Thoughts for Life: #8 Intercession in the New Testament

His prayer for his people in John 17 reveals the loving heart Jesus had for the people and His desire to stand in the gap between them and the Father.

To his day He continues to intercede for us. "He ever lives to make intercession for [His people] Heb. 7:25.The theme of this book [PRAYER SHIELD] is not intercession in general, although that is very important.

James says, "Confess your [sins] to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed" James. 5:16.An excellent book on the subject is Dick Eastman's Love on Its Knees (Chosen Books) and there are many others.

Here, however, we are focusing on a very specific aspect of intercession, namely intercession on behalf of pastors and other Christian leaders.

John Calvin was not exaggerating when he said that it is almost impossible to explain how necessary prayer really is.

Intercessory prayer can be so important that it can save lives.

In Acts 12, Herod decided to placate the Jews in Jerusalem by doing away with some Christian leaders. He specifically put James and Peter on his hit list.

C. Peter Wagner shares
with us, "In the New
Testament, Jesus is the
intercessor par excellence.

He killed James, but he did
not kill Peter. We are not told any more details about James's case.

But we are specifically told that while Peter was in prison awaiting
execution "constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church" Acts 12:5.

As a result, Peter's life was spared, and Herod ended up being eaten by worms (see Acts 12:23).

We can safely assume that Peter prayed some himself, but so far as we are informed, the divine power to deliver Peter was released through the intercessors just as the power for Joshua to win his battle was released through Moses."

Today’s post - #1 The Power of Personal Prayer Partners, in the series taken from C. Peter Wagner’s book, PRAYER SHIELD, How to intercede for pastors, Christian leaders and others on the spiritual frontlines. (pgs. 31, 32) By Regal Books

The next post is to be 7/16, Paul's Desire for Prayer
Partners

Let’s pray: Father, may we become more conscious of Your Presence, and what it is we need to do for our own church leaders. Make it plain what their needs are for prayer support on a daily basis. Help us remember they are just as human as we are, and have temptations, trials, and problems like we do. Be their hope, protection, and inspiration. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Today’s Bible verse: Ps. 38:15 (NKJV) "For in You, O LORD, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God."

Today’s quote: Tyler McKenzie - “You are somebody. You are here for a reason. And you should be doing something about it. So what is it? Answer the question.” Matthew 5:13-16 As seen on @WTMcKenzie. 7/4/13

Our thought today: God asks that we offer up the sacrifice of praise. This means that when we feel least like praising Him, we need to thank Him for His Faithfulness, our salvation, His protection, and continued guidance throughout the situations we encounter.

Tomorrow’s post: A God You Can Count On
Dr. Charles Stanley

A popular post: Today, I Will Make a Difference! Max Lucado says "I will be grateful for the twenty-four hours that are before me. Time is a precious commodity.
Today I will make a difference. I will begin by controlling my thoughts..."