The Ministry of Intercession

Introduction

Genesis 18:22-33

We are talking about prayer this morning, and we see that Abraham makes a specific type of prayer on behalf of Sodom. It is the form of prayer known as “intercession.”

1. Types of Prayer

In the Bible, there are different types of prayers mentioned.

1 Timothy 2:1 NKJV

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.

a. Supplications

A supplication is an earnest request to a person of authority

The reason that it is a prayer made to someone of authority and not just a request in general is because only someone who has the power to change our circumstance can help us.

Too many people complain “down.” What I mean is that we have conversations with people and we complain to people that cannot change the circumstance. But when we are making a supplication, we are humbly, bowing down before someone to make our request known to them.

Let’s break this word down:

The prefix of the word “supplication” is “sup.” (everybody say “sup”)

Sup is a Latin prefix that means “under” or “beneath”. This is descriptive of both our authoritative position and physical or emotional position.

The root is the Latin word “plicare” (plee-car-ee).

This root means “to fold” or “to bend”, as in, we fold our hands in prayer, and we bend our knees in reverence.

The idea of the word “supplication” is that we are making a personal request to a higher authority.

Philippians 4:6 NKJV

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

A prayer of supplication is a personal request made to God, as we bow before Him, because He is the highest authority.

b. Prayers

Prayer is the avenue in which we engage in relationship with God. It is communication.

Like a Needy Vagrant

To try and have a victorious Christian life without a constant heart of prayer is like trying to run a marathon without any conditioning. You might make it to the end, but you’ll be riding in an ambulance instead of running when you cross the finish line.

General prayer, general communication with God, is what we so often miss. What we do is we go to God and make all of our requests known to Him without ever cultivating a relationship with Him. Prayer is simply talking with God.

c. Giving of Thanks

Giving of thanks is just reflecting on God’s former goodness and telling Him thank you for all that He has done.

Very typically, I begin my days with prayer and supplication, and I end my day with giving of thanks. When I tuck the kids in at night, we thank the Lord for the day and then offer up supplications for the next day.

We also “give thanks” before meals. We say, “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food.”

2. Intercession

An intercession is an earnest appeal on behalf of another.

This is different than supplication because supplication is a personal request, and an intercession is an appeal on behalf of another.

What you are doing is you are placing yourselves between God and another and you are saying, “Father, would you be with them?”

Let’s talk about this word:

The prefix of this word is “inter.”

“Inter” means “between” or “among”

The root is the Latin word were we get our words for “going in a direction.” It is that root for “cede”.

For example: to “proceed” is to go forward. To “recede” is to go backwards. To “exceed” is to go beyond.

Let me put it in a sentence: As a man proceeds in age, he recedes in hair, and if he keeps it, it exceeds his expectation.

“Inter” means between. “cede” means to move. Therefore, to “intercede” for someone is to move between another person and God to make a request for them.

a. Abraham Intercedes

Abraham is praying and interceding, not giving supplication or thanks.

He is acting as the “go between” for the lost and for God.

It is very important that we pray for the lost because we know the destruction that is coming their way, and they do not. What you’re going to see in this story is that Abraham knew of the coming destruction, as the people of Sodom were living in sin, and the man of God prayed that they might have time to repent.

As we read, notice first that Abraham was intimate with God, then interceded for them:

Read Genesis 18:22-33

Theme: Intimacy with God allows us to intercede for others.

I. Intimacy with God

Genesis 18:1 “Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.”

Genesis 18:17 “And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing,”

Genesis 18:19 “For I have known him” = I have made Him my friend

Abraham was intimate with God. He served God, and he loved God. And as he grew closer with God, his ability to communicate with God became stronger and stronger.

How can we have this sort of intimate communication with God?

A. Intimacy Requires Unhurried Time With God

We have an attitude problem when it comes to fellowship with God.

First, we want to flatter God. We always offer supplications and rarely ever speak with God just to speak with Him.

The Christian who only offers up supplications is like a teenager that wants to sweet talk you into getting away with something they know they cannot.

We pray, “God, you’re so good. God, you’re so wonderful. God, you’re so strong. God, you’re so majestic. By the way, God, I need something, I want something, can you give it to me?”

Second, we want to rush God. We have what we call our prayer time or our quiet time and we demand that the Lord speak to us, and we demand that the Lord move in us, and we demand that the Lord reveal His will to us on our terms.

What we say to God is, “God, I’ve got 10 minutes, 20 minutes, or 30 minutes with you, hurry up and say what you need to say so I can move on.”

Genesis 18:22 “Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord.”

When the Bible says that Abraham “still stood,” it means to say that as life moved on around him, Abraham remained in a position of worship and praise, waiting to hear from God. He “stood” at attention because the Creator of the Universe was speaking with him. His heart and his physical body were in a place where he was fully ready to hear all that God was going to say.

In the book of Nehemiah 8, the walls of Jerusalem have been rebuilt after years of defeat and conquest by other nations. And now it was time for them to come together as a people to hear the Word of God read aloud.

Nehemiah 8:5 NKJV

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.

It was a time where they were going to hear from God, and out of reverence for the Holy Word of God being read, they stood at attention.

And yet, our ears have grown tired of hearing and our hearts have grown tired of waiting. We don’t stand before God until He speaks, we say to God, “Speak now, or I’m going to have to get up and leave.”

Henry Blackaby - If we wait upon the Lord we will experience what God can accomplish. When we rush, we forgo the experience in favor of expediency.”

What other person do we treat like this besides the Lord?

At funerals, we stand in silence and attention as they roll the body of the loved on down the isle, waiting respectfully for the grieving family to have their time.

At weddings, we stand as the bride makes her triumphant entry and we wait patiently until she is fully prepared and in her spot to hear about their love.

As a formality, we stand in attention when a superior enters the room to show respect, waiting for them to give us the signal that they have been appropriately honored.

But when it comes to Almighty God, we complain when we stand too long, we complain when we don’t hear quickly enough, we moan when we aren’t entertained enough, and we wonder why we don’t hear from God like we ought to.

I am not necessarily talking about physically standing, I am talking about having a heart and a posture that says to God, “I am in attention here with You, until You are satisfied with me.”

This is opposite of how we usually convene with God. We go before God in what we call a quiet time and so often make it about us. But the commandments of God make it clear what our aim is each and every day.

To love the Lord our God.

To love others as ourself.

And so, we ought not say in our time with God, “God, show me. God, strengthen me. God, fill me.” How we ought to pray is, “Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”

Because when we make our time with God about God and not about ourselves, then we begin to have that intimate communication with Him.

Then, whenever God is finished speaking with us, He will depart from us and we can know that we have satisfied Him.

Genesis 18:33 “So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.”

We are to be on God’s time, not demand that God be on ours.

B. Intimacy Allows for Familiar Communication With God

Genesis 18:23 “And Abraham came near and said”

We don’t have to be afraid to approach God.

Hebrews 4:16 NKJV

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The Lord Jesus died, and was buried, and rose again. And now He is in the heavens communicating with God. And, by the Holy Spirit of God, we are in communication with Him.

Hebrews 7:25 NKJV

He always lives to make intercession.

Did you know that the purpose of your life is to draw near to God? To be like Him, to love like Him? And the more often you communicate with Him, the more familiar He becomes to you?

How do you foster familiar communication with God?

1. Through Obedience

“Behavior is a form of communication.” However we behave, however we respond, communicates our heart beyond what our words ever could.

Isaiah 29:13 NKJV

Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.

God is not interested in lip service. He is interested in obedience.

1 John 5:2 NKJV

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.

Abraham, as much as he failed and as much as he will fail, was obedient to God.

He left his home (2) He gave tithes unto God (3) He has now dedicated his entire household to God. (4) And now he has free and familiar communication with God.

2. Through Obedience we have Intimacy

Being intimate with God is more than just knowing what He commands, it is doing what He commands.

Bible study is how we know about God, but obedience is how we know God.

Genesis 18:19 “For I have known him.”

The more Abraham obeyed, the more he was in connection with God. And now, God and Abraham are so familiar, that God says of Abraham, “I have known him.” This means that they are friends.

James 2:23 NKJV

“Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.

What’s the difference between an Acquaintance and a Friend?

An acquaintance is somebody that knows you.

A friend is somebody that knows too much.

We know so many people, but only a few we call our friends. And those that we call friends know everything about us and they love us anyway.

That is how we are to be with God. We are to have such a trust in Him, such a reliance upon Him, such a fellowship with Him, that we are completely open with Him, and the more we obey Him, the more we trust Him.

The more that we trust Him, the more intimate we are with Him.

John 15:15 NKJV

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Once we have intimacy with God, we can intercede for others.

II. Intercede for Others

There is an appeal that is being made before God.

There is an attitude in which this appeal is being made.

A. Intercede Logically and Legally

We do not operate based on the world’s logic or the world’s legalities, but we operate based on the Word of God. Therefore, when we pray, we pray according to the Word of God.

Genesis 18:23–25 “And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

Abraham made an appeal on behalf of others, by appealing to the justice of God.

We are to pray the same way, by appealing to God’s Attributes which we find in His Word.

For,

He is good

He is love

He is holy

He is just

And based on all of these things, we can know how to pray unto God.

B. Intercede Compassionately

Abraham knew what it was like to be lost in sin and then to be called by God.

We also ought to remember what that was like and pray with compassion for those that are lost.

Ephesians 5:8 NKJV

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

And we are children of light, formerly children of darkness, and we ought to pray for those in sin with compassion, not treat them with a proud look.

C. Intercede Humbly

Genesis 18:27 “Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord:”

Genesis 18:30 “Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?”

When you go before God, remember that you are of the dust of the earth and that He is God, and we work on His timing, He doesn’t meet our demands.

We must have unhurried time with God.

D. Intercede Persistently

What you’ll find is that Abraham asked God six times to spare Sodom.

Sometimes, we pray for a person and we give up, but the Bible says that we ought to pray persistently, and we ought to pray persistently for the lost.

Conclusion

I have two desires for you this morning.

That you become intimate with God.

Intimacy requires unhurried and unrushed time.

Intimacy allows for familiar communication with God.

That you intercede for others.

Intercede logically and legally

Intercede compassionately and not as self-righteous

Intercede Humbly

Intercede persistently

For the lost, I want to intercede for you right now.