Practices in the Christian Life- Intercessory Prayer
Among the many practices of the Christian life (such as gathering for worship, meditating on God’s Word, serving the needy, forgiving, and seeking forgiveness) There are two very basic practices in the Christian life; receiving God’s Word, and then speaking with God. Receiving God’s Word of course comes through reading, or hearing the scriptures. And speaking with God occurs in prayer. As soon as the topic of prayer comes up, questions are not far behind. Questions like “If God already knows, why pray?” or “What are the outcomes of prayer?”. It is appropriate to ask questions about prayer as we learn from Jesus’ example in answering the first disciples about how to pray (Matthew 6:5-13). In today’s piece, we examine how prayer is linked to the work of Christ, and the role of the prophet.
What is Intercessory Prayer?
The Greek word is ὑπερεντυγχάνω and is a compound word. “Huper” means “on behalf of” and “entungchano”, which means, “to entreat or pray, plead” combined we get, “to entreat or pray/plead on behalf of someone else”
More often than not when we talk about intercessory prayer we think of the office of the priest. In many religions today, people come to confess their sins to a priest and he in turn prays or “intercedes” on their behalf to God (or at least he is supposed to entreat God on their behalf). However, what is striking is that in the scriptures the most wonderful intercessory prayers are found on the lips of God’s prophets, e.g. Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, and our Savior and God’s ultimate Prophet, Jesus Christ. Looking further at the above examples, we see a pattern regarding intercessory prayer in each of these passages. Abraham intercedes for King Abimelech who had taken Sarai to be his wife because Abraham lied and said she was his sister. God graciously intervenes and reveals Sarai’s true identity in a dream to the king and tells him that Abraham is a prophet and will intercede on his behalf if he safely returns her to Abraham. (Genesis 20:7)
Moses twice makes intercession for the idolatrous people in Exodus 32. He prays for forgiveness and for God to remember His covenant promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Through Moses’ humble prayer on behalf of the people, God graciously and mercifully forgives. We will look a little closer below of Moses’ intercession. Samuel in 1 Samuel 7, intercedes like Moses did for the idolatry of Israel, do you recognize a pattern? In Isaiah 63:7-64:12, Isaiah the prophet intercedes for exiled Israel for their idolatry. Similarly in Jeremiah 15:15-21, Jeremiah’s intercessory prayer is graciously heard by the LORD. Daniel, an exile, remembers Jeremiah’s prophecy and in contrite intercessory prayer to the LORD pleads for the exiles in Daniel 9.
From these texts, we see that “intercession” in regard to prayer is someone advocating or pleading on behalf of another before God. Intercession is a legal term for a witness taking the stand to plead the cause of the accused. Job 16:19,21 is helpful for us to consider at this point. The text reads, “Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, And my advocate is on high.” In verse 21 we read, “O that a man might plead with God…”. In the context of the passage, Job has been accused in heaven by satan of having advantage and privilege and the blessing of God, and that was the reason he was committed to the LORD. Satan was permitted to persecute Job physically and materially. Materially speaking, Job lost everything, yet his faith in God’s righteous and gracious care remained steadfast despite the devastation inflicted upon him. The reason for Job’s steadfast faith is that it is in the Man in heaven pleading his cause on his behalf (vs.21). Job knows he can plead his (a man) case before God because the God/Man is interceding for him, more of this in a moment.
In the NT. we see the theme of intercession continue in the Great Prophet Jesus Christ. 1 John 2:1, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.
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Learning the Art of Contentment…and Discontentment
Love Christ more and you will love money less. When you have less you will find yourself saying, “I am learning to be content. Christ is more to me than all the world.” When you have more you will say, “How can I use what I have to serve Christ? Because Christ is more to me than all the world.”
However much you have, there are others who have more. However little you have, there are others who have less. All of us have more than some other people. All of us have less than some other people.
However much or little God has trusted to you, there will be seasons of life when you have less and seasons of life when you have more. Let’s stand in both positions today and hear what God says to us when we have more and when we have less.
When You Have Less: Learn the Art of Contentment
Godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6)
Contentment is finding joy in what God has given to you. The opposite of contentment is greed. Contentment is a Christian grace that grows over time. It does not come quickly, easily, or naturally. Paul says “I have learned to be content” (Philippians 4:12).
How did he learn it? He tells us “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content” (Philippians 4:12).
God used the experience of loss to produce the good fruit of contentment in Paul’s life. Have you discovered the secret of being content?
Jeremiah Burroughs described contentment as “a rare jewel.”[1] How can you find joy in what God gives you, especially when it is less than you had before? Burroughs has great wisdom on how to obtain this jewel:
A Christian comes to contentment, not so much by way of addition as by way of subtraction…Contentment does not come by adding to what you have, but by subtracting from what you desire. The world says that you will find contentment when your possessions rise to meet the level of your desires… The Christian has another way to contentment, that is, he can bring his desires down to his possessions.[2]
So why is godliness with contentment “great gain”? Paul gives four reasons in 1 Timothy 6:You cannot keep what you gain in this world (v7).
If you set your heart on money, you expose yourself to powerful temptations that ruin many people (v9).
You may wander from the faith (v10).Read More
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Correction From God and For Us
Jonah was too proud to be taught, so God gives him a task that brings the issue to the surface and then he slowly skims away the dirt. God loves us too deeply to leave us without correction. I am grateful for brothers and sisters who love me enough to speak up when I do something stupid. They are a wonderful gift from God. Treasure the people in your life who love you enough to have tough conversations.
Dishing Out and Taking in Correction
Correction hurts. Even when we speak truthfully, we can go too far, cut too deep, and end up being harmful, not helpful. When we are careless, our words become weapons (Js 3:1-9). On the flip side, misunderstanding the motive when a friend corrects us can sever a decades-long friendship. Pride can stick its fingers in our ears and blocks any noise of rebuke. Giving and receiving correction is dangerous, but needed.
A wise person learns how to deliver and digest correction. Proverbs 9:8 says, “rebuke the wise, and he will love you,” and Proverbs 12:18 says, “the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Watching God correct Jonah is one place to see the wisdom of these proverbs in action.
Watching God Correct
As God corrects Jonah, he uses different tactics. He does not always bring a belt. He uses a variety of strategies. When you expect God to send a different, more obedient prophet, instead, he doubles down on Jonah (Jonah 3:1-4). When you assume God will send another storm, he sits for a conversation (4:1-11). God shows skill and sensitivity with Jonah. God humbles him when he is proud (1-2), exhorts him when he wavers (3:1-4), gently exposes his idols (4:5-11), teaches him when he doubts (4:10-11), and when Jonah despairs God carries him forward (4:9).
His timing, his tone, and his motive are always perfect. His words are a scalpel in the hand of the perfect surgeon. God never cuts in the wrong place or cuts too deep. Every place he cuts, he heals.
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Merry Christmas Now and Forever: Irenaeus on the Incarnation of Christ
Irenaeus compared and contrasted the two Adams of the Bible in relation to salvation. The first Adam (Gen 3:6-20) led the human race astray through the original sin, so, “the last Adam” (1 Cor 15:45), the Word-become-flesh came to bring fallen humanity back to God (John 1). Jesus of Nazareth, came in flesh and blood, the living Word, in Mary’s womb in order to redeem a fleshly, fallen race.
Irenaeus (AD 125–202) was the bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul (modern Lyons, France). He was a stalwart opponent of heresy and an influential defender of the Christian faith. Irenaeus studied under Polycarp, who had been a disciple of the Apostle John. John’s gospel begins,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3).
The Word-become-flesh (John 1:14) was the rock upon which Irenaeus built his theology. The incarnation served as his Christ-centered theological starting point for understanding all things. Christ was the beginning and end all aspects of his theological understanding; creation, fall, redemption, and new creation. Therefore, Irenaeus rejected any and all attempts to pit creation against redemption. For Irenaeus, history is integral to the incarnation. Christ is taking on our entire story and in the life of Christ, we see all of salvation history recapitulated.
Thus, Irenaeus compared and contrasted the two Adams of the Bible in relation to salvation. The first Adam (Gen 3:6-20) led the human race astray through the original sin, so, “the last Adam” (1 Cor 15:45), the Word-become-flesh came to bring fallen humanity back to God (John 1). Jesus of Nazareth, came in flesh and blood, the living Word, in Mary’s womb in order to redeem a fleshly, fallen race. Irenaeus writes,
For I have shown that the Son of God did not then begin to exist, being with the Father from the beginning; but when He became incarnate, and was made man, He commenced afresh the long line of human beings, and furnished us, in a brief, comprehensive manner, with salvation; so that what we had lost in Adam—namely, to be according to the image and likeness of God—that we might recover in Christ Jesus.1
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