Week 1: Intercessory Prayer
Week 1: Intercessory Prayer
Survival Guide for the Soul
During our family devotional this morning, the book prompted Ella to ask me and Leah, “Do you ever struggle to trust God”? I love that question. I told her, “Yes… I never struggle to trust that God loves me (that’s for certain), but I do struggle to trust that he cares about the minute and trivial things that weigh so heavily on my heart.” I mean, how could the God of the universe care about things like the fact that I worry about my parents’ health, or my kids safety, or things like finances and budgets? It’s like I mistakenly read the words of David in Psalm 8 to mean God doesn’t care:
“what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”
But God does care. He cared all the way to the cross because, “He so loved" us. Not only does he care about us, but He cares for the things that are important to us. God invites us to come before him, to pray, to make our requests to Him. Sure, He knows our hearts, but He invites us to act, and to trust by bringing him our prayers. Does he really care? Yes, he listens, and not from some far off place. He is near.
“The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
It’s important to embrace the reality that even though our rhythms are different, and we may be separated for this season — there are new opportunities for us to connect and to grow. Each week, during our time apart, we want to publish a new spiritual practice or discipline to help encourage our church body. Think of it as a Survival Guide for the Soul.
This week I want to introduce and encourage you all to embrace the practice of intercessory prayer.
Adele Calhoun describes it this way, “Intercession is one of the ways God invites us into the heart of the trinity. As we keep company with Jesus through intercession, we begin to see the world and the people in it from his perspective and heart. Increasingly we will long for the same things He longs for.”
It’s simple to intercede for others. To intercede is simply to intervene or speak on the behalf of another.
Any of us can and should be praying for the needs of others. But there is a unique opportunity to turn the focus of our prayers on others during this time. It will help us remember to not just focus on our challenges. It will also help us to focus on God’s power and faithfulness.
Here are some tips for intercession (adapted from Calhoun’s book, ‘Spiritual Disciplines Handbook’.)
Consider the people you have been concerned about and worrying for this past week. Sometimes God puts people on our hearts that we may return them back to Him.
Lay down the things that come up as distractions or personal worries as you pray for others. We all get distracted in prayer. To intercede can be a time focused on others. Our concerns are important to God (this much we saw at the beginning), but to practice intercession is to trust that God has got you covered even as you act in prayer on another’s behalf.
Consider interceding with a newspaper or news site in hand. The stories we read are not above His power. And God invites us to pray in faith that He may bring healing.
Journal about how you are interceding on behalf of others. When we pray, too often we just ask and forget to look for how God may respond. Track who you are praying for and be on the lookout to see how God will act.
Use the community prayer wall that will actively be updating our church about prayer needs in this time.
Invite others to pray with you on behalf of these needs through technological means such as FaceTime, Skype, or Zoom.
Pray continuously. Pray as people come to mind. God doesn’t require hands folded, heads bowed, but he does ask that we present our requests to Him.
Blessings as you embrace this new opportunity. May we be a church body that brings prayers that intercede on one another’s behalf.
