Intercessory
prayer is another way of saying you are praying for someone else. It’s that simple. Sometimes you hear the word intercessor. That’s what the person is called that is
praying for someone else; praying on their behalf.
There is also a
phrase of this type of thing referred to as, “standing in the gap.” It is the connecting part between
acknowledging God and the person you are praying for, or a situation you are
praying about. This phrase comes from
the Bible verse in Ezekiel 22:30 “ I
looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the
land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn't have
to destroy the land, but I found no one.” NLT
We know that God
loves us and wants to have us to talk to Him.
There is
more.
There is a call
to pray not only for ourselves and to converse with Him, but to lift others in
prayer before Him that need His hand in their lives or situations. This is where our relationships, our
placement in life and in the lives of others, our individual interests and
compassions come into great purpose.
There is only one
you. Only you know the people you know
in the ways of relationships that you have.
Only you have been given an interest and compassion in certain ways
based on your own circumstances, places you’ve lived and point of view. These are all areas God can use for great
purposes through you and you alone.
Over 20 years ago
I heard about a young mom whose baby girl had an emergency situation and needed
to be taken by an ambulance. She shared
how she had always prayed for ambulances when she saw them. She would pray for the people needing them,
the people that were giving medical care and prayers for the driver. She found herself on an ambulance with her
little girl and she thought how surely there were others praying for them as
they traveled in route to the hospital.
It gave her comfort.
I was moved by
this. I had never thought to do this and
it changed me. I became an avid prayer
person this way. I prayed for the
ambulances as I thought of her story. I
began praying for the people in the hospitals as I would drive past them. I especially prayed for children that I saw
outside or when I drove by schools. God
had given me a heart for children. This
was part of the way I was made.
My mom would
always pray when she saw an airplane overhead.
We lived near a major airport and the planes are frequent. She prayed for the passengers thinking of
their business or family visits, vacations or maybe a need to see someone that
was sick or attend a funeral. She
thought and prayed for a lot of situations.
She also prayed for the pilots and flight attendants.
I have heard some
pretty great stories of people being able to pray for others or change a life
towards God while they flew next to someone on an airplane. Sometimes I wonder if God also partnered with
someone on the ground through their prayers.
These are some
things you can pray for based on the way you are created; the things that
trigger you. We didn’t know who we were
praying for, but we prayed. Some people
pray for government because they are politically minded. Some think and pray for soldiers, some for
truck drivers, some for teachers and some when they pass by nursing homes.
One woman walked along a sidewalk in front of
my parents’ house. My dad was
outside. His house was for sale and the
For Sale sign was up. The woman spoke to
him and told him that she always prays for the houses she sees that are for
sale. She prays for a sale, for blessed
buyers and blessed sellers and that God would make good homes for them both and
she would be praying for his.
There are endless
ways to pray and things to pray about. I
have learned that when someone comes to mind, I will pray for them. It is a lot more fun to tell them that I was
praying for them than to say I was thinking of them. Sometimes I don’t see that person, but later
hear that they had been going through something where prayers were needed. God loves to partner with us in ways that He
is moving. When we act on them, it helps
build our faith.
There were a
couple of ways that God showed me how He was partnering with me in what He had
planned and was doing. I didn’t know
them at the time, but just prayed.
I mentioned
earlier that I had a tender heart towards children. While I was in the car one morning driving to
work, I saw a little boy outside by the street corner. He was dressed like one of the characters of
The Blues Brothers. He was a plump
little boy and he had on a hat and sunglasses and he was holding a
saxophone. His mom was taking his
picture by the street sign.
I began praying
for him and my prayers took off in the Spirit.
It was so strong as I prayed and I wondered why I cared so much in the
Spirit about the little boy whom I had never met.
My daughter was
18 years old and started dating a guy that she met from the swim team that she
helped assist on at her high school. He
wasn’t a Christian and she made it clear to him that church was important to
her and so was her faith. She told him
that if he wanted any part of her life, he would have to come to church with
her. He agreed and would come and sit
with her and our family each Sunday.
During one of the
worship songs, it really moved him. He wanted to have a life in Christ and
became a follower of Jesus. The song
playing that moved him to this decision was “LORD, Reign In Me.” It meant so much to him that he even got a
tattoo on his arm with a cross and “Reign In Me” written on it.
One day, my
daughter and her boyfriend were talking about when they were little. He shared how he had been really short and
chubby like our daughter had been in middle school. It was funny because he was now 6’4 and very
thin. She went and got her pictures of
herself and he went home to get his. We
looked through the stack and there was a photo of him dressed as a Blues
Brother with a saxophone standing by the street sign. It was the snapshot of the photo I saw taken
years before on that same street!
He was the little
boy! He was who Jesus cared so much for
and had me partner in prayer for him.
Not only did the LORD love him, but He showed His love for me by showing
me His power and love and to strengthen my faith in prayer. He has given me this story to share with others,
too.
The young man and
my daughter later ended their relationship, but he continued to come to our
church and often sat with our family. He
frequently played his saxophone with the worship/music team at the church
services and for special programs.
Later, he gave his testimony in front of the church congregation of how
he came to Jesus through the music of that church and the insistence of a girl
he was dating that his only access to her was if he came to church.
Later, he married
a friend of our daughter’s who attended that church, too. God is good and He has a plan and He invites
us to participate in what He is doing through the beautiful ability to pray
with the breath that He has given us.
Our lives matter and He gives purpose to our breath by His Spirit.
Another example
that God showed me His hand in nudging me to pray was revealed to me more
quickly. I was waiting to go inside a
Bible bookstore. It hadn’t opened yet
and would in 15 minutes. I decided to
wait in my car and I decided to ask God who He wanted me to pray for while I
waited for it to open. The LORD said,
“Tim Pawlenty.” He had been our
Minnesota Governor the previous term. I
wasn’t one that was ever into our state government and people. I was surprised by his name and knew I
certainly didn’t think that up myself. I
asked the LORD how He wanted me to pray for him; politically, personally,
family? God said, “All of it.” So, I did.
I prayed for those 15 minutes and then I noticed that two boys got
inside the store so I knew the doors were now open.
I walked into the
store through the first set of doors and then opened the set that opened
straight into the store. In Minnesota, we have
double sets of doors to help keep the cold out.
As I watched my step over the threshold, I looked up just as I got
passed it. There was this tower built
like a pyramid out of books from the floor to six feet tall. It was built out of one book and on the cover
it read, “’Courage to Stand’ by Tim Pawlenty” and a big picture of his smiling
face! I was shocked and jolted and
bought the book! I was excited as I told
the cashier what had just happened and she sort of looked at me like I was
nuts. It wasn’t the reaction I was
expecting in a Bible Bookstore, but I didn’t care. I grabbed my book and raced home and kept
praying for him. Three weeks later, he
announced his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States. He ran for office for a while and God
continued to prompt me to pray for him.
Even after he announced his resignation from the race, God continued to
have me pray as he transitioned into his next role.
God is
amazing. He does so much when we open
our lives and our everyday to Him as we really walk with Him and breathe Him in
and know how much He loves us. He’s
powerfully active and He puts us in the places that He desires for purpose…His
purpose.
I mentioned how
cold Minnesota
is. It is brutally cold. I don’t like the cold. I love heat and humidity and I often wondered
why God had me live here. This last
Easter time I was in Florida
visiting my parents and enjoying a beach vacation with them at their place. I
was doing my usual complaining, wondering why on earth God would have me live
in Minnesota while I believed that I was made for Florida as I sat sunning on
the beach.
A friend of my
Mom’s listened to me and he looked down at me lying there as he towered over
and said, “You aren’t in Minnesota for you, you’re in Minnesota for God.” Wow!
He silenced me in a flash! Like lightning. I remember my Mom’s mouth dropping open along
with mine.
These were strong, powerful words that I will
not soon forget. So, here I sit, typing
during a blizzard and hearing thunder at the same time in the middle of April. But, I’m here for Him and my purpose, my
place, my relationships and my interests are all used with the incredible life
God has given me to know Him more and to bless others through Him by my own
life and God-given breath. Where are
you? You have much to do there. You have been created for more.
When God decides
to reveal why He had you pray, it builds your faith. Your praying does so much to build your own
faith when you act in obedience and He shows you later why you were moved to
pray.
A beautiful thing
happened right at this point of writing.
I had wrapped up writing for the day and thought of a friend of
mine. I decided to pray for her and I
let her know that I did and was thinking of her. She responded with gratitude and thanked me
as a friend, as a sister in faith and teacher.
She went on to say that what I had taught about praying for others when
they come to mind, in practice, had given her a joy and peace like none
other. She thanked me for teaching her
that. Not only was she blessed by my
prayers, but the return was exactly what I needed! Her words encouraged me at this exact time of
writing on this exact subject! It
affirmed my current work and at times, in all honesty, when you are in the
midst of a project you feel you are being obedient to God for, you sometimes
wonder, in the amount of effort and no knowledge of any good of it, if it was
really for Him after all? God blessed me
through her words. I had not known that
she had ever grasped that part of anything I had ever said before, taught or
wrote. It blessed me with a new
certainty in the writing and the time commitment that it has taken in research,
prayer and effort in placing the words together. God loves to weave within our lives and
create and prove His undeniable presence amidst our lives in precise, perfected
timing.
(I am writing
this portion later. This woman that I
felt led to pray for and she responded back in ways of encouragement was only
three weeks from passing away. Those
were the last words I ever heard back from her.
I knew she was ill, but had no idea how far the cancer had gone. I went to see her a few days before she
died. She was unable to respond or
communicate. I prayed love, gratitude
for her life and her encouraging words she gave for so many and for blessing on
her and peace. What she had given
without speaking of her own troubles was an incredible generosity.)
Intercession,
praying for others, is a ministry of divine appointment. Esther 4:14 “For if you remain silent at this
time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but
you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come
to royal position for such a time as this?”
Esther is a book about intercession.
Even in silence
there could be death. Speaking in
Esther’s case, was the only hope for life.
Through a series
of miraculous favor, Esther was given the position of Queen. All along the way was her cousin,
Mordecai. She had been an orphan and
Mordecai cared for her and brought her up.
When she became Queen, he sat at the gates of the Kingdom observing and
watching over all that was happening to Esther.
He was keeping watch. They were Jews and at that time, were thought of
as lowly. The King was not aware of
Esther’s lineage.
Mordecai
overheard the plans of an evil right hand man of the King’s named Haman. Mordecai informed Esther of Haman’s plan and
the King proclaimed what Haman had wanted… the killing of all of the Jews. Mordecai plead with Esther to help save the
people. Only she had access to the
King. Esther then told Mordecai to tell
all of the people to fast for three days while she prayed and prepared for what
she must do. She was to approach the
King without having been invited. This
could be reason alone for death in those times.
As Mordecai
interceded for the people in asking Esther for her help, Esther in turn asked
for the interceding of the people to help her by prayer and fasting. Mordecai’s famous words ring on often in the
ways of purpose; “For who knows that you have come to royal position for such a
time as this.” Prior to these words he
said and if you do not do this God will save the Jews through another way, but
you and your household will perish.
This means that
God’s plan will take place. He will keep
His people safe and will not let them come to complete destruction. But, if she does not step in, she herself has
lost her own life in the way of disobedience and not trusting God as she serves
Him. She loses the testimony of His
salvation and greatness and therefore, would have no heritage of faith to pass
on to her children and family.
Some of my own
legacy comes from the knowledge of the prayers and faith of my great
grandparents. It is known among all of
the great grands and the great-great grand children that our great-great
grandmother prayed for her children, her children’s children, their children
after them and so on. The knowledge of
her words of faith and prayers to carry into generations are carried in our
hearts and minds as we, too, have learned to pray that way. She spoke it out. We know other family members prayed and
believed and showed actions of faith, but her words spoken are known to us and
easy to carry with us.
As Esther
listened to Mordecai regarding this she said, Go, gather all the Jews to be
found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three
days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will
go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish Esther
4:16 ESV
Esther showed
that she cared more for her people and believing and walking in faith. Doing what was right in her faith and spirit
was more important than a physical death.
Some versions of this say, “If I die, I die.”
Esther 5:1 On the
third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the
palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne
in the hall, facing the entrance. 2When he saw Queen Esther standing in the
court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in
his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
There are traits
here that I see in coming before God like coming before His throne in
prayer. We have seen verses that say
because of what Jesus did for us, we can now come boldly and confidently before
Him. Isaiah 61:10 “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul
rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and
arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a
priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” Esther used her position as Bride and adorned
herself before coming to the throne. So
has Christ’s intercession for us become the garments of salvation and a robe of
righteousness.
Esther 7:3-4 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found
favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life—this
is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4For I and my people
have been sold for destruction and slaughter and annihilation. If we had merely
been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such
distress would justify disturbing the king.
. Here we see in
Esther her distress. She would not have
bothered the king with something they could have endured and suffered through,
but it was the things that would be unbearable that she asked for mercy in.
Reading in Mark,
we observe Jesus going before God the Father prior His crucifixion. He brought Peter, James and John with Him to
be the watch for Him, His intercessors as He was about to intercede for us.
Mark
14:33-35 33He took Peter, James and John
along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34“My soul
is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here
and keep watch.”
35Going a little farther, he fell to the
ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36“Abba,
Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet
not what I will, but what you will.”
Jesus fell to the
ground before God in prayer and anguish for what was to come. He prayed His requests and used His position
of Son as He called God, “Abba, Father.”
But, He held God
in authority and showed that He would follow His will.
Jesus saw that the ones that He had asked to
watch over Him while He prayed had fallen asleep again. This can also be seen in a metaphor as people
that believe in Jesus, but fall asleep in the efforts of prayer and watching
out for others fall asleep at the requests of God in this respect. We are
easily tempted by our own desires and distractions and remaining prayerful and
watchful has great importance to keep us from temptations. Mark 14:37-38 Then
he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to
Peter, “are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38Watch and pray
so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body
is weak.”
Our strength
comes from a relationship with God.
Often we want that, but don’t do a very good job and doing the things
necessary for it.
We need to pray.
These are Characteristics of
Intercessors.
We can see this
in Esther’s example and Jesus’.
Selflessness and
self discipline
Obedience
Persistence and
determination
Patience
Faith
Spirit placed
burden
Love for others
Willing to give
up one’s self for God’s will/Sacrifice
It sometimes involves
fasting and some examples of that are found in Deuteronomy 9, Ezra 10, Daniel
9, Joel 2 and Jonah 3, Matthew 4
As a group of
believers join together, the prayer and fasting time together can open more of
God’s work and power. Again, this is
part of our relationships. Isaiah 62:6-7
I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give
yourselves no rest,7 and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and
makes her the praise of the earth.
Jesus didn’t call
just one to “watch,” but three, when He prayed in Gethsemane. He drew upon their close relationship to Him
and one another and that together, He expected them to be strong.
As people that
have been asked to pray or have a desire or nudge to pray for someone, you are
called. It is an appointment into a role
that you were called to do. If you have
ever thought of someone and shortly later saw them or heard something about
them, you have been nudged by His Spirit.
Some call it intuition, but it is placed upon you by your Creator.
It is part of His
power and your purpose.
We need to open
ourselves up to this and use it for the great good of those promptings and
nudges. You are appointed to
service!
To those that
have prayed for others: You are the ones
carrying the beggars, blind and lame for you hear Him and know Him and follow
His ways. The Lord has given you eyes to
see and ears to hear. This call is for a
purpose far greater than you can know.
If you haven’t
prayed in this way for others, follow those promptings. It is the beginning of learning how to walk
by His Spirit. Believe that the prayers
open wide His door of blessings to come.
His Kingdom waits for the requests of its people.
There was a time
that was hard for me to step in and pray.
I was at a conference and the speaker sat on a stool on the stage. There were around 700 people present. I strongly sensed the LORD telling me to go
up and place a hand on him and speak a short prayer over him. God told me what I was to say. It was only three sentences long.
I started to
panic and didn’t want to do it and then questioned if God really wanted me to
do that! It seemed ridiculous, not to
mention incredibly embarrassing! A man
in front of me had been rocking side to side for more than 10 minutes. I was irritated by it and had wished for a
while that he would stop, but to no avail.
As I thought of this absurd request, I said to God in my mind, “Okay,
LORD. If that is really You, make that
man stop.” I had not even sounded the
“p” out in my mind for “stop” and he stopped!
My heart pounded in my chest and I KNEW I had to go forward. Once again, in a panic of knowing His
instruction, I told God my part of the conditions. I can be dangerously bold sometimes and He
could have not helped, but by His grace and His desire for me to act, He
acted. I told Him, “You are going to HAVE to
tell me when to go and do it.”
The speaker went
into a prayer time where we all prayed quietly to ourselves. Then he started singing, “Arise, my child,
arise.” It was soft and sweet and
gentle. I knew that was my cue. I got up.
I kept my head down the whole way up, so embarrassed and hoping no one
knew me. I didn’t know if he had people like guards or bouncers that would grab me and pull me away, or if he would tell me to
get down from the stage, or get upset with me approaching. I walked up the stairs, placed my hand on him
and said the words. He looked up at me
with the kindest and warmest smile.
I quickly turned
away after I said it and over and over again, I heard him say as people were
still quietly praying, “Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus.” Whatever it
was, it was between him and Jesus. I
never found out why or what, but I knew Jesus did something in that moment for
him. I couldn’t wait to get out of
there. I was still embarrassed, but my
desire to do as God asked was stronger than my desire to not obey. Our words are powerful. Whatever it was that I said to him mattered a
lot to him as God used me to communicate in another way to him, God’s love.
I shared this
incident to some women that I was teaching.
Another woman shared a time when she was asked by the LORD to do
something weird. She was led to pray
for someone that was leading and to go to that person’s feet and pray over
them. She did it. After the prayer time broke up, the woman
next to her said to her that she had that same nudge to do that, but she didn’t
do it. It is an example that God’s
desires will take place, but we have the choice to partner with Him or
not.
Had either one of
us not been in regular relationship with the LORD in prayer, it would have been
easy to not have acted. Many of us would
wish that we would do such a thing, with the Spirit being willing, but our
flesh is weak. My weakness was still
prominent as I put conditions up for God to answer in order to make me feel
confident enough to do it. Our flesh IS
weak! We need His help! He often helps to help us to believe.
Not everyone God
calls you to pray for know Him. God will
prompt us to pray for people that don’t know Him or for people that are in the
midst of wicked lives. He welcomes the
hands of the wicked to be made clean. It
is His heart. Don’t let a criticism for
their life keep you from being opened to those nudges. Keeping yourself from judging or being
critical opens you up to the fullness of love and serving that Jesus
intended. It is why the lifestyle of
forgiveness is so important. Forgiveness
is a humbling of yourself. When you are
humbled you are compassionate to the struggles of others.
Believe that the prayers open wide His door of
blessings to come. The person you are
praying for may not have ever had a prayer lifted on their behalf before
God.
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