ESOCS Devotional 22 October 2023 – The Intercessor
MEMORY VERSE: “O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!” Habakkuk 1:2
TEXT: HABAKKUK 1:1-14 (KJV)
The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.
4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not their’s.
7 They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
8 Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.
9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.
10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.
11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.
12 Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.
13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
The intercessor is a negotiator who acts as a link between parties. The link could be peace talk, business talk, marriage talk and estate/inheritances share talks or prayers. The intercessor who is the negotiator makes sure that at the end of the process the required or desired result is achieved.
Habakkuk was a prophet by God. That ministered when Judah suffered her death throes. When God sent punishments to the nations of Judah to deal with their iniquities, trespasses and worshipping of Idols. God punished them by using nations, He said in verse 6 that “for, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter, and hasty nation, which shall match through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.” The purpose of raising this nation and what they will do as described in this verse is to punish Judah.
So, Habakkuk seeing all these went into prayer for Judah. The prayer seemed double folded: prayer to rescue Judah from sin and revive the nation. And also, prayer rescue Judah from the instrument used to punish her for the iniquities and transgressions against God.
The great point was that Habakkuk the prophet was a witness to the happenings in Judah and took the matter to where solutions can be gotten, that is, to God. He made presentations to God, he engaged God in his apparently no response to his cry, and we can see that in verse 2. When God responded that for the evil prevalent in Judah, He will bring the Chaldeans to punish Judah, Habakkuk went into another round of argument and plea to God in verse 13, that He is of a purer eye than to behold evil. How can an evil nation used to punish a sinning nation?
We as children of God in addition to winning souls to God are also expected to be or function as intercessors. There are so much evil in the land or in the world. And these evils are creeping into the church as well. God needs men that will rise up as intercessors and cry out to God against these evils.
Intercessors are very important. They are the priests that will make the work of soul winning easier. Let us look at the following scriptures to see the power and importance of the role of an intercessor.
Luke 10:2: “Therefore said he unto them, the harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest!”
Ephesians 6:18-20: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds; that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
- Beloved, what is stopping you from joining the band of intercessors?
- Father LORD God, help me to submit myself to you for this function of an intercessor. That my knees will be an instrument of spreading glory across the land.
FURTHER READING: 2 Samuel 1:17:27; Habakkuk 1:1-14: James 1:1-17; Revelation 22:1-7
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ESOCS Devotional 22 October 2023
