Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Prayers of Intercession- Thy Will be Done

My maternal grandmother was a prayer warrior. My parents are warriors in the faith also.

Some of my earliest memories are of going to sleep while hearing my faithful parents beseeching the Creator of the Universe to intervene in the lives of loved ones and friends.

Our heavenly Father created us to intercede on behalf of others. He moves when we petition Him, not because He has any limits or "needs" us. It is us that NEED Him. We need to recognize that outside of Him and His authority there is NOTHING we can do.

Intercession.

It is a gift.
It is a burden.
It is warfare.

I want so desperately to be a MIGHTY warrior for the Kingdom! I want the demons of hell to tremble when I fall to my knees. I want to see God move in our city. I want to be a part of that- praying down the strongholds~ devil knocking, Bible thumping, prayer shouting warrior of God.

I want MORE to seek THE LORD of Hosts~ to seek His Presence, to have Him near.

Yesterday, I was in prayer for several situations.
I had faith! I walked onto my "battlefield" in confidence and had a stance of Victory!

I just knew God was going to intervene and we were going to shout the Victory because I had it all planned out for God. I prayed that He would handle situation A by doing so and so and so and so. I prayed He would take care of situation B by opening those blinded to the error of their pitiful ways.

At the end of the day, this warrior sat on the couch and recounted the days' battles.
God was victorious, but not the way I thought He would be. Honestly, not the way I thought He should be. But I reiterate - He WAS victorious!

This warrior was a little deflated and uneasy about the direction these situations were heading.

I was reminded by my precious family that we pray like Jesus: "Not my will, but Yours, Father".

The night before, we, as a family, prayed together for a situation. Our 16 year old, amazing son, led us in prayer. He prayed for the situation and those involved, expressing his love for the people involved. He closed his prayer with, "And Lord, even if things don't turn out the way we want, we want YOUR will. Your will be done."

My 13 year old, amazing daughter, was next. She prayed over another situation and then that one. She closed with, "May YOUR will be done."

I prayed it too.
But I didn't mean it. Not like they did.

Yes.
I just said that.
I'm not proud, but it is the truth.
What I meant when I prayed, "May Your will be done" was, "Lord, since I just KNOW that Your will is in total agreement with mine, May Your will (that is MY WILL) be done."

How often have I been guilty of "planning" God's victories? How often have I "planned" His course of action according to my agenda?

I am a prayer warrior. Maybe I should say I am a prayer enlistee. I haven't reached the ranks of my grandma or parents yet. I am learning and learning to trust.

Ultimately ~ when the sun goes down at night and I lay my sleepy self in my comfy bed, I know that I know that I know that I know that God is a loving God and He DOES know what is best for everyone ~ even better than I do.

So, part of my Prayers of Intercession is really learning to pray the Word of God which INCLUDES -
"Not my will, but Your will be done."

There is calming peace when we submit, yield and give TOTAL Control to our Omnipotent Creator God.

Do I stop praying?
No WAY!

Do I pray His Will - NOT MINE?
Yes Way!

.... and I will try much harder to really mean, "Not my will, but Your will!"

"Lord, I submit to Your will. I trust in Your will. I welcome Your will. Teach me to accept ALL that You have for me with Grace and Truth.
~Not My Will but Your will be done!"

blessings,
dorinda

3 comments:

Beth in NC said...

What a wonderful, honest post. First, what an honor and blessing to have been raised by praying people! I can't imagine hearing my parents pray on behalf of others.

Second, I think we all pray "Your Will be done Lord" while hoping His Will = our will. Sigh.

Bless you!

LAURIE said...

beautifully said Dorinda. So many times I have prayed "Your Will" but really meant "Do it my way"!

"When we have nothing left but God, then we become aware that God is enough".

I am learning to trust Him and lean upon His understanding (and not mine!)

Anonymous said...

Out of the mouths of babes! Although your kids aren't that young, their hearts express that simple, pure faith. What incredible kids you have!
Thank you for being open - your reading audience like me identifies!