“He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.” (Hebrews 7:25 NLT)
The holy echo still leaves me in awe on a regular basis. How is it that God will teach us something via scripture or a book or a radio spot or a Spirit-sent person and then moments or days later, He’ll repackage that same truth and reinforce it by other means, sometimes again and again until our hearts grab hold of it.
This week, the Lord has been speaking to me about intercession. I’m reading two books currently: Restoration Year by John Eldredge and Strengthening the Soul of your Leadership by Ruth Haley Barton. Unrelated volumes that, this week, have quite abruptly converged on a single subject: intercession.
John has had me on a journey since January. Day by day he reinforces biblical truth as he slowly pulls back the bandages on the wounds, lies and agreements that vie for my strength. For months now, he’s been increasing my awareness of the spiritual realm, where the real battles take place. These past few days, he’s been re-teaching me how to pray for others. He encourages me to receive a request and then turn our gaze toward God and ask “What do you want me to pray for them? Show me what to pray.” This is markedly different than my neatly penned lists and petitions, my carefully assembled plans handed over for heavenly approval.
This entire concept is deeply echoed in Ruth Haley Barton’s book as she writes about intercession in chapter 9. Her whole premise is built around the truth that Jesus is already interceding for our person and His prayers are unheeded by selfish ambition, personal politics or matters of ego. He has no agenda but the Father’s. We learn that if we can reach a place of prayerful alignment with God’s will, that will always be the most effective prayer we can offer.
Ruth removes the pressure we often feel in praying for others. She writes: “It is being present to God on another’s behalf, listening for the prayer that is already being prayed for that person before the throne of grace and being willing to join God in that prayer.”
This is different than our usual idea of intercession, isn’t it? It feels like less work, or at the very least, different work. Carving out quiet time to carry a person to the throne room will always feel challenging, but perhaps sitting in silence and learning to attune to the prayer already in progress is even more challenging? In our culture of busy, of app badges and text tones and tvs blaring a 24 hour news cycle, doesn’t a “Please, God help them!” feel altogether easier?
The thing about this type of intercessory prayer is that it give us opportunity to ‘see’ the person we are praying for, and maybe even more importantly, ‘see’ God’s tenderness toward them. I suspect this sort of spiritual ‘seeing’ may swap out the lens for us even in the natural realm, in our day to day interactions with the person of our prayer. Getting a glimpse of God’s desire for His people may stoke the embers in our own heart. We may learn to love, not just those who are close and convenient, but the ones He brings to mind when we take the time to sit with Him and hear His prayers.
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s will.” (Romans 8:26-27 NLT)
O Lord, please help us to want what You want. Teach us holy indifference to our own desires, agendas and ambitions. Align our lives to the heartbeat of heaven as we sit with You and listen for Your leading, for Your intercession for our lives. Help us still ourselves and become keenly aware of Your intentions. Help us see Your love for the souls You bring to our attention. Change us as we pray for others.
Make us all more like You. Amen.