02/17/2026
How do we view those who don’t know God and who have no relationship with Jesus Christ? Do we walk past them and look for a tender spot in the heart of others, or do we begin to pray for their salvation? When a fellow believer falls on hard times, do we say a quick prayer to ourselves and then go about our lives, or do we sincerely pray for their relief every day? We say we want to be like Jesus and yet so many of us don’t follow Him in one of His most basic characteristics... we don’t lovingly intercede in prayer for others. Jesus is the Great Intercessor... but are we like Him in this regard?
“Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
Romans 8:34 ESV
Are our prayers imperfect? Do we ask God for the things of consequence in our own lives with flowing oration and carefully chosen words but neglect the needs of others? Do we tell Him about what He has promised in His Word as if we are holding Him legally accountable? Well, if we are thinking such things then we need to quiet ourselves and listen to what Jesus and the Holy Spirit are praying on our behalf. That’s right... our pride in prayer and self-assured piety is being hammered out of us and reformed before the throne of God through their intercessory prayer. Jesus is sweeping away the formality of our selfish oration and drawing a picture for God of the love and faith we have been keeping hidden within our hearts... what has been covered up by our conceit and is not being honestly revealed in our prayers. Jesus is the Great Intercessor and brings our needs before God just as He asks us to pray for others. Do we pray as He does?
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:26-27 ESV
If we are parents then there have probably been times when one of our children has said something that required us to intercede and translate what they have said into what they actually meant. Jesus does that for us all the time! He listens as we pray and cringes until at last He steps in and says “Father, he really meant to say this...” we think we know exactly how to ask something but quite often our words fall short. Jesus is the Great Intercessor.
Then there are the times when our hearts are breaking, and we are speaking to God as we should; we are baring our souls and humbling ourselves before the Lord. In times like this our tears are wetting the ground before the throne, but we don’t have the strength to pick ourselves up. It is in these desperate times that Jesus intercedes for us in power and strength. He stands before God and lifts our needs in ways that we are too weak to attempt. Jesus is the Great Intercessor.
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
Psalms 147:3 ESV
And there are those of us who know in our hearts that we would like to have a relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ... but don’t know how to take that next step; how to pray. We stutter, and stumble to find the words, until at last Jesus steps forward and allows our hearts to give the Holy Spirit voice. It is then that he leads us in prayer and perfects it before the throne. Jesus massages our hard hearts and heals the wounds that are impediments to our pilgrimage. Jesus is the Great Intercessor.
“Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”
Hebrews 7:25 ESV
Have we ever sat next to someone in church and watched the tears stream down their face? Have we wondered what was breaking their heart, or was troubling them so mightily? What did we do? Did we quickly look down and say a quiet little prayer that God would help them? Did we place our hand on their shoulder and say “There, There”? Did doing this make us feel good that at least we had spiritually done “something”?
Well, the next time we are in that position, or perhaps know of a problem someone is having, or see a person who needs to find Jesus, or watch a soul suffer who is facing any number of calamities or hardships... let’s pray for them! Not the kind of prayer that makes US feel better, but the kind of prayer that is founded on a sincere love for THEM. Pray the kind of prayer that we would like for Jesus to pray for us if we were in their shoes. Intercede in prayer alongside Jesus... who I guarantee is interceding for them at that selfsame moment. This person might be a vile sinner, or a suffering saint... it doesn’t matter; sinners can be saved, and saints lifted up before the throne of God. Jesus doesn’t worry about getting His hands dirty or mixing with the lost; He doesn’t look for a person’s saintliness before interceding for them... and isn’t that wonderful? Have we looked in the mirror today? I mean, have we really looked? Did we see someone who DESERVED the prayers of Jesus… or someone who NEEDED them?
If we want to be like Jesus we need to do those things that He does... we need to learn from His actions. If we can do that... then it is enough. Are we doing enough as we intercede in prayer for others? Are our hearts in it?
“It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master...”
Matthew 10:25 ESV
Prayer:
Father, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who intercedes for us before your throne. We thank you for His lessons on intercession that guide our prayers for those around us. Help us Lord to know the words to speak as we lift up our neighbors. Let your Holy Spirit guide us in our prayers as we bring sinners and saints alike before you. Give us the love and the heart we need to focus our eyes and hearts as we look into the hurt and needs of those who are lost to you, or who seek your face. Help us when we strain to see into the dark places of a sinner’s soul. Give us clear vision in the night so that we can find the fetters that bind them, and which keep them from you. Circumcise our hearts Father and give us a burning need to serve those around us in prayer. Sinner or saint; friend or foe... help us as we pray for them Merciful Father. Let your Holy Spirit dwell in us as our prayers of intercession inoculate those who are ill and allow us to speak salvation into them with the power of your Word. Give us the courage to reach out to those who are sick with sin as we treat them with the gospel of Jesus.
Great are you Merciful Father, and greater yet is the grace you pour over us. Your Son Jesus is our ever present Intercessor... teach us so that we can be like Him. Holy, Holy, Holy art thou our Lord God Almighty! Holy are you who draws us to Jesus and through Him to you. Praised be your name forever and may all the glory for each saved soul be yours and yours alone.
“No one can come to me [Jessus] unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— “
John 6:44-45 ESV
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Rich Forbes