ICS Daily Devotions
Intercede Boldly at the Throne
Ezekiel 22:30 (NKJV) “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
It is difficult to pray effectively unless we have faith and confidence in the presence of God. Once we have understood what Christ has done for us, we can enter into His presence in a rested position, comfortably knowing that we are accepted by Him, and pray by faith as a child of the living God.
Every believer is supposed to intercede for their family members, the people, their country and its leaders, their company and the church. The word “intercede” means to act between two parties, so we are interceding for someone before God. Intercession is standing in the gap, and the prayer is specifically for another person or a city etc. God needs someone to intercede in order for Him to act, especially in an intervention.
Acts 12:5,7 (NKJV) Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church…. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.
The church was praying and interceding for Peter to be released when he was being imprisoned. Intercessory prayer involves what we would like to see happen; it has a clear objective. It is always good to have Scripture to substantiate our plea during intercession. Also, there is a persistent tenacity in this form of prayer because we will pray until there is a breakthrough; this kind of prayer will take time. The likelihood of praying both in the understanding and praying in the spirit are required especially when we know that we are interceding for someone or an event. The intercessors are standing in the gap to ask God to intervene in a situation or person.
Therefore, if people are willing to pay the price to pray for the church, intercession can happen during the service or throughout the week. We should also be spending time to intercede for one another in the cell group to support one another. When we spend time to intercede, we will pray through for the person and enable them to come out of the situation. We should intercede with or without information of the situation especially when it is the Holy Spirit who moves us to pray. Picture yourself in the throne of grace, in a rested position found in Christ and be ready to intercede. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective!
Sermon Series: What Pleases God?
