12 STEPS TO INTERCESSION

Step 1.2:  A Command  (not a suggestion)
In our last update on the above subject we discussed about “secret” , how God reveals secret and who reveals the secret to. In continuation we are discussing on “Command, not suggestion”
This subject “command and suggestion” are two different things.
When we talk of command we are saying that the subject is mandatory.

God has given his people express commands governing the turbulence of their own hearts and the peace that he offers and expects. None stands out so markedly as  Isaiah 30:15 “In quietness and confidence will be your strength and you would not…”  It declares that the Lord’s purpose is for his people to return to Him to find quietness and confidence before Him.  The indictment was that his people “WOULD NOT,” therefore they had no peace.

Psalm 4:4  “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.”
Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am thy God…”
Isaiah 30:15 “In quietness and confidence will be your strength and you would not…”
Isaiah 32:17 “The effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance forever.”
Isaiah 41:1 “Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.”
I Kings 19:12 “After the earthquate a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.”
Ecclesiastes 3:7  “A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;”
Habakkuk 2:20  “But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.”
Mark 4:39 “And he arose and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”
Revelation 8:1 “And there was silence in heaven for about the space of a half hour.”
It is the mandate of God that we still ourselves before him in order to find his peace and hear his voice.  So thus we have as the first and most important step in the believer’s prayer life to still ourselves before the Lord.

12 STEPS TO INTERCESSION, Step 1a

12 STEPS TO INTERCESSION
Step 1a – Be Still
Without a doubt the most difficult step in intercessory prayer is this one – keep silence, be still. Learn this step and you will transform your prayer life. Remember, your mind is like an undisciplined child running constantly and refusing to be dominated. It wants it own way. It is like a wild stallion that does not want to be tamed, bridled or ruled. It wanders wherever it wishes. It clamors for its own way. It speeds ahead to its own agenda. It refuses to be brought under control. But God says it must be bridled. Peter urges us to “gird up the loins of your mind.” (1 Peter 1:13) Paul says, “Bring every thought into the captivity of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

A Secret

There is a secret that God reveals to his servants that is hidden from all other men. It is the secret of his presence. He delights to walk and talk with us but he will only do so in the “Secret place of the Most High.” Therefore David exalts the mystery of that secret retreat with God alone where God shadows over his own with his protective presence. Jesus said that the secret place for believers is the “closet of prayer” in Matthew 6:6.  The Greek word translated in KJV is “tameion”  which means a closet, secret or inner chamber, or a storehouse – thus “a closet.” He is very specific about it. “When you have entered into your “tameion” (secret chamber), shut the door…and pray in secret!” God longs to have that romantic secret chamber of interlude with each of us