Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
(Rom 8:34 KJV)
One of the most important things in our Christian walk is intercession. Intercession is the most needed in the body of Christ but the least recognized. It gets overlooked because it’s not in the forefront, it’s not on a stage with a microphone or being played on the radio it’s something that is done in your prayer closet. I can remember hearing when I was coming up in church that there was an intercessory prayer group. This group had a few people in it out of a church of hundreds of people. I kind of had an idea of what this group was about but I didn’t have a full meaning. So as an adult now I wanted a deeper meaning of what Intercession is. So naturally I looked it up in the dictionary and this is what it said:
1 : the act of interceding
2 : prayer, petition, or entreaty in favor of another
This definition pretty much jumped alive to me. The part that came alive to me is “entreaty In FAVOR of ANOTHER.” How many times when we go to pray all we do is ask God for things that we need or want. I know I’m guilty of this. I can sit down and give God a list of things that I am thankful for and then go right into my “wish list” without even mention someone else. I know that being a “Christian” is to be Christ like, being Christ like is to be selfless. So why is it in prayer I only mention my needs and no one else’s? As we all grow in Christ we find that we will begin to put others needs before our own. Once we start doing that then we start mention other people in prayer before ourselves which is intercession.
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
(Jas 5:16 KJV)
Christians are called to serve. Have you ever been to a buffet style dinner with servers? Imagine you get in line to get your food and before the server puts a portion of food on your plate they take out a plate of their own and put that portion on their plate. Your first reaction may be anger or you may have a confused look on your face as to why they would do that. Well that’s what we do when we go to God without even mentioning someone else. James 5:16 says “pray one for another”. This means everybody pray on for another. I hear people say all the time I don’t have the heart of an intercessor. So basically they say I don’t pray for anyone else in my private prayer time. Intercession is something that we all are to do as followers of Christ. Romans 8:34 says he intercedes for us so to be like him we need to intercede for others. My favorite scripture is:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Php 2:5)
Let us have the mind of Christ to always have the heart to intercede for people. Sometimes you interceding for someone is the only thing helping them hold on and giving them the strength to continue. I pray that we all as Christians would have a heart of an intercessor to lift each other up in prayer.
May the Lord keep you and bless you, and make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
Pastor Jonathan Roundtree Sr.