What is Intercession?

Intercession as an Invitation

“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.”
Ezekiel 22:30 (NIV)

       “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before Me in the place where it is broken, to stop Me from destroying the land, but I found no one.”
Ezekiel 22:30 (NLV)

“I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.”
Ezekiel 22:30 (NLT)

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”
James 5:15-18 (KJV)

Intercession can be viewed as an invitation by God. God invites us to pray in faith and intervene spiritually in situations happening on Earth. One day, I will write a book dealing with the phrase “God is in control.” Suffice it for now to say that God allows man to operate with free will in the Earth and doesn’t force us to do His will. If ever there was a time for Him to do so, it would have been in the Garden of Eden. He could have stopped Adam and Eve from partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

     When God wants to do something on Earth, He uses people. We can partner with God and help work His will in the Earth. Ezekiel 22:30 paints a picture of God looking for someone to pray according to His will on Earth so He can show mercy, help avert judgment, provide help to those in need, etc.

        The sad conclusion of Ezekiel 22:30 is that often, when He is looking, He doesn’t find a willing partner. We see an example of this in Matthew chapter 26:

“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, ‘Sit here while I go and pray over there.’ And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, ‘My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.’ He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’ Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’”

In Matthew chapter 26, Jesus invites the disciples to be vigilant (watch) and pray with him during a time of incredible sorrow and heaviness. Jesus said their spirits “were willing,” but their “flesh was weak.”

       An intercessor is someone who is invited by God to stand in prayer with someone during a trial or to partner with God as He works His will on Earth. A God visual representation of this is found in Exodus 17.

“The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.’ So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.”
Exodus 17:8-13 (NIV)

In this example, the staff of God represents God on the scene. Moses’ holding of the staff represents Moses partnering with God to bring victory for the Israelite army under Joshua. As long as Moses’s hands were lifted with the staff of God, the Israelite army prevailed. Even though Moses was partnering with God to do God's will through His power, he couldn’t do it in his own strength. Enter Aaron and Hur. By holding up Moses' hands, they helped Moses accomplish the will of God.

       Intercession is like that. Sometimes there are people trying in faith to do God's will through God's power but they need help. Intercession provides the help. God invites us through the Holy Spirit or even through situations we become aware of to join our faith with the faith of others to accomplish His will on Earth.

         “For they are a nation void of counsel, Nor is there any understanding in them. Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, That they would consider their latter end! How could one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight…”
Deuteronomy 32:28-30

Esther and Daniel understood this concept and invited others to join them in prayer to defeat the enemy's plan in their lives.

“And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: ‘Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: ‘Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!’ So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.”
Esther 4:13-17

“The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, ‘There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.’ For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; he answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, ‘Why is the decree from the king so urgent?’ Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”
Daniel 2:10-19