When God Stirs Us to Pray
ICS Daily Devotions
Genesis 18:27-28 (NKJV) Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?” So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”
When we stand in the gap between God and the onslaught of the devil, we are shielding our loved ones from the fiery darts of the evil one—this is the work of the prayer of intercession. We need to realise that we are interceding from the position of victory and enforcing the victory of Jesus Christ over sin when we use His name. Therefore, let us trust that God is already acting in the spiritual realm while we wait for the result to be manifested in the physical realm.
Romans 8:26 (NKJV) Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
As a New Testament believer, we can partner with the Holy Spirit when we pray, and He will intercede with groaning and through tongues what we cannot articulate in language. The Holy Spirit will intercede for us in accordance with the will of God. Therefore, we should allow the Holy Spirit to pray through us freely, even if we are uncomfortable or unaware of what He is praying through us in our tongue. This is why the Apostle Paul, in the epistle to the church in Corinth, encourages us to pray in the understanding as well as in the Spirit.
Praying for unknown cases happens when the Holy Spirit burdens our hearts to pray. It could be that someone in our family is going through a difficult time or danger, so God impressed upon us to pray. Alternatively, God could impress upon our hearts to stand in the gap even if we do not know the person or the situation because He needs someone to pray. In such instances, we will normally pray in tongues, but we can ask God for revelation regarding what we are praying about and who we are praying for.
We can intercede from a position of faith and confidence regardless of whether we are praying for our loved ones, cell group members, the city, or the country. Jesus has all the authority over the devil after His resurrection because He has disarmed the devil. Jesus is seated far above all principalities, dominion, and might. The church of the living God is the body of Christ, and Jesus is the head of the church. Therefore, if the devil is under Jesus’ feet, the church has the vested authority to ask the demonic forces to back off, giving us confidence that we can take authority over the situation and enforce the victory of Jesus Christ!
Sermon Series： Intercession
