peace . love . joy

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.

If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.

And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

~ 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

I'm only beginning to see how God is using this mentor-mentee relationship to grow me, to show me how much He loves me, to encourage me for His glory. I still don't know exactly what a mentor-mentee relationship should produce, some say the process of mentoring results in the mentor effectively and metaphorically reproducing himself \ herself, but this I know for sure: this relationship made me purposefully set aside time to listen and learn and share with someone whom I probably would never have done so with. Through her, God invited me to pray for that someone special. Through her, God prepared me to receive Hansel's birthday gift. It seems each time we met for those few three to four hours, God made it count.

Yesterday, she shared with me something really interesting. It's a very simple projection that rests on very simple bases.

You know how God made us all special? With our different eyes we see different things, with our different ears we hear different things, you get the picture. We have different purposes, different goals, different talents and gifts, different burdens we each take special note of and carry. We may change them as we progress through life, we may share another's cares, but none of us are absolutely identical.

Well, one very well-known and most certainly well-taught passages to support our differences is 1 Corinthians 12:12-26. We are different parts of one body, different functions to serve one purpose.

This most certainly applies to us as intercessors, as a people of prayer, as a people whose only means of communicating with our Lord God is through prayer.

We adopt different styles of praying. We may all see one event, but different aspects jump out at us like the blinking lights on a navy radar screen to be prayed for.

There are a very many different "types" of intercessors, none greater than the other. From the "List Intercessor" who happily prays for everything organised on a list, to the "Special-Assignment Intercessor" who prays for individuals or even events; whatever, whenever God nudges them to pray for. From the "Administrative Intercessor" who loves organising prayer sessions, lists, etc., to the "Prophetic Intercessor" through whom God gives information to others. And then there's the "Mercy Intercessor", the "Worship Intercessor", the "Crisis Intercessor", the "Issue Intercessor", the "Nation Intercessor", the "Evangelism Intercessor", the "Warfare Intercessor", the "Flexible Intercessor"...

So many! Some of us may be just one type of intercessor, some of us may be a whole combination. Some of us may remain what we were when we were kids, some of us may shift and "move on" to other styles.

Why does God allow this?
Why can't we each be all at once?

I see two reasons:
In our finite human capabilities and burdens to manage, it is impossible for us to be all at once.
And also, if we were each everything, then there would be no need for all of us; one would suffice.

There might be more reasons, perhaps there are, but that's not what I found interesting.

What I found interesting is this:
By being together, by praying together, we are a complete representation of God's heart.
We pray for all that God's heart is aching for.

Now, isn't that something?

As lovers of God, we aim to please God.
When we pray the Lord's prayer, we say "Your will be done".
In church, we have many ministries to serve many needs that come to our notice.
When we read of King David being known as a man after God's own heart, inside we yearn to be known as he was and is.

All that, maybe even more that has escaped my notice at the moment, is fulfilled, God is pleased and happy when we pray together, for His heart and will is captured in times like these.

It unites us in our differences into one people belonging to God.

All the intercessors of the world, unite! Let us not displease our God. I have seen and heard and felt the heartache of God when He came to me with sadness and it literally broke me. Let us learn to love our God who wants to love us.

Come!