Prayers of Intercession
Chuckle: "If all the
people who sleep in church were laid end to end -- they'd be a lot more
comfortable!"
Good Quote: "Intercession is, by amazing grace, an essential element in God's
redeeming purpose -- so much so that without it the failure of it's
accomplishment may lie at our door." --Andrew
Murray
"Pray for each other so that
you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and
effective" (James 5:16 NIV).
The story is told of a young girl who said, "Lord, I am not going to pray for myself today; I am going to pray for others." But at the end of her prayer she added, "And please give my mother a handsome son-in-law!"
We just can't seem to end a prayer
without asking something for ourselves. However,
when we become disciplined enough to pray for others, we become partners with
God in His work of salvation, healing, comfort, and justice. Of course, God can
accomplish those things without us, but in His plan we are given the privilege
of being involved with Him through prayer.
When we intercede for someone in trouble, facing surgery, who needs Christ, has lost a loved one, or a pastor who needs strength, we are asking God to provide for that person what we cannot give them ourselves. We are interceding for God to direct His power in a specific direction for a specific person for a specific reason/need.
Prayer is not a magic wand for satisfying our own desires and wishes, but it's a God-given opportunity to work with the Lord in accomplishing His purposes. "This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us" (1 John 5:14 NIV).
You may not feel like praying for others because you are so in need of prayer yourself. However, there is a basic truth about God's kingdom; we find healing for ourselves by ministering on behalf of others. Many of us go to church looking for healing that will make us whole and make us more effective ministers for our Lord.
When we intercede for someone in trouble, facing surgery, who needs Christ, has lost a loved one, or a pastor who needs strength, we are asking God to provide for that person what we cannot give them ourselves. We are interceding for God to direct His power in a specific direction for a specific person for a specific reason/need.
Prayer is not a magic wand for satisfying our own desires and wishes, but it's a God-given opportunity to work with the Lord in accomplishing His purposes. "This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us" (1 John 5:14 NIV).
You may not feel like praying for others because you are so in need of prayer yourself. However, there is a basic truth about God's kingdom; we find healing for ourselves by ministering on behalf of others. Many of us go to church looking for healing that will make us whole and make us more effective ministers for our Lord.
But Jesus wants us to get out there, with all of our own
needs, and minister to others. When we do this, it's amazing how we will find
the needed healing and strength which we're seeking! Fervent intercessory
prayer for others, that comes from a pure heart, will result in God doing mighty
things in the lives of both the intercessor and the one for whom he/she is
interceding.
Love, Jerry &
Dotse
posted by Jerry and Dotse @ 6:07 AM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
Praying for others, as you said is an important principle to incorporate into our daily lives. Thinking about Job, God turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends. He got his mind off of himself, and his condition, and focused on helping someone else, through intercessory prayer.
There have been times when I've prayed for someone else to get healed and the headache I had, for example, would be gone the next time I thought about it.
Thanks for these blogs.
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