THE BURDEN OF INTERCESSION

Prayer had become not just a part of life but life itself. It was the atmosphere in which every thought, decision, and act was born. We came to see that prayer which prevails is not the imposing of our will upon God, but the bending of our will to His. True intercession begins when our desires are yielded to His purposes. In the secret place of prayer we touch the power that can move the world. What is hidden in the closet shakes the nations. God is not going to do things apart from prayer any more than He is going to do them apart from preaching. His work is forever joined to the prayers of His people. The Holy Spirit does not take a man into the secret place of prayer to play games with him, but to lay the burden of a world upon his heart. Intercession is the sharing of God's own travail for the souls of men. Prayer without faith is only wishing. Faith gives prayer its substance and its power. We were led into days of prevailing prayer until the answer came. Nothing was left unfinished until heaven bore witness on earth. The one who prays must be willing to be the answer to his own prayer. God makes the intercessor part of the solution he asks for. We had to learn that prayer which costs nothing accomplishes nothing. Every true petition is measured by the surrender it requires. Every new advance in prayer called for a new surrender. To go deeper with God is always to die deeper to self. THE COST OF INTERCESSION An intercessor must be so one with the suffering of the One he represents that he can stand in the gap. He enters into the travail of Christ for a world in need. You can never be an intercessor until you are willing to be the answer to your own prayer. God requires the life of the intercessor, not just his words. An intercessor is a man who has entered into the feelings of the Father's heart. He bears the burdens that move heaven and carries them as his own. Before God could trust me with intercession, He had to deal to the bottom with self. The cross must break the root of pride and self-will before prayer can prevail. The price of being an intercessor is a life laid on the altar. Nothing less than full surrender is accepted in this calling. The intercessor must identify himself with the need until he feels the burden as his own. It is not sympathy from a distance but agony in the place of another. Intercession is not prayer in general. It is putting your whole life into prayer. It demands the pouring out of the soul as an offering before God. The intercessor's secret is not in words, but in the yielded life. The power is not in eloquence but in obedience. In the school of intercession, the Holy Spirit will not let you pray unless you are willing to pay the cost of the prayer. Every petition must be backed by sacrifice. The intercessor is called to lay down his rights that God may gain His purpose. Nothing of self remains where the will of God must be done. INTERCESSION IN THE MIDST OF WAR The Lord has made known to us that He is going to destroy Hitler and the Nazi regime. What the world feared as unstoppable, God declared would be broken. Through God we made the prediction, through God we stand to it, and through God we are going against the enemy. Intercession was not a human resolve but a divine commission. Very strange that what is death in the eyes of the world is victory to the Holy Spirit. The cross always turns defeat into triumph. We are going up to the battle, and I am as sure of victory as of the dawn. To the natural eye there was darkness, but faith saw the light already breaking. To-day is probably the greatest battle in history. The issue of nations was at stake, and heaven was watching the prayers of God's people. We are here until these Nazis are put out. Intercession was a station from which Rees Howells would not move until the promise of God was fulfilled. Unless God intervenes today in a miraculous way, I believe we have lost. Faith did not ignore the gravity of the hour, but it clung to God as the only deliverer. These Nazis will not destroy civilization. When they get near enough, God will deal with them. The intercessor saw the limit of evil before the world could. Every revival must first pass through the secret chamber of prayer. Without hidden travail there can be no public awakening. The coming revival will depend upon the obedience of those who are willing to pay the price. God's visitation waits for surrendered lives. THE LIFE OF FULL SURRENDER I had heard preaching on Calvary many times before and believed it, but I had never truly seen Calvary until that night. The Cross was revealed, and everything changed. The Holy Spirit took me over, and I accepted Him. From that moment, my life was no longer my own. Well, I know His voice just like that. The Spirit's leading became as clear as the sound of a familiar friend. The condition of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is full surrender. Nothing can be withheld, for only the yielded life can be filled. The Holy Spirit asked me, Are you willing for Me to live in you, to be your life? The question pierced the heart, demanding everything. The secret of a life of victory is the exchanged life. My life for His, my weakness for His strength, my emptiness for His fullness. The Holy Spirit takes possession only of that which is fully given up to Him. He does not share the throne with self. The Cross is the place where the self is slain and the Spirit takes the throne. Only there does true victory begin. Once the Holy Spirit had me, I had no more plans of my own. His will became my only path. The Spirit cannot fill what self still occupies. Until the self-life is crucified, the fullness of God cannot come.