Yesterday I prayed for a family in another part of the world whose child was murdered, for two friends who are losing their faculties to think clearly, for the salvation and spiritual growth of several people in places of authority, and for family and friends. Almost all my prayers are earnest appeals to God for His intervention, that He would act according to His will for the lives of others.
When that word intercession is applied to the character and activities of God Himself, it gives me goose bumps. The Bible tells me that God intercedes for me! This happens because of His gracious gift as Jesus promised in John 14:16–17:
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
This amazing Helper does many things including helping me know how to pray. Yet even more than that, He prays for me, pleading with God on my behalf that the will of God is done in my life.
Romans 8:26–27. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Jesus also prays for me. Romans 8:34 hints that part of His prayer is particular to my sinfulness. That is, when I go against the will of God even without realizing it, Jesus makes sure that sin is covered and that Romans 8:1 is true; “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” This happens because of verse 34:
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Jesus also prayed for His people, me included, that we would be united in our walk with Him and focused on His glory . . .
John 17:20–24. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
I’ve had people tell me that they are praying for me. I can imagine them being guided by the Spirit who often guides me as I pray for others. Even so, there is an uncertainty about those prayers being answered. This uncertainty does not exist when it comes to the prayers of Jesus Christ to His Father or the prayers of the Holy Spirit. This is the godhead interceding for me! Those prayers never miss the mark and never bounce off the ceiling.
GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. What an amazing reality — God prays for me! As I think about that, I am even more motivated to pray for others. Ephesians 6:18 expresses well the will of God concerning how I should reflect Him in this wonderful privilege of Christian life: I am to be, “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” that each of us would reflect the glory of God to those around us and boldly share the gospel to all who need to hear it!
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