In beginning this study, we need to familiarize ourselves with some terminologies, namely:
1. Intercession
The word intercession is the action of intervening on behalf of another person. Intercessory prayer, therefore, would mean the act of praying to God on behalf of others, whether they are aware of their need for such prayers or not.
“And Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.” Genesis 25:21.
2. An Intercessor
An intercessor is the person who offers prayers on behalf of another.
Interestingly, the greatest Intercessor of all time is Jesus Christ. He never ceases to make intercessions for us before the throne of God in heaven. Isaiah 53:10-12; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:22-25.
“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25.
The quoted scriptures above give us a glimpse of what our Lord, Jesus Christ, does in heaven, among other things: He makes a continual intercession for His followers without ceasing. The phrase,
“He always lives to make intercession…” captures that essence. How fortunate we are!
Below is yet another scripture which speaks to this truth:
“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 10:32.
Apart from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of God, too, is an Intercessor for the children of God, but unlike Jesus Christ, He only intercedes for us when we ourselves are
Praying. He re-packages our prayers and makes them more presentable to God. Then He offers them to Him in intercession, making a strong appeal to God for us to be heard and answered. Romans 8:26-27.
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8:26.
Lastly, we as humans can be intercessors too. In fact, God is looking for intercessors today as He always has done in the ages past, but it is unfortunate to say that many people do not respond favourably to God’s call to stand in the gap as intercessors for others, as we shall see in the following texts of the study. Isaiah 59:14-16; Ezekiel 22:29-31.
“So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:30.
Today, God is still looking for men and women, boys and girls who would consecrate their services to Him as intercessors, to hold back His judgment and, instead, turn His favour on mankind for their deliverance and salvation. It is left to us to decide if, like Isaiah, we would gladly rise up to the occasion and say, “Here am I; send me.” Isaiah 6:8.
In the course of this study we shall be considering the following sub-topics:
- The Principles of Intercessory Prayer.
- The Requisite Qualities of an Intercessor.
- Who Should We Intercede For? 1.The Principles of Intercessory Prayer.
Intercessory Prayer, as earlier defined in the introductory part of this study, is the action of one or more persons intervening on behalf of another, or others, through prayer; whether those persons are aware of their need for such prayers or not.
Intercessory Prayer is founded on a very interesting and divinely formulated principle which is designed by God to operate in the following ways:- 1.To circumvent any barrier created by a person’s self-will when it is exercised either in direct opposition to God’s will, or in ignorance of it.
- 2.To act as reinforcement to a willing mind or an already existing prayer action initiated by anyone in line with God’s will, but which, nevertheless, is still deficient in achieving the answer sought.
In essence, therefore, we can say that intercessory prayer has the potential to persuade God to act favourably over a situation which, based on the prevailing circumstances surrounding it, He would ordinarily not have so acted, except for the sake of that intercessor(s). See Job 42:7-9.
“Therefore take now seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” Job 42:8.
Let’s now undertake an in-depth study of the two modes of operation of intercessory prayer already identified above.
1. The Power to Circumvent Barriers through Intercessory Prayer
God created man, gave him the rules he should follow to enable his life to successfully unfold in the order and manner He had designed it; but He also gave man the liberty of choice because, by God’s own design, that is an inherent attribute of his being. As long as man could make the choices which are consistent with God’s will, he would remain in fellowship with God and find the true meaning and fulfillment of his life. Deuteronomy 30:15-16.
“And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them.’” Ezekiel 20:11.
“…Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” 2 Chronicles 20:20B.
But, on the other hand, if man makes a wrong exercise of his will in choosing what is not right in the sight of God, it would cause a breach in his relationship with God, who is the very source of his life, and that would result in a rapid deterioration of God’s original plan for his life. Deuteronomy 30:17-18.
“When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.” Ezekiel 33:13.
Man, and that unfortunately, has habitually relied more on his own ways than on God’s, thus, coming into constant conflict with God’s ordained principles of life, and suffering dearly for it. But, thankfully, God who knew beforehand what mankind would make of the liberty of choice He granted them did not also leave them without a remedy for their transgressions. But the interesting thing about God’s remedy for man’s sins and failures is that it must be sought after for God to administer it; but here again, man is more likely to remain in sin than to turn away from it and seek God’s intervention, hence the need for an intercessor who could stand in the gap for unrepentant man and seek for God’s mercy and favour on his behalf. This remedy is a most interesting phenomenon, but we must forever be grateful that God has availed us of such underserved favour! See Hosea 7:8-16.
Hos.7.8 – “My people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners, picking up their evil ways. Now they have become as worthless as a half-baked cake!
Hos.7.9 – Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength, but they don’t even know it. Israel is like an old man with graying hair, unaware of how weak and old he has become.
Hos.7.10 – His arrogance testifies against him, yet he doesn’t return to the LORD his God or even try to find him”. NLT
A situation such as the one captured in the scripture above necessitates the employment of intercessory prayer to mitigate; God would show mercy if only the fallen or erring sinner would seek it, but mostly they do not, so God searches for an intercessor to stand in the gap to avert the impending judgment that would otherwise fall on the sinner. Isaiah 59:14-16; Ezekiel 22:29-31.
Ezek.22.30 “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one”.
Why has God always sought for an intercessor to intervene on behalf of the wilful, or erring, sinner? Why can’t He just forgive them of His own accord, with no strings attached, or else to just go ahead and punish them as their sins demand? The answer is simply that God will not forgive the sin which the sinner has refused to acknowledge, as that would not satisfy His justice, yet He would not also hastily bring him to judgement because He still loves the sinner. Exodus 34:5-7; Ezekiel 18:23, 30-32.
So, God would rather that an intercessor circumvents that spiritual barrier created by man’s hardness of heart, and offer a plea of mercy on his behalf. See Exodus 32:7-14; Daniel 9:15-19.
2. The Reinforcement Ability of Intercessory Prayers
The Principle here is much the same as the one explained in the first point above, but with the exception that on this second point we are not dealing with an unwilling person, but with a willing mind and praying heart that needs a support from an intercessor. Here, the case of Queen Esther as recorded in Esther 4:1-17 readily comes to mind.
“Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” Esther 4:16
Here we have the case of a willing person ready to pray and seek God’s intervention, but she was still soliciting for the support of some other intercessors as a means of reinforcement. The same can be said of Apostle Peter’s willingness to go with Jesus through His trying moments when He was to be arrested and crucified. Jesus told him that He had prayed for him to come through that ordeal because, as God, He saw into the future that, though Peter was willing, his faith and courage would not carry him through, except He reinforced his faith through intercession. Yes, Peter eventually attempted to go through the length with Jesus Christ’s ordeal, but fell short as He had earlier forewarned him. What brought Peter back to repentance and spiritual restoration was, obviously, Jesus Christ’s earlier intercession.
“And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail…” Luke 22:31-32.
Sometimes the person being interceded for may not be aware of such prayer rally made on their behalf, except that they would notice that their situations dramatically changed for the better. This can happen to both individuals, or groups, in the first and second points discussed above. See Acts 12:1-11; Exodus 32:9-14.
“Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” Acts 12:5.
Apostle Peter experienced an extraordinary miracle of deliverance from a maximum security prison, but he didn’t know that the secret of that divine imtervention was the relentless intercession offered on his behalf by the Church, until much later. We can also say the same thing about the Israelites when they incurred divine wrath because of the golden calf they made and worshipped. Little did they know destruction was to suddenly come upon them, had Moses not earnestly turned away God’s wrath from them through his intercessory prayers.
“Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: “LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people… Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people…” So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.” Exodus 32:11,12,14.
2. The Requisite Qualities of an Intercessor.
Having examined the principles of intercessory prayer in the first point under this study, we are now progressing into the next point of the study, as earlier captioned above. But we may have to, at this point, ask a very pertinent question: who may qualify as an intercessor before the LORD?
“So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:30.
The fact that God is still looking for intercessors today, as much as He has done in the ages past, quickly drives home the conviction that there has always been a scarcity of intercessors. There may have been an army of praying men and women; boys and girls, both in the past and present generations of the worshippers of God, but it is clear that there have always been a few intercessors. You may want to ask why this is so; well it’s so because as passionate as most people are about praying, yet most of their prayer points are for themselves or those in whom they have some vested interest. These are the very things that would disqualify anyone to be an intercessor before the LORD. God requires a nobler virtue from those whom He’d accept as intercessors.
Below are some qualities which God requires of those who would stand in the gap between Him and mankind in general, or individual persons in particular:
1. RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3.
The very first requirement any prospective intercessor should possess is a very good and working relationship with God, through His Son Jesus Christ. This is so because it would hardly be practicable to stand in the gap for anyone before God unless you have an intimate relationship with Him. God will only “…confirm the word of His servant, and perform the counsel of His messengers…” as His Word says. See Isaiah 44:24-26; 1 Samuel 3:19-21; Daniel 10:12.
“So Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.” 1 Samuel 3:19.
2. FAITHFULNESS TO GOD
An unfaithful man would make a bad mediator or intercessor before a Holy God. See 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; Hebrews 3:1-5.
“Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” 1 Corinthians 4:2.
God needs a person whom He can depend on; a person who would be faithful to His call as an intercessor. Faithfulness here means that when God needs someone to intercede on behalf of another, He would get a prompt response from the intercessor, without any interference from issues like their own personal convenience. Let us view what faithfulness to a cause would seem like to God, from the example of His own Son, Jesus Christ, in the scripture below:
Mark.6.30 – “The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and what they had taught.
Mark.6.31 – Then Jesus said, “Let’s get away from the crowds for a while and rest.” There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.
Mark.6.32 – They left by boat for a quieter spot.
Mark.6.33 – But many people saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and met them as they landed.
Mark.6.34 – “A vast crowd was there as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he taught them many things”. NLT
An intercessor, just like Jesus Christ and His disciples, must elevate the prevailing interest of God above their own so.as to minister to any one.
3. BURDEN FOR OTHERS
Daniel 9:1-19; 10:1-21.
Daniel was a man who had such a huge burden for his people, the Israelites and their land. Even in the event where his life was threatened with death in the lion’s den, on account of his faithfulness to intercessory prayer, Daniel still made intercession for his people to God Almighty. Daniel 6:1-10.
“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.” Daniel 6:10.
Nehemiah was also another man who showed such a huge burden for his nation Israel. See Nehemiah 1:1-11; 2:1-3.
“And I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?”” Nehemiah 2:3.
Moses, also, was a man with such a large heart for his people. Despite their incessant rebellion against God, and many conspiracies to stone him (Moses) to death, he still interceded for them before God. See Exodus 32:30-32; Numbers 14:11-20; Exodus 32:7-14.
“Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”” Exodus 32:31-32.
Apostle Paul was also a man whose burden for his people, the Israelites, was great; it was such that he wished, like Moses did, that he could be accursed for the sake of his people. Romans 9:1-5; 10:1-2.
“I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh…” Romans 9:1-3.
The examples above should suffice for us to establish the importance of a burdened heart as a prerequisite for God to lay hands on the person He would use as an intercessor.
One striking thing, though, which is common to all the Bible characters mentioned above, was that they did not advance their personal interests before God in preference to that of their people for whom they entreated God’s favour. The same must apply to anyone who would be an intercessor before God for others. But who does God want us to intercede for? This question leads us to the third and final point of the study.
3. Who Should We Intercede For?
1 Timothy 2:1 – 8.
In answering the question posed above, we must reasonably give answer in line with God’s Word that we are to intercede for all of mankind.
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men…” 1 Timothy 2:1
In fact, we should offer intercessions for everything worth praying for, unless God commands us to do otherwise. We must understand here that as great as the leverage is which our God has given to us in the place of prayers, yet He reserves the right to reject or accept the prayers so offered and to also determine if we should pray for anyone or not. See an example of this in Ezekiel 14:12-20.
“Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.” Jeremiah 7:16.
However, with all things being equal, God would have us make intercession for all men and for all things in accordance with His will.
From our opening text, from the scriptures, we can identify some specific points raised for prayer and intercession. They are as follows:
1. FOR ALL MEN: 1 Timothy 2:1.
The phrase “…for all men…” is quite broad and should not be taken to mean literally praying for the over seven billion humans on earth, individually. Rather, it makes better sense to say that the request given therein is for prayers to be offered for all manner of men in their different classifications, such as we can see listed in the following points below.
2. FOR KINGS AND PEOPLE IN AUTHORITY. 1 Timothy 2:2.
This includes every person vested with powers to govern, to lead, to guide, to instruct, to teach or to administer justice. This classification covers almost all the different strata of the society such as: government, corporate institutions, educational institutions, religious institutions, and all of that. The idea for this prayer request is so that “…we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence…” in the society, which will in turn afford us the right setting to do God’s work successfully and to live a meaningful life.
The current state of the world, however, suggests that the church has not been doing much on this aspect of intercessory prayer. We keep praying for souls to be won, and for our living standards to improve under a system that’s secretly or ( in some countries) openly wired to prevent us from doing or achieving that! How can that be possible without first interceeding for the salvation of our political leaders, or the people in whose hands lie the civil power and authority by which we are governed. If we let Satan, God’s enemy, controls them first, as we can be rest assured that He already does with some of them, then he will influence them to make and implement bad policies that will adversely affect how we serve God acceptably in our lands. On the other hand, if we fervently intercede for their salvation, they would, as genuinely saved children of God, be inspired by His Holy Spirit to make and implement good policies that will enable them to rule righteously.
Proverbs 29:2 “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan “.
It is amazing that the Church has been given such leverage and power to determine her fate in the hands of the civil authorities, but would seem to have done nothing much with that stupendous amount of power! The fact that we still groan under the mis-rule of corrupt politicians and the burden of their bad governance presupposes that we have not been using the amazing power of God available to us through the ministry of intercessory prayers. I have heard people praying and asking God to “clear” (or kill) bad politicians troubling the country, but He will not do that for a lazy church who would not rather intercede for their salvation because that’s what Jesus Christ, His Son, offered His life to give to them: if the Church cannot see it in this light, then it seems that we have a serious problem to deal with!
Luke.9.56 “For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them…”
A hateful and vengeful heart prays for the destruction of the wicked sinner, but a compassionate and living heart would intercede for their deliverance and salvation. That’s the kind of God’s heart, which an intercessor must pray to have.
Deut.5.29 “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!”
3. FOR THE SALVATION OF MANKIND. 1 Timothy 2:3-4.
I want to make this point brief. When the nation thrives under righteous leaders, and persons of authority, then our intercession for the salvation of its citizens becomes more fruitful and less burdensome. Proverbs14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people”.
Besides the prayer points explained above, we can also intercede on the following prayer points, namely:
1. FOR THE CHURCH:
Today’s Church faces so many challenges from both the physical and spiritual worlds; this calls for our earnest intercession. Ephesians 6:10-12.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12.
Victory here would ensure the growth and prosperity of the church.
2. FOR THE MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL: 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; Matthew 26:31.
A greedy and an unholy minister is the undoing of any congregation; and we have quite a number of them overseeing large churches today.
“All the dogs are greedy; They never have enough. And they are shepherds Who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, Every one for his own gain, From his own territory.” Isaiah 56:11.
Our prayers, therefore, should be for God to give us faithful ministers who will be willing to make sacrifices for the welfare of the church of Jesus Christ. See Acts 20:25-31; Jeremiah 23:1-4.
“And I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:4.
3. PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF OUR NATION: Jeremiah 29:1-7
“Also, seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace.” Jeremiah 29:7.
The place and priority of peace in any nation can never be overemphasized: we need peace in our nation for us to be able to lead a normal and fruitful life, both secular and ecclesiastical. The countries currently at war have little or no freedom to carry out their civic, secular or religious duties in peace.
4. PRAY FOR CHRISTIANS TO BE STEADFAST TO THE END: Matthew 24:12-13; 44-51; Revelation 2:8-10.
“But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” Matthew 24:13.
There are many challenges facing the body of Christ all over the world today, just as Jesus Christ foretold earlier. We must continue in intercessory prayers for one another so that our faith will not be lost to Satan. There is no price too great to pay for the victory that is mandatory for every Christian who must wear the crown of life reserved for the victorious saints in heaven. Intercessory Prayer holds the key for this victory!
“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 2:10.
There’s hardly any victory in spiritual warfare without prayer, especially intercessory prayer, because God’s intervention in mankind’s contention with Satan and his kingdom is always the key to this victory, through that prayer.
Those who know this secret talk less but pray more about worrisome situations.
The faithful intercessor is God’s ready vessel to use as He wishes, when He wishes, wherever He wishes and at whatever time He wishes. As long as they make themselves available, God will always have a work at hand for them to be engaged with because there would always be the need for an intercessor until God’s eternal Kingdom established over the whole realms of humans and spirits existence in His own set time. But until then we must each strive to give ourselves to intercessory prayers so as to be able to change the old, yet subsisting, narrative of the scripture below:
Ezekekiel.22:30 “I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn’t have to destroy it. I couldn’t find anyone. Not one”. (MSB)
THE END