Praying For Others

Praying for Others

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 1 Timothy 2:1

REES HOWELLS WAS KNOWN FOR a ministry of intercession that began with prayers for individual lives and eventually led to powerful, moving requests for world events during World War II. He and his group of intercessors felt that the world had become their parish and praying for whole nations and generations was their responsibility. Though historians would never acknowledge a connection between prayer and headlines, the correlations were remarkable. His prayers affected spiritual battles as they played out in earthly realms and turned the tide of history.

Perhaps you look at headlines today, or even just the broken lives and relationships around you, and feel helpless. And perhaps you are, in terms of intervening in a tangible, material way. But as an advocate who has been invited to present petitions in the throne room of God, you are never helpless. Your requests are heard in the highest court and can be enforced by his agents in any earthly situation. It may take time to learn the ways of intercession, grow in the faith needed to support enormous requests, and develop the stubborn persistence of an advocate who knows God’s will and refuses to let go of it, but your invitation is nevertheless waiting. You have been called to present your requests to God in order to change circumstances and shape history.

That invitation is repeated throughout Scripture by examples and exhortations. It’s the template God gave us through Old Testament intercessors like Moses, Nehemiah, and Daniel; the mission Jesus embodied as God in the flesh, interceding then and now for his people and his Kingdom; and the pattern Paul used in growing believers and churches. It’s represented in the golden censers in Revelation 5:8 and 8:4 and the many encouragements we are given to pray for each other and for the world.

Don’t neglect that invitation. Leverage it for eternal purposes. Pray your heart out, knowing that God’s hand is moved by the prayers and faith of his people. Your prayers can influence your family, church, community, city, nation, and world with the fruit that lasts forever.

To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them.