Gifts of Intercession

Of the sweetest gifts I’ve been given, knowing someone is praying for me, interceding for me, is among the very best.  I find that many conversations can take place, and I can inquire into the lives of others with genuine interest over many exchanges.  But rare is the time when someone asks, How are you?  How can I be praying for you?  Yet we are blessed with the opportunity, every day, to pray for those we love.  And to pray for those we struggle to love.

Bonhoeffer again has wise words for us:   “Intercession is a gift of God’s grace for every Christian…Because intercession is such an incalculably great gift of God, we should accept it joyfully.  The very time we give to intercession will turn out to be a daily source of new joy in God and in the Christian community…

“Intercession is a daily service we owe to God and our brother [sister].  He who denies his neighbor the service of praying for him denies him the service of a Christian.  It is clear, furthermore, that intercession is not general and vague but very concrete: a matter of definite persons and definite difficulties and therefore of definite petitions.  The more definite my intercession becomes, the more promising it is…

“I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me.  His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner.  This is a happy discovery for the Christian who begins to pray for others.  There is no dislike, no personal tension, no estrangement that cannot be overcome by intercession as far as our side of it is concerned…

“To make intercession means to grant our brother the same right we have received, namely, to stand before Christ and share His mercy…..”  --from Life Together

Intercession is something Christ consistently does for us.  Do we allow this to encourage us?  It ought to make us sing inside.  Intercession is a way we can become more like Him. 

So, pray for those you love today.  Pray for those with whom you struggle to love, today.  Let people know you are praying for them; some of the darkest days I have known, were those in which I wondered if anyone prayed for me.  Pray using Scripture, the power of God’s words and promises back to Him.  Be assured that many of you reading this, I pray for often.  (Even, on occasion, my unknown friend in Russia? -whom I will one day meet.)