Intercession and Provision

In these blogs we have been looking into the subject of corporate prayer (praying with other people) and some of the rules that surround it. 

Believe it or not, prayer has some principles which, if you follow them, will result in you being more successful..

Often people get annoyed with the idea that God has set up rules to follow when we are praying. Why can't we just pray whatever we feel like from the heart. Won't God accept that?

Well, to start with, He probably will. Like a toddler who is learning how to sit at table for the first time, a certain amount of spillage and mess is to be expected. But if my 14 year old is still not understanding the rules of the table then we are going to have a problem and, they may not be allowed pudding!

When you stop to think about it, you will see that God is a God of order and often sets up clear rules in the rest of his creation. Water flows a certain way, Electricity and light have to follow clear parameters. So why should we assume that prayer is any different. 

We spoke of the different types of prayer being like different sports. All fall under the heading of sport, but you cant take the rules for rugby union and apply them to American football (or even to rugby league). In the same way, people often get nowhere in their prayer life because they are not following the rules. 

For a thorough examination of this topic, I can give no higher recommendation than Andrew Womack's excellent guide 'A Better Way to Pray'. It is available online or in book form. Certainly it did more to improve my own life in prayer than anything else I have ever encountered.

For today we will have a look at the subject of intercession and some of the confusion that often accompanies it. 

Intercession: means standing in the gap. But there is a massive difference between how intercession was approached in the Old Testament (before the blood of Jesus was poured out), and in the new testament.

In Numbers 16 we see a clear picture of Old Testament intercessory prayer when God is judging his people for their sin and a priest stands in the gap to appease him and offer prayer for mercy:

Numbers 16:46-49 ( Niv )

⁴⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.” ⁴⁷ So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. ⁴⁸ He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. ⁴⁹ But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. ⁵⁰ Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped.

 This was what intercessory prayer was about back then. But what about now in our new relationship with God through Jesus? There is no need to stand between God and His people. Jesus is the perfect mediator of the new covenant and has already made perfect atonement for our sins. He himself is the mercy seat and so we no longer need to 'stand in the gap' in that way. 

1 John 2:2 ( Niv )

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

But there is still a type of intercessory prayer that can be offered in the Church. Firstly on behalf of unbelievers. Not to save them from sin (Jesus has already done that). But to save them from the consequences of their sin. If they are involved in sexual promiscuity we can pray for God's mercy in protecting them from sexual disease and unwanted pregnancy. We can pray for their protection from domestic abuse. If they are into drugs we can pray for God to protect them from HIV and mental illness. 

When it comes to believers, we can 'stand in the gap' on their behalf, when they are too sick or too exhausted to pray for an issue that they are going through. Sometimes it is hard to find the faith for healing or deliverance when you are right in the middle of the conflict. In those sorts of situations, another brother or sister (or group) can come along and 'hold up their arms' in prayer ( like Aaron and Hur did for Moses )

. Standing in the gap for your with their own faith and revelation of Gods desire to heal that person and make them whole. They can offer intercessory prayer on your behalf. 

But never as Christians are we called to intercede in the old testament manner and stand between God and the objects of His wrath. To do so is to rob Christ of his victory on the cross. Jesus is the great high priest and his intersession to the father was perfect for all time.

So have a go 'standing in the gap' for people at the next prayer meeting you are in. If nothing else, declare the finished work of Jesus over their situation (if they are believers) and cry out for Gods merciful protection for them if they are not.