PRAYING LIKE JESUS DAY 13
INTERCESSION
“There is no chasm in society that cannot be firmly and permanently bridged by intercession; there is no feud or dislike that cannot be healed by the same exercise of love.” – Charles H. Brent
This week we’ve been thinking about WILD prayer (Worship, Intercession, Life, and Declaration). WILD prayer is an acrostic quick-guide for using the Lord’s Prayer as a framework for our prayer times.
Intercession is prayers for others. When we pray for our family, friends, co-workers, and even those that oppose us, we are praying intercessory prayers. Intercession is intervening on behalf of someone else. Jesus taught us to pray for others:
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
When we pray that God’s kingdom will come, we are praying that heaven’s rule and reign would come to earth. We are praying for God’s purposes in people’s lives to be accomplished. The Bible reveals that God purposes to restore the whole world to himself and heal brokenness.
Jesus is the greatest intercessor of all time, not only in his actions, but also in his prayers. In Luke 22:32, Jesus told Peter: “But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.” Jesus even prayed for those that crucified Him. In Luke 23:24 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
When Jesus was crucified, He didn’t just die for us, He died as us. He literally took our place. When Jesus prayed, He did the same thing. His love for us made him do more than pray for us, he prayed as us. Praying like Jesus is putting yourself in the position of another, and praying for God’s kingdom to come, and that His will is done in their life.
As we pray for people, we are entrusting them into God’s plan. This trust involves believing that God’s plan is the best and that he is sovereign. This doesn’t zero out our responsibility to pray, because our loving Father listens to our requests and we can influence his plans. (See God’s conversation with Moses in Numbers 14 for an example of how we can influence God’s plans through prayer.) As we pray and give those people back to God, he replaces anxiety with peace.
QUESTIONS FOR CONTEMPLATION
Who do you think you should pray for?
What can you pray for on behalf of someone else?
What is the difference between prayers to build God’s Kingdom versus prayers to build our kingdom here on earth?
PRAYER TIPS
- Pray for God to move miraculously in the lives of your loved ones as if it were your own personal need.
- As you pray for other people, start with those closest to you and work your way outward.
- Start writing a list of people as God prompts you to pray for them and revisit the list during your prayer times.
- Pray God’s Kingdom come into the lives of the people on your list.
Additional Scriptures
Philippians 4:6-7
1 Peter 5:7
Romans 8:26-39
Matthew 5:44