All prayers Intercessory Prayers

Intercession is a special and very important aspect of prayer. As the word indicates, to intercede means to act as a mediator, to request a favor for another.

In intercession, we intercede with God for the good of others. It is a valuable service to pray for those who are the objects of our affections and for what is dear to the Lord’s heart, especially His congregation.

Moreover, the Word teaches us to pray for those who wrong us and persecute us (Matt. 5:44). The Lord interceded for transgressors (Isa. 53:12; Luke 23:34). Stephen could say, “Lord, hold not this sin against them” (Acts 7:60).

The Word contains countless examples of men of God who, forgetting themselves, have intervened by interceding with insistence, constancy and even boldness, ardently desiring the good of God’s people.

Let us note, however, that such interventions will be accepted only to the extent that they are practiced in all reverence and submission, for we cannot give orders to God.

Moses fulfills the role of intercessor on many occasions. In Exodus 32, after the golden calf, he implores the Lord by saying: “Return from your fierce anger, and repent of the evil that you intend to do to your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel... to whom you swore by yourself.” Holding in his hands the tablets that he must break, on which an inflexible law was written, he bases his intercession on the promises of unconditional blessing made to the fathers (v. 13). In this same circumstance, he intercedes for Aaron so that he will not be destroyed (Deut. 9:20).

Later, in Numbers 14, after the people have scorned the explored country, Moses, upon hearing the divine sentence, intercedes again. Having previously heard, on Mount Sinai, the proclamation of God's mercy, grace and goodness (Ex. 34:6), he intercedes by appealing to these same characters, saying: "as you have spoken." Then the Lord uses grace and lets himself be moved by saying: "I have forgiven according to your word." However, the government is exercised, which cannot diminish the reality of forgiveness.

At Mizpah, Samuel prays to the Lord for the people. Recognizing the value of this intercession, Israel says to the prophet, “Do not cease to cry to the Lord for us” (1 Sam. 7:5-9). Hezekiah prayed to the Lord for those who ate the Passover without purifying themselves, that their neglect might be forgiven them; and the Lord listened to him (2 Chron. 30:18-20). At the dedication of Solomon’s temple, this king addressed a prayer to the Lord in which he interceded for the people in anticipation, saying, “If they have sinned against you ... and you are angry” and they say, “We have sinned ... then hear, ... their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause and forgive” (1 Kings 8:46-50).

We could multiply the quotes by speaking of David, Ezra, Daniel, Jeremiah, Paul and so many others. Intercession requires discernment to be led to request, in our prayers, what is according to the thought of God and which contributes to the blessing of those who are the objects of it. We can also note that, during the day of Christ, then introduced into glory, we will be priests, part of the group constituted by the twenty-four elders who, according to Revelation 5:8, fall on their faces before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints.

As such, we will fulfill this heavenly office in favor of believers suffering here below during the apocalyptic period, oppressed under the reign of the antichrist. Interested in their circumstances, we will present their prayers as coated with divine justice (golden bowls). Is it not a blessing to think that the priesthood we now exercise will be continued in a perfect manner in heaven for the saints on earth during the Lord’s day? For ourselves, we are told that the Spirit intercedes with groanings which cannot be uttered (Rom. 8:26).

The Epistle to the Hebrews richly develops the heavenly office which the Lord exercises on our behalf, as an intercessor, ever living to intercede for us (ch. 7:25 and Rom. 8:34). As such, the divine and perfect mediator, he prays in our behalf and appears before God for us that we may receive the blessing we need. We will return to this subject later.