became extremely wealthy (Gen 13:2)

2. Jacob 

a) Had good relationships with the Canaanites among whom he lived as a stranger

b) Became a nation called Israel that possessed the land of Canaan

c) God blessed Jacob’s unusual breeding practices

d) Laban was blessed through his association with Jacob (Gen 30:27,30)

e) Became exceedingly wealthy shortly after Rachel his wife gave birth to Joseph (Ge 30:43)

3. Joseph 

a) Joseph prospered while in Egypt (Ge 39:2)

b) The Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in everything he did (Ge 39:3)
c) Joseph found favor in the eyes of his Egyptian master Potiphar, who put him in charge of his entire household and entrusted to his care everything he owned (Ge 39:4)

d) From the time Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything, the Lord blessed his household because of Joseph, and the blessing of the Lord was upon everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field (Ge 39:5)
e) While in prison, the warden put all the prisoners under his authority (Ge 39:21-23)

f) Became ruler of all Egypt (Ge 41:37ff)

g) Saved Egypt, Israel, and other nations from perishing during famine.

4. Judah became a tribe from which the line of David and many kings descended, included the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

5. Solomon son of David became a very wise, wealthy and great king that was sought out by other rulers like the Queen of Sheba. God promised him wisdom, riches, honor, and a long life if he continued in righteousness, and it was fulfilled. (2 Chron 9:13-29). He was so unbelievably wealthy that he "surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches" (I Kings 10:23).

6. Esther became Queen of Persia (Est 2:18) and all the Jews in the Persian realm were blessed through her, because through her intervention they were not annihilated.

7. Mordecai became a high official of King Xerxes as well, and the same is true of him that all the Jewish people were blessed by him, just as King Xerxes was blessed when Mordecai reported the two, would-be assassins that intended to kill the king.

8. Daniel became ruler of the province of Babylon 

a) The head prefect over all the wise men there. 
b) He remained through the reign of 5 kings

c) Influenced those kings for the glory of God, and they were blessed through him.
d) He wielded tremendous power and influence
e) He served with great honor and distinction

9. The Lord Jesus - The blessing of Abraham is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the “Seed” of Abraham (Galatians 3:16).

10. The apostle Paul brought the gospel to the entire known Roman world of the first century (Rom 15:19), many people came to know Christ through him, many were healed, delivered from demons, and many churches were planted through him. Many people in Israel also received support from the Gentiles during the famine through the collection that Paul took up and the offering he brought to Jerusalem.

How This Applies to Us Today
This blessing continues today in the life of every true disciple of Jesus Christ, possessing the faith of Abraham that led him to obey God, since we are descendants of Abraham, the children of promise (Gal 3:7,14, 29; 4:31).

1) The promise to bless us 

a) Blessed spiritually with justification and with every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3)

b) Blessed in every area of our temporal and eternal lives

c) Note that the land God promised to Abraham is the type of the better land; the nation is a type of the spiritual nation, the temporal blessing is a type of the eternal blessing.

2) The promise that we will have a great name (reputation) 

3) The promise that we would have many descendants, especially spiritual ones

4) God will bless those who bless us

5) God will curse those who curse us 

a) “Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned.” (Psa 34:21)

b) Also see Ps 35:1-8, 26

c) “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.” (2Th 1:6-7)

6) We will be a blessing to others whom we associate with

a) Not merely a recipient of blessing, but a medium or conduit of blessing to others.

b) Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” So this is not a “bless me” message, but one that clearly has others in mind.

7)    All nations will be blessed through us

Your life has a ripple effect, like a pebble when it drops into the still water, causing blessings to ripple from one person to the next across the whole world. Each and every word -- even unspoken -- and action of yours causes a ripple that spreads throughout the entire world. It's time to take that seriously.

Closing Words
This is the gospel that was announced to Abraham. “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith,” (Gal 3:8-9).

This is what we were redeemed for. “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promised of the Spirit.” (Gal 3:14).

Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Image courtesy of Jan van 't Hoff Dordrecht, copyright 2023 Gospel Images, www.gospelimages.com, used by permission.

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this message, you may also like other articles about prayer, like Being Blessable, Prayer Promises, which you can find on the Home page of this blog, as well as other articles of mine Bowing Low in Worship. Also see What's Wrong with the Prosperity Gospel? I also invite you to visit my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master. Now let me ask you a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Scriptural Make-Believe

My wife and I have five children, two of whom are now adults, and we know from experience how much little children love to make believe. Children make believe with cars, trucks, ambulances, dolls, cardboard houses, and other props. They use their imaginations and pretend that those things are real. There is a Scriptural type of make-believe, but before I prove it to you, let me begin by defining the expression.

Definition of Make Believe
When used as a noun, those things considered to be "make-believe" are things that are imagined or pretended to be true or real. It is the action of pretending or imagining that things are better than they really are. Make-believe is pretense, especially of an innocent or playful kind; feigning; sham: the make-believe of children playing. When used as a verb, to "make believe" is the action of a pretending that what is not real is real. It may also mean pretending or imagining that things are better than they really are. When used as an adjective, "make-believe" means imagined or pretended.

Etymology of Make Believe
I like to study the etymology of words and expressions, discovering how they originally developed.  So I did some research on where this expression came from . According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, make-believe as a noun meant "pretense, false or fanciful representation" in 1811. It was taken from the verbal phrase "make believe," which was used in children's talk by 1773 for "pretend;" see make (v.) + believe. As an adjective, "unreal, sham, pretended," by 1824. The noun form "make-belief" (1833) was "Substituted by some writers for MAKE-BELIEVE; the formation of the latter, being misunderstood, was imagined to be incorrect." Let's-pretend (n.) in the same sense is attested by 1904 (the verbal phrase is from 1848). To make believe (v.) in the sense "cause to believe" is from late 14th century.

That confirmed exactly what I thought. The expression originally came into being by adding the verb "make" to the verb "believe" meaning "cause to believe." This expression has always referred to pretending that what is imaginary or not real is actually real. By acting as if imaginary things are real, the person doing so, such as a child, causes himself or herself to believe it is real. In other words, it is to make oneself (and sometimes others who observe the one pretending) believe that something is true or real, when it is not.

Scriptural Examples of Making Believe
Now that we have established the definition and the origin of this expression, you may be wondering how there could possibly be a Scriptural form of this. Let me begin with a couple of easy examples that you're probably familiar with. Abraham made believe that his wife Sarah was his sister, while they were staying in Gerar in the Negev (Ge 20:2). It was only half true, because Sarah was his half-sister, but he was in fact married to her. So to pretend she was not his wife was a form of make-believe, and it fooled Abimelech. Another example is when Isaac made believe that Rebekah, his wife, was really his sister, because he was worried that the Philistines would otherwise kill him in order to marry Rebekah (Ge 26:1-35). This was a case of like father like son, in which Isaac walked in his father Abraham's footsteps.

Another example is where David made believe he was insane. "David...was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard." (1 Sam 21:12-13, NIV). It worked quite well at making Achish believe he was crazy. "Achish said to his servants, 'Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?'" (1 Sam 21:14-15, NIV).

Another example is where the Gibeonites deceived the Israelites by making believe they came from far away, when actually they were near neighbors of the Israelites. They did this by wearing worn-out clothes and sandals, carrying moldy bread and dry, cracked wine skins (Jos 9). In this manner, they successfully fooled the Israelites, who sampled their provisions, but did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore, the Israelites made a peace treaty with them, rather than annihilate them as they did to their other nearby enemies.

Then there were the spies sent to Jesus by the chief priests and teachers of the law to keep a close watch on Him. The spies pretended to be honest, hoping to catch Him in something  he said, so they might hand Him over to the power and authority of the governor (Lk 20:20). That was the time they questioned Him about paying taxes to Caesar, but He saw through their duplicity and outwitted them. He knew they were only making believe they were righteous and trying to trap Him. When they saw they were unable to do so, they became silent.

One last example from Scripture is when Jesus was walking with the two men on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection and talking with them, but they did not recognize Him. Do you remember what He did? Jesus made believe He was going further, even though He intended to go inside with them and surprise them by revealing His identity to them. "And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther." (Luk 24:28). The Greek word for "acted as though" is "prospoieomai" meaning "pretend (as if about to do a thing): - make as though."

In all of these examples of people making believe, they were acting as if something was so that was not. This does not mean that Jesus lied or deceived the two men on the road to Emmaus. He just acted as if He were going further until they invited Him inside to break bread together. He knew what He was about to do to reveal Himself to them. But what I want to talk about next is a different kind of make-believe. I want to use this expression in a way that does not fit it's proper definition. So you could say I am creating a new usage of the expression with a new definition.

Sanctified Imagination
We possess the mind of Christ (1 Co 2:16), so when we imagine the Word of God coming to pass or being performed, we are thinking His thoughts. God has given every one of us an imagination, and just as we can use it to imagine things that are displeasing to Him, we can use that same faculty of imagination to picture real things coming to pass.

We do it all the time without realizing it. For example, when we read a news article about a coffee shop worker at a highway rest stop using CPR to resuscitate a truck driver who has collapsed outside in front of his rig, we are using our imagination to picture something that really happened. Or if we read a passage of Scripture about a true, historical event such as the Israelites crossing the Red Sea (Ex 14), David killing Goliath (1 Sam 17), Jesus healing blind man’s eyes (Joh 9), or Jesus appearing to His disciples inside the locked room after His resurrection (Joh 20:19-20), we use our sanctified imagination to picture these things. Therefore, this same faculty that was once used for sinful purposes, and which has the ability to imagine things that are not real, has the power to visualize that which is true and real according to God’s Word.

It’s no different for you to imagine your reunion with a loved one who is actually coming to visit you after a long period of separation. In the same way you would imagine meeting them at the airport and embracing them, you can imagine the Lord coming back in a cloud of glory with all His holy angels (Mt 16:27; 24:30-31; 25:31; Mk 13:26; 1 Thes 4:16-17; Rev 19:11-16). You can imagine Him healing you or someone else in answer to your acting in faith upon His promises in His Word. You can imagine heaven according to the description of it in Revelation 21 and 22. Others may call it imagining things or making believe, but we call it acting in faith upon God’s Word. It’s called walking by faith. Step out and believe that what God has said is true. Take Him at His word and the impossible becomes possible.

Walk by Faith and Not by Sight
Consider that the righteous shall live by faith (Rom 1:17; He 10:38). We walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). That means "we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Co 4:18). That's what the ancients were commended for, and I'd like to call that "making believe." I don't mean they were pretending that things were real that were not real. They were acting as if the things that were not yet seen were seen, and that's what faith causes us to do.

According to the apostle, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for." (Heb 11:1-2, NIV). When you have faith, you are confident in what you hope for. You are sure about what you do not yet see in the natural. You do so, because you believe that what God said in His Word is true. So you act as if His Word is true, even though to others it may seem like you are making believe, since they don't share the same faith in God as you. As the apostle Paul said of them, "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit." (1 Co 2:14). To them it seems foolish when you act as if the Word is true, because to them it's as if you are believing something false, but wisdom is proved right by all her children. True faith in God and in His Word always produces good fruit.

Three Tenses in One Verse
Jesus said, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." (Mt 21:22, NIV). He said, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mk 11:24, NIV). There are three tenses in this verse. First there is the present tense in which you now ask for something from God in prayer and you now believe. The asking and believing are present tense. The past tense comes into play in that you believe that have already received it. "Have received" is past tense. The future tense is that "it will be yours." Ask God in prayer (present), believe now (present) that you have already received it (past), and it will be yours (future).

When you believe that you have received what you ask for in prayer, that doesn't mean you can see it yet in the natural. When God created His creation, He created it from that which was invisible. Scripture says, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." (Heb 1:3, NIV). All that we see -- the trees, the grass, the animals, the sky, the stars, the sun, the moon, and all the people -- was made out of something invisible. God called it forth by His Word, "Let there be light," and there was light (Gen 1:3). He spoke forth the things He created and they came into existence. He is the God who "calls into being things that were not." (Rom 4:17b, NIV). When God calls into being things that were not, those things to Him are very real even before they come into being. In other words, they are no less real before He calls them into existence. They are no less real simply because we cannot see them in the natural. He was not pretending, since pretending is based on that which is not real.

Therefore, when we ask for something in prayer and believe that we have received it, we begin speaking and acting like we have already received it, even though it will only become ours in the natural realm in the future. "It is written: 'I believed; therefore I have spoken.' Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak..." (2 Cor 4:13, NIV). This is not pretending either, since it is based on that which is true and real, not on that which is imaginary, false, or unreal. This is the Scriptural form of making believe. We are making believe that we have already received what we have asked for in prayer. This is the key to receiving from God what we ask Him for.

Reality is Found in Christ
Let me be clear that this is making believe that the things that are true and real, according to the Word of God, are in fact true and real. For reality is found in Christ (Col 2:17b, NIV). Paul wrote, "But just as it is written, 'things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him.' For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." (1Co 2:9-10). This means the Spirit of God reveals to us the things God has given to us, so that we may lay hold of them by faith. The Spirit of God enables us to know in our hearts and see with the eyes of faith what God has given to us, which we cannot yet see with our natural eyes. "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God." (1Co 2:12).

All God's Promises Are Yes for Us in Christ
The Scriptures are full of promises for the righteous. They are like hidden treasures buried between the pages of our Bibles. They are ours for the asking, but we must claim them in order for them to become ours. When I was at a conference one time, they had a raffle in which each guest had a numbered ticket which they entered into a sweepstakes contest. If their number was drawn, their name would be announced to come and claim their door prize. But they were only awarded the prize, if they showed up at the desk to claim it. If they failed to claim their prize, it would technically be theirs for the taking, but it would not actually become theirs for any practical purposes, and they would leave the conference without it. In the same way, we must claim from God by faith in prayer the promises in order for them to become ours. This applies to salvation, healing, deliverance, and whatever else God has promised us. "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God." (2 Cor 1:20, NIV).

One way to explain this is with the following illustration. It's like walking down a corridor, in which the doors are labeled with whatever is inside the room on the other side of the door. One door says, "'Peace," another is labeled "Healing," and still another "Provision," etc. In Christ, you have the keys to unlock every door, and all we have to do is open them by saying the "Amen" (literally "So be it"), in order to go inside and claim what is in the room for ourselves. But even though we have the keys to all those doors, we still must do our part to say the "Amen," in order to open the door and receive.

More Scriptural Examples of Making Believe
When we make believe, as disciples of Christ in God's kingdom, we may appear crazy to those who observe us. Since they don't believe as we do, they may see our faith as foolishness, presumption, or pretending. This is what happened to the ancients when they walked by faith. Noah seemed foolish to his neighbors, as he built an ark over a period of a hundred and twenty years and declared that there would be a flood, even though there had never been rain before. He appeared to be making believe, but he was saved and they all perished. Lot seemed foolish to his sons in law and appeared to them to be joking. They thought he was making believe, but he was saved and they were destroyed. David seemed foolish to his brothers when he stepped up and volunteered to fight Goliath. Perhaps he seemed to his brothers and to Saul like a boy who was making believe he was a soldier, when in fact they were the real soldiers. But he was the one who fought and killed the giant, and not them.

Perhaps the Lord Jesus appeared to the Pharisees and teachers of the law to be making believe when he spoke about them tearing down this temple and that He would rebuild it in three days. They thought it was a preposterous statement, but He was referring to the temple of His body, which was raised on the third day after they crucified Him. They ridiculed Him for saying He was the King of the Jews, not because they took Him seriously, but because they thought He was making believe. When Peter was called into the room of Dorcas, who had died, and the women who knew her all begged him to raise her from the dead, he had to make believe she would be raised when he prayed and called her forth. The only assurance he had that it would happen was his faith in the name of Jesus Christ. The same was true when he healed the lame man at the Gate Beautiful.

Practice Exercises
OK. Are you ready to do some practice exercises?  Remember that there is a link between the physical and spiritual realms. What you do in the natural realm will transfer to the spiritual realm and vice versa. Try doing the following exercises with faith in God and conviction in your heart:

• Lie on your face on the floor, cry out to God in repentance for your sin with sincere contrition and ask for forgiveness in Jesus’ name. Then believe that you have received it according to 1 John 1:9.
• Ask for and receive the Holy Spirit deliberately as they did on the day of Pentecost, according to Luke 11:11-13, Acts 1:1 and 8, and Acts 2:1-4 (see Baptized with the Spirit).
• Kneel before the throne of God in prayer (Ps 95:6).
• Bow at his feet in worship and prayer (see Bowing Low in Worship).
• Smile lovingly and adoringly at the Lord with your eyes closed as your worshiping Him.
• Tell the Lord you love Him, and expect Him to say, "I love you, too."
• Kiss the feet of Jesus (Ps 2:12).
• Give Jesus a loving hug.
• Talk to Jesus like He is right there in the room with you.
• Pull up a chair in front of you for Jesus to sit in, while you talk with Him.
• Pull up an empty chair at the dinner table and dine with Jesus.
• Pray before reading the Bible and ask God to speak to you. Then read it and expect Him to do so according to Hebrews 4:12.
• Actually put on the invisible armor of God, according to Ephesians 6:11-17.
• Act like Mark 16:17-18 is true, since we know it is.
• Lay hands on the sick in Jesus’ name and expect them to get well. 
• Command the demons in the name of Jesus to depart from you or someone else, and believe that they have obeyed you.
• Take the sword of the Spirit and cut down those demons.
• Once you have prayed and asked for something for yourself or someone else, actually believe that you have received it already, and act like you would if you knew you had received it. This involves immediate joy, thanksgiving to God, peace, and assurance.
• When you are reading Scripture, each day, search for promises and claim them aloud in prayer for yourself and/or others. When you do, write “PC” (for “Promise Claimed”) in pencil in you Bible next to that verse.
• Read about Your Identity in Christ, according to God's Word, and thank the Lord that each of those realities are true of you (see here).
• Bind love and faithfulness around your neck as a necklace, and write them upon the tablet of your heart according to Proverbs 3:3. (see also The Wardrobe of the Saints).
• Look up to heaven, open wide your mouth and ask the Lord to fill it, according to Psalm 81:10.

Closing Words
I hope I have clearly conveyed that when we walk by faith, it is very much like making believe. In a practical sense, it involves the same basic process as making believe, in that we are acting as if something already exists or already belongs to us when in fact it is still invisible. The difference between traditional make believe and Scriptural make believe is that the former is based on that which is imaginary or not real, while the latter is based on that which is true and real. This is one reason why we must become as little children in order to enter the kingdom of God. Little children like to use their imagination and make believe. It comes easy to them and they don't need to be taught to do it. So let's become like little children and practice making believe the things that are real, according to God's Word, are actually real, and the things that are true, according to God's Word, are really true.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, as noted, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Other Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, copyright Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Image of child firefighter may be subject to copyright of The Hanen Centre, used according to Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes only without intended infringement.

Author's Note:  If you have not yet been baptized in the Holy Spirit, please read Baptized with the Spirit.  If you have not yet been baptized with the fire of God, then please read Holy Fire Baptism. If you enjoyed this message, you may also like other articles about prayer, like Prayer Promises, which you can find on the Home page of this blog, as well as other articles of mine like The Wardrobe of the Saints, Link Between Two Realms, and Bowing Low in Worship. I also invite you to visit my collection of blogs at "Writing for the Master."  Now let me ask you a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Keeping a Prayer Journal

I've been keeping a prayer journal throughout most of my walk with the Lord, and it's been helpful to me for a number of reasons. I'd like to share some of those reasons with you today in the hopes that it would encourage you to do the same.

It's a Record of What God Speaks to Me
Each of us as sheep are supposed to both hear and recognize the Shepherd's voice. Jesus said, "The sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He puts forth all His own, He goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow Him because they know His voice." (Joh 10:3-4). One of the most opportune times for you to hear the Lord's voice speaking to you is during your daily quiet time. It's best to do this at the beginning of your day, before you start your normal activities.

When you open the Bible, pray and ask the Lord to speak to you through His Word. Ask Him to show you the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. Acknowledge to Him that unless He reveals Himself to you through His Word that you cannot understand it. You may be able to have an intellectual knowledge of what you read, but not true spiritual understanding and knowledge. So humble yourself before the Lord. Cry out for wisdom and understanding, and He will speak to you.

As you read and meditate on His Word, have a journal and pen beside you, and when He speaks to you through a particular verse, write down the current date, quote the verse with its reference, and what He showed you. He will give you very personal guidance, direction, and insights that will impact your life forever. And you will have a record of it to refer back to.  He will often confirm these things to you in other ways at a later time, such as through His still small voice in your prayer time, through something someone says, a sermon you hear, a song, a coincidence that happens, another verse He gives you, a vision, revelation, or a prophecy.  You should document those things in your journal, too, especially the thoughts that come to you during your prayer time. Having it all recorded in one place will allow you to correlate it, and to see the connections that you might otherwise have missed or forgotten.

I used to have a physical journal, and over the years I developed a large collection of them, which were all marked with the beginning and ending dates on the cover, and numbered in sequence. However, when I moved overseas as a missionary, I switched to keeping an electronic journal on the computer. It's a lot easier to carry when moving! And the nice part about having it in electronic format is that it is more easily searchable on key words when I need to find something later that I have written.  But I still keep the pen and paper beside me during my Bible reading and prayer time, and write down impressions that come to me, as well as ideas or thoughts I get. Later I usually type these into my computer. The Lord has often used these things to also bless others. I have seen them become exhortations, sermons, teachings, and testimonies for His glory.

It's a Record of God's Presence in My Life
As I spend time with the Lord and experience His glorious presence, those are times of refreshing (Ac 3:19), and I record those experiences in my journal. That becomes a wonderful reminder of His love for me and how He has related with me during my times with Him. Something about writing it down just solidifies it further, since it becomes a permanent record. Also see Times of Refreshing in the Presence of the Lord.

It's a Record of Answered Prayer
God answers prayer, and Jesus gave us many promises to do so, like when He said, "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." (Joh 14:14).  So if you write down what you prayed about on a given day, who you prayed for, expecting Him to answer you, then when He does answer, you will have written proof that you prayed for it and when. That will build your faith, because it will show that He directly answered your prayer. Then you can write in the answer to prayer, as well. 

Over time this becomes quite a faith-building device to you, as you go back later and read what the Lord has done.  Time and again the Lord has proven Himself faithful to me, and having a record of it glorifies Him, as well as encourages me in my prayer life to trust Him. And since we are supposed to testify for His glory, the record we keep of it will form the basis of your testimony, so that you can accurately tell others what God has done in answer to prayer.

As you pray for local, national, and global matters, and journal those, it will encourage you to see those prayers answered in the news.  When you do, I can testify firsthand what a joy it will be for you to cut out newspaper headlines and paste them into your journal beside your entry later, as evidence of the answers to your prayers. Alternatively, in electronic format, you can copy and paste such headlines into your journal along with a link to the news article or video, showing the answer to your prayers.

It Helps Identify God's Direction for My Life
What I have found is that God gives us direction a little at a time. As you receive those bits of direction and write them down, then when you get further direction and write that down also, you will begin to see a pattern. It's like a golden arrow from God that is pointing in a certain direction clearly, which can be a great form of guidance for your life and ministry.

It Keeps Me Pressing into Him
As I spend time with the Lord in prayer, worship, and Bible reading, and I journal it, I have a record of what passages I've been reading, as well as the time I've spent in His presence. It's a form of accountability. By documenting not only the beginning and ending time of my prayers, but also what I experienced in prayer and Bible reading, I can see if I am starting to slacken my efforts in seeking Him, if I am cooling off, getting more passionate, or if I am going deeper.  The goal is to remain faithful, be on fire for God, go deeper, and experience greater intimacy with Him, and I encourage you to do the same. Press into Him! May you say with David, "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee...My soul followeth hard after Thee!"  (Ps 63:1,8, KJV).

It's a Record of My Struggles and Victories
As I have documented my struggles, my battles, my trials, and my hardships, my longings for God and His presence, and later the victories won in Jesus' Name, it's a testimony for the glory of God. I encourage you to do so, too, as David did in the psalms. Then you can also say with him, "Arise, O LORD; save me," and later write, "O my God: for Thou hast smitten all mine enemies...Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: Thy blessing is upon Thy people." (Ps 3:7a,8, KJV).  And you can write, "But Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill." (Ps 3:3-4, KJV). To God be all the glory forever and ever! Amen.

Putting it All Together
As you can see, there are many good reasons to keep a prayer journal. It will be a record for you of what the Lord has spoken to you, His presence in your life, His answers to your prayers, and His direction for your life. It will be a record of your struggles and victories. It also keeps you pressing forward, pressing into Him, and going deeper with Him.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Other Scriptures are taken from the King James Version.

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this message,  you may also like Times of Refreshing in the Presence of the Lord, Prayer Promises, Inquiring of the Lord, Hearing the Lord's Voice, and Seeking the Lord. I also invite you to visit my collection of blogs at "Writing for the Master."  Now let me ask you a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Disciples’ Prayer

Prayer is the disciple’s life connection to God.  It’s vital to our relationship with Him.  And yet it is widely overlooked, and its importance is underestimated.  If we understood how vital it is, we would pray more often and more earnestly, and not allow ourselves to be distracted by other things. 

When the disciples asked the Lord to teach them to pray, He taught them a model prayer to show them the kind of content their prayers should have, as well as how to approach God.

"And it happened as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught His disciples.' And He said to them, 'When you pray, say: Our Father, who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, as in Heaven, so also on the earth. Give us day by day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'" (Luk 11:1-4, MKJV; cf., Mt 6:9-13)

Teach us to pray
The request of the disciples was, "Lord, teach us to pray."  We can learn to pray from a verbal teaching on prayer, as well as life lessons, which are trials and temptations we go through.  In this instance, He taught them verbally.  But He gave them plenty of other opportunities to learn to pray through trials and circumstances, such as the storm at sea.

Pray like this
Jesus taught them what to pray about and how to approach God in prayer.  He said, "When you pray, say:" In other words, “Pray like this.”

Our Father in heaven
“Our Father in heaven.” (v. 2). Address the heavenly Father reverently and lovingly, as “Our Father in heaven.” He also did not say to pray to Mary, the saints, or anyone else, but to our heavenly Father.

Since God is Spirit, and since He is unseen and He is in heaven, you should not pray in front of an image of any kind (Ex 20:4). Jesus said, "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Mt 6:6, NIV).

Hallowed be Your name
“Hallowed be Your name.” (v. 2). As you approach God, praise, magnify, and exalt His holy name.  We enter His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts, and come into His courts with praise (Ps 100:4).  Begin prayer by praising His name. Put God first. Prayer is not a business meeting. Love God with all of your heart. Just give Him all of the love in your heart. One thing you can do as you praise Him is think about all His names. God's name identifies Him. People’s names identify who they are.  Praise His holy and awesome name.

Your kingdom come
“Your kingdom come.” Seek first His kingdom (see Lk 12:31; Mt 6:33).  His kingdom is the royal realm where He has absolute and universal dominion.  It’s where He rules and reigns. It’s God’s Divine Government over which He has supreme administration.

When you pray for God’s kingdom to come, you are praying for Him as the sovereign King to come and live and rule in your heart.  The government of God’s kingdom is on Jesus’ shoulders (Is 9:6). He is the King of kings (Re 19:16; cf., Re 17:14; 1 Ti 6:15). There can only be one king on the throne inside your heart.  Ask Him to come and take His place on the throne.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
“May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (v. 2). In heaven God’s will goes unchallenged and is always done. There’s nobody there challenging God’s will. On earth there are many enemies of God and hindrances to block his will. Yet His will is best.  “Father knows best.”  The Father is looking out for your best interest. Trust God. Go with what He says.

In heaven, God’s will goes unchallenged and is always done. There’s nobody there resisting God’s will. On earth there are many enemies of God and hindrances to block his will. Yet His will is best. “Father knows best.”  The Father is looking our for your best interest. Trust God. Go with what He says.

When you pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, then it will guide you to pray in His will.  And even if you make a mistake and pray outside His will, He will know that you asked for His will to be done, so He will answer it according to His will, rather than how you wanted it.

When you do God's will, that is one way this prayer of yours will be answered.  He said, "For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother." (Mar 3:35).  He also said, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it." (Luk 11:27-28).

Jesus prayed for the Father’s will, when it was contrary to His own (Mt 26:39-42).  This is what we must do also, following our Lord's example. His will is what we live for, not our own. This is critical, because of the power of the will. Your will has the ability to make you miss heaven. God will not force you to obey Him. He will not force Himself on you. If you allow your will to take priority, it can take you to hell. If you aren’t willing, then you can block God’s will from being done, so live your life for the will of God. Surrender to His will, and live according to it. (1 Pe 4:1-6).  The one who does the will of God lives forever. (1 Jn 2:17). His will is holy, righteous, perfect, and true.

Give us each day our daily bread
“Give us each day our daily bread.” (v.3). “Daily bread” represents the necessities of everyday life, including food. Once you have first sought God's kingdom, His will, and His righteousness, then you can bring your petitions before His throne.  Ask for what you need today.

Don’t worry about your needs for tomorrow and next week and next month. It’s all right to pray about those, but don’t worry about them, because God is able to handle all your needs each day, if you ask Him to.  If you worry about things in the future, it will be more than you can handle.

Notice that he used the expression “daily bread.”  I want to draw your attention to the word "daily." He did not expect you to have enough bread stockpiled for months to come. I also want to draw your attention to the word "bread." He also did not expect you to live luxuriously on food fit for a king.  Sometimes we are blessed with plenty, but let us not forget share it with others.  And if all we have is bread to eat, then we know the Lord has answered our prayer and He provided it.

The meals our Lord ate and fed to others were simple meals like a piece of fruit, or a fish, and some bread.  On a feast day like Passover, then there was more to eat and drink like lamb and wine.  Our daily bread also represents our basic necessities that we need for each day, such as clothing and shelter.

Some people wait until the end of their day to pray.  Sometimes it will happen this way, because of your schedule, but it is not wise to make it your routine.  How can you ask for what you need today at the end of your day?

When you pray, “Give us each day our daily bread,” and you are thinking about future days ahead, the fact is you still must ask.  The Lord instructed us to ask the Father for everything we need. Of course, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (Mt 6:8b)  Yet you still need to ask Him.

Forgive us our sins
“Forgive us our sins.” (v. 4). We have all sinned, and we all stumble in many ways.  We need to repent daily, because we commit so many sins, often without knowing it.  We need to ask God for forgiveness, believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sin, and rose from the dead, victorious over sin and death.

In order to be forgiven, you must repent sincerely from your sin, and confess it.  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1Jn 1:9)  Cry out for mercy. “Lord, have mercy on me!” and pray for the Lord to have mercy on others, too.  We need the God's mercy much more than we realize!

We also forgive everyone who sins against us
“We also forgive everyone who sins against us.” (v. 4)  This is another condition in order for us to be forgiven. We must forgive, because if we do not forgive, God will not forgive us.  "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (Mat 6:14-15)  The spirit of unforgiveness will lead you down to hell. Release those who are indebted to you.

Lead us not into temptation
“Lead us not into temptation.” (v. 4).  He taught us to pray and ask the Father not to lead us into temptation. He told us to “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt 26:40-41).  You become weak when you sleep away your prayer time.

We sometimes feel confident that we can withstand the temptations that lie ahead of us in life without praying much, or without praying at all.  Yet even Jesus had to pray, and often spent the whole night in prayer.  He was tempted by the devil (Mt 4). He was “tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb 4:15). Temptation is common and every temptation is a common one. Through prayer you can resist temptation. Resist the devil. 

"Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." (1Co 10:12-13, NASB)

Don’t become complacent, thinking you stand. That's just the pride that comes before a fall.  Rather take heed lest you fall!

God does not tempt us. James said, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." (Jas 1:13-15)

Deliver us from evil
“Deliver us from evil” and some versions say “deliver us from the evil one.” (v. 4) The word “deliver” is from the Greek word rhuomai, meaning to rescue or deliver.  This is the same as crying to God, “Rescue us! Deliver us!”  And when you personalize it, then you should cry out, “Deliver me! Save me! Lord, save my soul!”  Or if you are sick, you should cry out, “Lord, heal me!”

Only God can deliver you, save your soul, set you free, and heal you by the power that is in Jesus’ name.  All power is in that name. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Ac 4:12)

The entire prayer is for “us” not me. That doesn’t mean you cannot pray for yourself.  You should pray for yourself, and when you come to Christ, you must pray for yourself.  But we must pray for others, too, and not just ourselves.

The devil is so evil and does so much more than we realize with the purpose to harm us.  He comes to kill, steal, and destroy people.  Jesus knew the devil would continue to do that, so He instructed us to pray for deliverance.

Disciples’ Prayer
This is usually called “The Lord’s Prayer,” but it may also be considered the “Disciples’ Prayer.” (Lk 11:1). If you want to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, this is how you should pray. And if you want to grow as a disciple, this is how to pray. This was also the Lord’s Prayer personally, except that He never needed to ask forgiveness for any sin of His own as we do, since He was without sin (Heb 4:15).  But I am sure He needed to forgive others.

Notice how concise this prayer is.  There is so much meaning packed into so few words.

Sinner's Prayer
If you are a sinner, and you want to give your life to Jesus, then repent of every sin you ever committed. Continue to pray and ask the Lord to show you every sin you ever committed from the time you were a young child until now.  It could take you some hours, but repent for each thing you can remember specifically. Then ask Him to cleanse you by His blood.  Afterward, I suggest reading Psalm 51 and receive His forgiveness.  Surrender your whole life to Jesus Christ, commit to live for righteousness, and invite Him to come and live inside your heart.

After you give your life to Jesus, you should immediately pray and ask to be Baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Putting it All Together
Learn to pray the way Jesus taught His disciples to pray.  He will also give you life experiences to learn how to pray, so be sure you don’t miss those practical opportunities.

Pray to God, the Father in heaven in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Approach Him with reverence, awe, and love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.  Begin with praise and thanksgiving, just pouring out your love on Him and adoring Him.

Always put God’s concerns ahead of your own, and ahead of any petitions you may bring to Him.  There may be times where you have an emergency and you cry out to God for help without spending time in praise and thanksgiving, but normally you should take the time to do this first.

Begin with blessing Him, and His name, and seeking His kingdom, His righteousness, His will in your life to be done just as it is in heaven.  Ask the Lord to reign in your heart as King.  Lay your life on the alter as a living sacrifice to Him. That pleases the Father.  If that is your heart’s greatest desire, then all the requests you make of Him after that will be in accordance with His will.  If not, then He will know that you want His will above all else, so He will answer it according to His will.

After you have put the Lord and His concerns first, then bring your concerns to Him for yourself and others.  Bring all those petitions and requests before His throne, knowing that you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

Remember to repent daily and ask forgiveness, as well as forgive others.  Pray away those temptations the devil has planned for you and others.  Pray for salvation and deliverance and healing. And remember, everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks the door shall be opened.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.  "Prayer Warrior" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist.

Author's Note:  If you enjoyed this message,  you may also like "Who Intercedes for Us?" and my daughter's poem, "Our Intercessor."  I also invite you to visit my collection of blogs at "Writing for the Master."  Now let me ask you a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Standing in the Gap

Today I want to talk about standing in the gap.  I’d like to define what that is, and show the basis for it in God’s Word, including some biblical and modern day examples of those who’ve stood in the gap.  First let’s look at some Scriptures about standing in the gap.

Scriptural Basis for Standing in the Gap
The Lord looks for a man who will stand in the gap. He told Ezekiel, "I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one." (Eze 22:30).  There have been times when the Lord could find no man to stand in the gap.

"And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him." (Isa 59:16). 

Nobody went up into the breaches in the wall, and stood there on behalf of the nation. "You have not gone up into the breaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the LORD." (Eze 13:5).  Nobody would intercede for the nation to create a spiritual wall of protection around the house of Israel. Therefore, the enemy was free to come right in to steal, kill, and destroy.

If a wall becomes broken down at certain points, these are breaches or gaps.  In Nehemiah's day, they had to stand in those gaps, as they did the work of rebuilding the wall, many with a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other (Neh 4:15-23).  They were rebuilding and guarding at the same time.  They were standing in the gap and building up the wall. These gaps require someone to stand in them to keep out the enemy, and the wall must be rebuilt, as well.

First there is the natural, and then the spiritual (1 Co 15:46).  The Lord prophesied that there would come a time when He Himself would raise up David’s fallen tent and wall up its breaches: "In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David, And wall up its breaches; I will also raise up its ruins And rebuild it as in the days of old." (Amo 9:11).  The apostle Peter says that the Church made up of Jews and Gentiles is David’s fallen tent that God is rebuilding (Ac 15:16).

The Lord spoke through Isaiah saying that if we do the kind of fasting that pleases Him, then He will hear our cries, and repair the breach in response to our prayers: "Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell." (Isa 58:12)

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” (1Ti 2:1-2).  This teaches that we must carry the needs of others before the throne of God.  This includes all men, especially kings and those in authority, such as your employer, president, pastor, or elders.

Lastly, the apostle John taught that we should intercede for any brother we see committing a sin that does not lead to death. "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this." (1Jo 5:16)

Biblical Examples of Those Who Stood in the Gap
There are some great examples in God’s Word of those who stood in the gap for others.

Jesus
Our greatest example is the Lord Jesus Himself.  We know that He stood in the gap for Peter.  When the devil asked to sift him like wheat, the Lord was aware of it and prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail. "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." (Luk 22:31-32)

Following the Lord's Supper, when He celebrated the Passover meal the night He was betrayed, He prayed what has now become known as His high priestly prayer.  He stood in the gap and prayed for His disciples to be sanctified and protected.  And He prayed for all those who would believe through their message (John 17).

He interceded for those who crucified Him.  “When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’” (Luk 23:33-34)

As I have written about in a previous post, called "Who Intercedes for Us?" the Lord Jesus always lives to make intercession for us! “The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Heb 7:23-25).  A prophet is one who speaks to man on behalf of God, but a priest is one who represents the people before God.  He speaks to God on behalf of the people.  Jesus was certainly a Prophet, but in this passage we find that He is also a priest.  In fact, He is the Great High Priest, who holds His priesthood permanently.

As the apostle John wrote: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;” (1Jo 2:1).  Jesus is the One anointed by the Father to the whole office of mediation.  The very one who has the power to condemn us is our Supreme Defense before the Father in heaven. “Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” (Rom 8:34)

The Holy Spirit
It’s important to know that, in addition to the intercession of Christ, believers also enjoy the intercession of the Holy Spirit, too! “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Rom 8:26-27).  What a tremendous blessing we enjoy from the Perfect Intercessor, the Holy Spirit.

Moses
One of the greatest intercessors the world has ever known was Moses.  When he went up on the mountain to receive the commandments from the Lord, and remained there for forty days, he said he was standing between the Lord and the Israelites.

He said, “…I was standing between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain." (Deu 5:5) He added, "These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. (Deu 5:22)

He repeated this to the Israelites again later, explaining that because of their rebellion, the Lord was angry enough to destroy them: "Even at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you. When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD had made with you, then I remained on the mountain forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water.” (Deu 9:8-9)

What provoked the Lord was that while Moses was standing in the gap for them on the mountain, they were engaging in idolatry and pagan revelry.  But Moses did not stand back and allow the Lord to destroy the rebellious Israelites.  Instead, he went back up the mountain and humbly stood in the gap for them and Aaron for another forty days.

Moses said, "I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was wrathful against you in order to destroy you, but the LORD listened to me that time also. The LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him; so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time. (Deu 9:18-20)

In another place, Moses said, "I, moreover, stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights like the first time, and the LORD listened to me that time also; the LORD was not willing to destroy you.” (Deu 10:10). The psalmist says, “Therefore He [God] said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, To turn away His wrath from destroying them. (Psa 106:23)

Moses described how he prayed to God, as he stood in the gap for Israel: "So I fell down before the LORD the forty days and nights, which I did because the LORD had said He would destroy you. I prayed to the LORD and said, 'O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stubbornness of this people or at their wickedness or their sin. Otherwise the land from which You brought us may say, "Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which He had promised them and because He hated them He has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness." Yet they are Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have brought out by Your great power and Your outstretched arm.'" (Deu 9:25-29)

In order to appreciate this, you have to understand that Moses had just finished interceding for the Israelites for forty days without food or water.  And when he came down and saw their rebellion, he went back up for another forty days of intercession. He fell on his face once again and stood in the gap for them, which brought the combined total to eighty days of consecutive fasting and intercession before the Lord.

Daniel
Daniel was another great intercessor.  In fact, in my opinion, he is one of the top three intercessors in the whole Bible.  He had searched the Scriptures and found in Jeremiah’s prophecies that Israel would be in captivity for seventy years.  This led him to intercede for his nation.  He said, “So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” (Dan 9:3)  In order to really get a clearer picture of what it was like when Daniel stood in the gap, it’s best to read the entire ninth chapter of Daniel.

Phinehas
Another intercessor I would like to mention is Phinehas.  The psalmist says, “Then Phinehas stood up and interposed, And so the plague was stayed.” (Psa 106:30).  Moses gives us the full story of what happened (Num 25:3-13).

Because of the immorality of Israel and their pagan idolatry, the Lord was ready to destroy Israel once again.  This was a sin unto death! People were falling dead from a plague that had already killed 24,000 of them.  So the Lord instructed Moses to gather the judges and execute everyone that was involved in this sin. Now there was an Israelite man, who didn’t know what the Lord had just said.  So at that very moment, he brought home to his family a pagan woman in the sight of Moses and all the judges.  Understanding the seriousness of this sin, which made God so angry, Phinehas rose to the occasion.  Being jealous for the Lord, he arose and ran a spear through the man and his girlfriend. This was a type of standing in the gap, which pleased the Lord very much, and turned away His wrath.  This is how the plague was stopped through the valiant action of Phinehas that day, and because of this, he was written up with an honorable commendation in the Scriptures.  The Lord gave him and his descendants a perpetual covenant of peace for that.

Abraham
Abraham also interceded for Sodom, where his nephew Lot lived (Gen 18:16-33), and for King Abimelech, after he returned his wife Sarah to him (Gen 20:7,17-18). 

Job
Job is another good example of an intercessor.  He interceded for his children daily (Job 1:4-5). Then after all his trials, he interceded for his three counselors, and God did not treat them according to their folly (Job 42:7-9).

Epaphras
According to the apostle Paul, Epaphras stood in the gap for the Colossians. He wrote to them, “Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” (Col 4:12)

Modern Examples
In terms of modern examples, I think Rees Howells was one of the greatest intercessors of the last century.  I highly recommend reading his biography by Norman Grubb, called Rees Howells Intercessor. 

One other example that stands out to me from our own times is Henry Gruver, who has prayer walked in 70 nations over the decades.  I highly recommend his book, called “A Prayer Walker’s Handbook”, which is available on his website.

Putting it All Together
Standing in the gap means that we go before the Lord in prayer and entreat Him on behalf of others.  We should be very encouraged to know that Jesus always lives to make intercession for the saints, and that even the Holy Spirit makes perfect intercession for us according to God’s will.

But this doesn’t eliminate the need for human intercessors on earth to stand in the gap.  God searches for someone to stand in the gap, yet there have been times when He found nobody that would do so. It’s not a popular job.  Moses, Daniel, Abraham, Job, and Epaphras were good examples of intercessors in the Bible.  They laid down their lives in prayer for God’s people. Rees Howells and Henry Gruver are excellent examples from our modern day.

The spirit of intercession is usually praying for mercy and forgiveness for others.  But there are times when gross sins are being committed openly in the house of God. There are sins that lead to death. And at those times, like Phinehas we need to be jealous for the Lord, and pray in such a way that darkness will be exposed.  Those in spiritual oversight need to judge those within, bring discipline, and remove the wicked man from among the church (1 Cor 5:12-13).

When there is no intercessor, breaches can develop in the wall around the Lord’s people, allowing the enemy to come in. When there is sin in the camp, we become vulnerable to attack.  These attacks always bring trouble, which can be very serious for the Body of Christ.  The spiritual wall of protection is restored through intercession. Is God calling you to stand in the gap?

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this message,  you may also like "Who Intercedes for Us?", The Past Defeat and Present Threat of AI, and my daughter's poem, "Our Intercessor."  I also invite you to visit my collection of blogs at "Writing for the Master."  "Prayer Warrior" painting © 2012 by Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist.  Now let me ask you a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.