Serving Bread

(Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V) (The article in its entirety is found in the Resources section)

BEST PRACTICES

As I mentioned in the footnote above, there are many definitions for intercession and this paper is by no means a final or complete word on the subject. My hope through this paper is to articulate and clarify how intercession can inform our calling in ministry and how the lack of intercession can defeat us.

Here are some practical ways that have aided my intercession:

• Read the Bible: The more I read the Bible, the more I know the character and heart of God. I am better at connecting with God when I know him.
• Keep a journal: I keep a journal where I record my joys and disappointments. This gives me a record of what is irritating me and what is propelling me to joy.
• Be real: Work hard not to explain away or avoid disappointments. I want to experience the disappointment for what it is. The more I can recognize the disappointment, the more equipped I feel in connecting with God and asking him for transformation. By expressing my feelings toward the disappointment, I am able to better articulate the pain I feel and why I want God to bring change. Disappointment may be the most valid emotion when we confront the realities of the world. Avoiding it will not help us articulate how we need God’s transformation in our lives and our situations.
• Ask for input: I am not as self-aware as I would like. Having people speak into my disappointments and realities, allows me to recognize if I am avoiding my problems and disappointments, or engaging them, which then propels me back into intercession.
• Struggle with God: By entering into intercession, I find myself praying and struggling with God for wisdom. I like the picture of Jacob who wrestles until the Lord gives him a blessing. Our best intercession, and best engagement with the world, will come when we’re persevering and wrestling in need of direction.
• Believe the word: When God gives us a word, we need to believe and act on that word. That word can be a word of hope in the midst of empirical data that suggests otherwise. Faith is to believe and act on that word.

EPILOGUE

Intercession is an important and necessary practice that will lead us closer to God’s heart and vision. Without the practice embedded in our lives, we will allow disappointment to have the final word and it will shape our decisions. With it, we will experience new life and inspiring vision to engage our calling.

Disappointment is an expected emotion in ministry. People will disappoint us and our ministry contexts may often seem fruitless and bleak. We have a choice to respond to disappointment by turning to God or by turning to hopelessness. Hopelessness will invite defeatism and death into our spiritual lives. But when we turn to intercede, we invite ourselves to be shaped by God.

Ultimately, our calling will be shaped by God or by the emotional and spiritual death in our lives. A calling that is not rooted in God will have little faith for transformation in our world.

Disappointments in my life brought despair, cynicism and death. My faith was shaken and vision for people was uninspiring. I believed less and less in a God that would bring transformation and almost left ministry as a vocation. But when I chose to turn to God in intercession and receive promises and words that are from God, I experienced a renewed sense of calling into a world full of despair. The road to death invites us to receive our calling from the world. The road to life invites us to receive our calling from God. Ultimately, only God’s voice will inspire a calling that is compelling and powerful that will believe in God’s transforming power in our world.

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