Prayer is a discipline I’ve battled with throughout my Christian life. No matter how many times I hear the importance of prayer and the power that comes through it, I still go through seasons where prayer is something I lose sight of. It’s hard for me at times to put in the effort to communicate with my Father for many reasons including lack of desire, doubt, forgetfulness, and laziness.
And what’s even more convicting is, in the times I do pray, how often my prayers are about me. Now I’m not saying I can’t or shouldn’t pray for myself, but I can get so caught up in my personal walk with the Lord that it becomes sinfully selfish. I lose sight of God and the work that He is doing in me and around me because I’m so focused on myself. And I also forget about the community of believers I’m a part of and the responsibility I have to them.
Intercession has been a word I’ve become used to hearing on the Race. Even though this wasn’t a word often used in my vocabulary back home, I’ve understood its definition. Intercession is coming before someone on behalf of someone else. In terms of prayer, it’s bringing other peoples’ needs before the Lord. And that’s something I struggle with doing at times.
Intercession is a selfless act because it has nothing to do with me. I’m not bringing my own requests to the Lord or wrestling with Him about things that are affecting me. I’m placing myself aside and taking other peoples’ burdens and laying them before the Lord. That’s what the body of Christ does. It fights for one another. It recognizes its need for one another. (1 Cor. 12:21) It knows it’s not about them.
It reminds me of the story when Jesus was in a crowded house and four men came carrying their paralyzed friend on a mat. (Luke 5:17-26) The paralyzed man could not make it to Jesus on his own so his friends took him upon their shoulders and battled their way until they could lay their friend before his feet. And when Jesus saw the faith and the actions of the four men, he responded and forgave the paralyzed man his sins and healed him. And in the end, Christ was glorified. That’s how God wants His body to be…as one as He is one.
In fact, when Jesus interceded for all His followers that was His prayer. (John 17:20-26) He prayed that, although we are individual people with individual giftings, needs, and personalities, we would live and act as one. Just as one body consists of many different parts, so we come together to form the body of Christ with Him as our head.
It’s cool to know that Jesus Himself interceded for me. Jesus selflessly humbled Himself and laid me before the Father. And what’s even crazier is that His Spirit is continuously interceding for me even now!
‘In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.’ Romans 8:26-27
This is a truth that’s hard for me to fully comprehend, but it’s one that comforts me nonetheless. Even when I don’t know what I should be praying for, the Spirit does because He knows my heart and He brings me before the Father. The Spirit helps me when I’m weak just like the four men helped their friend when he was weak.
God’s church is BIG!! These past 11 months have given me a better glimpse at just how vast His Kingdom stretches. For me to get caught up in life being about me is foolish. It’s about Him and His Kingdom that is ever increasing. May I live in recognition of the body I’m a part of and may I intercede for it as Christ Himself did and still does.
Thank you all for your continuous support and intercession. Without you continuously laying me before Him, I would not be where I am at now. So excited to see you all again in 3 weeks!!
