The other day I felt to go for a long prayer walk along the beach at Oakura. After about 45 minutes I sat down on a chair that overlooked the ocean and just praised the Lord for a beautiful Autumn’s day and the privilege of being there.
I then noticed at my feet a cigarette butt. I thought of a man I knew who would have dived at this find. He was once a good Christian but through reasons unknown to me, ended up addicted to drugs with no job or money and would often be searching the pavement for cigarette butts. I have been critical of him over the years, for no matter what I have said to him, he has not listened.
The Lord began to speak to me about my attitude in this area and said that this is not what He would do. He would be interceding for him before the Father and not criticising him or making fun of him as I often do. I should be interceding for him as well whenever I think of him and praying in tongues is a wonderful way to do that. I then thought of others who I make jokes about and repented before the Lord.
I have been a lot better in this area over the years and have walked in divine health but felt the Lord say that I need to be even more diligent, not just in what I say about people but in what I think about them too as it is hindering my prayers.
On the way home I drove past a road sign that I had never seen before, that was the name of the person who the Lord had been speaking to me about. I knew that this was a sign from the Lord and I had to take it seriously.
To confirm that this was from the Lord, my reading the next day from ‘Best of Bob Gass’ was called ‘Intercession or Condemnation’ from Isaiah 58:9 it says;
“You will call, and the Lord will answer… If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness."
Are there prayers in your life that are not being answered? Do you call out to Him but it seems like He is turning a deaf ear? Is your healing not coming? Are you not getting the light you need? Do you wonder why you seem to have more troubles following you than blessings? Maybe this is the reason.
I believe that many Christians are too critical of others. They think they have a mandate from the Lord to be ‘God’s Policemen,’ pointing out the faults of the Church, the Government, the system and everything else that’s going wrong. Even this morning I saw a reel on my Facebook page criticising Hill Song, Brian Houston, Bill Johnson and everyone else that they don’t like.
I would like to find out if this so called ‘prophet’s’ prayers are being answered. Is it sour grapes? Many Christians are bound by the Devil for they have a yoke in their lives called "The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness." God promised through Isaiah that our lives would change radically when we remove this yoke.
There are two ministries which go on continually before the throne of God. One is intercession; and the other is accusation. Jesus lives to intercede for His people, and if you abide in Him, you will intercede for them too. (Hebrew 7:25).
Satan, on the other hand, is "the accuser of the brethren" (Revelation 12:10). When you give him access to your life, you'll find yourself becoming increasingly critical of others. You've got to make a choice of which of these ministries will be yours.
How can Satan continually accuse the saints before God, if he's been thrown out of heaven? The answer is that he uses the saints to do it for him. Any time you see one brother accusing another, Satan is at work.
I don’t like many things about the system, the government, our leaders and even what the Church is doing today. However, I need to ask myself. “What would Jesus do?” I believe He would be interceding for them and not criticising them and so should we.
Our pointing of the finger is causing many Christians to remain in poverty, sickness and oppression, constantly dogged with troubles for we are unwittingly opening the door for Satan to taint our lives.
The Lord has also said in Psalm 1:1 that we are not to sit in the seat of mockers.
“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.”
I find that I really need to watch myself when watching television ‘Reality Shows,’ for I set myself up as a judge criticising and mocking people who don’t come up to my standard. Instead of giving my pennies worth I should be interceding for them. I enjoy Lego Masters but it upsets me that in every new season they have to have a gay couple. They are pushing an agenda. I feel again the Lord saying, “stop criticising them and pray for them that they might see the light.”
The question I want to ask you today is. ‘Intercession or accusation’: which ministry is yours? I can guarantee you that your life will change for the better if you think and speak more words of life. Proverbs 18:20
