Devotional
for the Week—19 March 2007
Prayer-Key
to Revival: Prayer is Intercession
Scripture Text: Genesis
18: 16-33
Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away
the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous
people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare
[f] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?
25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous
with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike.
Far be it from you! Will not the Judge [g] of all the earth do
right?" [Genesis 18: 23-25]
What
is intercession?
Intercession is praying for others. An intercessor is one who
takes the place of another or pleads another's case. One study
Bible defines intercession as "holy, believing, persevering
prayer whereby someone pleads with God on behalf of another or
others who desperately need God's intervention."
Why
do we intercede?
1. We are called to the Priestly
role.
This is what the Word of God declares! We are a holy priesthood
(1 Peter 2:4-5), a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) and a Kingdom
of Priests (Revelation 1:4-7). Priestly intercession occurs when
the priest stands before God to minister to Him with sacrifices
and offerings. The priests also stand between a righteous God
and sinful man, bringing them together at the place of the blood
sacrifice. This is not just meant for the Levitical priesthood
in the Old Testament. Since the New Testament, there is a “new
order” of spiritual priests of whom the Lord Jesus is the
High Priest. This is "The Melchizedek Priesthood" (Genesis
14: 8, Psalm 110: 4). It is passed on to us through His blood
and our spiritual birth as new creatures in Christ.
2.
We are called to Partnership with God in His mission.
Though God is sovereign and acts independently of any created
thing (Acts 17: 24-25), He commits Himself to us in intercession.
In Ezekiel 22: 30-31 God is saying that while His justice demands
judgment, His love embraces forgiveness. Had God been able to
find a man or a woman to ask Him to spare this people, God would
have done so. It would have allowed God to show mercy. But because
He found no mediator, He had to destroy them.
3.
We are called to compassion.
Compassion is a distinctive mark of God’s
love. In Genesis 18, Abraham demonstrated that intercession is
Love on his knees. Intercession is the highest form of prayer
as it deals with the priceless commodity, the soul of a man. You
will see this strong compassionate quality in Jesus Christ, our
Chief Intercessor and Mediator (Matthew 9: 35-37).
Summary
We are intercessors because of our calling as priest, our calling
as partners with God, and our calling to compassion as distinctive
mark of Christian discipleship. We do this through 2 means. Effective
intercession is derived from intimacy with God. (Numbers 14, Hebrews
13:5, Romans 12:10) and the righteousness of Christ (Hebrews 12:14).
Prayer
Response:
Dear Lord Jesus, teach me to intercede for those in need. I am
willing to be a burden-bearer for You. Thank You for this great
invitation to be a co-labourer with Almighty God and an ambassador
for His Kingdom. I accept this invitation. Let me not sin against
the Lord by failing to pray (1 Sam 12:23). May Your Spirit guide
me in my prayer. Amen.
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Devotional based on a message by Rev. Vincent Goh