Intercessory Prayer

Elemental Series | Pray | Er

Intro

Greetings and welcome to the online service of Reidsville Christian Church. My name is Dan. Whenever you are viewing this service, we are so glad you have chosen to be a part of the RCC family.

I’m gonna’ pray for ‘ya

When I was in high school, one of my first jobs was delivering pizzas for Papa John’s. It was my first week on the job, I hadn’t been trained on how to do anything. We were swamped and short handed one Friday night. The manager is up front running things. I’m in the back manning the oven. I was supposed to transfer pizzas off this conveyor belt and into a box for delivery. The only other person in the store was a guy in the very back washing dishes.

Well, there’s about 4 different phones ringing with hungry, upset people. My manager just yells back at us… “will someone please answer the phone!” Ok. So I grabbed a phone, again I have no idea what I’m doing. It takes me about 5 or 6 minutes to guess my way through entering a cheese pizza into the system. When I hang up the phone…I hear this SPLAT sound. You know that feeling between wondering what something is and realizing what you did? All I can remember saying is…”oh no!” So I run back around the corner and there are about 9 pizzas that have fallen off the oven conveyor belt and splatted all over the floor. This time I said, “OH NO!” The manager is still on the phone. The guy in the back washing dishes comes up…looks down at the mess…then looks over at me. In the most deadpan, dry response says… “Son, I’m gonna’ pray for ‘ya.”

Mr. T

If you are under the age of 35, you probably have no idea who this man is. Mr T. AKA “Clubber Lang” from Rocky III. Mr. T. Is an 80s icon who is known for his mohawk, tough guy persona, and excessive gold jewelry. But he is most well known for his catchphrase. Everyone say it with me… “I pity the fool.”

Now for some reason, I feel like my friend the dishwasher at Papa John’s didn’t fully mean that he was going to pray for me. Rather what I think he really meant to say, was that I have pity for you…the fool. Friends, it is those two words that I want to speak about today…prayer and pity.

Series Recap—Intercessory Prayer

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been in the series called Pray | Er. We have looked at how Jesus taught us to pray. Shannon has masterfully led us through different types of prayers: prayers of adoration and listening. Today, I want to combine those two ideas of—prayer and pity, as we talk about one of the most rewarding things we can do as believers—and that is to pray on the behalf of others. Today we are talking about intercessory prayer.

Stories of Intercessory Prayer

One of the best parts of my job, are the trips I get to come on each summer with our students. I can recall one such trip about 10 years ago. Picture an auditorium with 1500 high schoolers. Each night the worship, fellowship, and preaching are outstanding. The week is crescendoing to this final night. At the beginning of worship, all the adults in the room moved out of their rows and into the aisles. Hundreds of parents, coaches, volunteers, and youth ministers got down on their hands and knees. And for the next 2 hours plus, we prayed for and over every student and youth group in that room.

I can vividly remember November 2, 2008—my ordination day. On that day, I got down on my knees in front of a church congregation. That congregation and its 8 godly elders, each prayed over me. Each man laid a hand on my shoulder and in turn prayed for me and the future ministry God would do.

Friends, we all know that prayer is powerful. But as someone who has both prayed on behalf of others and as someone who has been on the receiving end of prayers—I know first hand that it is when we pray for others—that prayer truly becomes a privilege.

The difference between sympathy and empathy.