Someone once said, “There are many ways to love one’s neighbor, but intercessory prayer—praying on behalf of other people—has got to be one of the most powerful.”
I am learning this. I am learning that prayer is the most powerful, potent force someone can possess. As Christians, we have the authority to pray BIG prayers, for others, because Jesus reigns victorious over sin and death. We have the privilege to push back darkness for others… how cool is that!
As many of you may know, I was sick at the beginning of this week, so that meant that I was home from ministry for two days. While at home I found myself having a pity party because I was stuck in my “bed” (which this month consists of a sleeping pad on the floor). I wanted to be anywhere else but where the Lord had me. But in that moment of total uselessness and dread, the Lord reminded me that I had a job to do. This particular day my team was headed to a Hindu temple. I had no clue the scenes they would see, the scents they would smell, or the people they would come across… but I knew I had to pray. I knew I had to intercede for my people… even if it was from the bottom floor of a cement building.
I started praying that my team would have divine interactions with the Hindu people. That God would strategically put people in their paths that needed a dose of Heaven. That their words would give life and their actions be brave. That they would believe God could overcome any obstacle that might lie ahead of them. While praying I felt like the Lord had something to say (and I am learning that when this happens, I need to stop and listen) so I stopped to listen. He said let them know “just by being at the temple, Jesus was present and when the Trinity is present, it is undeniable. Just by them showing up, the atmosphere changed.” I was like cool, I’ll write it down so I don’t forget to tell them. Then I continued praying. But God wasn’t done, I just kept getting the word “sad”. I was a little confused, but I wrote it down anyways so that I could bring it up once my team returned from ministry.
God works in crazy ways, because in that moment of interceding, my team’s world and my world was colliding in the heavens. You see, they were not just at a regular Hindu temple, they were at the temple millions of Hindus come to die… called Pashupatinath. Pashupatinath is home of Shiva. Hindus believe Shiva is the supreme being who creates, protects and transforms the universe. With such a high status, millions of Hindus travel across the world to get their bodies cremated at this temple. Imagine that scene. NO WONDER I KEPT GETTING THE WORD “SAD”. These people were coming to this “holy” place to mourn the loss of family members… and my team got to intercede on their behalf.
If you want to see a glimpse of their time at the temple, my teammate Juliana made a video blog about it. Click on the video below to watch the 5 minute video.
What I am learning is this… God invites us to transformation the world through our prayers. What a sweet sweet responsibility we get to carry. We can come boldly before the throne of our Almighty God with prayers and requests for our neighbors, for our family members, for our enemies, for the nations…. having full confidence God is hearing each prayer with a deep desire to answer those requests. What would our world look like if we took intercessory more serious?! I believe our prayers could shift the heavenly realms and make a difference in our world. And the cool part about prayer, is that you can do it anywhere… even in the basement of a cement building sick from the awful Nepali air. So church, rise up. There are no more excuses. There is work to be done.
