Last week I briefly discussed II Samuel 12:13-24 where David was judged by God for sinning with Bathsheba. God said No to the birth of David’s first child with Bathsheba despite David fasting, praying, mourning, and protesting to God. Afterward David worshiped meaning to submit to God.
When God says no, we are to submit to God’s will getting in agreement with God which is worship. I thought about it some more on this morning about how the Bible views agreement between believers. How much more when we get in agreement with God? When the people in Genesis began to build the tower of Babel, which was a tower up to heaven, God strategically separated them by giving them different languages to speak (Genesis 11:7).

This, he did saying; “They will be able to accomplish anything.” This describes the power of unity or agreement. The people building the tower of Babel would have built it all the way up to heaven and we would not have lived down here completing what God had given us to do. The Bible says when two or more come in agreement asking anything in his name, it will be done unto them (Matthew 18:19). How much more when we get into agreement with God?

Finally, a husband and wife are required to dwell in unity submitting to one another in the fear of the Lord. When this is not done between the couple, the Bible says that their prayers will be hindered (1 Peter 3:7). Once again, how much more when we get into agreement with God?

I have experienced quite a few of God’s knows at this point in my life. At first, when I experienced a no, I’d be disappointed and discouraged. I would take God’s no as a rejection, but now I see that God’s no’s actually protects my purpose that is hid in God’s will for my life.

When I first graduated from college, I applied for various media jobs, but thank God I did not get any of those jobs because they don’t pay enough to live off of, and they require a lot of time outside of normal work hours. I would have been so distracted trying to make a living; I would have never done the blog, book, or anything else. God clearly knew what he was doing. The job that God did give me allows me the time that I need outside of work to write, study, and enjoy my life. This is God’s purpose for me right now.

God has said no concerning men I have been interested in, and later I said thank God that he did not give me the guy that I wanted. Once again, my purpose with the wrong guy would have been gravely affected. Just like the men in Genesis building the tower of babel. Men were not made to live in heaven, we were made to live here on earth, and subdue the earth. That was our purpose given to us by God in the beginning. Is there a time when we will go to heaven? Yes, when we die or when Jesus comes back, but there is an appointed time for that. Trusting God’s no’s also means trusting his appointed times where he has said yes.

Finally Here comes the Promotion

God had me to read Daniel in my space of transitioning and suffering. There were three specific examples back to back where Daniel had gone through suffering, having his identity attacked, and life threatened, yet he stood on who he was passing the test and each time being promoted for it.

1. Daniel and his three friends were assimilating into the kingdom of Babylon during exile as much as they could while maintaining their identity as Jews. The King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream in which no one could interpret. All wise men were to be killed including Daniel, and his three friends. This was suffering producing fear, and threatening who Daniel and his friends were as wise men. Daniel sought the Lord was given dream plus interpretation. What happened next? Daniel was promoted.

2. Daniel and his three friends again were targeted due to not bowing down and worshiping another God at King Nebuchadnezzar’s command. Their lives and identities in Christ were again threatened as their fate was to be thrown into the fiery furnace. We know how the story ends. God preserved them in the furnace going into the furnace with them, and they came out un-singed by the heat and once again were promoted.
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3. This time, Daniel was under King Darius’ rule and the decree went out from the king not to pray or petition any Gods, but to petition only the King or else the punishment would be the lion’s den. Of course, Daniel prayed three times a day. He was taken and thrown into the lion’s den. God closed the mouth of the lion, and once again Daniel was promoted. What do we gather from this? Despite how hard the pressure gets God will preserve us. When we maintain our God given identity in Christ, it preps us for another level.

Things to do during suffering:

1. Speak and meditate on the Word of God. Allow the Holy Spirit to bring to your remembrance the word of God or to tell you what to meditate on from the word of God. The Holy Spirit is our helper, and he is very active with us in suffering if we listen to him.

2. Fast and pray – This provides clarity (Isaiah 58:8 – Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear) Light like the dawning is significant of clarity.

3. 1 Peter 4:13 – Don’t speak any evil out of your mouth. Only speak God’s word. Practic discipline with the tongue. It’s okay to be quiet; instead of speaking negative. While being quite, meditate on the Word of God.

4. Realize you are going from one level of glory to the next, but God’s process for sharing in his glory is to first share in his suffering. Romans 8:17

5. The joy from understanding what is going on and experiencing the five benefits mentioned earlier should assist you in enduring. For the joy set before him; Jesus endured the cross despising it’s shame. – Hebrews 12:2

The Lies We Fight in Suffering

Below are some of the lies that we have to fight against while going through seasons of suffering that attempt to shift our perspective into something other than the truth. These lies tempt us into making poor choices, and having a cold heart toward the Lord. However, when we face the lies with the truth of God’s word; they cannot stand.

The Lie that It is a vain thing to live for God.
This is one of the biggest lies of confusion that we have to fight during a test, trial, or place of suffering in the kingdom of God. The enemy says that we will suffer and go through crazy pain anyway being obedient to God, so we may as well do what we want and get some relief from the suffering, but the devil is a liar.

God says: It is better to suffer for doing what is right than doing what is wrong (1 Peter 3:17). God says in suffering for righteousness that he expects us to commit ourselves to our faithful Creator. I believe the scripture reminds us in suffering in this passage that God, our creator is faithful, because the other big thing that Satan comes against us with in suffering is that God is not good, yet God reminds us that he is faithful.
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. 1 Peter 4:19 (NIV)
God reminds us of his character in suffering, so that we can remain confident that he will bring us to an expected end as he has promised. We only need to continue to do good and to place our trust in him. There are many who fall away from God because of suffering. Many forget that long suffering is a fruit of the Spirit of God. As mentioned earlier without the suffering we would lack the benefits that suffering brings. We need to remain steadfast in knowing that God is making us whole in suffering, and taking us to the next level in him.

The lie that God is not Good due to allowing us to suffer.
We need to be intentional about viewing God correctly in suffering. We need to be intentional about believing that God is good. I had been fasting and praying during my last place of suffering and transition. I was anxious to get home because I had been out all day at work and had a hair appointment. I did not get home until around 11 p.m. When I walked in the door immediately God put a song in my spirit. The lyrics are, “I will remain confident in this I will see the goodness of the Lord.” The song begins by addressing a spirit of fear which we often feel in transition because we may not know what is next. It says, “The Lord is my light and salvation. Whom shall I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid? I will run to you. I will run to you. I will remain confident in this. I will see the goodness of the Lord.”

I had to find the song on YouTube. I pulled it up, and the presence of the Lord came in my room like Whoa! I worshiped the Lord for hours just singing to him from my spirit laying on the floor.

God’s goodness was displayed in his willingness to meet with me, and to allow me to draw strength from being in his presence. During suffering, we have to be more intentional about counting our blessings, and being thankful for those things that God allows us to experience that represent his goodness. In doing so, it helps us to maintain our respect for the Lord and an appropriate image of who he is in our life.
I remain confident of this:
   I will see the goodness of the Lord
   in the land of the living. Psalms 27:13 (NIV)
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalms 27:13 (KJV)The Lie that we must be doing something wrong.
The suffering has to be going on because we are either doing something wrong or have done something wrong. This makes us defensive, and gets us caught up in trying to prove ourselves to others instead of placing our trust in the Lord. This is a distraction that causes us to take our focus off of what God is calling us to and places it on something else. Jesus was also tempted with this when Satan questioned if he was the Son of God to prove it by turning stones into bread.

The second part of that lie says, Christians aren’t ever supposed to be depressed unless they are doing something wrong. Both of these statements are false. Sometimes Christians will get depressed, confused, and go through suffering without having done anything wrong. To tell someone they are never supposed to be depressed breeds shame that produces isolation. Isolation is produced because if this isn’t ever supposed to happen; people may not attempt to get the help needed to get through it for the shame and embarrassment that is going on. Instead of Christians telling other Christians that they should never be depressed; we should tell believers that they do not have to stay depressed. It should be shared that we all go through depressing circumstances, but we do not have to stay there. Deliverance belongs to the believer, and this is something that we can be sure of when depressing circumstance occur in our lives (Matthew 15:26).

The Lie that says we are not good enough.
This is the additional attack on our identity in which I believe happens before we go to the next level of promotion so we can relinquish what God has for us. Jesus went through this before his next level when led of Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Afterward he was ministered to and confirmed as God’s son on the mountain of transfiguration. Where a greater revealing of who he was was shown to some of his closest disciples. I believe that prior to the next level of revelation, God seals how we have seen ourselves on the last level to reveal greater parts of our identity on the next level to us and to others.

While going through the transition and suffering, it is vitally important to depend on God and what he shows us in his word. This will cause us to have a clear understanding of what is going on instead of believing the negative picture painted by our circumstance. (Learning to depend on God.)

Shows us what’s in our hearts:

All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers.
And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. Deuteronomy 8:1-2 (KJV)

Just in case we were confused and did not know what was in our hearts, the Lord is going to show it to us during suffering. Remember that the Bible says in the book of Romans that the old testament is given to us believers to  teach us and to be our examples. These very things that happened in the old testament are figurative examples of various cycles and circumstance that we go through in our individual lives. In the above passage of scripture, God’s people were in transition going from one place to the next. However, before they went into the land, they were led of the Lord to be tested and tried in the wilderness, so that God’s people could know what was in their hearts, and remember to obey the Lord. God was teaching his people to remember to obey all of his commands and to depend on him. If they could do this during suffering; they could do it when they entered into the land where God was taking them. Many people think in suffering that they need the promise land, but what we need is to have our hearts corrected toward the Lord. This is the time for correction and confirmation. Correction for what we have been doing wrong, and confirmation for what we have been doing right. In this time, if there is anything that we need to surrender to God we should do it now. Also, God’s love is confirmed in this because God only corrects those whom he loves, and has adopted as sons (Hebrews 12:5-11).

Allows another Portion of Our Identity to be Revealed Confirming Who We Are to Ourselves and to Others:

When Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. He was tested in his identity. Often the very thing that we are tested in is the very thing that God seeks to promote us in, and to reveal to us, and others just who we are, and what he has put inside of us.

Jesus’ identity never changed. He was the Son of God and the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world, but the circumstances did not look that way because Jesus was weak and tired in the wilderness. Despite what things looked like or felt like; Jesus had to hold fast to what he knew. Right after the test, Jesus was strengthened by angels, and the next passage of scripture shows Jesus identity being confirmed on the mountain of transfiguration. On the mountain of transfiguration, Jesus stands with James and John next to Elijah and Moses. God, the Father says from heaven: “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”

During those moments of testing when we are suffering for Christ, and people don’t understand why we stand the way that we do or take on the identity that we take on; Remember, that God will not leave us in that place of people questioning, jesting, or looking at us as if we are crazy. God will confirm who we are to us, and to other onlookers because one of the greatest results of suffering in Christ is for the purpose of God’s glory being revealed. We are Christ’s inheritance according to Ephesians 1. If God leaves us out there looking crazy, then he looks crazy also, and that isn’t what God is about. Continue to endure and wait for God to confirm and reveal you. We don’t even have to defend ourselves; we just have to speak the word as Jesus did, and keep on living.

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Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:17
Provides discipline sharpening us and making us better.
This was covered briefly in part I where we discussed intimacy with God. Enduring temptation makes us whole, and complete. We lack nothing after enduring suffering. We are made stronger for it. Read James 1:1-4,
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Romans 5:3-5Provides an example for other Christians who will suffer.

If She Can Do It, I Can Do It. If She Can Get Through it; Than so Can I.
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 2 Corinthians 1:8 (NIV)I was shocked when I first read this in the Bible. I guess I had never noticed it before, but it sounds like either Paul and his people had it so bad that they thought they would die, or that they could have possibly considered suicide. There are times in our lives as believers where things get so bad where we are tempted to despair of all hope and even consider suicide, but Paul’s next statement should be taken as an indicator of why these moments happen, and what we should do.Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 2 Corinthians 1:9 (NIV)
Isn’t it nice to know that we aren’t alone. To know that the apostles in the Bible faced challenges that made them feel in a way similar to how we feel today. It is to say the least comforting. Prior to Paul describing how discomforted he felt; He expressed a very important benefit in him having gone through. He got through the suffering and discomfort from relying on Christ. Relying on Christ not only comforted Paul and the other apostles, but it comforted the whole Corinthian church that he was writing to. Finally, God still uses believers to work in the same way today. When we go through and overcome through Christ; it provides an example to others that they too can do the same. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:5
“The above scripture points to why looking to Christ in suffering is so important. He is our only comfort and hope.”

If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 2 Corinthians 1:6
Have u ever been through a situation that was so bad you thought you would die? Don’t despair of all hope; instead get your comfort by looking to Christ, and fellow-shipping with Christ. You are being made better in the process, and God is using your example for someone else who is going through. You are not alone!

Have you ever been in a situation where it felt as though the ground was completely taken from underneath you? Yet, you still somehow we’re expected to walk. That is how most of us feel in the midst of suffering.  The Bible describes it like this:Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 1 Peter 4:12-13The Bible mentions joy on more than one occasion as it relates to suffering. How can we joy in suffering? One way is to realize some of the benefits that come from suffering and also to realize that God doesn’t allow it to punish us or destroy us, but to promote us and to strengthen us to be able to handle what he has for us.During suffering, it is of the utmost importance that we remember who we are. This means that we have to get a clear perspective no matter what things look like.
 
During suffering, Satan’s main goal is to cause us to focus on everything, but who we are in Christ.
It is often assumed that those who suffer in Christ have done something wrong, but in Ephesians, Paul writes specifically to a faithful church, and he makes a great point saying that he prays that believers would get a revelation having their hearts enlightened to the hope that God has called us to. In suffering, we are never to lose our hope. We are to keep a clear perspective by keeping our perspective rooted in Christ and his word.

Peter says that we all will suffer for something. Yet, it is better to suffer for doing what is right than what is wrong. It even goes on to say that if we are suffering for doing what is right, we are blessed, and that we should continue to do what is right. It is the person who continues choosing not to faint in well doing that reaps the reward when the due time comes.

There are two out of five benefits I’d like to point out  to participating in suffering in Christ in this first part of this series:

Identifying with Christ, Our Example:
Hebrews 12 reminds us when we are suffering to fix our eyes on Jesus Christ who is the author and finisher of our faith. He experienced everything we did, but he went through it willingly giving up his will for his father God’s will. We are to do the same. When we suffer for Christ we have a greater appreciation for what Christ went through for us. We recount that it did not feel good to Jesus in the moment. In fact, it felt so bad that Christ asked for the cup of suffering to pass from him, but in the end, he relented to the father’s will. This reminds us that it is okay to feel bad, faint, or discouraged in suffering, but it is not okay to remain there to the point of being stuck. We have to grow through it. Yes, it is making us stronger, and producing endurance in us when we grow through it instead of allowing it to disable us. In the end, God’s mission will be accomplished in us, and we will have great joy.

Invitation into intimacy with God:
This is probably one of my favorite parts of suffering in Christ. This is when we begin to know God in a new and more intimate way. It is almost like an invitation. In this place, we begin to see God move in ways, we had not before, such as sustaining us with a broken spirit, truly being near to us in the time of trouble. This is where God’s word becomes more than his word to us. It becomes how we know God. Think about Job and the conversations and revelations that he got of God concerning things that happened before mankind even existed. All of this from being in such a place of intimacy and dependence on God.
I want to know Christ–yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. – Philippians 3:10 (NIV)Apostle Paul knew the value in suffering with Christ. This is where Christ’s power in our lives is most individually displayed. In this stage, God often calls us to reset our focus on him calling us to totally depend on him. This is often a place where through the intimacy with God and him revealing himself in new ways, that we grow our trust in the Lord. Do you remember when God did this with his people while bringing them out of Egypt. They had to depend on God for the very food that they ate to the shoes on their feet, but God displayed that he was able to take care of them being all that they needed. Suffering with Christ, as we see on the second part of the scripture, kills the wrong things in us, such as pride, deception, self-will, and such. It produces godly character. In suffering in Christ; we die to our sinful nature, and become more sensitive to the nature and character of God. This should cause us to renew our minds with God’s word.

It is an honorable thing to depend on God, and to say to God in our hearts, “I don’t know how, when, where, or even why, but I trust you. Lord, I know you will bring me to an expected end.”

One of the greatest lessons in learning to depend on God is learning that he truly is the one who supplies our need in his time, and in his season. During dependence on God, we relinquish all of our work that often seeks to manipulate a situation to bring about God’s promise on our own terms instead of his. Often, manipulation in order to get God’s promise stems from a spirit of fear which God has not given to us. (See what is a sound mind blog).

Dependence means: the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else. (Google definition)

The state of relying on or needing someone or something for aid, support, or the like. (Dictionary.com)

There is a boldness and a confidence that arises from depending on the Lord. The more we become rested secure in Christ; the more bold we will become. The best example of resting in God through dependence on him that always comes to mind periodically before God calls me to enter into his rest is when God provided manna from heaven. God gave specific instructions to his people saying:
Gather as much as was needed to eat for the one day. He specifically said not to gather over, but some of the Israelites did not obey, but horded up the bread as if the God who bought the miracle to pass by bringing the bread in the first place could not do it again. (Exodus 16:16-20).
Those that gathered too much had none over, and the extra that they gathered became rotten. They were those who did not trust in God’s ability to provide for them what they needed again. They were the hit it and quit it saints, who only wanted to use God for what they needed, and not to have a continual relationship with him.

God promised to meet them out there again to continue to give them manna from heaven. Manna in the Hebrew means, “What is it?” This meaning whatever it is that we need God will provide that need for us, but it will only be found in him not in greediness, or seeking to use God for gain, but we must seek him.

This is why when Jesus taught his disciples to pray; he told them to pray on this wise: “Give us our daily bread.” Receiving what we need from God is a daily activity not something to be done once in a blue moon. God wants relationship with us. He wants to build our trust and confidence in him. He wants to show himself to us using our circumstances. He wants daily fellowship with us.

Bread is significant for bare sustenance, the focal point of what we need to live and survive. Jesus is called, “Bread from heaven.” He wants to be our bare sustenance for what we need. He is able to do this and be this in our lives, but we have to acknowledge him in this. We do this by entering into his rest. We enter into his rest through believing in him no matter what it looks like, rehearsing and speaking his word consistently, and refraining from seeking to manipulate our own desires to come to pass on our own accord. Instead, we wait for the promise in trust, and in thanksgiving.

Revelations 12:11 – And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.

I love the above scripture that helps me to rest in God. We have already overcome because of what Jesus did for us. We just have to allow the confession out of our mouths to line up with what God says about us which will build our faith and cause us to rest.

There is a great temptation to complain or to speak negative when we are in transition or a place of having to be dependent on God because things that come easily to others do not come as easily to those who are required to depend on God. Simply because we have to be an example of this word that we carry, teach, and preach. We have to know that God is enough. We have to be able to share with our neighbors that it was God alone who bought us through. We don’t get the luxury of doing things the easy way.

But we do get the greater reward of seeing the hand of God move miraculously in our own lives, and in the lives of others because of our testimony. Also, I personally believe for those that had to go through more in this sense, God will out perform when he does bring the promise to pass. There is a scripture that talks about those who have had to give up certain things for the sake of the kingdom of God, and how they will receive a 100 fold blessing in this life and in the life to come. That is what I believe will be the result of those who rest in the Lord.
Truly I tell you, Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields–along with persecutions–and in the age to come eternal life. – Mark 10:29-30

Those who give up the above, give up natural comforts for the comfort of the Lord, and God will outshine every time with his favor and hand in the lives of those who forsake all to rest in and follow Jesus Christ.

Often when we as believers are in a state of transition, God calls us to rest. We should always be able to rest in God, but sometimes when we come out of hard places, trials, or tribulations the after affect of the experience makes it hard to rest.

Rest means according to Google Definition:

• Cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.
• Be placed or supported so as to stay in a specified position.
• Be based on or grounded in; depend on. Place hope, trust, or confidence on or in. 

I believe that God deals with us according to different times and seasons in our lives. Sometimes when it is time to go to a new season we may tend to struggle with what is going on, and because of that struggle, God again requires us to enter into his rest.

There was once a season for the children of Israel to dwell in Egypt. It was God’s will to place Joseph there to save many people alive. However, after that season was up, the Hebrew people endured hard bondage. When the time approached for the Hebrews to leave the bondage became even harder to the point where it seemed nearly impossible to continue to carry on in the state that things had been.

We see this due to the fact that when Moses and Aaron approached the Pharoah in regards to letting the Hebrews go into the wilderness to worship their God, the Pharoah became angry refusing to give the Hebrews rest. Instead, he required them to do more work–fetching their own straw to make the same amount of bricks (Exodus 5:5-9)
Sometimes before we get ready to go to the next level of life that God is calling us to, the devil will try to make it harder for us to break our spirits, but God uses that same hardship to make us stronger and to build our trust in him.

During the uncomfortable process of transition, there can be a temptation to complain, and to long to stay in the same place because it was easier, or to get into self-pity. This is the place where the Word of God in us really gets tested, and we have to buckle down grabbing a hold to the Word of God as never before. We have to grab a hold to the Word of God more in this process because our faith comes from the Word of God, and having faith is how we enter into God’s rest.

For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world .Hebrews 4:3

So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest. The children of Israel had been in transition in the desert. They did not know how the Lord would complete the promise of bringing them into the land of promise, nor how they would survive the dessert. They were in a position where all they could do was to depend on God. Let’s not forget that a part of the rest that God calls us to is simply depending on him, and believing in him when we do not know how things will turn out like God has promised. God requires us to call to memory the many things that he has done prior to our current moment of transition. That is what God’s people did not do in the wilderness, but instead they allowed their hearts to become hardened and turned away from God.

We should be careful not to follow that same example in transition. Instead we should take the opportunity to rest.
Truly resting in God is to depend on God.

Stay tuned  to read part two of “What it Means to Rest in the Lord” on next week.

Do You Have an Evil Heart of Unbelief? What a hard question to ask. No one wants to believe that there is anything evil about one’s own heart. Jeremiah makes it clear however that the heart of man is desperately evil, who can know it. In other words, I take this scripture to mean that the heart of man is wavering or unstable at times to the point where another does not know what to expect from it.

We can start out with a strong heart believing the best of ourselves and God, but when we are placed in certain situations, what is in our hearts will surely come out revealing what is truly there.

What if God allows us to wait on our spouse for so long to stabilize or cleanse our hearts? Ezekiel talks about a heart of stone. A heart of stone is a hardened heart. Nothing can get through to it. David said to create in him a clean heart when he found himself partaking in sin that should not have ever been associated with him because he was a man after God’s own heart.
I believe that every now and then, God has to take his people’s hearts through a re-conditioning process to create in us a clean heart, and also to remove the distractions, and the hardness that sometimes come with doing life as human beings. Sometimes doing life as simple humans causes us to be susceptible to the wrong positioning of our hearts.
Matthew 13 discusses how when God sows a seed (his word) into our hearts, Satan immediately seeks to still the seed.

The heart begins to go through the below processes in response to God’s word spoken:

There is the heart that simply landed on the PATH:
Those on the path don’t clearly understand the value of the word given to them. They don’t even think to tuck it away and protect it, and therefore the seed is immediately eaten up by birds.

There is the STONEY HEART:
The stoney heart was no longer pliable. It was so hard that nothing could take root in it any longer. The stoney heart lacks the ability to endure, and to accommodate the word (seed). This person’s heart becomes shallow. All it takes for this person’s heart to be pulled away is for the season to change. The sun to come up and the plant scorches away until it is no longer recognizable.

There is the THRONY HEART:
The thorny heart is the heart that has endured through the path, the stoney, and has come so far that the only way to get this heart to crumble and to lose the seed is to choke the seed. The seed being the word of God that we are holding on to by faith. This person goes through so much that they finally decide to just give in. They have no more strength left.

Finally there is the GOOD HEART:
The good heart has made it through each of the above mentioned seasons by depending on the Lord, and realizing that nothing good can come of allowing the seed of the word of God to die in this heart. This person has such a disposition of his heart that he goes on and produces fruit.

I believe that God allows us to go through the reconditioning process of setting our heart on him. He sees us bring forth some fruit and he allows the pruning process to take place in us producing more fruit within us. (John 15)

Don’t allow the different temptations in the process to still your seed meaning the Word of God that first produced faith in you for what you are believing God for, but rather depend on the Lord daily for his word and refreshing to keep you through each portion of the process until you make it out and begin to bare more fruit.

Matthew 13:15 really pricks my heart when it points to the one who has gone through this process and has become hardened by it instead of allowing it to produce fruit. When God takes us through the process of allowing his word to be tested in our hearts we have a choice.
Our choice is to hold on to the Word by faith through each season, trial, or testing or to give in and allow ourselves to become hardened.

For this people’s heart has become calloused: they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. -Matthew 13:15 (NIV)
For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing; and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted (changed in their thinking, given new character) and I should heal them. – Matthew 13:15 (KJV)

God wants to change us in the process. He wants to change our hearts, and grow our character in him through the process. Both scriptures speak of a turning or a conversion of the heart. A healing of thinking of sorts.

Convert meaning: Cause to change in form, character, or function. Synonyms: change, turn, transform, metamorphose, transfigure, transmute. (Google definition)

All of those in Christ who bare fruit; God prunes, so that we can bare more fruit. Romans 12 talks about being transformed by the renewing of our minds. Often, during this process, God is erasing away old mindsets, or ways of thinking that do not line up with his word, so that he can elevate us and use us more.

This is so deep. God promises to heal us from the process. One of the ways to know that our hearts have become hardened is to develop a hardness or a lack of wanting to hear the Word of God or to hear the truth. Your eyes become willfully closed even though you have eyes, you cannot see, ears, yet cannot hear.

This is real. A hardened heart results in unbelief for the Word of God spoken over our lives. This goes into tempting God, which God mentions in Hebrews. This is how we forfeit God’s blessing of promise.

Do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. – Hebrews 3:8-9

Gaining a hardened heart is not something limited to singles. Anyone waiting on a promise from God can have a hard heart. Think about those who have become sick, and are waiting for healing from God to manifest. Many sick believers have gotten a hardened heart in that process.
There are many of us including myself who have gotten a word from God, and immediately Satan came to still the seed of that word. Satan would love for us to get caught up in a stoney heart, a thorny heart of worry, or to relax on the path not considering the value of the word, but if we continue to press through and depend on Christ holding on to that word, we will bring forth fruit on a heart of good ground. Keep pressing.

God promises to give us a heart of flesh for a hardened heart in the below scripture:
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 11:19 (NIV)

An intercessor is a watchman who stands in between God and man praying on behalf of what he sees, and what God lays on his heart. Jesus Christ was the number one intercessor. He stood between God and man making intercession on man’s behalf.
The foundation of intercession is found in the book of Ezekiel where God looks for an intercessor before certain circumstances would have been allowed.

I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.
Ezekiel 22:30

In short, intercessor’s are God’s partner’s on earth that stand in agreement with the will of God that has been set in heaven. God’s intercessor’s pray that will based on God’s word, and insight from the Lord. God gave men dominion in this earth, and so when God gets ready to do something on the earth, he uses his people. In many cases, those people are used as intercessor’s.
I first learned about intercession listening to a radio broadcast from Apostle John Echardt. It was shortly after Tupac and Biggie were murdered. Echardt taught on how their murders could have been prevented had there been an intercessor standing in the gap on their behalf. I thought that was pretty cool. At that point, I decided I wanted to be an intercessor, and I asked God to make me one. God honored that prayer.
Intercessors may at times get a burden to pray regarding certain things:
Intercessor’s are very observant, and sensitive to certain things. God will often give an intercessor a burden on something close to his heart and allow the intercessor to pray regarding that thing to see God’s will done in a situation instead of what the normal circumstances would have ensued.
In some cases, intercessor’s have to have enough discernment to know when a burden is too heavy for them to carry alone. Some burdens are given to us by God to pray only, and others to take additional action along with prayer. The last burden that God gave me to carry had gotten so heavy on me that I lost sleep, and could hardly pray anymore. That is when I knew, I had to seek counsel from others to take proper action while praying concurrently about the situation that was going on.
Prophetic Intercession:
Prophetic Intercession comes about when something is revealed to a person by God to pray concerning because it will happen in the future. Sometimes, prophetic intercession can be us prophesying and decreeing in prayer by faith what God has shown us until it manifests, or it can be praying against something that will happen prior to for a different outcome to occur.
For example, one day I was eating while waiting for one of my friends to come over to my house to pick me up to go somewhere. I got an unction to pray, but did not know what to pray about. I put the food down and begin to pray in the spirit. When I felt a release as if the mission was accomplished in prayer, the Lord showed me what I had been praying about. He let me know that something would happen to the car when we were out, but everything would be okay. My friend picked me up and we had a blow-out on the expressway. We were able to ride to the nearest exit and could not change the tire because the lug-nut would not come off. It had to have a special machine to take off the lug-nut.
We ended up at a gas station where a man getting gas had a special machine on the outside of his truck that was able to remove the lug-nut. The man had been through a lot of hard things in life, and had given up on God and the church. We witnessed to him, and he helped us with our tire. All was well, and God’s will was done.

Another example of prophetic intercession is in a similar experience, I was led of God to pray. I prayed in the spirit again, and this time I ended up calling my co-worker’s name out before the Lord and binding up the spirit of death, and pre-mature death, and pleading the blood of Jesus all over him. At the end of this prayer as I got a release in my spirit, God showed me the young man standing outside of his car that had been totaled with his title in his hand. I got to work a couple weeks later, and my co-worker had been late. He apologized to the boss sharing how he had been involved in an accident sharing he has nothing left of the car, but his title in hand.
I shared this with my prayer-partner who is a prophet, and she shared how God used me to spare the young man’s life, and he was supposed to die that night.

Assignments of Intercessors:
As an intercessor, I have gotten various assignments from God to pray for a person, or leaders, and even some public figures as well. I believe in all families, God has set aside an intercessor(s) for himself to further his purpose, will, and plan for the family members and also to preserve life. I have been an intercessor for a long time in my family.

Often intercessors are praying for other people, and their prayers are prayed in secret as they see the manifestation of God’s answer in public. Intercessors are normally not self-seeking, but seeking God’s will.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:6

Intercessors are natural teachers:
Due to the fact that intercessor’s hang out in God’s presence a lot in prayer, they get a lot of wisdom, knowledge, and insight that otherwise they would not have. This retaining of wisdom and revelation from God causes us to be natural teachers.
Attacks on Intercessor’s:
Intercessor’s take a lot of hits as far as spiritual attacks from the enemy. They can be misunderstood because of the revelation that they receive, but are refreshed greatly in the presence of the Lord. God is no respecter of persons and is in need of intercessors. Accept the challenge from God to pray and go to God on behalf of others.

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint – Luke 18:1
Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. – 1 Timothy 2:1