THE HEART OF AN INTERCESSOR

In any service rendered unto the Lord, I have found from the scripture that the condition of the heart is of a great importance and is a key point in determining whether such service is accepted or not. 2 Chronicles chapter 25 talked about Amaziah, who did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart. My prayer for myself and all who are reading this is that God will help us to maintain a clean and perfect heart so that our lives and services might be acceptable unto Him.

In addition to the clean and perfect heart, my concern at this time is the kind of heart that we must possess in order to intercede effectively. It is the kind of heart that our Master Jesus possesses - the compassionate heart; it is the kind of heart that detests the work of our enemy, the devil in the lives of men and therefore readily and willingly jumps into action. It is the kind of heart that sees sinners and situations of the world exactly the way God sees them.

Matthew 9:36 says; "But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd". The next action following this verse was a call to prayer from Jesus to His disciples. (Vs. 37 & 38)

In Mark 8:2 we read; "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat". The outcome of this compassion again was the feeding of the multitude.

Also, when the Bible recorded in John 11:35 that Jesus wept, the reason for that weeping was found in verse 33:
"When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled". This is another act of compassion by Jesus and the outcome was the raising of Lazarus back to life.

For anyone to be able to intercede and intercede effectively, he/she needs this kind of heart. It is the heart that is burdened with the same burden that Jesus bears. It is not a judgmental heart that blames the sinner for the consequence of his sin, makes fun of people who do not know God or enjoys discussion about the dysfunctional system of the world without seeing any reason to take it to the Lord in prayer. God is looking for a heart which burns with passion and compassion that is geared towards kingdom's purpose. Consider the reaction of Nehemiah when he received the news about his nation in Nehemiah 1:4.
"And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven".
Such is the heart that is pliable in God's hand to be used for revival.

Hebrew 1:9 may look as if it is not relevant to this issue, but I believe it is:
"Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows".
What to consider here is what the love of righteousness and the hatred of iniquity would make Jesus do. In the Bible days, this attitude could not be separated from his compassionate heart and that was the drive behind His ministry to populate the Kingdom of God and depopulate hell. To Him, the righteousness of God includes everything that glorifies God. When our compassion reflects the love of righteousness and the hatred of iniquity and of anything that does not glorify God, we get the same result that Jesus got - "the anointing".

It is the anointing that makes the difference, it is the anointing that breaks the yoke, it is the anointing that produces results at the place of intercession, but we must possess the right heart to secure this anointing. For me, this is an issue for prayer. God must work upon my heart because a heart that does not meet the condition described above is too narrow for revival and that is not the category that I wish to belong to. As you read this exhortation, it is my prayer for you that the Holy Sprit will also give you a reason to pray that we might all be effective instruments in His hands.