06/20/2023
Who have we prayed for today? Does the heart of an intercessor live within us? Are we hoarding the atonement of Christ, or sharing its realization with others? These are the questions to ask ourselves this morning.
“And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”
Job 42:10 ESV
Job had been tempted, thrashed, and sifted by Satan; his life had been reduced to poverty and misery, and yet his faith held strong. But, despite his great faith, it wasn't until he prayed for his friends that God restored him. When was the last time you prayed for your friends? When was the last time you prayed for those who, in their love for you, told you to abandon the call of God so that your suffering would cease?
This morning I read Oswald Chambers and the words he wrote concerning intercession were those that have guided my prayers for many years. I was encouraged in the fact that the atonement of Jesus Christ isn't a promise, but has already been delivered. Our prayers for friends and enemies alike shouldn't be that the atonement of Jesus come to them, but rather that they open this gift that has already been given to them.
"If you are not getting the hundredfold more, not getting insight into God's Word, then start praying for your friends, enter into the ministry of the interior. "The Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends." The real business of your life as a saved soul is intercessory prayer... Pray for your friends now, pray for those with whom you come in contact now." - Oswald Chambers
When I was a child, Christmas and the gifts I would receive thrilled me. I would see the presents beneath the tree and hope for many things... a train set, a football helmet, new games, or some other desire. The fact of the matter was this... the gifts were already under the tree... they were everything they would ever be... all that remained to be done was for me to unwrap them. My hopes had already been realized. Our gift of Christ's atonement is just like that... it is there beneath the tree; it has already been wrapped and delivered, and all that remains for us to do is to pull the paper from it and rejoice in it. This is what our reality is, and this is the prayer we should have for our friends... God, let my friends receive the gift of Jesus Christ that you have laid beneath the trees of their lives. Let them experience the joy and salvation that you have already purchased, at great cost, for them.
So often we fail to communicate to prospective Christians that there is nothing that remains for them to do but to accept the gift that has already been given to them. This is so hard for those who live in the world to realize. They are so used to having to earn or pay for those things around them that when God's grace and the sacrifice of Jesus are presented to them, they still feel that they must earn that reward. The wonder of a child comes to them in that moment when they understand that there is no cost to them... as a matter of fact, the gift is so precious that, if they were required to purchase it, the price would be beyond their ability to pay, and its possession beyond their wildest dreams.
So we pray for them, and we pray with them, and we pray for them. We open their eyes to God's grace by our prayers, and then stand in anticipation as they pull the wrapping paper from their salvation. This moment of answered prayer is personal and between the giver and receiver of the gift... but as we watch we are reminded of the moment in our own lives of faith when we opened the selfsame gift that had our name on it, and we rejoice in their excitement and tears as if they were our own. Are we praying for our friends, and for all those, even our enemies, who will become our friends when transformed in Christ?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your grace. I thank you for the gift of atonement you gave us in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of your Son Jesus. I thrill, Lord, at the opening of each new Christian's gift of salvation and redemption. Help me to pray earnestly and fervently for those who are my friends, and my would-be friends, but who understand you not. Help me to communicate to them that the gift of spending all eternity with you has been purchased for them and that it is there at their feet despite the fact that they couldn't possibly purchase or earn it for themselves. Father, our reluctance to take what you have so freely offered is often because we feel undeserving... help me through prayer, and your Holy Spirit, to convince those humbled souls that they are worthy of your great grace, and true love for them. In this way we praise you, and give you the glory forevermore.
“"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV
Rich Forbes