Slinging Stones Part 1: Thoughts on Intercession

Introduction

Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that there is a time for everything under the sun and that God makes everything beautiful in his time. One of the phrases the author pens is, there is a time to gather stones, there is a time to cast (sling) stones. I want to take that verse and consider it from an intercession perspective. Specifically, I want to connect it to the battle of David and Goliath. David gathered stones and, then, slung stones at the giant, causing him to fall.

Before we dive into the Slinging Stones series, let’s get a working definition of intercession. The following thoughts are not what intercession is or is not. There are plenty of exceptional books on prayer that I can recommend—no need for me to try and rewrite them. For our purpose, I am using intercession as the act of meditating. Standing between two subjects in prayer so that they can reunite. But, because Jesus is the great high priest and the mediator of our faith, it is crucial that when we are interceding, we are positioning ourselves with him, aligning our hearts with his heart for the matter or person. As intercessors, the most common obstacles we will face is selfish ambition and control. Those two things quickly derail our hearts from God’s and the matter at hand.

So, I propose this working definition of intercession, “carrying the heart of God between what’s right and what’s wrong.”

In the battle between Israel and the Philistines, David’s position between Goliath and the children of God can be seen as an act of intercession. Actually, two acts. He was reuniting both the rowdy Philistines and a fear-stricken Israel back to Lord. This shepherd boy carried the heart of God and was mediating for both nations to realign with him.

How did this shepherd boy do it? Slinging Stones looks at the heart of intercession from three different places: in the fields, on the mountain, and in the valley. Each place is crucial for the development of an intercessor. In the first chapter, we will consider what prepared David for Goliath. There are necessary things that happen in the fields: silence, space, and small battles. In chapter two, as both nations were camped out on peaks, sending their giants into the valley, we will look at the necessary things that happen on mountains: perspective, protest, and place. To conclude, in chapter three, we see the necessary things that happen in the valleys: stepping out, slinging stones, silencing the enemy.

The fields, mountains, and valleys of our lives are equally important as we develop our hearts for intercession. There is a time to gather stones, to prepare and equip ourselves for battles. There is a time when the need to use our preparation is obvious. And there is a time to sling the stones of truth and justice at our enemy. In doing so, we are standing between what is right and what is wrong, beckoning the wrong to come into alignment with the Father-heart, Creator-heart, Holy-heart of God.

Next Post: Slinging Stones: Things that Happen in Fields

Photo by Scott Webb