I get requests to pray for people.
A lot.
And I don’t mind it. In fact; I’m glad to help. But the job of an intercessor is – as the name implies – to intercede, not to take ownership. What I’m talking about is what I call prayer outsourcing.
Think about God’s relationship with humanity. In the beginning, there was only Adam, and Adam represented all of us and because of this, when Adam sinned, we all felt the effects, which is why all suffer from original sin. Adam sneezed and humanity got sick. But then God began to change the relationship – to broaden the base, as it were and He chose to make a covenant with a people, (Noah), instead of an individual (Adam). Then a tribe (Abraham), then a family (Jacob) and their individual descendants (Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Reuben, etc.). But God always had a representative between Him and the common man. For example, He spoke to the people through Moses, then He chose the descendants of Levi to be His go-betweens. Under the old method, the Levitical priest atoned for our sins – not us – we were cut out of the loop (other than providing the offering to the Levitical Priests). Sin was, in effect, rather impersonal because you sinned and then someone else handled the messy part (atonement). There were many different offerings for different sins and different circumstances (See Below), but it was always the Levite priest who did the actual “work” of praying for your forgiveness.
Then along came Jesus, who changed everything when He was raised from the dead.
Why?
Because now the curtain is torn1 and by doing so, Jesus cuts us into the loop so that our sins are made personal through the Holy Spirit, who, by coming to live in us, writes God’s laws on our hearts and thus, it becomes a “personal relationship”. This doesn’t mean that God did away with sin offerings (which we now call penance) or with the priesthood (we still have priests and pastors after all). It just means that we are individually responsible for our own reconciliation. Just as He always does, God doesn’t nullify the law – He sharpened and focused it. God knows we’re not capable of doing it on our own. If we were, not only would we no longer need the Bible or clergy; we wouldn’t need Jesus either, because we would be our own means of salvation.
Did you see what God did there? He didn’t create an either/or situation, He created a both/and situation. That’s why although we are individually responsible for ourselves and our actions, we are also reliant on each other, as a help for one another.
Which brings me back to my original topic.
Intercessory prayer is important and helpful, but the intercessor lacks the authority that you have. And while you have authority, there is value in multiple requests for your intention. I am pleased to assist you with how and/or what to pray. But, while I can – and do – pray for each of you, it’s not God’s desire to only hear your request from someone else. He doesn’t just want to hear ABOUT you, he also wants to hear FROM you, His beloved child. So I encourage you to keep sending your prayers, but don’t you dare stop praying.
- Mt 27:51 ↩︎