KNOW HOW TO PRAY

Prayer, it’s often a subject a lot of people have trouble with, and here is one of these. Scripture tells us that when we pray a prayer of intercession, it’s as if we build a bridge between God and the people we are praying for. Take note that this isn’t just a prayer, it’s a deliberate action a mindful for a specific purpose. It isn’t just saying words, it’s a construction project. In 1 Timothy 2:1–2, Paul writes: “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” Because Jesus has done the work of intercession and still intercedes for us with the Father, and because the Holy Spirit intercedes for us as well, helping us unburden ourselves, we can now intercede for others. The Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit have built bridges to God that we may cross over, so that we, too, can build bridges. We have the incredible privilege of building a span from heaven to earth, from God to the person for whom we are praying. Let’s imagine you have a twenty-year-old son named Jonny who let us say he’s going a stray. You’re worried and you want to intercede for him.
Jesus does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves. — Romans 8:27
So you come to God with this crushing weight on your heart because you love Jonny, and are concerned for him, you feel helpless to change his course. What do you do? How do you intercede for him? First, you take hold of God. When the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him how to pray, He told them, essentially, The first thing you do is to honor God. You say, Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name. (Matthew 6:9)
Your version might be something like this:
“Father, I thank You that You made a bridge for me. I thank You for saving me by grace through faith, through the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank You, God, that You are an all-knowing, all-powerful God. You are a loving God and a merciful God, and I praise You for Your greatness… for Your wisdom… for Your kindness to me…”You take hold of God by acknowledging who He is and by thanking Him and praising Him for all He has done.
Second, you take hold of Jonny.
You say, “Lord, You know the weight on my heart today. I’m bringing Jonny to You right now. I ask You to protect him. I ask You, dear Father, to take away all the evil influences of friends around him who are trying to lead him in a wrong direction. I ask You, Lord, even to replace those friends with other friends who know You and love You and will bring Jonny to You. You know this deep concern on my heart, Lord, I can’t hide it from You. So I bring it to You, in Jesus’ name.” Do you see how that works?
You take hold of God in one hand and take hold of Jonny in the other hand, and you become a bridge in between them. You stand in the gap for your son. You pray, “God, I’m bringing Jonny to You, and I’m asking for a miracle in his life. I’m asking that the Holy Spirit will go to Jonny and convict him of the way he has been living. I know that this is Your will, Father, and that right now I am praying in Your will.” So you pray for Jonny, and don’t give up on him, no matter what. You continue to pray until there is an intersection between Jonny and God, until Jonny finally runs into God’s arms and God’s way becomes his way. Jesus Himself said it: “Pray always, and don’t give up.” The reason any of us can do this — is because Jesus has first made a bridge for us and an intersection for us. You and I can’t begin to imagine what that cost Him. There was a man that after the war he could not look after his daughter, he was very sick he could not work and they were literally starving. So he goes to the war office and ask if they could look after her, they said no because he was alive, so he says if I were dead you would, they said yes. So he looked at his little girl said good bye and then there was no choice for them. So why the story?
Because it reminds me of another story.
In eternity Somewhere, the day came when Jesus said to the Father, “Do You mean that if I die, those people on earth can live and have a home with You forever?” And the Father said, “Yes.” With that, Jesus put our hands in the Father’s hand, walked out of Heaven, was born on earth, and died on the cross and paid for our sins. In so doing, He made a bridge for us so that we could have a relationship with a holy God. If you have never done so, you need to walk across the bridge that Jesus provided for you at the cost of His own blood, His own life. Then, remembering that Jesus built that bridge for you (and with the Spirit’s help), you can begin to intercede for others, so that their paths will intersect with the path of God and they will walk with Him forever.
May God bless you Amen Amen and Amen