Editor’s Note
by Editor(s)

Intercession. We talk and write about it. This magazine is named for it. It is, we believe, the very heartbeat of the Christian life, the reason God created us as vessels to contain Himself, to "fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ." Christ hung on the cross for our salvation, to pay for our sins; next for our sanctification, that through our participation in His death and resurrection, we might be freed from our bondage to the spirit of Satan and united to His Spirit, that "as He is, so are we in this world"; and finally, we willingly take up our cross for others, so that death works in us, but life in them.

If this is God’s purpose for us, to be available for Him to intercede for a dying world through us, is there a way to step into this truth by faith? How can we be receptive to death? The book Alcoholics Anonymous says there are three essentials to recovery: willingness, honesty, and open-mindedness. And of course we know that for us, recovery means living as God intends, in right relationship with Him, our-selves, and others. This demands the destruction of self-centeredness, and as Rees Howells asked himself, "How can self be willing to give up self?"

It seems that the first application of these three essential requirements is toward ourselves: we must be willing to look at ourselves, honest about what we see and open-minded enough to accept what we find. As Norman explains in Rees Howells Intercessor, "But before He can lead a chosen vessel into such a life of intercession, He first has to deal to the bottom with all that is natural," that is, all that is self-for-self. And of course, willingness to see demands willingness to act, to confess our sins and make restitution. Only then can we be receptive to His laid down life being lived through us. We are willing, "for it is God who works in us both to will and to do"; we can be honest because we have been forever separated from the "liar from the beginning," the spirit of error, and now are united to the spirit of truth; and we are open-minded about what God might require during an intercession, because He has not given us the spirit of fear. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, replacing fear at what God is doing with faith that He can only do the highest and best for every human being. As Norman says, "the only sin is unbelief, questioning the kind of person God is." He knows what He is about, and He is total love for His universe.

So we no longer question God’s character–"Why is this happening to me?" or our own nature-"I can’t do this, it’s too hard." No. Our will is a conduit for God’s will. His strength is made perfect in our weakness: His I can swallows up our I can’t. We are directed by spirit, not soul. We move in by faith to the fact about ourselves; we are transmitters of His life, by way of His suffering in and through us. A high calling and privilege.