Give me a word, Lord: INTERCESSION

I Thessalonians 5:17 Never stop praying.

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 through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Intercession is defined as the action of saying a prayer on behalf of another person. When someone is going through a hard time, we intercede in prayer for them. When someone is lost, we intercede in prayer. When someone strays from their walk with Christ, we intercede for them. And praise God, He sent the Holy Spirit to intercede for us.

Last year on this day, someone I love with every fiber of my being, walked away to pursue life. I’m not talking about pursuing a dream. I’m talking about chasing the world rather than living for the Lord. I worried about her safety, security, health, well being, and most of all that she was seeking a lifestyle that was far from one of God. So, what did I do? I cried. I cried for pretty much 24 hours straight. Yea, as you might suspect, that didn’t do a lot of good, but hey, even the guys in the Bible wept and tore their clothes when they were upset. After the crying began, crying out to the Lord came next. In hindsight, this probably should’ve been first thing I did, but it didn’t take me long to realize that I needed to call on the Lord on behalf of this person. I know she is a Christian. I know that she knows the Lord. So I prayed…and prayed…and prayed. Through the years, I have learned that we can’t make important life decisions for others, even those we love deeply. God gave each of us free will, and one can not control another person’s free will.

So what did I do next? I entrusted this person to God, and I trusted that God was in control then just as He was last week, last year, and every year before that. God is in control, and He loves His kids. So I prayed, I gave her to God, and I am trusted that He would do a mighty work in her life. I interceded, and I trusted Him to intervene. Lastly, I kept on loving this person and showing her the love of God. It’s hard to show love when you are hurt, angry, or upset, but no matter what, that love is still there. You want to know something? God didn’t change things that night or even the next week, but I didn’t stop praying and trusting Him. No, change didn’t happen overnight, but God worked that situation out just as I had trusted that He would. He always works everything out for our good and His glory.

I wrote today’s devotional to speak to myself, but I’m hoping and praying that maybe by sharing my heart someone reading this can find comfort. The prayers we are praying are not falling on deaf ears. Our Father hears us. We only need to call on Him. That’s the easy part. Making that call to Christ is an easy thing to do. The trusting Him to handle the situation part…well that’s a little harder for us, but Peeps, God is God! There is nothing He can’t do! He’s our heavenly Father. He loves us more than we love anyone in the whole world. We have to trust Him to handle it. Let go and let God do what He needs to do. Keep on showing godly love for those you are praying for, and finally, don’t ever give up. Keep on praying and keep on trusting God. He’s got this.