It’s a terrible feeling to be all alone, to feel like there is nobody going to bat for you or to stand in the gap for you. It’s a lonely feeling when you know you need someone to intercede on your behalf but can’t find one. Notice the expression of Job on this matter and how the need is addressed in 1st Timothy.
Job 9:30–33 (ESV) — 30 If I wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, 31 yet you will plunge me into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor me. 32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. 33 There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.
1 Timothy 2:5–6 (ESV) — 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
The Lord Jesus Christ is your intercessor and your mediator with God. You are not left alone, rather He is able to affectively intercede for you and as it says in Hebrews, He lives to make intercession for you. Or as the old preacher noted, He is always praying for you. How does that make you feel?
Isaiah 53:12 (ESV) — 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Hebrews 7:25 (ESV) — 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Just think about having the Lord Jesus Christ as your advocate. He’s the best intercessor because He is the One Who paid the price for our sins.
Romans 8:34 (ESV) — 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Needless to say, “the intercessor” is no less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, but the blessing of God does not stop there. As we go to God in prayer, we need the help of an intercessor which we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God the Father but, God doesn’t stop there. We have the intercessory work of the Holy Spirit, who helps us to pray as He interprets what we pray, and works on us to understand, desire, and seek after the will of God. This gives us more confidence as we pray and brings us sweet fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit as we pray.
Romans 8:26–27 (ESV) — 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
The Lord Jesus Christ is our intercessor along with the Holy Spirit, but don’t stop there. There are people in your life who are prompted by and helped by the Holy Spirit to pray for you, thereby becoming your intercessor. The apostle Paul sought after the prayers of the saints for his ministry, likewise there are people who dedicate themselves to the praying for others, who value the call to the ministry of intercession.
1 Timothy 2:1–2 (ESV) — 1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
Ephesians 6:18–20 (ESV) — 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Are you an intercessor? Do you pray for others? Are you willing to stand in the gap on behalf of others, your church, community, state, or country? It’s a special calling that anyone can follow. Granted it takes the work of “the intercessor” our Lord Jesus Christ, but you know He’s for you being an intercessor in praying for others. It takes the work of the Holy Spirit and you know that He’s on your side as you pray for others. Then what is holding you back? Maybe you should consider the following scenario and think about how you’re refusing to be an intercessor looks to God.
Ezekiel 22:30 (ESV) — 30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
Tell God today that you are willing to make the time to intercede, to stand in the gap as an intercessor. Just think of the company with whom you’ll keep as you pray for others.
Godspeed,
Bob Brubaker
