| When friends get together, they talk about their problems. Sometimes your friends will share with you about their own personal difficulties at work and at home. They may tell you about physical and emotional problems that they are having. They may also tell you about the problems of some family member or friend. When you hear about these problems, how should you respond? You will want to express concern for the other person and, if possible, try to help them. In some situations you may feel like that there is little that you can do except to lend the other person a listening ear. Listening to another person as he or she expresses their pain and grief is an important way to show your concern. This concern, however, should not end with listening. The concern should motive you to take some action on behalf of the other person. Christians refer to action on behalf of another person as ministry or service . How you act will depend on the other person's need and your ability to help. There is, however, one thing that you can always do for other people. You can always pray.
Prayer for other people should be an important part of your Christian life. When you pray for another person, you express your concern for the other person. You also express your belief that God loves the other person and that He is able to provide what the other person needs. Prayer for other people is called intercessory prayer.
Intercessory prayer has a strong Biblical basis. There are examples of people praying for the needs of others throughout the Bible. Here are a few of them. When you have time you will want to read these stories in their entirety in order to fully understand what was happening and the significance of the prayers.
Abraham prayed for the people of Sodom (Genesis 18:1-33). Abraham asked God not to destroy the city for the sake of the righteous people who lived there.
Moses prayed for the people of Israel (Numbers 14:1-45). Moses asked God to forgive the people of Israel for rebelling against God's command to enter the land of Canaan.
Elijah prayed for the son of a widow (1 Kings 17:7-24). Elijah prayed that God would allow the boy, who had died suddenly of an illness, to return to life. God answered Elijah's prayer dramatically, allowing the boy to come back to life.
Jesus prayed for Lazarus (John 11:1-44). As a result the dead body of Lazarus came back to life.
Peter prayed for Tabitha (Acts 9:36-43). This woman also came back to life. As a result, many people who heard about the incident believed in Jesus as their own Lord and Savior.
Paul asked other Christians to pray for him (Ephesians 6:19-20). Paul wanted them to pray so that he would be able to preach the Gospel without fear.
Based on these examples from the Bible, what are some things that you can pray about for people?
As you can see from these examples, you can pray that God will save people, that He will forgive their sins, that He will heal them, and even that He will protect them from death. Because God loves the people that you pray for, He is concerned about every aspect of their lives. So you can pray for their psychological and physical needs as well as their spiritual needs. As you pray, you should keep in mind six principles that provide a basis for intercessory prayer.
1. Intercessory prayer is based on your own personal relationship with God . As a result of your faith in Jesus, you are a child of God (John 1:12). As God's child, you have God's Spirit in you which enables you to call God, "Father" (Romans 8:14-15). So when you talk to God on behalf of another person, you are like a child asking her daddy to help a friend, "Daddy, my friend is in trouble. Can you help her?" And since God loves you and also cares about your friend, God will do everything that He can do to help.
There is one difference between God and a human father, however that you should keep in mind. Your human father is your father and your sibling's father, but he is not the father of your friend. In contrast, God is the potential spiritual Father of every human being . In other words, every person either is now or one day may become a child of God. The only thing that is necessary to become a child of God is faith in Jesus. So when God looks at your friend who is in trouble, He not only cares for the person because he is your friend. God also loves the person as one of His own children. God longs to have a parent-child relationship with that person. So God's answer to your prayer is an expression of this love and desire for relationship that is in God's heart.
2. Intercessory prayer is based on God's desire and God's power to answer prayer. God desires to answer your prayers because of His love both for you and for the other person. "God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son" (John 3:16). God's love which caused Him to give His Son also compels Him to answer prayer. God has power to answer your prayers because all of the power in the universe is available to Him. Jesus said, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18). The God that you pray to is the same God who spoke the universe into existence (Genesis 1). He is the One who, when He walked the earth as a man, healed the sick, the blind, and the deaf, cast out evil spirits, and even raised the dead. When Jesus died on the cross He did not remain dead but, rather, defeated the power of Satan, sin and death by means of His resurrection. Now Jesus has promised, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer" (Matthew 21:22). Jesus is both willing and able to keep this promise.
3. Intercessory prayer is based on God's concern for every aspect of our lives. God is concerned for both the physical and spiritual well-being of people. God not only desires to forgive our sins and give us eternal life. God also desires for us to have a good life in the present world. God is faithful to provide for the needs of those who trust in Him.
Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." (Lamentations 3:22-24)
Yet, many people you know are either unwilling or unable to pray to God about their own needs. Think of your family and friends who do not know God. They are separated from God by their sins. Often they live as though there is no God. Although they do not acknowledge God, still He loves them and is concerned for all of their needs. You also have Christian friends who have difficulties and need God's help. As Christians they know God, but their problems are so great that they need the encouragement of your prayers as well as their own prayers. Because of God's great love, compassion, and faithfulness, you have the opportunity to cry out to God on behalf of these people. You should ask God to provide for all of their needs.
4. Intercessory prayer is based on your willingness to submit to God's will. On the night before He was crucified, Jesus asked God to spare Him from death on the cross. Jesus prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me," then concluded His prayer, "Yet not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:41). When you pray you should follow the example of Jesus. You tell God what you desire, but then you should submit your own desires to the will of God. You should pray as Jesus taught in the model prayer, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is heaven" (Matthew 6:10).
You may have a friend who is dying of cancer. More than anything, you desire for your friend to be healed. If this is the case you should plead with God to heal your friend, but you should willingly conclude your prayer with the words, "Father, your will be done." Behind these words is the belief that God knows best. Whether your friend with cancer lives or dies, God is able to work through this situation to bring about His good purpose. This does not mean that your friend's death is good. The death itself is the result of a terrible disease which brings about great suffering for your friend. But even in this suffering, God is able to accomplish a good purpose. For example, if your friend is a Christian his death will result in him going to heaven to be with God. That is wonderful! But even if your friend is not a Christian, God may still use his death to help other people to realize their own mortality and to turn to Jesus as Savior and Lord.
5. Intercessory prayer is based upon your concern for other people. Not only is God concerned about those you pray for, but you are also concerned as well. You share the same concern as God. You love those whom God loves. So when you pray for other people God Himself is expressing His love through you. "No one has ever seen God; but if we love each other, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us" (1 John 4:12). It is this concern for other people which motivates your prayer. Any need which brings about concern for another person is an appropriate basis for prayer. You may pray for such needs as a person's spiritual salvation, healing, protection during travel, deliverance from a difficult situation, encouragement, or happiness. Since God is concerned for every aspect of the person's life, you also should have the same concern.
6. Intercessory prayer will often result in other acts of service for God and good deeds towards other people. As you pray for the needs of other people, be aware that God may lead you to be a part of the solution to their problems. For example, when you pray for the salvation of your family and friends, God may lead you to tell them about Jesus. When you pray for the needs of the hungry, God may lead you to give them food or money. When you pray for the sick, God may lead you to visit them in order to give them encouragement. When you pray for the lonely, God may tell you that you need to become their friend. When you pray for the lost peoples of the world, God may lead you to go as a missionary.
Prayer is a call to action. God uses prayer to lead His people to know and to do His will. So as you pray for the needs of other people, say not only, "Father, your will be done," but also, "Father, help me to do your will."
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