Made for More: Intercession

Prayer

Communicating to GOD (our lifeline to GOD)

It’s an exchange of information that takes place

GOD loves when we come and ask him questions.

He reveals himself when we come before him in prayer.

He loves to be pursued by us.

Matthew 7:7-8

7"“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."

Answers can come in any of these forms

·         Immediately

·         Delayed

·         Different than we prayed for  

·         Beyond our expectations

Intercessory

Asking, seeking and knocking for someone else. A unselfish prayer

Takes the place of another, pleading another’s case.

Hebrews 7:11-19

11"So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron? 12And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. 13For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. 14What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe. 15This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. 16Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. 17And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied,“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. 18” Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. 19For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God."

Our job today is to study what Jesus (our high priest) did.

Isaiah 59:16

16"He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him."

With no intercessor, tragic things can happen

Hebrews 7:25

25"Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf."

1 Timothy 2:5

5 "For, there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus."

Romans 8:34

34"Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us."

If Jesus is praying for us, why do we need to?

As followers, we do what he did. He went back to be with God to leave us to do what he did and that is to stand before God on others behalf and be intercessors.

We can go anywhere with intercession and prayer. We can pray for different places without going.

We can affect the destiny of individuals and save lives

With a continual prayer life, God gives us wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

We have to come out of what we are going through to pray for others. Some people don’t know to go to God. We have people’s answers. God gives it to us for them and we become the answer.