Intercession Part 1

Prayer Changes Things-And Us

Ezekiel 22:30 (KJV) And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

God has always sought intercessors, someone to stand in the gap before him for the sake of the land, and has a hard time finding them. In Ezekiel’s day, God looked for a man to stand in the breach that sin had made between God and Israel. He found no one. Isaiah tells us that God looked for a man, but found no one and" wondered that there was no intercessor."

Isaiah 59:16 (KJV) And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor…

John 14:12-13 (KJV) 12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Notice that verse 13 starts with, “And.”  Never take as a complete text any verse that starts with “and” because it isn’t complete.

Instead of stopping at verse 12, we should move right into verse 13.  The greater works of verse 12 are accomplished by the praying of verse 13.  Verse 13 becomes a model verse.

The most significant phrase in that verse is “whatsoever ye shall ask in my name.” In the “upper room” chapters Jesus uses these words several times:

John 14:13 (KJV) And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

John 14:14 (KJV) If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

John 15:16 (KJV) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

John 16:23 (KJV) And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

John 16:24 (KJV) Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

John 16:26 (KJV) At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you.

With these words, in my name, Jesus signals a new stage in his redemptive work in a new dimension in his relationship with his disciples. He had promised them they would do greater works because I go to my father. Until he ascended to his father, his redemptive work was incomplete; only when he had sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high would the promise be realized. Having by himself made purification for sins, he is become the mediator, the executor of his own testament. He has taken up the reins of authority.

He sat down, a work completed and work commenced. The work of the cross, his pain, suffering and sacrifice finished. The work of the throne, intercession and mediation begun. It is through Jesus that men now come to God. No longer in the name of sacrifices, but in the name of the Sacrifice. No longer through the mediation of earthly priests, but now through our great high priest who has entered into heaven, there to appear in the presence of God for us.

To make up for his physical absence, Jesus promised the disciples three things:

1).​His Peace— John 14:27 (KJV) Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

2).​The Paraclete – John 14:16 (KJV) And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.

3).​Prayer in His Name – John 16:23-24 (KJV) 23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

To pray or to act in the name of Jesus means that we do so by His authority and with His approval. It also means that what we pray for and what we do is consistent with His character and is expressed in His name.

To pray in the name of Jesus, is to pray according to His will, with His approval, consistent with His nature, character and purpose. Therefore, it is as though Jesus Himself were making the request. That is our authority. The Father makes good the word of His Son.

At this point we could raise some difficult questions, questions like: Does God change His mind? Does prayer change God's plans? Is God's will a decree or a desire? Or both? Or neither? I'm disinclined to chase after answers to questions like that lest we bog down in speculation and never get around to praying.

Whatever our answers to these or any other questions, they must:

1).​Leave God's sovereignty intact.

2).​Leave us where we still have to trust Him. God speaks to us in a language we can understand, and God’s word to us is, He responds to our prayers. That's the way He said it and that's the way He intended us to take it.

If we wait until we understand everything about prayer, we will never pray. Vance Havner used to say, “I don't understand all about electricity, but I'm not going to sit in the dark till I do.” We don't have to understand prayer in order to pray.

The important thing is to pray. How important? Only this: there are some things God will do if we ask Him that He will not do if we do not ask Him. We carelessly say," well, whatever happens is God's will. If God wants me to have this, I will get it. If it was meant to be, it will be." That is only partially true. The words of Jesus," if you ask, I will do," carry the obvious implication that if we do not ask, Jesus will not act. James says it plainly enough: James 4:2 (KJV) …Ye have not, because ye ask not.

Praying in the name of Jesus is one of the three qualifiers of all prayer. Every petition is formed within the context of three provisions:

1).​The Will of God

2).​The Name of Jesus

3).​The Glory of God

Nothing done in the name of Jesus would be contrary to God's will or inconsistent with His glory. So it is correct to say that praying in the name of Jesus is done only when what I ask for is according to His will, and when the answer will bring glory to God.

When my motive for asking is the same as His for answering, I'm on praying ground. When I want what He wants, when we both want the same thing, we are in business.

I think God delights in prayer because when He does something by answering, there is no doubt who has done it. When God works in obvious answer to prayer, He gets both the credit and the glory.

We are nevermore like Christ than when we are praying for others.  Intercession is laying down our life for our friend; it is bearing one another’s burden; it is sharing in the sufferings of Christ.  The work of redemption, is the work of intercession.  Jesus is interceding, the Holy Spirit is interceding, we are to intercede.  Paul closes his passage on spiritual warfare with a plea for intercessory prayer:

Ephesians 6:18-19 (KJV) 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.

God has made us a royal priesthood with the privilege and the responsibility to pray for one another, which ought to drive us to ask, as did the disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Jesus did and we will look at what He taught next time.