An intercessor role?
What’s that?
(The most read blog post on this website: What is an Intercessor?)
How do you see your role in praying for others?
Hours on end? Short prayers? On the spot prayers?
Or perhaps you’re one of those people whom God has blessed with the needed stamina to pray for long periods of time, no matter what.
Let’s start with a few examples.
What was Abraham’s Intercessor role?
In Genesis 18, God and a few friends (Angels? Jesus and the Holy Spirit?) stopped by the Mamre terebinth trees to let Abraham know Sarah would bear a child the following year.
After their surprising, and humorous, conversation, the three “men” looked toward nearby Sodom.
God sort-of mused, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?”
After explaining His thoughts, God made plans to respond to the wicked outcry against the cities. As the “men” turned away, Abraham stood before the Lord.
He began his famous bargaining with God, asking whether God would really destroy the city (where Abraham’s nephew Lot lived), if it included 50 righteous people.
He eventually bargained God down to saving the city if ten righteous people were found.
Note what happened in this story.
Abraham had such a close relationship, intimacy, with God, God told Abraham what he planned to do.
In response, Abraham reminded God of God’s character–particularly His justice.
As long Abraham prayed, God relented.
Abraham’s intercessor role was to step into the gap of God’s expected judgement and what the Sodom residents deserved.
We can debate if Abraham stopped his bargaining too soon. But note, he negotiated long enough for Lot and his family to escape the city.
Moses and his famous intercessor role
Throughout his life, Moses appealed to God as an intercessor for the Hebrew people.
When God wanted to destroy the Israelites after the golden calf incident, Moses tried several different ploys, most notably reminding God of His character.
Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.
“Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”
And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
Note how both Moses and Abraham used their intimacy with God to pray with love for people who didn’t deserve God’s mercy.
They didn’t take “no” for an answer.
Because they knew God’s character and pointed to it, they could go on far longer than some of us would pray.
Moses and Abraham were:
- Friends of God
- Knew His character.
- Understood God’s anger at the blatant evil.
- Prayed for the good of the people God loved.
How did Jesus pray for others?
“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)
Jesus is God. He knows God’s character. He feels anger at sin. Jesus, however, is the mediator between God and men. (1 Timothy 2:5).
He died on our behalf. He knows how wicked and sinful we are.
Yet, Jesus’ love sent Him to the cross that we might be forgiven.
Historical Intercessor roles
I’ve written about the Bible College of Wale’s intercessor, Rees Howells.
He followed the patterns above.
As a result, he and his students spent most of the “Phony War,” and the entirety of World War II, praying from 8 to midnight that England would prevail.
What is your intercessor role?
Whatever God calls you to do.
And, in particular, whenever God calls you to pray.
Some people can pray for hours at a time for specific situations, wars, trouble.
Thank you. We need you.
Others set aside part of their personal prayer time to pray for others.
Some find themselves surprised into the role in public.
Others pay attention to events around them–and pray whenever God taps them on the shoulder (I call that proactive prayer.)
(Perhaps even when they’re standing in line!)
The best news?
If God prompts you to pray, you’re praying out of love, with the will of God in mind, and asking for things that reflect HIS character (not our desires), He’ll hear and respond.
(Please remember, however, the three answers to prayer--and that “no” is one of them).
Tweetables
Intercessory prayer examples: Abraham, Moses, and Rees Howells. Click to Tweet
What are the ingredients of intercessory prayer? Click to Tweet
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