The Spirit of Intercession

“For He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12)

This verse caught my attention as I read Isaiah’s great prophetic chapter on the crucifixion. Feeling I would be writing about His intercession, I began looking for photos. I’ve used images of Jesus on the cross at times. This time, I couldn’t bear to expose His nakedness and suffering – even though that’s how it was.

Then I remembered a painting of the cross I bought years ago called “Glory to God” (see above). The artist, Shevon Johnson, painted “lilting and swaying” shapes within the cross to depict His broken body and the powerful promise within. Outside the cross, she placed “shafts of linear light bursting forth through circular waves of glorious shouts of heavenly praise! ‘Worthy is the Lamb to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and glory and honor and praise!’ – Revelation 5:12” (shevongalleryfineart.com, permission granted)

In his book Intercessory Prayer, Dutch Sheets says the Hebrew word for intercession, paga, means “to meet,” and the English word intercede means “to act between parties with a view to reconcile those who differ or contend; to interpose, to mediate.” Intercession is not a prayer we pray; it’s a work of mediation. It’s easy to see Christ’s crucifixion as intercession. He interposed Himself between us (transgressors) and God’s righteous wrath (against our transgressions) to reconcile us to God. In the painting, as the impact of our transgressions bends and breaks the Holy One, He forcefully releases intercession, depicted as glorious shafts of light (Ps 36:9, Jn 8:12).

Not only are we reconciled, we are a new creation and Christ’s ambassadors, so that now, we who are like Him in this world (1 Jn 4:17) are charged with His ministry of reconciliation (2 Co 5:17-21). That requires intercession. We meet with God on behalf of a person or nation or people group and plead their case before Him. As the cross demonstrates, that’s not necessarily easy, even though we know the Lord wants us to win! But Jesus is still interceding for us in heaven (Ro 8:34), and the Spirit also “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” (Ro 8:26-27).

Paul, who takes intercessory ministry very seriously, urges Timothy to make intercessions for everyone (1 Ti 2:1). Many Christians faithfully follow this instruction. I’ve participated in plenty of prayer meetings for Muslims with intercessors and ministers working in the field, and I know our prayers are Spirit-led, heart-felt and aligned with the truth in God’s word. Occasionally, something more happens: we become aware of God’s manifest presence with us. Groans are uttered. Tears are shed. We’re in a zone in which we know that God Himself is praying through us. That was the GHPL Zoom prayer call last week. To meet with God is both life-giving and to some degree wrecking. We get a taste of the same Spirit of intercession that Jesus launched into heaven from the cross.

Father, release the Spirit of intercession upon Your church.   May we access the love for the world that’s in Your heart, the intentionality of Christ and the groaning of the Spirit as we pray for the world and for the harvest in the field of Islam in particular.