My dear brothers, our intercessions must be much more than a string of words. Our lives should be worn out by sorrow, by years of sighing”. Ps (31:11) In fact, our grief should be with us always”. Ps (38:18) Our sorrow is much more than in name only, but a face inflamed with weeping. Jb (16:16) Recall the words spoken by Jesus to His Apostles, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death”. Mt (26:38) Jesus gave us a model to follow, yes the model of His anguish.
Intercession: Sackcloth.
Is 22:12 On that Day the Lord, the GOD of many, called on you to weep and mourn, to shave your head and put on sackcloth.
22:13 But look! You feast and celebrate, you slaughter oxen and butcher sheep, You eat meat and drink wine: “Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
22:14 This reaches the ears of the LORD of many— You shall not be pardoned this wickedness till you die, says the Lord, the GOD of many.
Jer 6:26 O daughter of My people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes. Mourn as for an only child with bitter wailing, for sudden upon us comes the destroyer. (Destroyer represents our accusers at our Final Tests.)
Bar 4:20 I have taken off the garment of peace, have put on sackcloth for my prayer of supplication, and while I live I will cry out to the Eternal God.
Ps 35:13 Yet I, when they were ill, (Being ill is a reference to sin.) put on sackcloth, afflicted Myself with fasting, sobbed My prayers upon My bosom.
35:14 I went about in grief as for My brother, bent in mourning as for My mother.
The Intercessions of Daniel.
Dan 9:3 Then I (I refers to Daniel) turned my face to the Lord God, seeking Him by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, You who keep Your merciful covenant (promises) toward those who love You and observe Your Commandments!
9:5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from Your Commandments and ordinances;
9:6 we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your Name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
9:7 To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us confusion of face, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those that are near and those that are far away, in all the lands to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
9:8 To us, O Lord, belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against You.
9:9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness; but yet we have rebelled against Him,
9:10 and have not obeyed the Voice of the LORD our God by following His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.
9:11 All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, refusing to obey Your Voice. And the curse and oath which are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against You.
9:12 You carried out the threats You spoke against us and against those who governed us, by bringing upon us in Jerusalem the greatest calamity that has ever occurred under heaven. (The destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon.)
9:13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us, yet we have not begged the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our sins and giving heed to Your truth.
9:14 Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He has done, and we have not obeyed His Voice.
9:15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made a name for Yourself even to this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
9:16 O Lord, according to all Your righteous acts, let Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy hill; because for our sins, and for the sins of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a slogan among all who are round about us. (Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon.)
9:17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your own sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your temple, (Refers to the temple in Jerusalem.) which is desolate.
9:18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; (City of David) for we do not present our supplications before You on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of Your great mercy.
9:19 O LORD, hear; O LORD, forgive; O LORD, give heed and act; delay not, for Your own sake, O my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your Name.”
Brothers, I ask you, how did Jesus love us? Jesus loved us by making Himself an offering for sin and numbered Himself with the transgressors. The prayer of Daniel reflects this concept and we can use His prayer as a model for our intercessions.
Let us search and examine our ways that we may return to the Lord! Let us reach out our hearts toward God in heaven! We have sinned and rebelled. Lam (3:40)
The Intercessions of Moses.
Ex 32:7 The LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once to your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become corrupted.
32:8 They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, ‘This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’
32:9 I see how stiff-necked this people is,” continued the LORD to Moses.
32:10 “Let Me alone, then, that My wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you (Moses) a great nation.”
32:11 But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying, “Why, O LORD, should Your wrath blaze up against Your own people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand?
32:12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent He brought them out, that He might kill them in the mountains and exterminate them from the face of the earth’? Let Your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing Your people.
32:13 Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how You swore to them by Your own self, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give Your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’”
32:14 So the LORD relented in the punishment He had threatened to inflict on His people.
Intercessory Prayer
How is love perfected?
