summarized by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
In The Body of Christ, Dr. J. Robert Ashcroft discusses the church in intercession in chapter 6. Historically, Spiritual movements have been more powerful with loose organization and strong commitment to each other... those centered around gathering daily in a routine environment. The main activity was prayer. Those proactive in prayer, when meeting continually, would find a mission begin to surface from their praying. God then equipped them with power as their cohesiveness grew. The more they met, the more they were led to creative solutions to problems they faced, saturated with the Power of the Holy Spirit creating a miraculous path.
The main references for this chapter are from the Scriptures in Acts 3 and 4. It would be beneficial to read these chapters first or after you read this summary.
By going away, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to come and be in our meetings where prayer and the center of attention is Jesus-based issues. In John 16, Jesus promised that when the Holy Spirit is at work in and among us. The Holy Spirit will convict the world, guide us, show us things to come, glorify Jesus, and take what Jesus knows and tells us. Jesus among us secures the Power of His Spirit at work through us and God's Spirit making Himself known to the world... in tangible ways.
In Acts 3 it says Peter went up at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour or middle of the afternoon. Prayer is the priority of all believers and even after great events like Pentecost, the Disciples always went back to prayer. Prayer is the priority of the believers all the time. Prayer includes all kinds of personalities with all kinds of customs. Tolerance was the rule of the day, most did not have a clear understanding of why each other did things a certain way. Love abounded and was the number one rule of the day.
When we pray, we can relate and find cohesiveness among many. When love and prayer are at the forefront, we accept each other and don't spend time talking about our different views on things. Prayer will foster unity in a group faster than anything else, as our focus is on God and not us. As we humble ourselves before God and others, the Power of the Spirit manifests in power to the level we will humble ourselves before God and to men.
Sin and unbelief blind us. They deaden our sensitivities. Our desires maybe misdirected for the wrong things. With Jesus Christ, as our mediator, we put our sins on the altar of God, forgiven, and our faith rises in belief because we depend on God's power and not ours. Prayer then becomes very powerful.
In agreement (centered around Jesus) being in harmony with each other, the Power of the Holy Spirit thrives under these conditions.
In Matthew 18:19, the significance of In My Name stands out... "Where two or three are gathered In My Name there I am."
What is the significance of using His Name?
First, we are in harmony with the instructions of Jesus. There is perfect unity between Jesus and the Father. All the authority of God is transferred to the Son of God, Jesus. What importance did Jesus place in using His Name? There is reverence in the Name of God. Blessings and cures were attached to the Name of God. Not using the name of God in vain is a commandment. Jesus started His prayer with "hallowed be thy Name." We are standing on Holy Ground when addressing God, with the authority of Jesus with us.
In His Name, is saying we respect the agenda of Jesus and are praying in light of His Will. Jesus said what we ask according to His will, we can be confident He will answer us. Jesus did what He did in the authority of the God. God, the All Powerful Creator, responds to the requests of Jesus. We now share in Jesus' authority. What a powerful thought. When we walk as Jesus directs us to walk, and fulfill the Father in Heaven's will as Jesus did, we can expect miraculous results along the way.
Jesus said He would do nothing outside what the Father told Him to do. Jesus was so tuned into His Father's will that what He did was identical to the Father. Here's another outstanding revelation.... What we see in Jesus is God!
Jesus now commissions His disciples to do the same.
So in using the name of Jesus is using His authority, we now have in God as He had with God. Using His name demands we be in Christ as He is in us and in the same way the Father was in Him and He was in the Father. God is trinity. Trinity is Relationship. This reveals to us the value of relationship and effectiveness of relationship. That's why Jesus emphasized..."that they may be one, even as we are one." (John 17:22)
This is a very high calling. Anything less than this is religion without power, form without substance. The power they had did not come from themselves or what they had. Their lives were totally on the side of the Spirit... not material goods. When Spirit guides us we stretch out our hands to the needy, we share our bread in fellowship. Spirit turns loose the material. His blessing multiplies the bread.
All we need is the Spirit to move us, and we will experience His promise that if we agree together as touching anything that we shall ask, it shall be done.
The Spirit is manifested into the temporal, creating the tangible. This is in contrast to those who try through the material world to accomplish Spiritual ends. Our lesson from Jesus is that we should never attempt anything in our natural selves, but always begin with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit then creates the material, changes the emotions, mends broken hearts.
We see the Church as it formed, that is the Body of Christ which emerged after Pentecost, does the same things as Jesus. Corporately, we are the same as Jesus, so unity as One is essential to see the release and manifestations of Power Jesus demonstrated on earth. His plan is to do it now through a Body of Believers... versus just one person. So we all need the interconnections and relationships.
The place for prayer is not geographic. It is wherever God's people assemble together. But, it is always where believers (two or three or more) are gathered together in the Name of Jesus.
The Prayer of Intercession begins in God. It is not in us to shape prayer. It begins in God and is God. Its focus is on what He wills and what He plans to do. The action of the enemy is not against men, but against the plans of God. We rely on God's power for continued power, miracles and victory.
We know God is available, when we are in one accord, one mind and in the Spirit of God. The results...the place is shaken when people intercede and everyone gets excited about what is happening. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. One filling is not enough. They went back to prayer for a continuous flow of Spirit in Power in their lives. Jesus, when going to the mountain to pray, was transfigured anew by God. We can have this too.
They spoke the Word of God with boldness, a result of their times in prayer and through the inner presence and power of the Holy Spirit. As they shared bread and fellowship, there was no difficulty in having success when God is working in the hearts of people. Sharing all things in common, this loving fellowship and communion with each other ripped open the gates of Heaven for all the Mighty and Power of God to be seen at work all around them.
Spirit manifested in everything, in every way.
(Scripture references are Acts 3 and 4, and John 17:22, 23.)
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