My brothers and sisters in Christ, as I look at the scriptures, I believe I am beginning to realize just how much God wants us to intercede. It is one of our greatest responsibilities, and yet, we are failing so many times at carrying it. As described in Isaiah 59, when we do not intercede God is stunned!

Isaiah 59: 15,16 – Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the Lord saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. 16 And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;…

How graphic are God’s emotions in this passage. There was no justice and it was displeasing in God’s sight. And God was astonished, stunned, appalled that there was no man to intercede! Is our world today different than the one described in Isaiah 59?

Two Types of Intercessions:

From my limited understanding of the scriptures, there seems to be at least two types of intercessions. The first type can only be made by Jesus-Christ, who is currently seated at the right hand of God. Through this type of intercession, Jesus-Christ is able to save us, and make us children of God, as described in Hebrews 7.

Hebrews 7:24, 25 – But Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. 25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession.

The second type of intercession, which is the focus of this article, is altogether different. It can be performed not only by Jesus-Christ, but also by us, God’s children and servants. Contrary to the first type, this type of intercession has been around from well before the day of Pentecost. Here is an instance of Job interceding (i.e. praying) for his friend.

Job 42:10 – And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

The calamity of Job ended when he prayed – when he interceded – for his friends. We learn from verse 8 of the same chapter that God was so angry with Job’s friends that He could only accept the prayer of Job for them (an intercession). Job’s prayer effectively appeased God, causing Him “not” to deal with His friends according to their folly (Job 42:8). However and sadly, the book of Job records earlier that in his prior conversations with his friends, Job was himself crying because there was no one to intercede for him to God (which is probably why his deliverance came as described in Job 42:10).

Job 16:21 – O that a man might plead with God, As a man with his neighbor!

Satan versus Your Intercession

Fast forwarding to Jesus’ time on earth, Luke 22 records a stunning confession of Jesus-Christ to His disciple Peter.

Luke 22:30 – “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission [Greek: exētēsato] to sift you like wheat;

Looking at the Greek can help us appreciate the intensity of Jesus’ statement. The Greek verb “exētēsato” means to request a “full handing over”. And the word “hymas” is the plural form of “you”. Simply put, Jesus was informing Peter that Satan had requested to God that he (Peter) and the rest of the apostles be “completely” handed over to him! And the purpose of his request was clear: Satan wanted to sift them as wheat. Picture it as you may, but this is a very scary account! Think of Job and you will immediately get an idea of just how much pain Satan is willing to inflict.

Now consider this: How could Satan make such a bold request to God? The only reason Satan could make such request must have been because he knew that there was a chance his request could be granted! Think about it…Satan was making such a request because he knew he “could” get it. Otherwise, what would have been the point?

But thank God, Jesus was there to intercede.

Luke 22:31 – But I have prayed [Greek: edeēthēn] for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Jesus interceded for his disciple and friend Peter! And the verb edeēthēn translated “prayed” is the same verb used in Luke 8:28 to describe how the demon “begged” Jesus-Christ not to torment him. This was an “urgent appeal” that Jesus made for Peter. And apparently, Satan is still “very” active in making such requests for you and me!

Revelation 12:10 – Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.

Day and night my brothers and sisters! Day and night Satan accuses us before God. He is always roaming around, tempting us so we can fail, so that he can in turn accuse us, and make his requests to God to wreck our lives, our marriages, our faith, etc. even further. And he does so because he knows that unless someone intercedes (be it Jesus-Christ or some of us), he might just get what he asks for.

We have to pray for each other, for those we know as well as those we do not. The implications are far too serious for us to ignore that they are real. Can you imagine what would have happened if Jesus had not interceded and Satan had his request granted? Given the grave implications, no wonder our God is stunned, appalled when we do not intercede. Yes people, God is  stunned! In Part 2 we look at an example of an intercessor, with whom all of us should be able to identify.