The focus of God’s heart from the beginning of time has been His desire for an intimate relationship with His people. He has had a consistent goal of engaging us in a dialogue about life in relationship with Him. This dialogue is called prayer.

As He speaks and we listen, we come to agree with His agenda for us and for others we bring before Him.

We come from a position of confidence that we are Cherished and Chosen.

From that place of confidence we partner with Him through intercessory prayer. We say back to God that we agree with His agenda and His strategies, not only for ourselves and the things that concern us, but for every situation outside ourselves for which he encourages us to pray. .

We come boldly and confidently before His presence, the throne of grace, because the way has been opened for us by Jesus, our Bridegroom.

Hebrews 10: 19-21

“Therefore, brethren, since we have full freedom and confidence to enter into the Holies by the blood of Jesus, by this fresh and living way which He initiated and dedicated and opened for us through the separating curtain, that is through his flesh, and since we have such a great and wonderful and noble priest (who rules) over the house of God, let us all come forward and draw near with true (honest and sincere) hearts in unqualified assurance and absolute assurance and absolute conviction engendered by faith.

Hebrews 4:16

“ Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy  and find grace to help in good time for every need (appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it.) “

We are the objects of His delight, the focus of His affections, and because He speaks this to our hearts in such a personal and affecting way we begin to understand that He feels that way about everyone. When we begin to experience His love poured out upon us He gives us His heart for others and we become convinced of His power to set right every situation.

Years ago I was working for a company and one of the other employees found me threatening, the new kid on the block with new ideas. One morning I came to work and he told me that everyone in the office, it was small, had voted and decided I should leave! Well, praise God I had confidence and a sense of humor and stayed. But in side I was so angry. I went to the Lord and told Him I was leaving! He told me immediately that I was staying and that He was using these people to rub off some of my rough edges! Ouch. So I stayed but I have to tell you I did not love this guy. Finally I asked the Lord to help me love him and He told me to pray for him! This was not easy, it was pure obedience. Of course you can guess what happened, through prayer and intercession I began to really love him. Months later in the middle of a snow storm the Lord told me to drive to the office to pray for him. I asked my husband to drive me and of course no one else was there. I just walked in and asked if I could pray for him. He was facing a tough surgery and God had me pray for healing and peace. As tears streamed down his face when I finished I began to understand the power of intercessory prayer in both our lives.

You see because we are chosen and cherished we desire to meet the challenge of lifting up others to Him.

Coming from this place of confidence as a beloved Bride and Partner eliminates a sense of anxiety or em-battlement as we pray. Our intercession is rooted in intimacy not anxiety.

Our loved one may be facing the toughest battle of their lives yet ours is not agitated, fearful, problem-centered intercession. No, it is partnership prayer by a beloved Bride, agreeing with God’s nature, character and agenda and His promises in His word which will accomplish His purposes.

Intercession, is one element of our prayer life. It is prayer on behalf of others needs.

It is a priestly ministry of a go-between, someone who stands between heaven and a need on earth and petitions the Father for a breakthrough.

Sometimes intercession is a life and death matter. When Jason had his accident breaking his neck water skiing he blacked out under water, his last thoughts were a prayer. At that very moment my prayer partner was making dinner and the Lord said stop cooking! Pray against a spirit of death. She did. He lived.

Other times intercession is simply a hand holding another up or ushering in a desire.

Hebrews 13:18-19

18 Keep praying for us, for we are convinced that we have a good (clear) conscience, that we want to walk uprightly and live a noble life, acting honorably and in complete honesty in all things.

19 And I beg of you [to pray for us] the more earnestly, in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

The writer knows that he will be restored to them but also knows that prayer will SPEED the process!  Prayer accelerates the purposes of God on earth.

Intercession for another does something powerful in us, it binds us to the other. .

We are investing in the life of someone else. A cord of affection is constructed as we pray, we begin to love them as Jesus does.

Prayer is like an immunity function for the body of Christ. Through prayer, we fight off the invasive forces that seek to disease and afflict the body of Christ.

Let’s take a look at leprosy. When you have leprosy the nerve endings in the extremities are shot. Lepers lose fingers and toes in accidents because they do not feel pain when they hurt themselves.

When the church (in the broadest sense) does not feel the pain of its members, it shows the Church’s nerves are dead and the next thing we know, we loose members!

Pain signals the body to send help to the hurting member. Pain is necessary for the body to repair and heal itself. It is crucial that we feel the pain of others suffering so that  we can respond in prayer and thus gain their healing. Intercession is a response to pain. God’s healing power is His response to our faithful prayers.

James 5:16b

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

There is simply nothing more exciting to me than when I learn that a prayer request that I have had the privilege of interceding for has been answered. This is one of our greatest delights of the dance, of the great romance God has with His people. Why we have such a strategic part to play is still a mystery, that the God of all creation would use us to make a difference, but He Does!!

Lets practice this gift of intercession this week. May I challenge you to share your requests and then pray in earnest for each other this week? The results may astound us all….