Intercession

What Is Intercession?

What is intercession? According to the dictionary, it is the act of interposing or pleading on behalf of another; it is a prayer, petition, or entreaty in favor of another. Though Christians normally associate intercession as “praying for others,” intercession often takes place between human beings. When people testify in court as a character reference, they are interceding for that person. In the Bible, a prominent example of intercession is when Abigail intercedes for husband Nabal with David before David became king.

Nabal is a rich Calebite whose flocks have prospered largely due to the military protection provided by David. However, when David sends to Nabal, asking for provisions for his men, Nabal turns down the requests with rude insults. On hearing of it, David in anger makes plans to kill Nabal. But Nabal’s wife Abigail hears what has happened, and before David reaches Nabal, she gathers the provisions requested and takes them to David. She intercedes for her foolish husband, begging David to take the provisions and spare her husband. She tells David to let the blame fall on her. In the face of her intercession, David recognizes that he is about to sin, and calls off the threat (I Sam. 25). Abigail does not tell her husband what happened until he returns home the next day. When Nabal hears how close he came to being the victim of David's wrath, he has a heart attack and dies. Later, David marries Abigail.

Abigail is an example of effective intercession. By bringing the provisions that David needs, she removes the physical need that causes David’s anger. But by identifying with the person for whom she is interceding, by saying `Let Nabal’s blame fall on me,” she shows a willingness to sacrifice herself that exemplifies nobility and makes David see that his decision to kill Nabal effects others besides the man himself. He no longer wishes to avenge the insults of Nabal.

Our Call to Intercession

In prayer to God, intercession is one of five kinds of prayer, together with praise, thanksgiving, confession, and petition. Praise expresses adoration for the attributes of God. Thanksgiving expresses gratitude for his blessings and gifts to us. Confession acknowledges sin and turns away from it. Petition involves prayer for our personal needs. Intercession is prayer we offer up on behalf of others.

When we pray on behalf of others or another, we are “standing in the gap,” mediating between fallen sinful human beings and a holy God. As such, mediation is at the heart of the Gospel. The greatest mediator is Jesus Christ who also “stood in the gap;” that is, he hung between heaven and earth in payment of the penalty of the sins of humankind in order to bring “at-one-ment” between God and man.

As believers we are called to intercede when God regenerates us and we become a part of Christ’s body the church. Peter describes us as a “royal priesthood.” The role of the priest in the Old Testament was to intercede for the sins of the people through various rituals. However, once a year on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest entered the Holiest of Holies, the inner chamber of the temple where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, where he made atonement for himself, his family, and for all the assembly of Israel, sprinkling the of a sacrificed bullock and goat upon the mercy seat, and selecting the scapegoat who would be sent away into the wilderness of Judah carrying upon him the sins of the people of Judah.

According to Hebrews, this Old Testament ritual actually was fulfilled in Christ by his own atoning self-sacrifice, when “he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own offering, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12). When we become members of his body, we become the priesthood that supports his once and for all high priestly act of atonement. It is by Christ’s act of atonement and our receipt of it by faith that our sins are forgiven and we are made clean so we become qualified to pray for the people in the world around us. Yet like the Old Testament priests, we acknowledge our sins, but we do so in the knowledge that Christ has cleansed us from our sins by his own .

Consistent with our identity as priests who intercede, the Bible urges us to intercede for all the saints (Eph. 6:18), for those in authority, and for all men (I Tim. 2:1-2). After the exile of Judah in Babylon, Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to those who had been taken to Babylon. Among other things it said, “And work for the peace and prosperity of Babylon. Pray to the Lord for that city where you are held captive, for if Babylon has peace, so will you” (Jer. 29:7). That is also why in praying for our city and our nation we pray also for its leaders, because they influence so much the conditions of life under which we live.

The Power of Intercession

The Bible makes clear that the effective prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16b). Righteous in the Scriptures does not refer to someone who is without sin (unless it is Jesus) for we know that “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). Rather righteousness refers to a man or woman who prays in faith. A few verses earlier in James it says that “the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up” (vs. 15).

In the Scriptures, Abraham is the supreme example of the man of faith (Genesis 15:6; Rom.4:3). In Genesis 18:16-23, Abraham intercedes for the vile and wicked city of Sodom, a place that God was thinking of destroying. Abraham was importunate in his prayer: he came boldly to God and argued, “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” That is assuredly a bold and importunate prayer. But the Lord grants Abraham’s request, saying, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

It is clear that Abraham doubts his own number, for six times he goes to God with lower numbers of righteous – from 50 to 45 to 40 to 30 to 20 to 10. And each time God yields to his whim. Now we know all along that God knew what he was going to do – and it turns out that there were not ten righteous men in the city for God destroyed it, but he did give Abraham what he really wanted – he saved his nephew Lot and got him out of the city before he destroyed it. That is the power of intercession for a man called the friend of God.

Another great intercessor in Scripture is Moses who repeatedly intercedes for the wayward children of Israel before the Lord God. When in Moses’ absence, they melt down their jewelry so that Aaron can form out of it a golden calf and they fall down and worship this idol, it appears that God is ready to destroy his people. But after returning up Mount Horeb, Moses says to God: “O what great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin – but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written” (Ex. 32:31). God grants his request. Like Abigail, Moses effective intercession identifies with the people of Israel – in their sin!

When Daniel prays for the exiles in Persia, he also identifies with the people in their sin. He prays: “We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land” (Daniel 9:5). The logic of intercession is no different for Daniel than it was for Abraham or than it is for us today. We are made righteous by faith in the righteousness of Christ Jesus, so when we pray and identify with the sins of the people, our question becomes Abraham’s question – “Will you kill the righteous (by faith) along with the wicked? Remember God was willing to spare a whole city for the sake of ten righteous men. How many righteous intercessors will it take to spare a nation?

Conclusion

Lastly, when we intercede for our nation, God gives us a promise which we can claim as we intercede for our nation. “If my people who are called by my Name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land” (II Chronicles 7:14). When we pray we pray with dual citizenship. We are citizens of an earthly kingdom (temporarily), but we are also citizens of God’s kingdom, and ambassadors of God to the people here below as well as representatives of the people in bringing their needs and distress before God’s throne. By persistent and ardent confession and repentance, it is conceivable that we may change even the direction of a nation and God’s judgment upon it.

This Article was published on 07/28/2009 and filed in