Intercession

"We love Him because He first loved us."

―1 John 4:19

The New International Version puts it like this... "We love because He first loved us."

When I started thinking of prayer through this lens, some things started to click. The Lord reminded me that Jesus is always interceding for us.

"Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

―Hebrews 7:25

"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

―Romans 8:26-28

It's funny, I've always heard verse 28 by itself, and trust me that verse is quite impactful on it's own. But when the context of verse 27 comes before it, it gives a fuller picture of why I can truly have confidence in this promise. "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16b), so when the Spirit of Jesus, the righteousness of God, intercedes for us according to the will of God we can be pretty sure that it's effective. Jesus has never once prayed a prayer that has not been answered.  He is the Word. He is the embodiment of the very words of God that the worlds were framed by in the beginning (Hebrews 11:3). "All things were made through Him [the Word], and without Him nothing was made that was made" (John 1:3). What He says becomes reality because He only speaks out of the authority of the sovereign Father. The Spirit, then acts out the spoken Word and manifests it in the earth with power.

The confidence in my calling can now rise when I remember that the Son of God is always making intercession for the calling of the body of Christ. "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling" (Ephesians 4:4). Yes! It is most definitely true that "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).

Whew!!...

With that said, how does this affect how I pray for others?
Well for one, I can pray from a place of abundance instead of a place of lack. I know that "the LORD will perfect that which concerns me" and that You will not "forsake the works of Your hands" because "Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever"(Psalm 138:8). It frees me to put my energy into serving the body rather than serving myself because I know He's already got me covered.

Also, because I know that Jesus is interceding for us already, it makes pretty good sense to ask Him how and what to pray for others. This way I'm not alone in prayer, I'm actually partnering with God the Son in prayer.

Another thing personally that I may have been trying to avoid is asking God for, and operating in the gift of tongues for private and personal edification (1 Corinthians 14:1-5), as well as asking for the interpretation when interceding for others. I don't usually go down this road because, like many of us, my faith upbringing has always been for the most part more "conservative" than "charismatic." And of course we've all seen the gift of tongues misused and exploited, so naturally it's damaged our belief in it's biblical application. But I know I can't deny that in it's genuine form, it is a good thing (I know not everyone believes that the gift of tongues is still functioning today. You don't have to agree and at the end of the day this is my personal blog. If you do disagree, take the time to practice brotherly love haha).

Well that's it for now


Grace and Peace,

Ya boi Thaddeus