Prayers : Part 12

Today, we continued our discussion of intercessory prayer (1 Timothy 2:1-4; James 5:16).

What is Prayer?
God wants to answer our prayers. The reason God told us to pray is so that we can get answers to our prayers. He wants us to be bold, confident and effective in prayer -- all the time, not sometimes. We must learn how to pray God’s way. When we pray God’s way, He finds us. We must pray in a way that enables us to access all the blessings that God has stored up for us. Prayer is us marrying our voice to the Word. We move angels with our voice (Psalm 103:20). Prayer is given to us as a weapon to move things here on earth.

Prayer is Now!
Everything has to be now in the context of prayer (Hebrews 4:15-16). It is not about the past or the future. When we are praying to God, it always has to be in the now. We have to be in the now all the time. The time of need is now. When we need something now, we should come boldly to the throne of grace. Our words have to be in the now. As a result, we must say, “I believe I am healed.” We must pray in the present – leaving our faith in the now. Faith is our evidence. Being thankful to God now is an expression of our faith.

The Prayer of Intercession
The prayer of intercession is praying on behalf of another person or group of people. Jesus is the true and the last “High Priest,” who intercedes on our behalf and represents us before God (Hebrews 4:15 - “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet with sin.”) When we intercede for others through prayer, we are functioning as God’s mouthpiece on behalf of others. We are the ones with the legal authority to invite God into the earth realm – this is exactly what we achieve through intercessory prayer. Humility in prayer is saying what God says. We do not pray our will for other people, but God’s will for other people. If we want to live a good life, we have to pray for others.

We Must Pray for Those in Authority
All authority comes from God. Authority is for the purpose of defending righteousness. God protects authority and authority protects righteousness. We guarantee our success by standing for righteousness. Authority is a shield to those who are righteous and a sword to those who are unrighteous. Therefore, even if we do not agree with those who are in authority, we have to pray for those in authority for the sake of righteousness.