He is on Your Side
ICS Daily Devotions
Romans 8:26-27,34 (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. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God…. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
We are extremely blessed today. These Scriptures reveal to us that the Holy Spirit is interceding through us and Jesus is interceding for us at the right hand of the Father. So if God is interceding for us, and nudging us to pray for others, He is on our side, and He is certainly not the source of the tribulation that we are facing.
Because the wrath of God towards sin has been dealt with on the cross of Calvary, and the blood of Jesus Christ has appeased God, we are at peace with God today. We are in an everlasting covenant with God, and we get to partner with Him to intercede for a situation. God consistently needs people to pray and intercede in various situations so that He can act, and we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit who might put a burden in our hearts to pray for those we know or don’t know.
Prayer and intercession move God and invokes Him to act. We are able to partner with God in prayer because He has a heart of compassion towards His people regardless of whether they are saved or unsaved. Because God loves us all, He is still looking for people in the church age to intercede for others out of the same love. Therefore, when we are moved by the Holy Spirit to pray for a known or unknown cause, it must be done out of our love for the people, and we need to be mentally prepared that we may be moved by God to wake up in the middle of the night or at an inconvenient time to pray.
If we know that God is not the source of our tribulation, then who is? It is either the attack of the evil one or the work of our flesh. Therefore, we should ask ourselves whether there is something that has led to the crisis—the work of the flesh or wrong choices that we have made—and deal with them! Nevertheless, don’t be discouraged when you are hard pressed on every side, because God is on your side and Jesus is interceding for you!
Sermon Series: Partnering in Prayer with God through Intercession
