According to Chambers, if I pray for you, I have to do so knowing, accepting, and looking for my Master to answer in ways which could cause you pain. In other words, I am to pray for others with the expectation that their circumstances could degenerate as my Master answers the prayer. And I need to be ok with that. There is a statement in Chambers entry for today that is at the heart of my difficulty here. As an extension of yesterday, I am not as sure of the will of my Master as I would like to be. So, as Chambers says, “It is impossible to intercede vitally unless we are perfectly sure of God,” and I am not always perfectly sure of my Master.
But, that doesn’t exclude me from praying in vital intercession. I do have a gift of discernment. It’s limited with me, but it is there. So, according to Chambers, I am called through this gift, into vital intercession whenever it works. And I admit that my normal response to insight into others is prayer. It has been most of the time, but not all the time. The times that this gift is something I do not use for prayer is when I am resentful toward the object of the discernment. There are times I work through the resentment in prayer, and do intercede for them, but those times are inconsistent.
So, I have limited insight into the intensions of my Master, and yet am called to intercede for others accepting that my Masters’ answer could very well hurt them as He answers. The problem I leave open, which Chambers clearly puts to rest, is the sense that I have some control over what my Master does. As if, in response to my intercession, my Master acts in the life of others. Chambers clearly points out that intercession is my Master inviting me into what He is already doing in the life of another. There is no fear that I don’t totally understand my Master’s work. There can be no excuse that I don’t like that person at the moment (in fact that may be the reason my Master calls me into intercession). The revelation of the point where my Master works in the life of another is the point where I am to focus my conversation with Him. I petition on behalf of another, but we both change through the work of the Master. In this way, my Master accomplishes two goals with one activity. Very efficient.
So, I seek to know where my Master is working. I can see several places with my co-workers. I can sense places with my friends, some with my family. But I don’t know how to pray in every situation, and what I mean is that I don’t really know or understand what my Master is doing in each of these situations. So how do I participate with Him in what He is doing through prayer? Sometimes, but not always, the answer is to follow the Nike slogan and “Just Do It.” I need to move forward with intercession in the knowledge provided and not wait for more. If I wait I will miss the opportunity, the invitation will close. I believe that my Master will still work in the life of another, but I will miss the opportunity to participate in that work.
So, with the limited sight given to me by my Master, I will stumble into and through this day praying in every opportunity in spirit staying alert in all perseverance and petition concerning all the holy ones of my Master (Ephesians 6:18). I wish I had a spiritual activity detector with ear phones and a gauge. Click…click…click, click, click-click-click, uh oh, time to pray!
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