Last week, I wrote about three different depths of how intercession can be understood. This week, I want to put some practical tips and ideas together of how we can intercede for our loved ones and this world. First, intercession is much more than just praying for someone on a spiritual level. I like to describe intercession also as an actual relief of a physical, emotional, or spiritual need in the life of someone else. But not many people want to intercede. I want to explore several reasons why we do not intercede for others, then I will explain some ideas on how we can do it.
God tends to have a hard time finding intercessors. Few people are willing to stand on behalf of others even if it means their own death. He told this to Isaiah and Ezekiel. No intercessors could be found by God. Why? Here are several reasons.
The first is likely the most common: ignorance. Most people will not intercede for others because they do not know what the needs are. Do you know the needs in your church? Do you know what people are going through? To be dead honest, I would suggest most have no clue about what is going on within their local church body aside from public announcements and the small cliques within the congregation. I speak of myself too. Gossip spreads easily, but how many of us understand what our own congregation is going through?
The second reason is self-focus. So many people are so intently focused on their own needs that they do not have the time or resources to look upon the needs of others. When someone else’s needs are brought up, many tend to look at their schedule to see if they can fit them in, rather than dropping what they are doing (if possible) to help that person. Many people’s lives are in such disorder due to various choices or circumstances that they need rescue. But here is the tragic part of this one. Someone comes to their rescue, enabling them to get momentary relief, but instead of rejoining the battle they hang back and let their rescuer fight the battle for them. Or, instead of taking advantage of the breather, they do nothing so they end up right back where they started, in trouble. The only solution is to take the focus off self (not being negligent with personal needs) and see what God needs us doing.
The third reason is cowardice. Yes, outright cowardice. Usually under the banner of self-preservation. “I don’t want to get involved because it’s not my business, or because I don’t want to get hurt.” Paul Washer gives a terrifying image of how God sees this situation. He describes a scenario where his wife goes shopping and is violently and brutally assaulted and violated. Then a man passes by, sees the crime taking place, and walks by saying nothing and doing nothing. He then says, “I’ll look for those men who attacked her, but I’ll look for him too because he had a chance to do something and didn’t do it.” How does God look at his Bride any differently? The context of this was in reference to pastors catering to the carnal goats in the church rather than feeding the sheep, but the image certainly applies to intercession.
Now, Washer also was not talking about those with the inability to do something. He is talking about those who WILL not do anything. Revelation 21:8 gives a list of those who will be cast in the Lake of Fire and cowards are the first in the list. That freaked me out because it’s the only of such lists to mention cowards. Not only that, how often have I acted cowardly, seeing issues going on and choosing not to do anything because of fear of getting hurt? That should humble us.
The fourth and last point for this post is the worst of them: apathy. Apathy is when you don’t intercede not because you don’t know about it, nor are too scared to do it, but because you don’t even care about it. It is when we don’t even care about the lost and just abdicate our position to let the world burn. Apathy is not out of ignorance but out of intentional laziness. It is a direct, “I don’t care what happens, just leave me alone and out of it.”
This is not a comprehensive list, but let us examine ourselves so we do not find these things in our lives. Instead, let us look to see how we can intercede for our brethren. First, we need to keep our eyes open. Look around you. What is going on? How are people hurting? What can you do about it? Many will say, “I have no idea what to do. I have no skills, no abilities, no money to help them.” That may be true. But have you considered trying to do what you can?
The man who walks by the scenario of a woman being brutalized may not have the strength to stand between the men and the woman. But at the very least, he can go call for help. Recently I have had two opportunities to intercede even though it wasn’t very much. In one case, I was staying with some friends who have two extremely active boys. For two hours I played lightsabers with them, enabling the parents to peacefully wash the dishes. It wasn’t much, but it was a breath of relief for them. Then in another case, I have another friend who was struggling with one of his sons. Not being a parent, I really have no advice for him, but I was able to let him vent upon me. It can be a very small thing which can also lead to a significant impact.
There is a popular tale of a young man who was constantly bullied as he was carrying his books home. He dropped them on the way and a classmate stopped to help him pick them up. The two became best friends and in his valedictorian speech, the bullied young man told the tale of meeting his best friend and how he was planning to commit suicide that night and was carrying his books home so his parents would not have to. The friend saved his life by a simple act of kindness. That is intercession. The friend had no clue how much of an impact that one simple act had.
You cannot intercede for anyone unless your eyes are open and you’re paying attention to your surroundings. God’s desire for each of us as Christians is to keep alert and awake, watching what is going on in this world and being ready to listen to God to tell you how to act in that situation. You cannot save everyone, but you can save those God calls you to save. God wants to use us for his plan of salvation and redemption, and often times intercessors will get hit the hardest. God builds his intercessors to be able to take the hits. Not everyone is called to be a Rees Howells and intercede as their spiritual callings, but everyone is called to intercede, just as everyone is called to evangelize and preach at some level. Whom is God calling you to intercede for? Listen to his call and then go out and obey.
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