authentic intercession

I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf…

Romans 15:30

There is a lot more about intercessory prayer than we may realize at first reflection. Yes, it is about praying for and with someone else. However, in this short description in this one verse, before Paul explains his specific prayer need to the Roman church, he describes the need for intercessory prayer to be FOR a beneficiary. He also describes the true benefactors behind such prayer.

Let’s begin with the beneficiary. Paul was not ashamed to ask specific prayer requests for himself. He needed it. His ministry was empowered by such prayer. His plans were yielded to prayer. He expected these Roman Christians, whom he had yet to visit in their home church, to pray specifically “to God on my behalf.” For the person who truly prays for others, intercessory prayer is not self-concerned. It focuses those who offer it on the real needs of other people. It builds mutual ministry. It keeps us all humble… recognizing our need for God to be at work so we can do His good work. We are all dependent on the power and the provision of God for everything we have and we do!

Yet the power behind such intercession is not mere human effort. We all have to yield to the true benefactors of our intercession for others. God the Father is the Person to Whom we ask our requests. God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, provides the means and authority by which we can then pray so boldly. The love of the Holy Spirit connects our hearts to the hearts of those for whom we intercede. It is nothing less than every Person of the Godhead in the Holy Trinity that grants us the power to pray and enacts the answers for our intercessions.

And so Lord, as I pray for others today I ask You, Father, to work on their behalf. Jesus, it is by Your saving work and in Your authority that I even dare to ask for them. Spirit, I ask in the love that You have given all Christians that has bound my heart to others so that I truly care for the needs of my brothers and sisters. And so I pray.

Amen