In the summer months, my perennial flowers are in full bloom, each competing with the other for the pride of space! I take note of who’s pushing whom out of the way so that I can cull and transplant the obnoxious culprits to another more favorable spot in the early fall months.

It’s like that with the captious perceptions I have rooted in my way of thinking. My gut reaction is normally to yank out my harsh thoughts, throw them at God’s throne and proclaim to Him, “Hah! What are you going to do about that?” I then usually sling my sanctimonious opinions in His face demanding justice and dictating to Him my desired outcomes.

What if, alternatively, after I wrench out of my psyche these invasive judgmental stances, I repurpose them into the nurturing soil of intercession? What is intercession anyway? I understand intercession to be my disciplinary responsibility to recognize with God’s eyes my rejective inclinations, to cull these aggressively persistent postures, and to pray for new and cleansing perspectives instead. Intercession is the opposite of judging. It’s waking myself up to the point where God enlightens me regarding those on whom I’ve passed judgment, replacing the desire for judgment with the desire for intercessory prayer. This is hard to do. I have to practice, one thought at a time, before God’s assessments become integrally mine.

For whom can you intercede today?