Prayers of Intercession

Introduction

In our first sermon on prayer, we talked about God being used like a Galactic Soda Machine. There is a temptation in prayer to thing it is all about what I want from God. The problem is not the asking. God wants us to ask: Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” The problem is in the heart.

Why do we ask?

Do we ask for God’s glory?

Do we ask for love of others?

Or do we ask because we really want something?

Tonight, we are going to look at one of two types of request prayers: intercession. The other is related to it and that is supplication. We will deal with this one next week. To start let’s define intercession.

Definition

Intercession- the act of praying on behalf of others.

Intercession for others is really what we do when we have our prayer meetings on Wednesday nights. True intercession comes from a heart of love for those we are praying for. It is entering into the needs and lives of others and bearing their burdens with them. We are told in Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” As we take on their burdens in prayer, we are showing our love for them.

Biblical Basis for Intercessory Prayer

When it comes to the Lord’s prayer, the topic of intercession is buried a little deeper than the surface. I believe that it is embedded in phrase like thy will be done in earth and give us. Our prayer in the Lord’s prayer is not merely about my needs.

Matthew 6:9–13 “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

1. Praying for God’s will to be done one earth means praying for God’s will to be done in the lives of the people living on earth. Do you see the connection here? The angels and saraphim all obey the commands of God explicitly, but humans do not. The lord’s prayer is for God to reign on the earth. In a world that opporates that way, earth would become heaven. but the one thing that stands in the way is sinful man. Sin causes suffering and sin causes evil in the hearts of men.

2. It isn’t even primarily about that person but God’s will in their lives. True love wants the best for the other person and the best is God’s will.

Sometimes what we want is not what is best for our lives. I love to eat brownies and ice cream. I’d eat it every day, but if I ask you for some brownies and ice cream every day and you give it to me; it would be fair to say you don’t really want what is best for my life.

3. This type of prayer is not focused on me. How often do we pray in our personal prayer time and the entire prayer focuses on me. What you pray about reveals a lot about your heart.

4. Jesus provides the greatest example of intercession

Romans 8:34 “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”

Hebrews 7:25 “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

Doctrinally verses like these reinforce the trinity because Jesus is beside the father in heaven making intercession for us. Who is he making intercession to? God the father. There is a comfort in this because he has taken on him this role in our lives. Someone is praying for me even if no one else is: Jesus Christ is making intercession for me.

5. It is a sin not to pray for the needs the Lord has laid on you. I do not believe we are obligated to continue to pray for every need possibly on the face of the earth. Prayer time would last forever, but there are relationships and people God brings into our lives who we need to pray for.

1 Samuel 12:23 “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:”

How does not praying for someone amount to sin? You have to ask yourself why wouldn’t I pray for this person? Could it be bitterness? Apathy? Selfishness? If these are the reasons we don’t pray for someone, then yeah it may be sin. This verse is spoken by Samuel when the people have just asked for a king. He could have taken that personally. They were rejecting his authority in their lives. They were making a statement that he wasn’t good enough. So he could have gotten bitter but he didn’t. He continued to pray for them.

Who should we intercede for

1 Timothy 2:2 “For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” authorities

Philippians 1:19 “For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,” ministers

Psalm 122:6 “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: They shall prosper that love thee.” Jerusalem

Job 42:8 “Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.” friends

Romans 10:1 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.” fellow countrymen

James 5:14 “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:”

Jeremiah 29:7 “And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” enemies Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”

2 Timothy 4:16 “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.” those who abandon us, betray us

1 Timothy 2:1 “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;”

Practical Tips for Intercessory Prayer

Pray for those needs that the Lord has laid on your heart to pray for. It might be nice to pray for aunt ruth’s dog corrie, but you don’t have to feel obligated to make that a continual request. It is harder when it comes to people, but there are certain people who are specifically on our hearts. Philippians 1:3–7 “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.”

Pray specifically- How will you know if your request is answered if it is not specific? You might pray bless Bob and then Bob dies. God may have blessed him by taking him to heaven. A lack of specifics often reveals that we have not really entered into the need of that other person. 1 John 5:15 “And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” The words petitions and desired speak of specific tangible requests.

Pray God’s promises back to God dealing with that specific need 2 Peter 1:4 “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Often we lack confidence in God because we fail to understand what he has promised us. This is a struggle that I have and I have been doing a continual study these last few weeks on the promises of God. We need to know what promises are ours and then claim them boldly.

Edward Leigh a Puritan author wrote on the promises of God. I would like to include two quotes to remind us of the promises of God in our intercession:

“As tradesmen sort their commodities, by which they live; so should believers sort their promises upon which they trust”

There are a variety of promises given to us for different things and we ought to be aware of them so we can reinforce our faith and bring them before the throne of grace. He goes on to say:

“He that is in special covenant with God, all that is in God is for him, his truth for security, his love for comfort, his power for his protection, his wisdom for direction. all that is in Christ is his, his love, his graces and his merits…”

God is not a miser with our requests. He isn’t begrudging our every request.

Matthew 7:9–11 “Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”

Psalm 56:8–10 “Thou tellest my wanderings: Put thou my tears into thy bottle: Are they not in thy book? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: This I know; for God is for me.”

There are certain things he has promised that he is eager to give. Sometimes there is a delay and we will talk about that delay in another message, but for now know that God is for you his child. He wants to hear those requests and fulfill his promises.

4. Enter into the experience of their prayer requests- Paul said we are to Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” Intercession allows us to show empathy for them. Do you know the difference between empathy and sympathy? Sympathy is merely feeling sorry for them while empathy is putting yourself in their shoes. When you pray for someone like this you are taking on the burden that they are bearing. You feel the grief and the weight of it. You also feel the joy when an answer comes. This is a call to not play the hypocrite in prayer. Don’t play the part, but to truly take on the needs of those requests before God. Paul described prayer as labor. Colossians 4:12–13 “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis.”

a. He prayed to the point of exhaustion

b. He prayed passionately James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” The words effectual fervent carry with them the idea of energetic or with energy.

Conclusion

The needs of our brothers and sisters are so much more important than merely being read of a list. Thats kind of like the town squire sitting there reading reports to the King (illustrate). Our intercessions should be more like the mother whose son has been taken hostage by bandits who pleads with the King to intercede on his behalf.

We already do intercession quite often, so I guess the challenge tonight is to do it well. Enter into the requests of others and plead their cause before God. Let’s stand.