Prayers of Intercession
When we first began our series, we discussed how to pray and for that example we looked to Luke 11:1-4 as Jesus Christ teaches His disciples how to pray. At the time we discussed this passage we pointed out that it was not the prayer that Jesus was praying. When He had separated Himself from His disciples to pray, He was offering a prayer of intercession for those who follow Him. Prayers of intercession are some of the most common prayers, they are prayers that one prays on the behalf of another, to intervene for someone else. While there are many examples of intercession in the Bible, just look at Genesis 18:20-33 or Acts 7:60, it is a powerful thing to realize that Jesus Christ Himself is praying on our behalf.
“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.””
John 17:1-26
The beginning eight verses all show the relationship that Christ had with the Heavenly Father. He was not afraid to come before God and intercede on the behalf of those who would follow Him. We see that Christ is pointing out the truth that is found in God’s Word, that He is the only true God and that Jesus Christ was sent by Him. We also see that Christ is stating that He has manifested the name of the Heavenly Father on earth, He was evidence that God’s Word was true and that Jesus Christ was God. This open in a prayer of intercession is important, Christ was not demanding that something be done immediately. Instead He was reminding God of who Jesus Christ was to the Heavenly Father, He is the Son of God. For us today, this still holds true. When we come before God with prayers of intercession we should open it with by stating that we are children of God, and with the knowledge that God does not go back on His Word or promises.
We see Christ transition into interceding in verse nine, “9 I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on the behalf of those whom You have given Me, because they are Yours;” Here we see that Christ is making it clear who He is interceding for. It is important to note that while Christ died and was resurrected to save all of mankind, “15 and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf.” 2 Corinthians 5:15 Jesus Christ is interceding for those who belong to God. This also means that this prayer is for current and future believers in Christ. We have claim to the same promises that believers before us did. It is truly the magnificence of God to see that He was praying already for those who would place their faith in Jesus Christ, no matter the time period.
From verse eleven to the end of the chapter we see what Jesus Christ was interceding for the disciples and for us. We see that Christ was protecting the disciples while He was with them from the world, today He is still interceding for our protection. “14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” John 17:14-16. When we become a believer in Jesus Christ, our old self dies and we become a new creation, “17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 because of this the world hates us, we do not belong in it. Every believer today has felt the burden of living in a world that worships the created rather than the Creator, some more than others. Christ is not praying to remove us from where we are, but that we have the strength to remain in the faith because we belong to something greater.
Christ continues His prayer that those who follow Him would be sanctified in the truth; and as He was sent into the world, so are we sent into the world to manifest just as He did the Word of truth. We are called to be living examples of Christ on earth, “20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20. You may be wondering why I keep saying that Christ prayed this for us as well as believers before us. The answer can be found in verse twenty, “20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,” Believers today have not seen Christ, they simply have the Word of God and the testimony of others to this truth. This verse shows that Christ was not only interceding for the disciples, but for those who would come just as He continues to today, “34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, but rather, was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” Romans 8:34, “25 Therefore He is also able to save forever those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25. This means that the promises of glory found in the rest of the prayer also apply to us as well.
For us, when we offer up prayers on intercession we should look at this model. Christ was praying for those who would not come to know Him until years later, most of us today are praying for those around us. We could be praying that they come to know the Lord, or that they make it through a difficult time or situation. One point to make however, while there are prayers of intercession it is not us interceding on the individual’s behalf. It is us asking Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to intercede on their behalf. Our prayers of intercession are needed today not only for those around us, but because it strengthens our relationship with God. We remind ourselves who we are to Him and of His promises.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex