God loves intercession as He loves true worship. In both instances, God seeks those who will stand in the gap and those who will worship in spirit and in true. In Ezekiel 22: 30, we hear God say: “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” God looks for a man that will stop Him in His track, so to speak. What an honour, what love God has so lavished on man, to stand before Him.
Intercession is where man stand before God, like Abraham stood before God in Genesis chapter 18: 22 ff; like Moses stood before God in Numbers chapter 14: 19; and like the Syrophoenician woman stood before our Lord Jesus in Mark chapter 7: 26-29. There in intercession, mercy (God and the good intent of His heart) and truth (the Word of God is Truth, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth knows the mind of God and helps us intercede accordingly) meet together. God wants to hear the truth pour out from the lips of His children concerning His will in any matter.
Intercession is a prayer-negotiation. There is a Middle Eastern culture where elders (people concerned with matters) meet at the city gate, and crucial negotiation and decisions are cut and tied. The same principle occurs in intercession, man stand before God in the gap in an intense prayer-negotiation. Incidentally, God honours the intercession of all men, strangers like the Syrophoenician woman, believers like father Abraham, and descendants (sons) like Moses. God looks for men, who are concerned with His will, who acknowledge His truth and understand what He delights in, and who take it upon themselves to stand in the gap. Mercy does not discriminate, the invitation is open to anyone who will respond to truth of God and stand before Him with this truth. Mercy delights in truth. Intercession shows how God has accepted man in Christ (Who is the Truth) and, by Him, is willing to have mercy and not judgement. Our Lord Jesus said in Mathew 9:12: Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” Men offer sacrifice to appease, but God delights in showing mercy.
Essentially, intercession is about the will of God, to be done on earth. It could be on behalf of others (like Abraham stood before God on behalf Sodom for Lot’s sake), it could be on behalf of one’s personal life and family situation (like Jacob wrestled with God) or it could be on behalf of a nation (as Moses stood in the gap for the nation of Israel). The will of God, the manifestation of His character, is the focus of intercession. Knowledge of the will of God is the vehicle for right action, right word, and right intercession. This is why as believers we must ask to be filled with the knowledge of the will of God in all wisdom and spiritual understanding (Colossians 1:9), and also endeavour to study to show ourselves approved as a workman able to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2: 15).
Intercession is open to all men. Believers and unbelievers alike. Why, because God delights in exercising loving-kindness, judgement, and righteousness on earth. The Syrophoenician woman in the book of Mark, though she was not under the covenant of Abraham, yet she interceded on behalf of her daughter, she knew the will of God and recognised the power of God. To her, even crumb that fell down from the table of the children was sufficient. The Syrophoenician woman understood the principle: “how forcible are right words” (Job 6: 25). She went home justified and satisfied.
If unbelievers, as in the Syrophoenician woman, can come to the throne of Grace and obtain mercy, much more every believer in Christ. Every believer must be an intercessor. Why.? Romans 8:34 says: “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Christ has not come to condemn. We are in Him, and He has committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5: 18), that like Him, we should stand in the gap, that is, intercede Also, book of Acts chapter 3 verse 25 says: “Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.” Through faith in Christ, we are partakers of the covenant which God made with Abraham that through us all the kindreds of the earth shall be blessed. As a people who are followers and imitators of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom have been given the ministry of reconciliation and who are partakers of the covenant, intercession is a must for us. If we are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 3: 14), and He makes intercession, we cannot but partake of same with Him.
In intercession, we are seeking the ultimate, that the will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven. The will of God is the mind of God in a matter, and it is the Spirit of Truth who knows the mind of God in a matter, who helps us in intercession for Mercy and Truth to meet together. We must be armed with the knowledge of the will of God to be successful intercessors. As children of God, we must know Him as we are known of Him. For example, it is the will of God that all men come to the knowledge of truth (Jesus is the Truth, the Way and the Life) and be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). Our Lord Jesus Himself prayed in John chapter 17: 3 “This is life eternal (Jesus came that we may have eternal life), that they may know, Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” We know the mind of God in this matter, and it therefore should be a basis of our intercession for kindreds of the earth. “Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.” (Psalm 2: 8). This is our strong reason to come before God in this prayer-negotiation for salvation of souls and for revival of nations.
Also, the ultimate desire of God is that we should be conformed to the image of Christ. Romans 8: 29 says: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” We intercede for all saints for this will of God to come to past on earth. These scriptures and many other scriptures where the will of God is explicitly stated, concerning health, deliverance from oppression and so on, we must know as believers and make as our strong reason and the basis of our intercession. Abraham knew that the LORD God is the Judge of all the earth and that He will do right, that is he was able to stand before God and intercede for Sodom where his nephew Lot lived.
There are pertinent qualities of intercessors we must know and have. Intercessors don’t leave God’s presence in a hurry. They are tenacious because it is a prayer-negotiation. They do not leave God’s presence until they get an answer. Jacob intercedes for himself and his family that will soon become a nation in the course of time. He was confronted with the strong opposition and danger he faces, and he interceded so that his brother Esau, who was consumed with vengeance, will not scuttle the promise of God unto his father Abraham. His word “I will not let you go until you bless me” reveals his tenacity. He got the blessing, a change of name from Jacob to Israel. The nation that came out of him in fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham still bears the blessing, the name Israel , to date. The Syrophoenician woman was an outsider to the covenant, not being a descendant of Abraham, but she was tenacious, even a crumb from the table of the children will do for her, and she got a full meal for her prayer-negotiation.
Intercessors are also very intentional. Therefore, they stand before God to move His hand because they know that “God is, and He is a rewarder of those who seek Him diligently.” God delights in exercising loving-kindness, judgement and righteousness on earth, so when we come to Him with this understanding and are intentional, and armed with the faith of “I won’t go till I receive” we will always get a kiss of approval from Him, and there is a mutual satisfaction between God and the man that is interceding.
The harvest is great and ready. There are nations to be discipled, and God seeks for men that will stand in the gap and move His hand upon nations. LORD revive in us the spirit and power of intercession, let man have power with You once again.
