Making Intercession

Have you walked through this day with the assurance that someone prayed for you? Did you pray for someone today? For the past few nights as I gotten settled into bed I have been burdened for several people to pray for them. One person in particular has weighed heavily on my mind and heart for the last several nights.

It is a privilege to get to pray for people. You and I have no idea how many times we have been prayed for. A remnant of ladies in Seminole prayed over me every morning while I served as their pastor. Many times since then they have contacted me to remind me they still pray for me. What a comfort to know you are being lifted before the Lord continually. It is also a blessing to be the one making intercession for someone else. Making intercession for others is a high and noble calling.

Moses did that for the children of Israel after a bout of complaining and murmuring. The Lord sent fiery serpents to attack the people and some of the people actually died. In Numbers 21:7 the people begged Moses to intercede for them. “So the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.’ And Moses interceded for the people.”

The word intercede means to pray, entreat, or make supplication. There are countless opportunities to do this daily. People are in distress all around us and need our prayers. Your spouse, your children, your grandchildren, your pastor, your youth pastor, your worship pastor, friends, co-workers, classmates, and friends all need your supplications.

There is a forgotten ministry here. If people took on the ministry of intercession they would do a world of good in their families, churches, and communities. Making intercession for people can be time consuming. Living a life of intercession can prove to be inconvenient as the Lord wakes you up all hours of the night to seek Him in prayer on behalf of someone in need.

The world needs more intercessors. The church needs more intercessors. Your community and mine need more intercessors. Are you one God is calling to this wonderful but hidden ministry? When I think about Moses interceding for Israel I wonder how he kept from getting frustrated. They continually complained and doubted God and Moses. He loved those people God had entrusted to Him and prayed for them time and time again.

He interceded for them after the golden calf incident in Exodus 32. God was ready to wipe the whole nation off the face of the earth but Moses stood in the gap for the nation and God relented from destroying them. Time after time Moses can be found pleading with God to spare the people or forgive the people.

As a pastor I am challenged by Moses heart to pray for his people. I need that kind of heart for the people I serve and for people in general. I received a message from someone last night asking me to pray for them. I want to take those prayer requests to heart. I want my heart to feel the burden to cry out to God on their behalf.

Lord I thank you for the ministry of intercession. I am where I am today because people have prayed for me continually over the past four decades. I want to thank you for blessing me with people that have loved me enough to pray for me. Thank you for those whom I will never know their names but you have heard and responder to their prayers on my behalf. I ask you to weigh burdens on me continually for those people who need a touch from you. Please call out intercessors, especially me, like Moses in this day and age. May eternity reverberate with the impact of those answered prayers. In Jesus’ name, amen.