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The Beauty of Intercession

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Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25 (ESV)

What a beautiful promise found in our opening scripture! Does it comfort you to know that Jesus is able to save you to the uttermost? He’s not a halfway God. He offers complete salvation.

But notice that there’s a condition to becoming a beneficiary of that salvation. He is able to save those who draw near to God through Him.

Within this phrase we find why so many believers miss experiencing the bounty of Christ’s salvation in the day to day. We don’t draw near. Instead, we often keep ourselves at a great distance from God, allowing jobs, relationships, even hobbies to separate us from the God who wants us near. Then we wonder where He is when we have an emergency.

“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.” Proverbs 1:22-23

What an amazing promise from an amazing God! He longs to pour Himself out and make His desires known so that we can live His very best for us.

But what happens when we refuse to draw near to hear?

“Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity…” Proverbs 1:24-26

Chilling words from a God of grace. Do they surprise you? There’s more.

“Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. Proverbs 1:28-31

God gives each of us a choice, dear one. We can draw near to Him through Jesus, allowing Him to pour out His Spirit to us and make His words known. Or, we can live our lives ignoring His counsel. God, honoring our right to choose, will stay away and let our own devices run their course.

You see, dear one, our God of love is also always faithful to His Word. That’s what makes Him so trustworthy. And here’s what His Word says.

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. Galatians 6:7

We bring much of our sorrow upon ourselves by living our daily lives apart from God. When we choose to keep our distance and refuse to hear what God desires to say, we reap the natural consequences of that choice. God leaves us to our own devices.

But here’s the good news, tucked within our opening scripture. Jesus lives to intercede for us when we choose to draw near.

Do you know what that means, dear one? All we need is sincere desire to get close. Jesus will make sure we find our way to God because He lives to intercede—to unite fallen man with the power and presence of the Father.

And when Jesus connects us, God always hears and answers.

Listen carefully, dear one. There’s a difference between desiring God’s help and desiring God. To the one who doesn’t care to walk with God but simply seeks His help because they don’t like how things are going, God says,

“Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me” (Proverbs 1:28).

But to the one who sincerely desires to draw near to God and walk in His ways, God says,

“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. Jeremiah 29:12-14 (emphasis mine)

Oh how I love that promise! When we seek Him with all our heart, God promises to make Himself found. We don’t have to worry about our potential to miss Him. We can rest in His promise to reveal Himself. And when we find Him, He hears our cries and will bring us back from our desolate places.

Jesus makes that happen, dear one.

Christ Jesus…the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Romans 8:34

Thank you, Jesus.

The Beauty of Intercession

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“. . . He is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” Hebrews 7:25

Jesus lives. What a profoundly glorious thought! Our Lord and King did not remain in the grave He visited for us. Instead, He rose, conquering its power and making His victory available to us. One of the ways we access that victory is through prayer, petitioning Jesus to help us in our need. And now, Scripture promises that He is able to save us completely, because He lives to intercede for us.

Have you let that thought settle on you? Jesus’ current, active role is to intercede . . . for you. Romans 8:34 agrees that Jesus, “is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” What does that mean? Dictionary.com defines intercede this way: “to act or interpose in behalf of someone in difficulty or trouble, as by pleading or petition.” Jesus acts on your behalf by what He speaks.

Do you face difficulty, dear one? Is trouble crushing you under the burden of its weight? Consider Jesus’ promise to you in John 16:33:

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Trouble finds all of us. Because sin exists in this world, it’s impossible for us to live out our days without experiencing difficulty. And the reality is, when trouble hits us, it often defeats us. It robs our hope. It breeds fear and anxiety. It causes us to run. But not Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t waver in the presence of trouble. No. In the presence of Jesus, trouble must bow its knee.

Do you believe that Jesus has conquered even your difficulty? Be encouraged and take heart. Why? Because Jesus has overcome! And now, according to Hebrews 7:25, Jesus lives to intercede on your behalf. What’s more, as your intercessor, He is able to save completely!

So, how does the Overcomer intercede for us in our circumstances? Through prayer!

Last week we learned that prayer is the conduit that releases God’s blessing and power into our lives. Although we often use it as the means to try to get God to do what we want, God actually moves in answer to prayers that align with His plans and purpose. For us to release His power into our circumstance, we must pray according to His will (Matthew 6:10, 1 John 5:14-15).

How can we know how to pray in line with God’s desires? We allow our intercessor—the One who knows exactly what we need and who provides the power to overcome—to lead us in prayer.

Jesus has given us a tremendous gift to help us in our need. While He intercedes at God’s right hand, the Spirit He sent us is hard at work within us. Celebrate the promise of Romans 8:26-27.

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”

So often when circumstances and pain overwhelm us, we don’t even know how to pray. In those moments of weakness, God’s precious Spirit within us cries out on our behalf in compliance with God’s will. And when we ask anything according to God’s will, He hears, and “we know that we have what we’ve asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15).

One of the primary roles of the Holy Spirit is to lead us to pray according to God’s will, but He Himself is led by another source. Consider Jesus’ words surrounding the sending of the Holy Spirit:

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.” John 16:13-14

Do you see it, dear one? Jesus sits at the right hand of God so that He can intercede on our behalf. As God speaks His will to His Son, the Son reveals the Father’s will to the Spirit. The Spirit then brings glory to Jesus by, “taking from what is [His] and making it known to you.”

The most important thing we can do in prayer is to quiet ourselves before the Lord. We spend so much time telling God what we need, but we rarely stop to listen. Listening, beloved, is where prayer’s power is found. Allow Jesus to whisper the Father’s will into your heart through the Spirit. As you partake in the mind of Christ and follow His leading to pray His own words back to Him, the gates of heaven will open in answer to the speaking of God’s will. That, dear one, is how we pray “in Jesus’ Name.”  

“so is my word that goes out from my mouth: 
   It will not return to me empty, 
but will accomplish what I desire 
   and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Isaiah 55:11