via TJC
“But He (Jesus) holds his priesthood permanently, because He continues forever. 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 7:24-25
This week we will be focusing on intercession. Intercession through prayer for the non or pre-Christian, cultural Christian, new believer, prodigal, and committed worker for Christ. Prayer is a verb, an action taken. Intercession through prayer is the action of praying to the Lord God on behalf of another person. To bring a person before the Lord God and ask for His working in their lives to bring hope to the hopeless, to bring them to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, to meet needs, to heal hurts and hearts, to provide comfort in times of trial.
Intercession for the non or pre-Christian can sometimes seem too easy, and sometimes too hard. Too easy in that when we see someone whose actions show that they do not know the Lord, and throw up a quick prayer for them, not knowing the specifics of what their needs and hurts truly are, and too hard for similar reasons, or because the situation may seem to be completely hopeless to us.
But, God. God sent His Son, Jesus, to this earth, to bring hope to the hopeless. The true story of one of the thieves who was hanging on the cross next to Jesus demonstrates this hope in the midst of a hopeless situation (Luke 23:39-43). The thief who recognized his condemned state, recognized his need to be saved from his condemned state and that he could not do it himself, and recognized Jesus as the Son of God with the power to save him from his condemnation, and said “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him in response “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Daily Battle Order:
There is hope for the hopeless because of Jesus. The beginning of the bringing of this hope to those who are without hope is through intercession in prayer for the non or pre-Christian. You may not know all of the details and the circumstances, but God does. Intercede for others, pray for them with the knowledge that God knows their needs and hurts, and that Jesus is faithful and “able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
To love is to hope!