Intercession Alive

Eph 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (think), according to his power that is at work within us.

Over the years I have had some experiences with our real and live Lord, during these experiences I have heard God speak clearly to me, telling me that he had called me to his ministry, called me to fulfil his purposes, and the first of those experiences was when I was around 15 years of age. I was reading my Bible one night and I heard God say ever so clearly to me,

“Craig, I’m calling you, calling you, calling you”

 I went and spoke about this with the chaplain of the Boys Brigade squad I was part of and told him, “The Lord spoke to me last night, this is what he has said and I know that he has not called me to be a minister or a priest” As soon as I said this I was filled from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet and exploding from within with the revelatory knowledge that I had just told the biggest lie of my life.

From that time on, I knew I was destined to become a minister of some description, that God had called me to be such. However when I turned 18, I turned my back on the Lord and followed wine, women and song and became a drunk and a gambler in the process. During that time I turned back to the Lord on a few occasions and yet the wiles of the world beckoned and the ties to it were stronger and I fell deeper and deeper into it’s hold. And yet I always knew God was there, and I never completely turned my back on him, in times of drunkenness I would call out and scream to the “ Lord where are you, I know you have called me” Once I was at a work mates place and over a few beers told him and my boss and they laughed at me, I even once told a minister the same and he was very doubtful—I can’t say I blame them. But on the way home from my mates place, I was walking I remember talking to God saying God, I know my life is in a mess, I know you have called me to be a minister, but right now I’m in this hole and can’t get out of it, but I do know this, one day I will serve you.

Due to many circumstances the Lord completely broke me into many pieces and I called out to him and he brought me to himself. On March the 17th 1997 I was at church and the offertory came around and I had nothing to put in and I found myself saying I’m sorry Lord I have nothing to give you, then I was flooded with the knowledge that I had nothing to give God anyway, that he had given it all to me, I was stuck to that church pew for 3 hours, not being able to get off it, and when he did, I was radically changed, then 2 weeks later at a Christian camp some Christians prayed for me and God spoke to me powerfully, saying—”Craig it’s time to cry” up till then I had never cried over the death of my father some 4 years previous, and it was killing me inside. My reaction was to say “NO”, and force all that pain down again as it rose up, then God spoke again a second time saying “Craig it’s time to cry” and by then I was shadow boxing under this guys hand and saying no way. God said to me a third time, “Craig it’s time to cry and cry you will” Next minute two big arms came out of the air and wrapped around me giving me this great fatherly hug and I fell to the ground a blubbering mess. Just before my father died he had told me that he regretted never putting his arms around me and telling me he loved me, for the first time in my 27 years of age, he told me this, I couldn’t accept it at the time, and told him we had more important stuff to talk about, how wrong I was, then 4 years later the Lord is breaking through all that pain.

I rolled around the floor of my room for about an hour and a half balling my eyes out, crying from deep within, then after that for another hour and a half I was rolling around the floor belly laughing and the next morning I woke up radically changed for the Lord.

Except for a couple of issues, I had been addicted to pornography and the lord took that away from me but the issues of masturbation and the pictures in the mind were still there. I also had a chronic gambling problem.  I just could not get control over these issues they consumed me, I had prayed and prayed and seeked the Lord and finally one day in May after crying out to the Lord, the minister said, “If any one would like to be prayed for come down the front after the service and we will pray for you”

I went down telling the Lord I wanted to be freed from the grip of this stuff, when the minister prayed a blessing over me, I was thrown backwards to the floor in a most violent way and voices said “Craig get up, we have to go, leave the church with us” - I replied “You have to go, now do so” and 3 shadowy figures rose up out of my body and walked out the church. I got up a few minutes later, not hurt from being thrown to the floor, and released from the grip of the evil one. I can honestly say that since that moment in 1997 I have had no problems with those issues since, praise to our wonderful Lord of whom the Scriptures say, “He who has been set free has been freed indeed”

Since that time I have had a few occasions where I have heard the Lord speak clearly to me, and this is what he has told me.

   On the 4^th of April 2001 I was on the loo and the lord spoke clearly to me. He said to me, “Craig I have raised you up to teach others to pray, you will be invited to speak and teach into the lives of all the churches. I am going to teach you to pray, I will teach you to intercede, I will teach you to be fruitful and effective. You will teach my people how to pray. You will teach my people to pray in relationship with me and not just tag my name on the end of their prayers, but by being in right relationship with me. You will stir my people to prayer, you will stir my people to prayer, and you will stir my people to prayer. I am giving you my authority to cast out devils, I am giving you my mind for knowledge, I am giving you my mind for prophecy and wisdom, all this comes out of being in right relationship with me.

September 2001 the Lord spoke clearly to me saying “that he has raised me up to be a praying man that he would provide for all our needs, that he would build our house and that he wanted me to pray and to raise others up to pray”. (During this time we were looking at buying or building a house and things were getting very messy – we did indeed build our house, the Lord steered us to get a loan from a housing co-op) 

On Sunday 19^th January 2003 again I felt the lord say to me, “I have called you to teach men how to pray” This happened when I was praying to the Lord for some direction in which way to go forward.

·        On Sat 1^st November 2003 at 8:45pm I had been reading Francis Shaffer’s book, “Death in the City” and the Lord spoke to me again about teaching and raising others up to pray, about how God is real and not just a belief, that indeed our Lord is real and tangible and that he craves for our attention, that he is a jealous God.”

  Then on Monday 5^th April 2004 10:30pm, the Lord spoke again to me, he said “Craig I have called you to preach and teach on prayer, I have called you to be a praying man, I have called you to raise others up to pray. You will be successful because I have called you to do it, you are made righteous because of my shed blood on Calvary, you are free and anointed, you will rise up others to pray, you will be a praying man, and others will be taught by you, run with it for I am with you always.

Since that time I have had many people seek me out to pray for them, the Lord has burdened me to pray for many others and to co-ordinate prayer groups and events. During this time I have come to the conclusion that many Christians don’t truly know how to pray and don’ have a bold expectancy of God to truly be able to do immeasurably more than all they ask or imagine (think) and because of it, their walk with the Lord is suffering. Friends we pray to our living God out of the great and glorious relationship we have with him, he hears our prayers, he wants us to come to him and discuss all that is troubling us and caste all our anxieties on to him because he does indeed care for us.

Craig Bennett