Keys to Prayer

Someone who recently gave his life to Christ asked me how he should pray, which is a completely valid question for a new believer. My answer to him may also be helpful to you as well. While it is intended for new believers who may not know where to begin, or who may have previously only known idolatrous religion, it may also be helpful for those who are more mature in the Lord.

Talk to God

Prayer is talking to God, so talk to him like you would talk to a person, except in this case with great love, reverence, respect, and awe. Pray to the Father in heaven in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (Jn 14:14, NIV).

You have direct access to the heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Jn 14:6, NIV).

Do not pray to Mary, the saints, angels, spirit guides, or other entities. Jesus is your only mediator. "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim 2:5).

If you need some sort of guideline for what to pray about, use the Lord's Prayer as your structure, not merely as a formula prayer, but as an outline for your prayers. I have written in more detail about this in my article, The Disciples’ Prayer.

Thanksgiving
Begin by coming to Him in Jesus' name with thanksgiving, thanking Him for every blessing He has given you. The psalmist said, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." (Ps 100:4, NIV). You can thank Him for life, health, strength, your salvation, food, clothing, shelter, your Bible, the privilege of prayer, etc. You can thank Him for your identity in Christ. Give thanks in all things, even your trials. For more on this, please see Giving Thanks in Everything.

Praise
Begin also by praising Him according to Ps 100:4 and Mt 6:9 for who He is: His love, omnipotent power, awesome name, holiness, majesty, beauty, compassion, care, omniscience, etc. For more on this topic, please see Praise the Lord!

Claim the Promises of God
During your prayer time, as the Spirit of God leads you, you may claim His promises for yourself out loud. Prayer Promises.

Pray According to Scripture
It's important to pray according to the Word of God. Aside from claiming His promises, you should also pray in accordance with what is written in Scripture. That includes patterns of prayer found in the Bible through the examples of the Lord Jesus Himself (e.g., Jn 17; Mt 11:25; 26:36-56), as well as others like David (see Psalms), Daniel (Dan 9:1-19), Nehemiah (Neh 1:1 - 2:9), and the apostle Paul (Eph 1:16-23). Praying according to Scripture also includes praying according to any verse of Scripture as the Spirit of God leads you.

Pray According to God's Will
If you are praying according to Scripture, you should be praying according to God's will, but I will mention this separately, because it is so important. The way to get your prayers answered is to make sure God hears you, and you know He hears you if you pray in His will. The apostle John said, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him." (1 Jn 5:14-15, NIV).

Have Faith
The Scriptures teach us that "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Heb 11:6, NIV). So you must believe that God exists and that He will reward you as you diligently seek Him.

Be confident as you approach the throne of God, since you have such a great high priest. For the apostle said:

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb 4:14-16, NIV).

Faith Proclamations
Another thing you may do in pray is to make Personal Proclamations of Faith, declaring out loud the truth that God's Word says about you and those you are praying for.

Covenant Prayer
You might also incorporate this covenant prayer in some way: Covenant Prayer.

Interceding for Others
You should pray for others such as:

1, Your unsaved parents, family, other relatives, and friends, asking God to help them come to know Jesus and be saved.
2. Your government leaders, including local, state, national, and all those in authority, such as law enforcement officials (1 Tim 2:1-3).
3. Your teachers and/or those over you in your job.
4. Your pastor, teacher, spiritual mentor, and those in authority.
5. Anyone you know that needs healing or deliverance.
6. For the people you share Jesus with that they would come to know Him.
7. For all the saints (Eph 6:18) and for all men (1 Tim 2:1-3).

For more on this, please see my article, Standing in the Gap.

Pray for Yourself
Talk to God about your own needs as you pray for yourself. Some of the things you can specifically pray about are for the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, wisdom, understanding, forgiveness, not to fall into temptation, deliverance from evil (including evil spirits), for protection, for His provision for you, for opportunities to share Jesus with specific people, for guidance and direction concerning your life, for His will to be done in your life, etc.

In Secret with No Images

Jesus said, "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Mt 6:6).

So when you pray, do so in secret, to your unseen Father in heaven, and do not pray in front of any images, since that would be an abomination to God. There is no need for symbols or prayer beads either. For more on this, please see Modern Day Idols.

Pray Out Loud
It's also best to pray out loud, rather than silently, although it's fine to pray in your heart silently as needed in certain circumstances. For more on this please see Crying Out to God Loudly, as well as Loud Voices and Shouting in God's Kingdom.

Pray in the Spirit
The Bible teaches us to pray in the Spirit, so this is an important key.

Jude wrote: "But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." (Jude 1:20).

Paul wrote: "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." (Eph 6:18, NIV).

"For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding." (1 Cor 14:14-15, NIV).

In order to pray deeply in the Spirit, you need to first receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit. For more on that please see my article, Baptized with the Spirit.

Position 

You can sit, stand, kneel, or lay on your face to pray. But one very good way to pray that is found in the Bible and helps you to express your reverence for God is kneeling. I also suggest praying with your eyes closed and your hands uplifted to the Lord. For more on these topics, please see Lifting Hands in Prayer, Lifting Your Face in Prayer, and Bowing Low in Worship.

Put on the Armor of God
Just as you need to get dressed everyday, you need to put on spiritual garments, too. For more on this, please see The Wardrobe of the Saints and The Armor of God.

Head Covering
If you are a male, then pray with your head uncovered, and if you are a female, then pray with your head covered. The apostle Paul wrote: "Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head...a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels." (1 Cor 11:4-5a, 10b NIV). For more on this, please see my article Is a Woman's Hair Her Head Covering?

Listen to God
Get to know Him. Listen to His voice. For more on this, please see Hearing the Lord's Voice and Inquiring of the Lord.

Worship the Lord

Take time just to express your love for God. Pour your love on Him. He is your great big Abba Father. Worship and adore Him for who He is. Bask in His presence and enjoy your time with Him.

You might like to play some instrumental worship music while you are praying or not have any music at all. Here is a link to instrumental worship to play while you pray, if you like.

I hope you have found these keys helpful as you spend time each day with the Lord in prayer.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan. 

Author's Note:  If you enjoyed this message,  you may also like other articles about prayer which you can find on the Home page of this blog. Also see Loud Voices and Shouting in God's Kingdom and Crying Out to God Loudly, I also invite you to visit my collection of blogs at "Writing for the Master."  Now let me ask you a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Standing in the Gap

Today I want to talk about standing in the gap.  I’d like to define what that is, and show the basis for it in God’s Word, including some biblical and modern day examples of those who’ve stood in the gap.  First let’s look at some Scriptures about standing in the gap.

Scriptural Basis for Standing in the Gap
The Lord looks for a man who will stand in the gap. He told Ezekiel, "I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one." (Eze 22:30).  There have been times when the Lord could find no man to stand in the gap.

"And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him." (Isa 59:16). 

Nobody went up into the breaches in the wall, and stood there on behalf of the nation. "You have not gone up into the breaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the LORD." (Eze 13:5).  Nobody would intercede for the nation to create a spiritual wall of protection around the house of Israel. Therefore, the enemy was free to come right in to steal, kill, and destroy.

If a wall becomes broken down at certain points, these are breaches or gaps.  In Nehemiah's day, they had to stand in those gaps, as they did the work of rebuilding the wall, many with a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other (Neh 4:15-23).  They were rebuilding and guarding at the same time.  They were standing in the gap and building up the wall. These gaps require someone to stand in them to keep out the enemy, and the wall must be rebuilt, as well.

First there is the natural, and then the spiritual (1 Co 15:46).  The Lord prophesied that there would come a time when He Himself would raise up David’s fallen tent and wall up its breaches: "In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David, And wall up its breaches; I will also raise up its ruins And rebuild it as in the days of old." (Amo 9:11).  The apostle Peter says that the Church made up of Jews and Gentiles is David’s fallen tent that God is rebuilding (Ac 15:16).

The Lord spoke through Isaiah saying that if we do the kind of fasting that pleases Him, then He will hear our cries, and repair the breach in response to our prayers: "Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell." (Isa 58:12)

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” (1Ti 2:1-2).  This teaches that we must carry the needs of others before the throne of God.  This includes all men, especially kings and those in authority, such as your employer, president, pastor, or elders.

Lastly, the apostle John taught that we should intercede for any brother we see committing a sin that does not lead to death. "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this." (1Jo 5:16)

Biblical Examples of Those Who Stood in the Gap
There are some great examples in God’s Word of those who stood in the gap for others.

Jesus
Our greatest example is the Lord Jesus Himself.  We know that He stood in the gap for Peter.  When the devil asked to sift him like wheat, the Lord was aware of it and prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail. "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." (Luk 22:31-32)

Following the Lord's Supper, when He celebrated the Passover meal the night He was betrayed, He prayed what has now become known as His high priestly prayer.  He stood in the gap and prayed for His disciples to be sanctified and protected.  And He prayed for all those who would believe through their message (John 17).

He interceded for those who crucified Him.  “When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’” (Luk 23:33-34)

As I have written about in a previous post, called "Who Intercedes for Us?" the Lord Jesus always lives to make intercession for us! “The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Heb 7:23-25).  A prophet is one who speaks to man on behalf of God, but a priest is one who represents the people before God.  He speaks to God on behalf of the people.  Jesus was certainly a Prophet, but in this passage we find that He is also a priest.  In fact, He is the Great High Priest, who holds His priesthood permanently.

As the apostle John wrote: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;” (1Jo 2:1).  Jesus is the One anointed by the Father to the whole office of mediation.  The very one who has the power to condemn us is our Supreme Defense before the Father in heaven. “Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” (Rom 8:34)

The Holy Spirit
It’s important to know that, in addition to the intercession of Christ, believers also enjoy the intercession of the Holy Spirit, too! “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Rom 8:26-27).  What a tremendous blessing we enjoy from the Perfect Intercessor, the Holy Spirit.

Moses
One of the greatest intercessors the world has ever known was Moses.  When he went up on the mountain to receive the commandments from the Lord, and remained there for forty days, he said he was standing between the Lord and the Israelites.

He said, “…I was standing between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain." (Deu 5:5) He added, "These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. (Deu 5:22)

He repeated this to the Israelites again later, explaining that because of their rebellion, the Lord was angry enough to destroy them: "Even at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you. When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD had made with you, then I remained on the mountain forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water.” (Deu 9:8-9)

What provoked the Lord was that while Moses was standing in the gap for them on the mountain, they were engaging in idolatry and pagan revelry.  But Moses did not stand back and allow the Lord to destroy the rebellious Israelites.  Instead, he went back up the mountain and humbly stood in the gap for them and Aaron for another forty days.

Moses said, "I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was wrathful against you in order to destroy you, but the LORD listened to me that time also. The LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him; so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time. (Deu 9:18-20)

In another place, Moses said, "I, moreover, stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights like the first time, and the LORD listened to me that time also; the LORD was not willing to destroy you.” (Deu 10:10). The psalmist says, “Therefore He [God] said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, To turn away His wrath from destroying them. (Psa 106:23)

Moses described how he prayed to God, as he stood in the gap for Israel: "So I fell down before the LORD the forty days and nights, which I did because the LORD had said He would destroy you. I prayed to the LORD and said, 'O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stubbornness of this people or at their wickedness or their sin. Otherwise the land from which You brought us may say, "Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which He had promised them and because He hated them He has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness." Yet they are Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have brought out by Your great power and Your outstretched arm.'" (Deu 9:25-29)

In order to appreciate this, you have to understand that Moses had just finished interceding for the Israelites for forty days without food or water.  And when he came down and saw their rebellion, he went back up for another forty days of intercession. He fell on his face once again and stood in the gap for them, which brought the combined total to eighty days of consecutive fasting and intercession before the Lord.

Daniel
Daniel was another great intercessor.  In fact, in my opinion, he is one of the top three intercessors in the whole Bible.  He had searched the Scriptures and found in Jeremiah’s prophecies that Israel would be in captivity for seventy years.  This led him to intercede for his nation.  He said, “So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” (Dan 9:3)  In order to really get a clearer picture of what it was like when Daniel stood in the gap, it’s best to read the entire ninth chapter of Daniel.

Phinehas
Another intercessor I would like to mention is Phinehas.  The psalmist says, “Then Phinehas stood up and interposed, And so the plague was stayed.” (Psa 106:30).  Moses gives us the full story of what happened (Num 25:3-13).

Because of the immorality of Israel and their pagan idolatry, the Lord was ready to destroy Israel once again.  This was a sin unto death! People were falling dead from a plague that had already killed 24,000 of them.  So the Lord instructed Moses to gather the judges and execute everyone that was involved in this sin. Now there was an Israelite man, who didn’t know what the Lord had just said.  So at that very moment, he brought home to his family a pagan woman in the sight of Moses and all the judges.  Understanding the seriousness of this sin, which made God so angry, Phinehas rose to the occasion.  Being jealous for the Lord, he arose and ran a spear through the man and his girlfriend. This was a type of standing in the gap, which pleased the Lord very much, and turned away His wrath.  This is how the plague was stopped through the valiant action of Phinehas that day, and because of this, he was written up with an honorable commendation in the Scriptures.  The Lord gave him and his descendants a perpetual covenant of peace for that.

Abraham
Abraham also interceded for Sodom, where his nephew Lot lived (Gen 18:16-33), and for King Abimelech, after he returned his wife Sarah to him (Gen 20:7,17-18). 

Job
Job is another good example of an intercessor.  He interceded for his children daily (Job 1:4-5). Then after all his trials, he interceded for his three counselors, and God did not treat them according to their folly (Job 42:7-9).

Epaphras
According to the apostle Paul, Epaphras stood in the gap for the Colossians. He wrote to them, “Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” (Col 4:12)

Modern Examples
In terms of modern examples, I think Rees Howells was one of the greatest intercessors of the last century.  I highly recommend reading his biography by Norman Grubb, called Rees Howells Intercessor. 

One other example that stands out to me from our own times is Henry Gruver, who has prayer walked in 70 nations over the decades.  I highly recommend his book, called “A Prayer Walker’s Handbook”, which is available on his website.

Putting it All Together
Standing in the gap means that we go before the Lord in prayer and entreat Him on behalf of others.  We should be very encouraged to know that Jesus always lives to make intercession for the saints, and that even the Holy Spirit makes perfect intercession for us according to God’s will.

But this doesn’t eliminate the need for human intercessors on earth to stand in the gap.  God searches for someone to stand in the gap, yet there have been times when He found nobody that would do so. It’s not a popular job.  Moses, Daniel, Abraham, Job, and Epaphras were good examples of intercessors in the Bible.  They laid down their lives in prayer for God’s people. Rees Howells and Henry Gruver are excellent examples from our modern day.

The spirit of intercession is usually praying for mercy and forgiveness for others.  But there are times when gross sins are being committed openly in the house of God. There are sins that lead to death. And at those times, like Phinehas we need to be jealous for the Lord, and pray in such a way that darkness will be exposed.  Those in spiritual oversight need to judge those within, bring discipline, and remove the wicked man from among the church (1 Cor 5:12-13).

When there is no intercessor, breaches can develop in the wall around the Lord’s people, allowing the enemy to come in. When there is sin in the camp, we become vulnerable to attack.  These attacks always bring trouble, which can be very serious for the Body of Christ.  The spiritual wall of protection is restored through intercession. Is God calling you to stand in the gap?

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this message,  you may also like "Who Intercedes for Us?", The Past Defeat and Present Threat of AI, and my daughter's poem, "Our Intercessor."  I also invite you to visit my collection of blogs at "Writing for the Master."  "Prayer Warrior" painting © 2012 by Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist.  Now let me ask you a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Covenant Prayer

If you believe the Lord will answer your prayers, then why not ask for everything? I found this covenant prayer, written by my friend, Robert Brownell, author of Spirit Lessons, and I've adapted it. I recommend you also make this your covenant prayer:

Lord God Almighty, worthy of all praise and honor, Holy is Your name!

Lord, I pray for spiritual growth and maturity; I want all of You, and none of my flesh. I ask for the mind of Christ, the emotions of Christ, and the will of Christ in my life.

Lord, help me become a humble, hard working servant, who bares Your fruit; a disciple with great faith, a wise and encouraging tongue, and one in whom You can trust.

Lord, I offer my body as a living sacrifice to you. I offer the members of my body as instruments of righteousness. I give You everything I have, and everything I am, may my love for You only grow stronger.  I ask for complete and total union with Christ.

I empty myself out before you and deny myself.  Holy Spirit, I ask you to apply the cross to my flesh nature.  Jesus, I follow you.  Please set my course.  Make me a pathway for You.

Lord, encourage and motivate me, so that I may continually serve you with a passion, and please teach me to listen to the Holy Spirit, so that I may always know Your will.

Lord, please help me overcome temptation, and don’t let the devil have any foothold in me.  I renounce the world and all of its evil matters and concerns.

Lord, break every stronghold in me, so that Your Holy Spirit may totally dominate my life.  Baptize me with your Holy Spirit and with fire.  Burn away all that will not pass through the fire as purely from You. I ask that the life of Jesus would flow through me unhindered without one single hindrance.

Lord, judge me severely, correct me ruthlessly, and rebuke me thoroughly, so I can serve you more perfectly, being void of all hypocrisy, meek and lowly of heart.  

Lord, please instill in me an awesome and intense fear of the Lord, expose me & cleanse me.   I ask You, Holy Spirit, to take my white garment and cleanse it, removing all the filthy stains, and press it, removing all wrinkles. Make me clean inside and outside.  Keep me away from pride, foolishness and self-centeredness. Help me, so that I may be ready and that I may stand before Jesus when He comes.

Lord, help me become a great Harvester, sowing Your seed and bringing many people to You.

Lord, here I am, use me.  I want to advance Your Kingdom and serve You everyday, open many doors of opportunity to shine the Light of Jesus through me, and put several people in my path, so that I may bring them to You.

Lord, help me do something profound for You everyday, and to have an impact on eternity.

Lord, I want to master Your Word. Please, fill me with Your knowledge and truth, bless me with wisdom, and remove any falsehoods in me.

Lord, help me become a mighty prayer warrior, one who can move mountains in Your name, teach me to use all the gifts You have blessed me with, and not miss any given opportunity.

Lord, teach me how to bring down all the principalities and powers that work against Your Kingdom.

Lord, I pray for a long life of service to You, with health and blessings for my family, help me develop a disciplined mind, a crucified flesh, and a loving compassionate heart.

Lord, set my sights on the highest goal, and have me do whatever is necessary to achieve the greatest blessing of the good and faithful servant, and to finish strong in the Lord.

Lord, help me fully experience the Christian life, and to manifest Jesus in every aspect of my life.

Lord, help me become a true worshiper of You.  Fill my cup with Your tears, that I may love those whom You Love, and understand Your heart and passion.

Most Holy and Righteous God, thank You for everything You have done. I surrender my life to You, please direct me and make me into Your image, for I am nothing without You. May my life bring glory and honor to You.

Please send out many more workers into the harvest field, in the name of Your son,

JESUS CHRIST        AMEN

Author's note: You can also find my complete collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Photo credit: Taken from The Hope Blog by Ingrid Schlueter.

Do you want to know Him?

If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. Find out how in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?" 

___________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Prayer that Pleases the Father's Heart

During my prayer time today, I sensed the Lord saying that He desires my heart, my spirit, my emotions, my love, and feelings when I pray, even more than the words that come from my mouth.  This is the most important aspect of prayer, not the words we utter! It is possible to honor Him with your lips and yet your heart is far from Him.

Jesus taught us, "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words." (Mat 6:7)

When Jesus prayed, He expressed deep emotion to the Father.  "In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety." (Heb 5:7).  His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane was a classic example.  As He prayed, His soul was deeply moved within Him and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground (Lk 22:44).

Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.  That's what should take precedence in prayer, along with your faith and trust in Him.  He wants your heart to be passionately in love with Him, and belong to Him completely.

The apostle Paul said, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing."  (1Co 13:1-3)

I hope this is an encouragement to you, as it was to me, to pray in such a way that pleases the Father's heart.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Who intercedes for us?

In my previous post on the topic of prayer, called Prayer Promises, one of the things I wrote about was this: Jesus said that we should pray directly to the Heavenly Father, and we do not even need Jesus to ask the Father on our behalf. Jesus said the reason for this is that the Father loves us because we love Jesus and we believe that Jesus came from the Father. Here's the verse I referred to in my third point of that post:

Direct Access to the Father
"In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father." (John 16:26-27).

This is so important to know and understand that believers in Jesus Christ have direct access to God's throne in Jesus' name.

Jesus and the Holy Spirit intercede with the Father 
Yet when Jesus said this to the disciples, He didn't mention the fact that both He and the Holy Spirit entreat the Father on behalf of His followers. This is an added ministry that we as believers receive, which does not contradict the fact that we have direct access to the Father. We learn this truth in the following passages.

• "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." (Rom 8:26, KJV). This means that when we pray, the Holy Spirit helps us. Even when we don't know how we should pray in a situation, the Spirit intercedes for us. As we are praying, He appeals to the Father on our behalf with sighs too deep to be expressed in words.
• "And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." (Rom 8:27, KJV). Again, the Holy Spirit intercedes for all those who have been made holy by the blood of Christ. And He intercedes in line with God's will.
• "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." (Rom 8:34, KJV). Here we learn that Christ is the Judge who has authority to condemn a person. Yet He is the One who gave His life for us. Now He has risen from the dead! He is on the throne at God's right hand, appealing on behalf of those who love Him.
• "Therefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." (Heb 7:25, KJV). Again, Jesus lives forever. He completely saves everyone who comes to God through Him. And He lives to intercede with God for those who do.

So from these passages, we find that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are making intercession for those of us who know and follow Jesus. In the apostle Paul's letter to the Romans that I have just cited, he referred to the followers of Jesus as "saints" or "holy ones," just as this term is used elsewhere in the Bible of God’s people. It’s not referring only to certain people who have died who once lived lives that were more exemplary than other disciples of Christ. When Paul wrote to the Romans, he was alive and so were they. He said at that time that Jesus Christ makes intercession for “us”, meaning himself and the Roman disciples to whom he was writing.

This English word “intercede” found in these Bible passages comes from the Greek word entugchano. It means to entreat (in favor or against): - deal with, make intercession. This word is used in Romans 8:27, 8:34, and Heb 7:25, which are all cited above. In order to understand this word better, it helps to see how it’s also used in Acts 25:24 and Romans 11:2.

All the people interceded with or appealed to Festus, the Roman governor or procurator against the apostle Paul: Festus *said, "King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that he ought not to live any longer. (Act 25:24).

Elijah interceded or pleaded with God against Israel: God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? (Rom 11:2)

There’s another Greek word that is translated “intercede”. It is huperentugchano, which means to intercede in behalf of: - make intercession for. It comes from the same root word as entugchano. This word is used only once in the Bible -- in the Romans 8:26 passage cited above.

In Acts 25, we can see that people dealt with the governor or appealed to him regarding Paul, whom they wanted executed. And in Romans 11, we read that the prophet Elijah was appealing to God against Israel, since they had departed from God to follow false gods. So in both cases, the word is used in the sense of appealing against someone. So the word can be used this way or to mean appealing in someone’s favor, depending on the context of how it is used.

Other Passages about Christ's Intercession
There are still other passages that speak of Christ's intercession for His people.

The apostle John wrote: "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One." (1 Jn 2:1, NIV).  He taught us not to sin, just as Jesus did.  But in case anybody does sin, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, is our Advocate with the Father. In fact, the Good News Bible translates this part of the verse to say, "We have someone who pleads with the Father on our behalf..."  Isn't it comforting to know that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself pleads with the Father on our behalf?

That is what the word Advocate means in the original Greek.  The original word is paraklētos, meaning "an intercessor, consoler: - advocate, comforter" (Strongs).

Job said, "Even now my Witness is in heaven; my Advocate is on high. My intercessor is my Friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man He pleads with God as one pleads for a friend." (Job 16:19-21, NIV).  Just as Job knew that his Redeemer lives (Job 19:25), he also knew that His Intercessor was his friend, who pleaded with God on behalf of man as one pleads for a friend.

Paul wrote to Timothy, "For there is one God, and one Mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time." (1Ti 2:5-6).  The Greek word for Mediator is "mesites," meaning "a go between, that is, (simply) an internunciator, or (by implication) a reconciler (intercessor): - mediator" (Strongs).

There is one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. 

Conclusion
Isn’t it wonderful to know that Jesus, who is at God’s right hand, always lives to intercede for us before God? And isn’t it wonderful to know that the Holy Spirit also intercedes with the Father on our behalf? This should reassure every follower of Christ that we don’t need to pray to any other, knowing Jesus Himself and the Spirit are dealing with the Father and appealing to Him on our behalf and in our favor.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Most other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, unless otherwise noted.
 
Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the links in the side bar. My daughter has also written a beautiful poem called, "Our Intercessor." You may also access a collection of my most popular blogs at "Writing for the Master."

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.