Referring to Moses’ dialogue with God:
God speaks to us, and we have the opportunity to talk back. Not in rebellion. Not in disobedience. Not in the way we commonly think of “talking back.” God shares His thoughts and desires with His friends. As friends, we get to respond and say, “How about this, God? Can I have some say in this process and decision?” If the Lord says, “No,” it is clearly no. The problem is that we have long assumed that it is always “no.” God may want to expose us to new levels of relationship with Him through a process of communicating back and forth—talking, listening, and then talking back and listening again.
Intercession
Pete Greig
C. H. Spurgeon, perhaps the greatest preacher of the late-nineteenth century, who spoke to more than ten million people and led the largest independent church in the world at that time, attributed the fruitfulness of his entire ministry to what he called his ‘Boiler Rooms’. These were prayer rooms—often located in the basement of the building in which Spurgeon was speaking—where people would pray as he preached. Like Moses interceding with his hands held aloft by Aaron and Hur, while Joshua overcame the Amalekite armies in the valley below, Spurgeon’s prayer warriors won countless spiritual battles in those boiler rooms while the great preacher fought the earthly battle for souls from the pulpit above.
Selwyn Hughes
In our Christian life, the greatest thing is not our own prayer-life — vital as that is — but the fact that Jesus prays for us.
Andrew Murray
Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!
Margaret Gibb
We must move from asking God to take care of the things that are breaking our hearts, to praying about the things that are breaking His heart.
Andrew Murray
A sense of the need of souls; a Christlike love in the heart; a consciousness of personal impotence; faith in the power of prayer; courage to persevere in spite of refusal; and the assurance of an abundant reward; these are the dispositions that constitute a Christian an intercessor, and call forth the power of prevailing prayer.
Graham Cooke
What is your perception of God when you pray? Is He inclining His ear toward you, or do you feel as though you have to persuade Him, or trick Him, into listening? If your image of God is that He is interested and delighted in you, your whole prayer life and approach to Him will be changed. You’ll love prayer!
Eugene H. Peterson
The task is not to get God to do something I think needs done, but to become aware of what God is doing so that I can participate in it.
Beth Moore
With great thanksgiving let’s acknowledge God as the Deliverer. He can deliver anyone from anything at anytime. He doesn’t need any help. Yet He invites us to be part of His great work through prayer. If we don’t intercede for one another, we miss opportunities to see His deliverance and thank Him for His faithfulness. I like to call this God’s profit sharing plan. When we pray for one another, we share the blessings when deliverance comes because we’ve been personally involved. Their thanksgiving becomes our thanksgiving.
Selwyn Hughes
In our Christian life the greatest thing is not our own prayer-life — vital as that is — but the fact that Jesus prays for us.