The Blessings in Intercession

‘And the LORD turned the captivity of Job , when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before’ (Job 42:10). 

‘It is said that the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. He had suffered much through the unkindness of these friends; they had criticized his conduct without feeling or mercy; and he had a just cause to be irritated against them: and that he had such a feeling towards them, several parts of his discourses sufficiently prove. God was now about to show Job his mercy; but mercy can be shown only to the merciful; Job must forgive his unfeeling friends, if he would be forgiven by the Lord; He directs him, therefore, to pray for them, (Job 42:8). He who can pray for another cannot entertain enmity against him: Job did so, and when he prayed for his friends, God turned the captivity of Job’ (Clarke’s Commentary). He received twice as much as he had before.

The blessings in intercession are clearly revealed in the outcome of Job’s prayer for his friends. Until one learns the mystery of intercession, his victories will not be fully realized. Job had already won the victory over the devil by overcoming all the temptations to curse or deny God during the troubles of his life; when he lost all his children and belongings, not forgetting his health (Job 2:9). However, for his victory to be realized and for him to experience total restoration, it took intercession that is born out of selfless love. ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make your enemies your footstool”’ (Psalm 110:1, Mat 22:44). This scripture clearly confirms the power of intercession. Even though Christ had already triumphed over sin and death and ascended into heaven, it took His ministry of intercession at the right hand of the father to experience a realization of the victory that he had already won. May you experience a manifestation of every spiritual victory, as you begin to intercede for others in prayer.

Job proclaimed that, ‘My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes’ (Job 42:5). This clearly reveals that he experienced spiritual growth through his storms. This growth was now tested when he had to intercede for his friends regardless of their wrong doing and his present predicament. Selflessness that is rooted in love is the greatest test of one’s spiritual maturity. Finally, after his spiritual maturity was tested, Job received double for his trouble.

While teaching the disciples about prayer in Mat 6:9-14, Jesus gave them a model prayer. That prayer can be divided into eight parts in the following manner;

1. Our Father in heaven,
2. Hallowed be your name.
3. Your kingdom come.
4. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
5. Give us this day our daily bread.
6. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
7. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
8. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen’.

Out of the eights parts of this prayer, only one of them is a direct petitions for a personal physical need. However, it is important to note that even there; Jesus said, ‘give us this day our daily bread,’ the pronouns used throughout the prayer were ‘us’ and ‘our’ but not ‘me’ and ‘my’. Clearly we can see from this model prayer that, self-centeredness does not have any place in prayer. The kind of Prayer that moves heaven is one that is approached with love and reverence for God and man, not forgetting an intercessory heart. The blessings in intercession are countless. In 2012 may you live as an intercessor and you will live as a spiritual giant and an over comer, recovering all that the enemy has stolen from you. This is your year of Jubilee - your time of recovery.