“On behalf of a man he pleads with God.” Job 16:21
At 80 years of age, Mae was our eldest church member. An independent woman in good health, she lived by herself in a small condo while her daughter’s family, also church members, lived not too far away in the same town. One day, Mae extended an invitation for me to have lunch in her home and I gladly accepted. As we visited over our meal, we shared our life stories, our journeys with Christ, and how He was using us in the season of life we were in. What struck me was how she spoke with absolute certainty of what God had called her to do with her gifting at that stage of her life. She picked up our church’s roster which was sitting nearby, a compilation of names that numbered about one hundred families, and said, “I feel called to pray, so this is my mission, to intercede in prayer on behalf these families.”
In the last few months, three of my closest friends have experienced profound challenges in their lives: my oldest friend, Andi, lost her husband—who was also my husband’s closet friend— unexpectedly after a short illness, leaving behind eight grown children and 18 grandchildren; my dear friend from church lost her daughter who had battled breast cancer for six years, leaving behind a husband and young children; another dear friend is burdened for her dad who has received a devastating diagnosis. Others in our sphere of concern have lost a child to suicide, another is burdened for a prodigal daughter. Many years have passed since my encounter with Mae and, as I get closer to the age she was when we visited, I have also felt compelled to pray as never before, to pray in intercession on behalf of my friends and their families.
What does it mean to pray in intercession? Intercessory prayer in simple terms is prayer for others. An intercessor is one who takes the place of another or pleads another’s case. Hudson Taylor, a respected pioneer missionary to China, said this, “Prayer for another is transacting business with God on that person’s behalf.” When Jesus closed the gap between us and God by dying on the cross, He became our mediator—“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” and because of Jesus’ mediation, we can intercede in prayer on behalf of other Christians, asking God to grant their requests according to His will. It involves bringing the person who desperately needs God’s invention before the Father with believing, persevering prayer until that person or his circumstances change. It might be a short season of intercession or a longer season.
Charles Finney, Presbyterian minister and leader in the Second Great Awakening during the mid 1800s, had an intercessor named Abel Clary who traveled with him wherever he went. Finney wrote, “Mr. Clary continued as long as I did, and he did not leave until after I had left. He never appeared in public, but he gave himself wholly to prayer.” Finney may have impacted nations, but he didn’t do it alone. Our verse for today expresses the heart of Job, “My intercessor is my friend…on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend” (Job 16:20-21).
Like Abel Clary and my friend, Mae, many intercessors go about their call from Christ to pray for another from behind the scenes, seen only by the Lord. Far from the crowd, but seen by the eye of God, are men and women who plead with God for individuals and ministries around the world. For whom might God be calling you to intercede?
Heavenly Father, we praise You for your Son, Jesus, our Mediator, the One who intercedes on our behalf before You. What a privilege it is that we have access to You directly and are encouraged—even commanded—to bring our requests before You on our behalf and on behalf of others. Thank you for hearing our pleas that we bring to You now, in the name of Jesus. Amen
