Christ teaches intercessory prayer on behalf of those “which despitefully use you, and persecute you” Matthew 5:44.
When the Bible tells us to pray for the very people who have hurt us, it’s not to inflict more pain on us. Prayer and intercession are not about our hurt, it’s about the needs of other people.
Jesus lived what He taught right to the last hours of His life and glorified God.
Luke 23:34
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
As a result one more glorified God.
Luke 23:47
Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.
While being stoned to death:
Act 7:60
And Stephen kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Jesus was our example in praying the same moving prayer. Both Jesus and Stephen’s last words helped others. Paul got help and also glorified God and exhorted Timothy to pray “for all men”, our enemies too.
1 Timothy 2:1
I exhort, therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men.
Supplications and prayers refer to general and specific petitions; intercessions has the meaning of a request concerning others.
Every kind of prayer, not intercessory prayer only, which is the highest kind of prayer, but all prayer, from the least to the highest, is of little value in a life of known and allowed sin. This thought is heart searching. I want to begin my prayer by bringing any unholyness or unclean thought to be crucified there with Jesus, the sacrificial lamb. This will enable us to live on a higher level.
Can Jesus Christ see the agony of His soul and be satisfied in us as we intercede on behalf of others? He can’t unless we are so closely identified with Him that we have His view concerning the people for whom we pray. May we learn to intercede so wholeheartedly that Christ will be satisfied with us as intercessors.
Isaiah 53:11
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Jeremiah 50:19
And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.
God loves the prayer of supplication for ourselves or others when it is from a needy, submitted heart. As we exercise our prayer life we want to remember others by interceding for them before God.
Remember the sinner and the prodigal. When we pray for them, I believe God gives them a nudge in the right direction again. One man I knew well told me that all the years he was outside, an alcoholic, that he was continually conscious of God and His Way. It was likely because a faithful mother prayed for him continually.
1 Timothy 5:5
Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusts in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.
I believe Sacrifice and Intercession are the greatest things we can do for ourself and others including our enemies.
Intercession takes many forms. Prayer is the first to come to mind, but then God expects us to do all we can. If we can do 1/10 God will do the 9/10, but if it is in our power to do 9/10 and we only do 1/10 God isn’t interested in doing the 9/10 and we and others are the losers.
A practical sacrificial intercession is not just praying for people to come to Gospel meetings, but to invite them. I like to always carry an invitation card. A practical act of intercession is to go door to door with invitations. My dentist, Lawrence, Lorna and daughter Elisabeth Pyrih are the result of a Gospel meeting invitation card in his mailbox. Now they have a meeting in their home and live for others.
Dag Hammarskjöld (July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish diplomat, the second United Nations Secretary-General, and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, made a great statement that goes something like this:
When interceding, you cannot hope to succeed if you are seeking something for yourself.
To stand in the gap you have to put something of yourself on the line. Abigail put herself on the line.
1 Samuel 25:23-24
And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, UPON ME LET THIS INIQUITY BE: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.
We have no right to expect anything, but we can do all things through Christ. To have the right expectation, remember Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait thou ONLY upon God; for my expectation is from Him. We can expect of God because with Him are all things are possible Mat 19:26.
Hate has no part in the life of a child of God. Earnest intercession brings love with it. Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies, not hate them. We pray for them for their sake and for our sake. God has appointed His son to sit at His right hand interceding for us, so we can be sure God can be entreated of us as we make supplications for ourselves and others. “Prayer as it comes from the saint is weak and languid; but when the arrow of a saint’s prayer is put into the bow of Christ’s intercession it pierces the throne of grace.”
If we feel we have discernment, it is God’s call to intercession, never to fault finding. Possibly we are never more Christ like than in our prayers of intercession… for an enemy.
Truth Archive 