Intercession: to take action for the cause for someone else’s behalf; to have effect or impact in another’s life; to come between; intermediation, intervention, involvement, pleading, petition, entreaty, mediation, arbitration.
Intercession could be simply described as “third-party” praying, but at the same time is much more then that. I know it may sound a little strange but intercession is a key factor in the life of a christian. Although the word “intercession(s)” or “intercessor” is only used 11 times in scripture, the concept or act of intercession is used all over the bible. Abraham interceding on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah, Moses for the nation of Israel, The sacrificial lamb, the scape goat, Ester for the Jews in Persia, Nehemiah for Jerusalem. Jesus on the cross, the Holy Spirit for us, Paul for the churches, etc... the idea is for a person of a stronger position or state to fight for, to intervene, to moderate for, to plead the case for another. this is exactly what Jesus did for us on the cross; we have sinned against the father (rom 3:23), we have no way to make it right (rom 3:10; 8:8), the holy and righteous judge must have the cost of sin paid for He cannot let sin go without payment, and the cost of our sin is death (rom 6:23a). But Jesus interceded for us, He left His throne, came down to earth to became a man like us (phil 2:7), and then took our place in the court of heaven and said “I will pay their debt” and died on our behalf (phil 2:8). That’s good news! Christ has paid our debt in full and we are free from the law of sin and death (rom 8:2). but it gets even better, He arose from the grave and conquered death so that we could live a victorious life enabled by His spirit (rom 8:11) and right now Jesus is still interceding for us (rom 8:34).
This past Wednesday I had a unique opportunity to practice intercession. One of the students here at Ellerslie is deaf and has tinnitus. so to better know how to intercede for her we used noise canceling ear buds playing a ringing and annoying track to simulate the effect of her tinnitus, plus we had earmuffs on over top of the ear buds to completely block out all sound. after wearing the “deafness” for ten hours that day, it gave me a fuller understanding of what she is going through and how to better pray for her because I know what she is dealing with. God is using this and other opportunities during my stay at Ellerslie to train me into the man of God that He wants me to be. God is making me strong, so that my life can be poured out for others in need, and all for His glory. My name Ben McElmurray and I am an Intercessor in training.
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