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GOD’S DESPERATE NEED  FOR INTERCESSORS                                              By Glenn Kennedy

 God continually wants to impart His Word and empower His People to further His Glorious Kingdom.  But a major problem stands in the way of these efforts, and that is the problem of prayerlessness on the part of God’s saints. The major initial key to the expansion of Christ’s Peaceable Kingdom is the desperate need to pray the “effectual, fervent prayer” of a righteous person which avails much, according to James 5:16.

 

God is looking for those who will move in prevailing prayer, persevering prayer, and prayer that will not let up until the breakthrough comes.  Prayer is the force that launches a gathering of saints into an atmosphere where miracles can happen. Praying in faith is the key to having spiritual power with God.

 

James 4:2 states these words, “Ye have not because ye ask not.”  The prayer warrior is to make the initiative. The prayer warrior is to call upon the Lord and remind God of His promises. The prayer warrior is to ask God for direction in how to pray according to the will of the Lord.  Once the intercessor has gotten the mind of the Lord on the matter, he is to pray in faith believing for the answer. “All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matthew 21:22)

Then he is to pray the prayer of thanksgiving, thanking the Lord for the victory.

Many believers have no serious prayer life at all.  Their prayer life consists of

the “Bless me, give me, and forgive me!” level of prayer, and nothing more.  They do not know how to persist in prayer.  They do not know how to lay down their lives in prayer for others. Their prayers always seem to end on a self-centered note.

A basic definition for the word “intercession” is the following: “a state of entreating, crying out, or petitioning one with authority (God) to move in behalf of another.”  To “intercede” means “to intervene between parties with a view to reconcile differences.” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, 2003)  The prefix “inter-” means “to stand between.”  The root word for “cession” means “to stop.” By means of prayer the intercessor is to “stand” between the living God and the people dead in their trespasses and sins. By means of prayer the intercessor is to “stop” the destructive course of direction an ungodly society is taking as it rebels against the purposes of God.

Aaron, the high priest and the brother of Moses, represents a type or symbol of the intercessor.  In Numbers, chapter 16:44-48, we read that God became very angry with the children of Israel because they murmured greatly against their God-ordained leadership, Moses and Aaron. “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ‘Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment.’  And they fell upon their faces.   And Moses said unto Aaron, ‘Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation , and make an atonement for them:  for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun.’  And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.  And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed (stopped).”

Aaron stood between the living and the dead with the censor of burning incense, which represents the prayers of the saints. God’s anger was averted because of Aaron’s actions. What a powerful, symbolic picture of an intercessor! The incense, which is the prayers of the saints, is burning! It is actively releasing energy.  It is changing the atmosphere by emitting a sweet fragrance.  Blazing, fervent prayer is very sweet and pleasing to God.  Proverbs 15:8 states, “The prayer of the upright is his (God’s) delight.” Let me repeat that God richly delights in our prayers.

Revelation 5:7-8 states these words, “And he (the Lamb) came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints.” God loves our prayers so much that He collects them and stores them in golden bottles.

Isaiah 59:16 states the following words, “And he (God) saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor:  therefore his arm brought salvation unto him(self); and his righteousness, it sustained him.” The Bible states that God wonders greatly or is amazed that there is no intercessor to pray for those around him.  God is shocked when He considers the opportunity that He has given to the believer to pray and change the course of people’s destinies. Here I can possibly see God asking Himself the question, “Why are not My People praying when I have given them so much power through their faith-filled prayers?” God is truly astounded that we do not pray to Him!

This passage also states that, because there is no intercessor, God’s extended arm with the gift of salvation in his hand is returned back to Himself. In other words people do not come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ because no one is praying fervently for the salvation of others.

Isaiah 63:3-6 states these words, “I (God) have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me:  for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury: and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.  And I (God) looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold:  therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength in the earth.”

Here God states that He looked, and there was none to help Him by praying for mercy in behalf of the ungodly people.  Therefore, because no one stood between the holy God and the sinful people, God had no alternative but to bring severe judgment and justice to the ungodly.

There must be in operation a righteous remnant to pray for the sinners and the backslidden in their midst.  God often reveals to faithful intercessors the judgments that God is about to unleash upon a group of ungodly people. Remember that righteous Abraham was given the privilege to intercede for wicked Sodom and Gomorrah before the fire of God’s holy judgment fell.  Because of Abraham’s prayers, the lives of Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and Lot’s daughters were spared. (Genesis, Chapters 18 & 19)

Isaiah 64:6-7 states these disturbing words, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;  and we all do fade as a leaf;  and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.  And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee:  for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.” This is the third time we find in the book of Isaiah that God looks and finds no one who will pray. This repetition is meant to emphasize that the Lord has a serious concern with His people, the concern of prayerlessness.

The Bible here states that there is something that God wants us to do.  He wants us, as believers, to “stir ourselves up” or get out of a lazy, half-hearted state of praying.  We are begin to “take hold” of the promises of God and claim them. We are to “call upon His Name” and use prayer as a God-given tool to bring positive change to the problems around us.  We commit sin when we do not obey God and pray.

Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, also represents a type of intercessor. In First Samuel, chapter 1:10-11, we read these words, “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.  And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.”

The Bible states that the Lord had shut up Hannah’s womb for a purpose. This purpose was much bigger than just to intensify Hannah’s desire for a son and to teach her lessons in intercession.  Hannah cried out, and God gave her the desire of her heart. But God gave Hannah something far more than just a son.  God gave Israel a mighty prophet who would change the course of Jewish history.  This prophet would anoint kings and set up kingdoms. Hannah’s prayers had far greater influence over a vast number of people than she could ever realize. Our prayers can also affect the lives of multitudes and redirect the course of human history.

At times, in our prayer pilgrimage, it will be God’s nature to hide from us symbolically or withhold His Manifest Presence from us. In the Song of Solomon, the Shulamite woman stated twice the words, “I sought Him, but I found him not.” (Song of Solomon 3:1-2)  Why does the Lord hide Himself from us?  That you and I might seek Him more passionately, more intensely, more fervently. If we seek Him diligently, we will come to be more like Him.  We will grow in His Ways.  We will be conformed to His Image. One tends to become like whatever one gives his deepest affections to.

Isaiah 45:15 states these words, “Verily, thou art a God that hidest Thyself.”  God will often give us a rich taste of His Glorious Presence, and then He will withdraw Himself. God uses His moments of hiding to build within us a determination to persevere in prayer. As you and I repent of any impure motives or actions, seek Him whole-heartedly, and press into the Spirit Realm, the reward of His Life will become manifested within us, and we will be richly blessed.  “Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.” (James 4:8). What a glorious promise of God!

Always remember this truth.  Prayer will cancel the plans of Satan and launch the plans of God.  When a person is born, there are two different plans that seek to control that person’s life.  Satan will seek to work through that person to establish his diabolical kingdom on earth. And God will seek to work through that person to establish His Peaceable Kingdom on earth. The choices that person makes in life as he/she matures will determine which of the two plans will come to fruition and completion.

We are not simply to pray in order to “feel good” or “feel spiritual.”  We are to pray because God says we are to pray. “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” (Jeremiah 33:3) We are to pray in order to see God’s Kingdom established in the earth.  We are not to go by our feelings (our soul realm).  Feelings will not last, but the answers to God-birthed prayers within us will last forever.  These answers are permanent. They will endure the sands of time.

Ezekiel 22: 30-31 states these words, “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.  Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord.”

This passage states that God will pour out the fire of His wrath when the saints do not pray. God will bring great judgment when the saints do not “stand in the gap for the land, that I (God) should not destroy it.”  There are severe consequences for living in a state of prayerlessness.  Many saints have severe problems today because in times past they made careless decisions without praying first.

In a sense we tie God’s hands when we do not pray because God has chosen the medium of prayer partly to get His gracious work done. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave us the Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge “to the end that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” (Luke 18:1)

“There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:  And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, ‘Avenge me of mine adversary.’  And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I fear not God, nor regard man;  Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.  and the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.  And shall not God avenge his own elect, WHICH CRY DAY AND NIGHT UNTO HIM, though he bear long with them?  I tell you that he will avenge them SPEEDILY.  Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:2-8)

Our adversary, Satan, has robbed the body of Christ of so much of the victorious life in Christ because we have not really believed in the power of prayer. God will avenge us of our adversary, the devil, if we will, in earnest, cry out to Him night and day!  We pray or we pay the unpleasant consequences of prayerlessness. Let me repeat, we pray or we pay!

As followers of Christ, we always want other saints to pray for us.  But many of us do not take the quality time to intercede for others.  Let us remember that, as Job prayed for his three friends, God healed Job and restored to him twice as much as he had lost.  “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, WHEN HE PRAYED FOR HIS FRIENDS; also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.” (Job 42:10). What a great example of an intercessor Job represents.  In spite of his great suffering, he interceded for his unworthy friends. And God healed them all in various ways.

The healing evangelist, A. A. Allen, once said, “Real – determined, prevailing prayer – is the greatest outlet of power on earth.” Kathryn Kuhlman stated the following, “The only limit to the power of God lies within the individual.”  And the Prophet-Scribe Stanley Frosham is quoted as saying these words, “Remember the will of man is the biggest hindrance to the plans of God.” May our wills yield to the will of God to intercede for others.

We can avert evil happenings with our prayers. We can change the course of the future with our prayers. We can establish the purposes of God in the earth with our prayers.  God desperately needs intercessors in this hour.  Let me encourage you to take the time to commune with the Lord today and ask Him what is on His heart.

“As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved . . . I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.” Song of Solomon 2:3

Submitted By: Glenn Kennedy

Tennessee “Warrior for Christ”