Intercessors are the stewards of the prophetic promises of the church….Lou Engle
As I read this quote this week something began to stir in my spirit. Then in my devotion this morning i read the parable of the steward that was accused of wasting his master’s goods in Luke 16.
As I read this I wondered, are we truly being good stewards of what God is giving us?
Are we being good stewards of our time, our talents, as well as our money (treasure)?
I do believe, one day I will stand before God Himself and give an account of my stewardship….I want to be able to stand blameless, how about you?
If God were to give us a mighty outpouring of His Spirit, would we be able to steward that move…or would we take credit for having it come in the first place?
If God were to give us 1,000 souls this week, would we steward those people in discipleship, or would we walk around like a rooster in a barnyard, squalking about our growth?
If God were to use us to raise a dead man, would we be a good steward of the attention that would come from that, our would we attempt to devise a marketing strategy, to gain us more notoriety….?
Intercessors, please keep praying! The Church of Jesus Christ will prevail in humility!
Personally, I want to humble myself in the sight of the Lord…having Him do it hurts too much!
Are we being good stewards of what God has given, including our successes, or are we building our own kingdoms?
It is interesting how the church today has delineated the “task” of intersession to a a select company of people, who are “known” as “intercessors.” I, for one, appreciate those who have prayed and do pray for me. And, I certainly pray for others. We are enjoined to do so. However, it is difficult in the matrix of New Testament ministry to point to a category of people who defined their Christian service as an “intercessor.” It is even more difficult to find apostolic stratagy that employed the creation of such teams in a church. Yes, there are those who prayed, and there are requests for prayer by those who travelled in apostolic teams … but Paul instructed the entire church in one city to “pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17).
A familiar passage, but written to a group of people who were enduring significant persecution. A special “class” of those comprising that church was not created to employ specific startegies to confront the persecution. Rather, all were enjoined to pray, and their example of steadfastness in the midst of their difficulty was an inspiration to an entire geographical region (1 Thess. 1:7). Remarkably, there is no instruction to pray for the persecution to end. “That no man should be moved by these afflictions; for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass, and ye know” (1 Thess. 3:3-4)
“Intercessors are the the stewards of the prophetic promises of the chruch.” A statement that certainly has merit and illicts a pause for contemplation; however, a more accurate statement might be: “The church is the stewart of the prophetic promises of the church.”
Good word!
We in America have catagorized everything….ad naseum! But when the church prays, miraculous things still happen!