Paula Wiseman

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Intercession: For Each Other

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Intercession for each other title graphic

Intercession is going to God on someone’s behalf. It a holy privilege and duty, not to be taken lightly. It is strenuous and it can be messy. But it is one of the greatest ways we can minister and show love to others. We’ve learned we need a BURDEN for others, and we need to identify with the those for whom we are praying. We’ve looked at how to pray for those who are sick, how to pray when trouble comes, and how to pray about our sins and the sins of others. We’ll finish up learning from Jesus how we can pray for each other.

In John 17, we have the longest recorded prayer from Jesus. It is rich in theology and worthy of much study and meditation. We will barely scratch the surface. However, it is significant to consider what Jesus prayed for when He prayed for His disciples and for us. These were the things in the forefront of His mind in these last moments before His suffering.

Jesus first prayed for Himself.

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed (John 17:5). We shouldn’t hesitate to pray about our legitimate needs. Jesus’s prayer for the glory and presence of God is a longing for the plan to be completed. I hear echoes of “your kingdom come, Your will be done,” in it.

We certainly need to pray for God’s will to be done in our lives and that we would work to accomplish it–and not interfere with it.

Jesus prayed for His followers.

I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours (John 17:9). There is no question that Jesus loved and prayed for unbelievers, but on this night, knowing what lay ahead, He prayed for His disciples.

We need to be faithful to pray for each other when facing challenges. To be honest, who among us isn’t facing challenges?

Jesus prayed for our protection.

Holy Father, keep (protect) them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one (John 17:11) and keep them from the evil one. (John 17:15). This is not only physical protection, but more urgently, spiritual protection. The attacks from Satan would only intensify for Jesus’s followers after His arrest.

We and our brothers and sisters are under relentless attack. You see evidence in things like discouragement, conflict, anger, doubt, apathy and even apostasy experienced by believers and the body of Christ. We need to hold each other up and pray protection for us.

Jesus prayed for our joy.

But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves (John 17:13). Jesus knew how much we needed His joy, and He specifically prayed for it.

Pray that we all recover and grasp the joy we have in Christ, in our salvation, in all its fullness. How different things would be if we just realized this.

Jesus prayed that we would be sanctified, set apart, in the truth of His word.

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth (John 17:17). The living Word transforms us, making us more Christlike day in and day out. This is the goal for our life here.

We can pray that we are getting good teaching, that we are spending time in the Word, that we are applying it, that we are meditating on it, that we are bringing our lives in line with it.

Jesus prayed for our witness.

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word (John 17:20).

The gospel wasn’t going to end with Jesus’s return to heaven. Here He prays that God would already be at work in the hearts of those who would hear and believe in the coming days, including us.

We must be vigilant about praying for each other’s witness and testimony. Pray that those around them have soft hearts. Pray for boldness and for opportunities.

Jesus prayed that we would be with Him to share His glory.

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory (John 17:24). Let that sink in. Peter, James and John saw His glory on the mountain. Paul saw it. John saw it again in the Revelation. They were overcome by it. However Jesus prays not just that we see it, but we share it. That is the end of our salvation. Amen!

We can pray that all of keep eternity in focus and that we long for that day when our faith ends in sight.

Over the last several weeks it has become clear that there is no shortage of things to pray for, of ways to pray for each other. May we be faithful to do it.

Intercession: For Sin and Sinners

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Intercession for sins and sinners title graphic

Intercession is going to God on someone’s behalf. It a holy privilege and duty, not to be taken lightly. It is strenuous and it can be messy. But it is one of the greatest ways we can minister and show love to others. We have learned from Nehemiah and his BURDEN for others, and from Daniel and his IDENTIFICATION with those for whom he was interceding. Elijah modeled how to pray for those who are sick, and Hezekiah showed us how to pray when trouble comes. Today we’ll look to Ezra and learn a less popular prayer – for sin and sinners.

Ezra was a priest who had returned to Judah with a group sent to repatriate the land after seventy years of Babylonian captivity. It isn’t long before some situations come to Ezra’s attention. These situations put the people on the very same track that landed them in captivity- not remaining pure, flirting with idolatry, intermarriage with pagans and so forth. As a good, conscientious, caring priest Ezra intercedes for the people. His prayer is recorded in Ezra 9:6-15.

Mourning for sin precedes the prayer. In verses 3-5, look at how Ezra responds to the news that his people are falling into the same trap of sin. He tore his clothes. He pulled his hair out. He pulled out his beard. He sat down dumbfounded the rest of the day. He didn’t eat or anything else. And in verse 4, he had influence on others, who also mourned the sins reported.

Do we mourn sin? That is, do we mourn the assault on God’s holiness? Or are we more likely to excuse it, to minimize it? “We’re still in a sinful body so we can’t really stop it from happening.” Or perhaps mourn the consequences we face because of our sin? Or do we use the sin of others to self-righteously feel better about ourselves? Let’s be like “all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel” and follow Ezra’s example of mourning for sin.

Ezra identifies with his people. Daniel did this too. Ezra doesn’t claim to be sinless. “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you,” Ezra 9:6. Nor does he whitewash what his people have done in the past. “From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today.” Ezra 9:7 He very plainly confesses the sin. “For we have forsaken your commandments, … do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity. Ezra 9:10, 12.

Ezra leaves the outcome in God’s hands. He doesn’t make demands on God’s mercy. In verse 14, Ezra says, “Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?” Ezra 9:14. Rather, Ezra trusts God’s grace since he was able even to approach God with this petition. “O LORD, the God of Israel, you are just, … Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.” Ezra 9:15

When we begin to understand sin, we abandon any notion of pride or rights. But we also begin to glimpse what a wonder the grace of Almighty God is.

As believers in Christ, a kingdom of priests, let us see interceding for sin, for ourselves or others, as an urgent duty. Let us seek the recognition of God’s holiness and let us have faith in His ability and timing to bring punishment and restoration.

Intercession: When Trouble Comes

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Intercession when trouble comes title graphic

Intercession is going to God on someone’s behalf. It a holy privilege and duty, not to be taken lightly. It is strenuous and it can be messy. But it is one of the greatest ways we can minister and show love to others. We have learned from Nehemiah and his BURDEN for others, and from Daniel and his IDENTIFICATION with those for whom he was interceding. Most recently, we learned from Elijah how to pray for those who are sick. Today we’ll learn from King Hezekiah how to pray for ourselves and others when trouble comes.

Hezekiah was the king of Judah, the southern kingdom. In 701 BC, the mighty Assyrian army surrounded Jerusalem ready to lay siege to the capital city and complete its conquest of the nation. Twenty years earlier, Assyria had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel so the threat was very real to everyone. Hezekiah had emptied the treasury and stripped the gold from the doors of the Temple to get a tribute of eleven tons of silver and a ton of gold. This did not satisfy the Assyrian king. His general delivered a letter to Hezekiah, threatening him and mocking the God he served.

In 2 Kings 19, Hezekiah took the letter to the Temple and laid to before the Lord and he prayed.

Hezekiah approached God on the basis of His covenant relationship with Israel, and His place above all as creator.

15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: Lord God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you are God — you alone — of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.

How do we approach God? We have a unique position and relationship with Him because of the blood of Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 4:16). But coming boldly is not the same thing as coming with flippancy, demands or a sense of entitlement.

Hezekiah next draws attention to the Assyrians’ sacrilegious mocking of God.

16 Listen closely, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see. Hear the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.

Notice this. God’s glory and God’s reputation are Hezekiah’s primary concerns. He does not mention the cities that have already been overrun by the Assyrians. He does not mention whether the city of Jerusalem has enough provisions for the coming siege. He does not mention the size of his army versus the size of the Assyrian army. Even when trouble came, Hezekiah understood that when God is revered as God the other things fall into place.

Finally, Hezekiah requests deliverance so that God gets the glory.

19 Now, Lord our God, please save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are God — you alone.

Hezekiah could have prayed, Save us so that Your people whom You love don’t suffer. Or perhaps, Save us so the city You have chosen isn’t destroyed. But he didn’t. He prayed for God to be recognized as God alone.

None of this is to say that if you pray using these words, God will automatically answer like it is some incantation. That is NOT how God works. Rather it is an invitation to consider how our hard times can be situations where God gets glory. We, that is I, usually seek the restoration of my own equilibrium, I seek relief from hardship. I complain and launch into how God doesn’t love me because He fell asleep at the wheel and let these terrible things happen. It’s not fair. I have been a faithful servant. And on and on.

What Hezekiah models in his prayer is that we need to take a step back and see a bigger picture. He keeps God’s character and His greater purposes in focus. He knows what the Assyrians are capable of. He is afraid– any sane person would be, but because he knows God’s power and God’s character, when trouble comes Hezekiah prays that this trouble would be an opportunity for God’s glory to be revealed.

That is a prayer of great faith.

Intercession: For the Sick

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Intercession for the sick title graphic

Intercession is intervening. More specifically it is going to God on someone’s behalf. It a holy privilege and duty, not to be taken lightly. It is strenuous and it can be messy. We have learned from Nehemiah and his BURDEN for others, and from Daniel and his IDENTIFICATION with those for whom he was interceding.

Now let’s switch gears a little and think more specifically about what we pray for. If you are in a group and someone asks for prayer requests, what do mot of the requests deal with? Illness. We live in a fallen world and one of the evidences of that is sickness. It touches young and old. It seems to strike without rhyme or reason. Along with the physical suffering, it causes emotional anguish and financial devastation. If we have any faith at all, we need to pray for those who are sick. James 5:14-15 instructs us to call the elders to pray for us when we are sick.

Does Scripture give us any guidance on how to pray for the sick?

In 1 Kings 17, the prophet Elijah is staying in the Canaanite town of Zarephath. A widow there is providing food and a room for him as God miraculously provides for her during the three and a half year drought. The woman’s only son becomes sick and the sickness is fatal. After the boy’s death, she confronts the prophet. While there are deeper theological implications here — like the local god Baal could not raise the dead while Yahweh could — and there is the fact the Elijah was a powerful prophet of God, he teaches us some important things about praying for the sick.

Elijah got personally involved.

But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him from her arms, brought him up to the upstairs room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. (1 Kings 17:19)

He took the woman’s son, figuratively taking her burden and her sorrow. There would be no rest, no business as usual for Elijah as he prayer for this boy.

This is connected to identifying with those we pray for and to the burden we have for them. If it doesn’t touch us personally, if we don’t become involved personally, we will mumble, “Be with the sick,” and call it good.

Elijah didn’t have the answers.

Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “Lord my God, have you also brought tragedy on the widow I am staying with by killing her son?” (1 Kings 17:20)

Elijah was confused. Would God do a miracle to keep them alive only to let the boy die? What would that do to the budding faith of the woman? What about God’s reputation here in Zarephath? What about Elijah’s own reputation? Was he somehow responsible for this like the woman said?

God’s ways are not ours and it is arrogant to presume we know why things happen the way they do. Elijah was humble enough to pour out his confusion to God. We can do the same when we pray for the sick.

Elijah did not give up.

Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times. He cried out to the Lord and said, “Lord my God, please let this boy’s life come into him again!” (1 Kings 17:21)

I don’t know why it took three times. God certainly could have raised the boy after the first prayer. Maybe there were bonus lessons for the widow or for Elijah in this. I don’t know what laying down over the boy meant. The stretching out over the boy perhaps demonstrated to his mother that the prophet was identifying himself with her son. Perhaps Elijah was acting out what he was praying for by laying down and getting back up.

In any case, Elijah was actively, physically, intensely involved in praying. It is that intensity and that unwillingness to give up that we can learn from.

Now, we also know that despite our intensity and sincerity in praying for the sick, sometimes healing does not come in this life. You may recall in 2 Samuel 12 David’s fervent prayers for the recovery of his young son. Despite David’s fasting and mourning, the child died. David clung to his assurance that he would see his son again.

In my own experience, I have seen God miraculously heal and I have seen Him refrain from intervening. The same God. How God chooses to work out His will does not absolves us from the charge to pray for each other, especially to pray for the sick.

Intercession: Identification

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Intercession identification Daniel title graphic

Intercession is intervening. More specifically it is going to God on someone’s behalf. In the Old Testament, the priests did this. As New Testament believers, we are priests (1 Peter 2:9, Rev 5:10). We have access to God through Jesus Christ, but rather than enter the Holy Place in the tabernacle or Temple, we enter God’s presence through prayer. It a holy privilege and duty, not to be taken lightly. But it is no less strenuous and sometimes no less messy. Last week we looked at Nehemiah and his BURDEN for others. This week, let’s learn from Daniel and his IDENTIFICATION with those for whom he was interceding.

We know Daniel was a man of prayer. Habitual, heartfelt, prayer. Several are recorded in Scripture, but we are going to focus on his great prayer is in Daniel 9:4-19.

I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. Daniel 9:4-5 (ESV)

Look at what Daniel confessed. WE have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled and turned aside. Daniel had not done any of those things. I mean, he wasn’t perfect, but his life was exemplary. Was it false modesty? Was it delusion? Was it an overly active guilty conscience? No. None of those. He was identifying himself with his people who needed God’s forgiveness and help.

It takes humility and compassion to identify with those who have sinned and stand in need of prayer.

In the days of the Old Testament sacrifices, the one bringing the offering would first put his hands on the animal’s head in a symbolic gesture. It was a way of proclaiming, “The death of the animal is the death I should have received because of my sin.” That’s the humility part.

But it also takes a deep sense of compassion for those in sin, and sense of responsibility for their well-being. Daniel had just finished reading Jeremiah and he understood that the exile was the outworking of God’s judgment. Now the people would continue to suffer unless God showed them mercy. Because Daniel loved his people and identified with them, he interceded for God to act quickly to forgive them and restore them (vv. 16-19)

Identifying with sinners is Christlike.

Jesus Christ identified with us. Philippians 2:8 explains how He humbled Himself and became a man. Hebrews 2:9-10 shows us that His being made a little lower than the angels allowed Him to go through the death sentence for every person.

Identifying with sinners is not sinning with them.

It is intervening on their behalf before the Father. Again, Jesus did not sin. Ever. Daniel did not commit the sins that caused the captivity of Judah. But their love for others, their heartbreak at the suffering caused them to act. In an oversimplified analogy, think of it like a prince who has access to his father the king. The prince knows a group of people in his kingdom who are suffering because they rebelled against the king. But the prince goes and asks for the king to be merciful. While the king might not hear the rebels, he might be moved by the pleas of his son.

The people may never know you are interceding for them.

It is unlikely the people in Judah knew how Daniel prayed for them. We don’t know all the ways Jesus intercedes for us even today. That shouldn’t stop us. In humility, we don’t pray to win points with God or with those we pray for. We do it because we love people, we want God to bless them and we know that God cannot bless them in their rebellion against Him?

So, what situations cause your heart to break because you know God is not pleased? What injustices need to be made right for us to live as God’s people? These things, the things that move you are invitations to intercession. Take those opportunities, identify with those people, and meet God in humility and with compassion just like Daniel.

Intercession: Burden

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Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Romans 8:34 (NKJV)

Intercession is intervening

More specifically, intercession is going to God on someone’s behalf. In the Old Testament, the priests did this. It was an exhausting, messy business. Think about it. The priests handled the sacrifices for the people. It was physical. It was bloody and messy, but it was critically necessary.

As New Testament believers, we are priests (1 Peter 2:9, Rev 5:10). We have access to God through Jesus Christ, but rather than enter the Holy Place in the tabernacle or Temple, we enter God’s presence through prayer. It a holy privilege and duty, not to be taken lightly. But it is no less strenuous and sometimes no less messy.

Over the next few weeks we’re going to look at some intercessory prayers in Scripture to learn from them. Let’s start with Nehemiah.

Nehemiah had a tremendous BURDEN for his countrymen. A burden for others and their situations is essential to intercession. We will not pray without one.

Late in the year 446 BC, Nehemiah was in the winter palace of the Persian kings, where he served Artaxerxes as cupbearer. His brother, Hanani, visited with some men who had just returned from Jerusalem. They had gone with Ezra in 458 BC in the second return.

He asked about the Jews who had returned with them. How were they doing? How were things going? A burden for others will show in concern for their well-being.

They told Nehemiah that the people lived in a burned out broken down city. They were enduring the insults and oppression of the locals and it was making life miserable for them.

Nehemiah was overwhelmed with grief, weeping and mourning for days over the news. A burden for others makes us tender-hearted toward them.

In his mourning, Nehemiah prayed and fasted for the Jews in his homeland. It was a serious concern that consumed his attention to the point that he didn’t eat.

Here’s what he prayed:

Nehemiah 1:5 And I said: “I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments,”

Nehemiah is humble, not making demands. He appeals to God on the basis of God’s character, not his own.

Nehemiah 1:7 “We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.“

Again, a humble confession that God owes us nothing, because we are sinful and rebellious.

Nehemiah 1:10-11 “Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.“

But we have a standing because He has called us His people. Then Nehemiah makes his two requests. 1. Hear my pray and the prayer of others. 2. Grant him mercy in the sight of the king.

Those requests also teach us something important about intercession. Nehemiah had enlisted others to pray with him and for him. Paul tells us to bear one another’s burdens. Intercessory prayer is a way we do this.

Second, Nehemiah was resolved to act. We must be willing and prepared to act on behalf of others if we intercede for them.

If you keep reading in Nehemiah chapter 2, you’ll see it was four months before Nehemiah approached the king. His desire act was subject to God’s sovereign timing. In the intervening time, I’m sure there was more fasting, more praying. With Nehemiah’s great burden for his people and their situation how could he do any less?

Who are you burdened for? How are you interceding for them?