11. Learning to Intercede
As we saw in the last chapter, in the Book of Acts we find the vast majority of recorded prayers made by members of the early Church were "intercessory" prayers offered for others. We also find an almost identical situation in the letters written by the apostle Paul to various individuals and churches.
Paul's writings provide us with a great number of examples of intercessory prayer – both of the apostle himself praying for others and his encouragement to all Christians to do the same. By looking at some of these examples, we can learn much about this kind of prayer.
Examples from Paul Paul prayed fervently for fellow Christians. For example, in his letter to the Church at Philippi, Paul writes "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy" (Philippians 1:3-4). Even in this brief mention, we note how Paul was praying often – "in all my prayers." He was also praying not just for his friends or those he knew were experiencing problems, but "for all of you" – the whole Church.
Paul's prayers of intercession were evidently not general ones, either. A number of scriptures show that he broke his prayers down into very specific requests. Notice, from this perspective, what Paul tells the Thessalonians:
… we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12).
And in his letter to the Ephesians Paul elaborates on his prayers for others:
… ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people (Ephesians 1:15-18). For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14-19). In these examples we again see Paul's mention of his continual, ongoing prayer for his fellow believers, and we also gain a number of ideas for the kinds of things we, too, can ask God on behalf of others.
But we should remember that Paul did not just mention his intercessory prayers to encourage other believers to pray in this way; he directly urged the Christians to whom he wrote to do just as he did:
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should (Ephesians 6:18-20). Circles of Prayer Putting together the instructions found in the Old and New Testaments, we see that God desires us to offer intercessory prayers for a wide range of people. We find, for example, that we are encouraged to pray for friends (Job 42:8), fellow citizens (Romans 10:1), God's people (Ephesians 6:18), ministers (Philippians 1:19), the sick (James 5:14-16), as well as those who deny or forsake us (2 Timothy 4:16), those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44), and our enemies (Jeremiah 29:7). Additionally, we see that we should pray for leaders at every level (1 Timothy 2:2), and leaders should intercede for those they lead (1 Samuel 10:2-7). We are also urged to pray for all people (1 Timothy 2:1)!
But even these examples of people for whom we should pray make for a huge list – how can we possibly pray for so many in a meaningful way? The answer is that we can most effectively intercede for others if we have a "battle plan" – a "campaign map" to help guide us through the many areas in which we can pray for those who need help.
One of the most effective strategies we can utilize in this way is to simply pray outward away from ourselves in expanding circles like the ripples that spread when a pebble is thrown into a pond. This method of prayer is actually something we find in the prayers of Jesus himself.
In his "Great Intercessory Prayer" in John 17:1-26 – the longest recorded prayer of Jesus, which he offered after the Last Supper and before his betrayal and arrest – we see that he prayed first regarding his own situation, then for his disciples, for all believers, and finally for all people:
For Himself: "…Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you … glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began ..." (John 17:1-5).
For His Disciples: "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world… I pray for them… Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one … My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one ..." (John 17:6-19).
For All Believers: "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you" (John 17:20-21a).
For All People: "May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me …" (John 17:21B). If you read the entire chapter of John 17, you will see that these are the expanding "circles" Jesus used in addressing the Father in this important prayer. And notice that in the final passage given above, though his stress in this intercessory prayer was on the body of believers themselves, Jesus mentioned all people of the world, that they also might come to believe. If we utilize this same outwardly expanding approach, after praying for our own needs we can then enlarge our prayers to intercede for our families, friends and fellow believers, our community and nation, the nations of the world and their leaders. Of course, if we attempted to pray for all the problems in all of these areas each time we prayed, it would be a full-time activity. But we can stress different circles on different occasions as we are aware of specific situations where people need our prayers.
The main thing is to realize that if we follow such a plan of outgoing circles, we organize our thoughts and are less likely to forget needs in different areas. Following such a plan also helps us to focus better and makes it less likely that our minds will wander off course in this vitally important area of our prayers. The Importance of Intercession We will have more to say on the importance of intercession when we look at answered prayer, later in this book, but consider one example. Over a hundred years ago the British missionary James Hudson Taylor (1832–1905) established the "China Inland Mission" with more than 300 missionary stations throughout China. The missionary staff noticed that the number of people converted at one of these stations far exceeded the number converted at any other, and its success could not be accounted for. The particular success of the one mission station remained a mystery until Taylor made a routine trip back to England. There, after one of his lectures, a member of the audience introduced himself who clearly had a great deal of knowledge of the successful missionary station.
When Taylor asked the man how he knew so much about this one outpost, the man replied that he knew and corresponded with one of the missionaries there. The man went on to say that his friend regularly sent him the names of people inquiring about the Christian faith at that station and that he prayed daily for those people, that their minds might be opened. After talking with the man, Taylor firmly believed that this individual's daily, detailed prayer was making a difference that accounted for the most successful missionary station in China.
This story of the effects of intercessory prayer in a specific situation could be multiplied many times. Similar things have often happened, and we can experience them, too. All we have to decide on a given day is for whom, and where, we will direct our own prayers in the circles that radiate out from our own lives.