INTERCESSORY PRAYER

-{1 Timothy 2}

-As part of our discipleship on Wednesday nights I have been concentrating on the spiritual disciplines. As I talk about the disciplines, there are probably disciplines that seem to come more naturally to some people than others. God has given us a certain bent, so we might excel at some of the disciplines while we struggle at other disciplines. However, that is not an excuse to ignore the other disciplines.

-For example, I am naturally bent to read and learn. If it was left up to me, I probably would read the Bible and theology books all day long. For others, that sounds like the most drab, boring thing that they could ever conceive. So, I have that bent toward reading and studying. But I really have to buckle down to pray. Even though during my reading I do shoot up prayers in response to what I have read, to have an extended time of prayer takes effort and concentration. For others, it’s nothing to sit/kneel/stand and have that prayer time with God. That’s their bent.

-I just mention all of this as I continue tonight talking about prayer because I am encouraging myself to do it and keep at it, and hope the same for you. Tonight I want to talk about a certain type of prayer, and that is intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer means to offer prayer on behalf of others or on behalf of current situations. Intercessory prayer is the time when you make petitions to God for other people and situations outside of yourself. It may be (like we do on Wednesday nights) have prayer for others because of illness, death in the family, financial needs, spiritual needs, etc. Or it could be a prayer for a situation, such as praying for the nation in the midst of this crazy election year. So, a big part of prayer is outside of our own bubble.

-A book that I read that helped me get a good grip on the importance of this type of prayer is Revival Praying by Leonard Ravenhill. The majority of Ravenhill’s preaching and writing was about revival, the need for revival, preparing for revival, etc. But he would look to the movement of God in the past in revival as case studies for what can be done and should be done in the present. So, in this book he had a chapter where he spoke of men of great intercessory prayer.

-So, for some examples, Ravenhill wrote about the prayer of a man named John Hyde. It was said that Hyde wouldn’t leave God’s presence, be it for 40 minutes or 40 hours, until the Holy Spirit gave him an answer to his prayer—a definitive yes or no. Ravenhill wrote of a particular instance of Hyde’s power in intercessory prayer. The Presbyterian evangelist, John Wilbur Chapman, was once preaching in Hereford, England, at some sort of extended revival meetings. For days there was an absence of power and conviction of sin. But when John Hyde came there, Ravenhill reports that God came to town. God and Hyde walked together in prayer. As a result, when Chapman gave his invitation that first night after Hyde came, fifty men came to Christ. Chapman begged Hyde, “PRAY FOR ME.” So, into a room these two men went where there came up from the depth of Hyde’s heart such petitions for men as never heard before, and revival came through that intercessory prayer.

-Ravenhill also spoke of the revivalist Charles Finney. Finney was in a certain city holding revival meetings in the countryside. Two men came into town who were known as Father Nash and Father Clery. They went to a small cottage seeking lodging, but the lady who ran the place didn’t have any room except in the cellar. So, the two men holed themselves up in the dark, damp cellar and remained there in prayer for two weeks to battle the forces of darkness on their knees. And again, a great revival broke out.

-Now, intercessory prayer is not just about revival, but I use those illustrations to demonstrate the power that is available to us in prayer. We have seen answers to prayer in mighty ways for those with health issues. We have seen God provide in ways that can only be attributed to God doing something marvelous. So, let that be an encouragement to constantly and consistently participate in intercessory prayer. Let’s see what Paul has to say about it:

1 Timothy 2:1–4 LSB

1 First of all, then, I exhort that petitions and prayers, requests and thanksgivings, be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.

-Paul exhorts us to make petitions and prayers and requests and thanksgivings for other people. This is something that is demonstrated constantly through Scripture. We think of Abraham interceding on behalf of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. We think of Moses interceding on behalf of the Israelites. We think of Jesus interceding on behalf of His disciples in John 17 where he prayed for the disciples there with Him and with all those who would follow (meaning us). He prayed for our protection, unity, purpose, etc. If our Lord so interceded on behalf of His people, how much more should we.

-So often there is a need in someone’s life and we don’t feel that there really is anything we can do for them. So, when we’re talking with them we kind of tag on to the end of the conversation: I’LL PRAY FOR YOU. But how often when we say that we don’t actually mean it, or we don’t do it, or we might think it really isn’t going to do anything. With that attitude, it’s like we’re saying: Well, I can’t or won’t really do anything of substance, but so I can at least put a spiritual twist to my inability or apathy, let me at least mention prayer.

-Here’s the thing: prayer isn’t the least we can do for someone, it is the most important thing we can do for someone. And Paul encourages us to do just that. What does Paul teach us here about intercessory prayer? First, he talks about:

1) The extent of intercessory prayer

-Notice in v. 1 that he says to make these petitions and prayers and requests for all men—meaning all people (not just males; but for all of humanity). Regardless of whether or not they are part of our “camp” (so to speak)—meaning regardless of whether or not they agree with us in everything, believe like us, think like us, or act like us. Everybody is an object for our intercessory prayer.

-Notice in v. 2 that he specifically mentions civil government leaders. For Paul it was for kings and all of those in authority. Think about what he was saying in his context—pray for the Roman Caesar, the Roman governors, and all the other Roman leaders. So, think about what this means for us. Not only do we pray during elections that our candidate wins, we pray for the other side as well.

-And no, it doesn’t count as prayer for a person if you pray:

Psalm 109:8 LSB

8 Let his days be few; Let another take his office.

-It means that in spite of them that God gives them wisdom to lead. And it means that we pray for their salvation. And we fall in line with Jesus telling us to pray for our enemies—not for their harm, but for their ultimate good. We don’t pray for their death, we don’t pray for their humiliation. We pray that they ultimately will see the light and be guided by the light.

-Paul was very sincere in practicing prayer for the civil leaders and in exhorting believers in praying for civil leaders. There was no hidden agenda. Yes, we pray for what we know God’s will to be according to Scripture. But we pray for unbelieving leaders to follow that in spite of where they might currently be at. Again, Paul was praying for a pagan emperor—not for his harm, but for his good, because God would get the ultimate glory if good came from someone who was not.

-So, to put it in our current context. We pray for those who currently run the government. We pray for the election coming up. We pray for the integrity of the election and that the greatest good possible with the choices given would come about. Yes, we can pray that our candidates would win. But we pray for the other candidates as well. And ultimately, that the gospel would receive the greatest benefit.

-But we obviously don’t only pray for civil leaders, we pray for everybody. There is no one on this earth that we cannot lift up to God. There is no circumstance going on that we cannot lift up to God. You might say that you know a lot of people who are going through a lot of things, so intercessory prayer might take a while. Well then, take the time. Intercessory prayer isn’t just a 2-second soundbite. It is something that we are careful to take time to accomplish. Then there is a second and final lesson, Paul talks about:

2) The reasons for intercessory prayer

-The first reason that Paul mentions in v. 2 is so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. At first that might sound a little self-serving—I want to pray for them to be successful so I can be successful. But notice that it really isn’t a prayer to have a nice, comfy life. It’s praying that God would allow His people to be in an atmosphere that would be conducive to spiritual growth and godly living and where the gospel can go forth in the most peace and power. It’s a prayer that God’s people would be in a position to do the most good.

-Think of Daniel. He worked for a pretty wicked King—Nebuchadnezzar. He is living and working around evil and wicked people in an evil and wicked empire. But what does he do? He prays for the king and the empire so that the Jews could lead a relatively peaceful and useful life in the midst of that empire. Our government can be pretty wicked, but we can still pray for them in a way that would lead to a quiet life in all godliness and dignity so we can do the most good for the kingdom.

-Another reason Paul mentions in v. 3 is because it pleases God. It pleases God because we are spending time with Him. It pleases God because it demonstrates our reliance on Him. It pleases God because intercessory prayer gets us outside of ourselves and more focused on God and others rather than everything being about the self.

-And then a final reason for intercessory prayer according to v. 4 is that it is used by God to bring people to salvation and come to the knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ. We don’t ever give up on praying that someone comes to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. God hasn’t given up on them—He desires for all people to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth. It might take months, years, or decades to get the answer to prayer, but we don’t stop lifting people up.

-Be encouraged that your prayers do matter. Lift people up. In this month of pastor appreciation, lift your staff up. We need a John Hyde or Father Nash or Father Clery in our lives for us to be able to keep going. Intercessory prayer makes a difference. Let’s go to a time of interceding right now...