A Model Of Intercession

A Model of Intercession

O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me. Nehemiah 1:11

NEHEMIAH WAS A MODEL OF INTERCESSION. Upon hearing news from the exiles who had returned to Jerusalem that the city was still in disrepair, he confessed not only his own sins but also the sins of the people as if they were his own (verses 6-7) and then based his entire prayer on a promise God had given centuries earlier (verses 8-9). He was appropriately grieved but hopeful; appropriately humble but had a sense of ownership and responsibility; and appropriately confident but had an awareness that only God could put him in a position of helping. He saw himself as a leader of people and a servant of God far removed from the burden God had placed on his heart.

You’ll find that the burdens on your heart are often prompts from the Holy Spirit to do something. Perhaps that “something” is intercessory prayer, advocating for the needs of human beings and pleading with God to intervene and provide. Or perhaps it’s more—becoming an agent of change yourself. Even though Nehemiah was stationed in a distant Persian capital, he didn’t just pray for the people in Jerusalem. He saw himself as part of the answer. He prayed knowing and even asking that God might rearrange circumstances to do a great work in his life.

You are called to great works too, some entirely on your knees as you petition your Father on behalf of this world and some through a calling to begin a movement, start a program, take the lead in a project, or mobilize others to action. Just as Nehemiah supervised the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls and participated in its reconstruction of Temple worship, you have been given a mission of rebuilding lives and directing attention to God’s goodness. How you do that depends on your particular calling; how that calling opens up before you depends on your prayers, faith, and availability. Those who ask God clearly receive his clear answers—and step into them as part of his plan.

When I say “hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come,” I should be adding in my mind the words “in and through me.”