House of Hope Online

September 3, 2023

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Nancy and I recently watched the movie, “Big George Foreman,” the life story of the former heavyweight boxing champion.  A key point in the movie came when George’s sister was struggling to give birth to his nephew, and it appeared the baby would not survive.  George, who loved his sister dearly, dropped to his knees in private and interceded for God to take his life and save his nephew.  To the surprise of the doctors, the baby miraculously recovered and was born with no limitations.  George followed through and dedicated his life to spreading the Gospel.

In that one stressful moment, George Foreman learned what I learned a long time ago, also in a stressful moment – we can cry out to Jesus for ourselves and others, and the Lord will hear our prayer and answer.  My moment led to my salvation, as did George’s.

We saw this last week in Psalms 107:

Psalms 107:

4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; They did not find a way to an inhabited city.

 5 [They were] hungry and thirsty; Their soul fainted within them.

 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses.

 7 He led them also by a straight way, To go to an inhabited city.

Jesus Is Our Permanent Priest & Intercessor

The point in relaying this to you today is to emphasize the significance of the fact that we have a permanent Priest and Intercessor at our disposal.  A look at Hebrews 7 and 8 distinguishes between Jesus and other high priests.

Hebrews 7:

 23 And the [former] priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers, because they were prevented by death from continuing,

 24 but He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently.

 25 Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

 26 For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;

 27 who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the [sins] of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

 28 For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, [appoints] a Son, made perfect forever. (NASB)

Hebrew 8:

 1 ¶ Now the main point in what has been said [is this]: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

 2 a minister in the sanctuary, and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.

We have such a high priest who is holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sin, and exalted above the heavens, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of Majesty!  He is not weak like other high priests, and He is not burdened by His own sin.  In fact, He offered Himself for the sins of all others.  And He dwells in the “true tabernacle,” a tent pitched by God, not man.

But understand Hebrews 7:25:

Hebrews 7:

25 Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

He is able to save us forever because He always lives to make intercession for us.  He always wants to make intercession for us.  He never tires of it.  Our seeking Him is never a drag for Him.  He lives for it.  That is His mission, assigned by Father God, and He’s awesome at it.

Understanding Intercession

The Greek word for “intercession” in verse 25 means “to entreat.”  The definition of “entreat” is “to plead urgently in order to persuade.”  This is what Abraham did on behalf of his nephew, Lot.

Genesis 18:

 20 And the LORD said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.

 21 “I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”

 22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the LORD.

 23 ¶ And Abraham came near and said, “Wilt Thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

 24 “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt Thou indeed sweep [it] away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?

 25 “Far be it from Thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are [treated] alike. Far be it from Thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”

 26 So the LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.”

 27 And Abraham answered and said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am [but] dust and ashes.

 28 “Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, wilt Thou destroy the whole city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy [it] if I find forty-five there.”

 29 And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do [it] on account of the forty.”

 30 Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do [it] if I find thirty there.”

 31 And he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy [it] on account of the twenty.”

 32 Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy [it] on account of the ten.”

 33 And as soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD departed; and Abraham returned to his place. (NASB)

We know from earlier scripture that Abraham was interceding on behalf of his nephew, Lot, and his family, and from later scripture that Lot was saved because of that intercession.  There are some interesting points about intercession that I would like to make:

• Intercession is selfless.  Abraham was praying on behalf of his nephew.  Jesus lives to intercede for us and was willing to give His life on our behalf.  George Foreman was interceding on behalf of his nephew, and was willing to give his life as a sacrifice.  I believe when God saw the unselfishness in George’s heart and his willingness to share the Gospel, He also saw a heart that mirrored Jesus’ heart.
• Intercession seeks the will of God for a circumstance.  Abraham, in verse 25, pointed out that destroying the righteous would not be in God’s interest, and therefore he was interceding for the will of God.  George Foreman pointed out to God that his sister and mother were believers that did not deserve such a loss.  Jesus intercedes on our behalf, but He knows that God wants all to be saved.
• We get to know God in the process of intercession.  Abraham learned the heart of God toward the righteous and saw that He saved Lot.

Our Fleshly Nature Does Not Want to Intercede

It takes a transformation for us to get from our selfish nature to a place where we are willing to pray for others, or more importantly, for the will of God to be done.  The word of God from Isaiah informs us that God was astonished that there was a reluctance in us to intercede.

Isaiah 59:

 16 ¶ And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him; And His righteousness upheld Him.

The need for intercession is part of why Father God sent Jesus the Son to the earth:

Isaiah 59:

 20 “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD.

Almighty God spoke His plan for Jesus to bear our sin and to live to intercede for us and all transgressors.  Isaiah 53 also foretold Jesus’ mission statement.

Isaiah 53:

 12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.

How Do We Pray to the Chief Intercessor?

And so, we have a chief Intercessor, Jesus, but it is incumbent upon us to pray as we should to Him, to cry out to Him for our own needs, and to intercede for others as well.  Romans 8 offers us help when we do not know how to pray as we should.

Romans 8:

 26 ¶ And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for [us] with groanings too deep for words;

 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to [the will of] God.

 28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [His] purpose.

The effectiveness of our prayers increases mightily when we engage the Holy Spirit in our prayer life.  Praying in the Spirit means praying with a prayer language that yields “groans too deep for words.”  That means releasing our tongue to the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to take over the prayer.  This assures that our prayers are in accordance with God’s will, like Abraham’s, because He searches our hearts and, at the same time, He intercedes for us according to the will of God (verse 27). 

When we pray like this, allowing the Spirit to intercede on our behalf, we know that God will cause all things to work together for good to those who love Him, and are called to His purpose (verse 28).

Our Priest Is at the Right Hand of God

Paul concludes the Romans 8 discussion of intercessory prayer by again emphasizing that Jesus is at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf, and we should feel safe about that.

Romans 8:

 31 ¶ What then shall we say to these things? If God [is] for us, who [is] against us?

 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;

 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Get verse 33: “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?”  We have a permanent Priest and Intercessor who always lives to intercede on our behalf.  We have help in Heaven  We have One who loves us so much He gave His life for us.  We have an Advocate in the Throne Room, One in whom the Father is well pleased.

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for Jesus, our Intercessor and Chief Priest who is permanent.  Help us to engage the Holy Spirit in our prayer time for we do not know how to pray as we should, and because the Spirit Himself intercedes for us according to Your will.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.