Tag: representative

Selfless Prayer

Carl Pollard

Our prayers can have a tendency to be self centered. Whether we mean to or not, our prayers can end up being all about our problems and needs. God wants to help us, but prayer is so powerful we should be thrilled at the ability we have to pray to God for others. 

Do you believe in the power of prayer? Do you love others? Mention them by name to God. There’s nothing greater you could do than to thank God for His children by name. Take the church directory, scroll through and pray for each family by name. If we all did this, there would be blessings on end. 

Jesus was not selfish with His prayers. In John 17 Jesus prays for His disciples. There is so much love in the words He spoke. He prayed for their faith, their strength, their work. He prayed for us who would believe in the teachings of the apostles. He prayed that they would persevere, that they would have unity, He prayed for growth. He spent time in prayer over the ones He loved. And that includes us! 

He continues to pray for us today. Hebrews 7:25 gives us the most encouraging news about our Savior. Jesus has made it His constant purpose to pray for you and me. 

“He.” Jesus stands in the gap making petitions to God on my behalf. He is our representative. He is our mediator in salvation and our mediator in heaven.

“Always.” Permanence and authority are in the role that Jesus plays. Jesus never stops praying for us. He is always at our disposal before the throne of heaven pleading our case and sharing our cause with the Father.

“Lives.” Jesus is alive to fulfill his role. His resurrection proves that Jesus is alive, but what is he doing with all that time at his disposal? He is praying for you and me. Christ’s life in heaven is his prayer for us.

“To intercede.” The word means “to meet, to approach, to appeal, to make petition. Intercession involves our Lord’s representation of his people at the throne of God. Through Christ, believers are able to draw near to God in prayer. Sometimes I do not know what to pray or even how to pray, but Jesus does. He goes before the Father with my concerns. Jesus always knows how to pray as He should.

The prayer life of Jesus…that’s a humbling study. He goes above and beyond what I have ever done. Throughout the gospels we find a prayerful Savior. Prayed over food (Matt. 14:19-21). Prayed in stress (John 17). Prayed alone (Mark 1:35). Prayed often (Luke 5:16). Prayed for others (John 17:9).

He Prayed with His Heart. Jesus gave His all. And He continues to give today! 

“How Does The Spirit Indwell The Christian?” (Or, Some Guys Just Love Trouble)

One of my favorite preachers (taken during his younger days) (CAN YOU GUESS WHO THIS IS?)

Neal Pollard

The controversy preceded my birth.  Wendell Winkler was the first man I remember talking about the Open Forum, spirited debate between Gus Nichols and Guy N. Woods over how the Holy Spirit indwells the Christian.  In those days, despite the vigor with which each man presented his view, the matter was not seen as divisive or worthy of a breach in fellowship. So long as the Spirit’s Deity was not denied or so long as one did not believe that the Spirit miraculously or directly operated upon the heart of an individual to convert or exert His will upon that one, the “how” was not seen as crucial.  I remember that many of my role models, Wendell Winkler, Hugo McCord, William Woodson and Roy H. Lanier, Jr., on one side and Franklin Camp, V.E. Howard, and Winfred Clark on the other, loved each other and worked together despite their divergent view on how the Spirit dwells in us.

 

Society as a whole has become more rancorous and divisive.  Turn on talk radio or cable news shows and you will see partisan bickering that approaches “media rage” levels.  At times, God’s people have adopted such tactics and attitudes.  While I was taught the representative view growing up, I have adopted the view that the Spirit non-miraculously, but personally, indwells God’s children.  Some of my dearest preaching friends maintain the representative view, but we love and work alongside each other.  Yet, there are some who seem to be utterly consumed with one extreme or another on this matter.  Right here, I am not referencing those who claim direct Spirit guidance apart from the Word, who seek the Spirit as proof or defense of their making decisions or moves that conflict with written revelation.  I mean those who are arguing for how the Spirit indwells.  These men have spent an inordinate amount of time, money, and energy and have troubled and even divided congregations of God’s people.

 

Every preacher’s personal life and work as a preacher will be audited by the perfect, Divine Auditor some day.  Will it be the case that some have been so issue-oriented that they left undone the weightier matters of the law–to include not just justice and mercy and faithfulness but also evangelism, edification, and enlistment?  That very thought should humble all of us to the core and give us pause as we reflect on what kind of stewards we are of our charge as gospel preachers.  The same principle applies to whatever hobby horses we chase and what kind of attitude we display while riding them.  We used to be warned in school that “you can be right and be wrong.” Let us be careful that, in trying to show the world or our brethren that our view is right, we do not find ourselves in the wrong!