Intercessory Prayer

2 Peter 3: 9- The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Ezekiel 22:30- 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.

Jesus came to this earth and through His death He paid the price for our redemption and thereby broke down the wall of separation between God and man. Now He is seated at the right hand of the Father until His enemies be made His footstool and He now lives to make intercession for us.

Hebrews 8:25- Wherefore he (Jesus) is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing that he ever lives to make intercession for them.

Romans 8: 26 & 27- So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable groaning too deep for utterance.

And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Holy Spirit and what His intent is, because the Spirit intercedes and pleads before God in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will. (Amplified)

Jesus, as our High Priest, knows the needs of all men, and moves by the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of those that are in his body in the earth and as they yield to the moving of the Spirit, the intercession flows back to the throne of grace. Intercession is a covenant cooperation. Under the New Covenant God has restored authority in the earth to the body of Christ, but that authority flows from the Word of God and the Spirit of God, and is enforced by the Name of Jesus.

Jesus told His disciples that He was going to go to the Father, but He would send the Holy Spirit to be their teacher and guide. He also told them that they were to abide in Him, by letting his Word abide in them and gave them insight into the authority that would flow through them by His Word.

John 15: 7- If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it will be done for you.

Matthew 18: 18- Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

As we exercise our God given authority, all the power of heaven is there to back us.

John 14:12- Most assuredly, I say unto you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to my Father.

Even under the Old Covenant we see the cooperation of God and His covenant partners. How much more is it so under the New Covenant?

When the Lord was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness He said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?" He then had a conversation with Abraham in which Abraham intercedes for the cities about to be destroyed. The Lord actually agreed not to destroy them if ten righteous could be found, but the wickedness was so great, not even ten could be found.

Moses also interceded for the Israelites and the the scriptures tells us, "And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to you word." (Numbers14:20) That is an amazing thing, but it shows the value that God puts upon His covenant relationships. God created man in His image and He sees us very differently than we see ourselves. He sees us through the blood of Jesus as sons and daughters of the Most High. As our minds become renewed to understand who we are in Christ, we will be more inclined to pray with confidence knowing that our Father will both hear and answer us.

1 John 5: 14- Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

1 John 5:16- If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death, I do not say that he should pray about that.

We can make a difference in many lives if we make ourselves available for prayer and intercession for others. When we do so, we are allowing Jesus, the great intercessor, to pray through us.