INTERCESSORY PRAYER

"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 2:1-4).

Devotion 16 of 17

ORDERING OUR CAUSE

Our intercessions are not simply beggings. They are intelligent, gendered by a heart that is dominated by faith and hope and a mind that has been illuminated. Like lawyers, we can plead our case to the Lord, knowing that we have His ear. You will recall that Job desired an opportunity to plead with the Lord. During his affliction, he desired to speak with God. He did not know what we know about his circumstance; it had been hidden from him in order that God could demonstrate the remarkable nature of faith. However, if he could speak with the Lord concerning his dilemma, Job said what he would do. "I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments" (Job 23:4). Let us encourage one another to pray intelligently and persuasively as we stand in the gap for others! The Lord even challenged a wayward Israel to come near and present their case. They were also admonished to provide reasons for their request. "Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob" (Isa 41:21). While this summons was given to confront Israel's propensity to idolatry, the language of the text reveals something of God's nature. He delights in intelligent prayers that appeal to His divine qualities. God looks for an intercessor Does God really look for an intercessor? Does He rely upon the involvement of people to execute His good pleasure? The Lord was highly displeased with the conditions of Isaiah's day. The people of God had failed miserably in their appointed role, and truth had become inaccessible to the masses. "Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no judgment. And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto Him; and His righteousness, it sustained Him" (Isa 59:15-16). The Lord is disappointed when no intercessor can be found. He does not delight in truth failing and people of truth becoming a prey for the godless. He wants someone to stand in the gap; it is His nature to desire such a thing. In the case of the world, He sent His Son to be the Savior of the world, and to make effectual intercession for it. However, He has not stopped looking for intercessors that are willing to lay their life on the line to avert divine intervention. It seems to me that our generation is one fraught with opportunity! The promises of God, sought by the people of God The Lord made certain commitments to His ancient people. He did so through the prophets, far in advance to their actual fulfillment. This was not, however, a simple transmission of information. The prophecies were designed to awaken interest and anticipation in His people. This is made known in an intriguing word to the prophet Ezekiel. "Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock" (Ezek 36:37 KJV). "Thus says the Lord GOD: This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: to increase their men like a flock" (RSV). There is an arresting thought: the Lord being asked by His people to do what He had already promised to do! This is an expression of the divine nature. This principle is seen in the prophet Daniel. While in the Babylonian captivity, he came to understand through Jeremiah's books that the captivity was about to end. Upon realizing this, he set himself to pray, thereby seeking the fulfillment of divine commitment. "In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes" (Dan 9:2-3). Let us learn from Daniel to apply such wisdom to our own condition!