Sermon Central
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God Needs Intercessors
Contributed by John Gaston on Jan 7, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: Here are examples of prayers that God answered and saved people from wrecks, overturned war battles, and stopped missionaries from being executed! Intercessory prayer works and God needs more intercessors so His will can be accomplished!
2. Prayer is not just a pleasant, calming meditation; it’s often a struggle. Why is it a struggle?
B. WHO IS OUR STRUGGLE WITH? One thing is clear: Our struggle is not against God.
1. WE STRUGGLE WITH OUR OWN CARNAL NATURES
a. Prayer is a struggle because it goes against our worldly and lazy natures. We don’t see our need of prayer. We don’t see what’s at stake if we DON’T pray, nor what can be gained if we DO pray.
b. When Jacob “wrestled with God,” he really wrestled against his old nature. When he finally surrendered, God renamed him, from “deceiver” to “Prince of God” Gen. 32:28.
c. Even our Lord Jesus struggled in the Garden of Gethsemane to surrender His will to the Father’s, and He finally prayed, “Not My will, but Yours be done” Mk. 14:36.
2. WE STRUGGLE WITH OUR UNWORTHINESS
a. We often struggle in prayer because the devil, the accuser, reminds us of our sins. The wonderful truth of the Gospel is that when we repent, we’re washed whiter than snow by the blood of Jesus & He credits us with His perfect righteousness.
b. So when we come to God in prayer, we come robed in the righteousness of Jesus His Son. So have no fear – come boldly to the throne of Grace!
3. WE STRUGGLE AGAINST DISTRACTIONS
a. How many times have you tried to pray and were assaulted by every distraction conceivable? The phone rings, you remember a pressing obligation, someone comes by, or some blasphemy occurs to your mind. And you get sidetracked.
b. If you have distracting thoughts, give them to the Lord. He understands. Then keep praying and don’t let the enemy stop you from praying!
4. WE STRUGGLE WITH DOUBTS
a. Often when we’re praying for someone – say for healing, or salvation, or for a miracle – we suddenly think of how impossible our prayer is of being answered. That’s when we need to remember the words of Jesus, “With God all things are possible!”
b. Remember the father of the possessed boy who said, “I believe; but help my unbelief!” Mk. 9:24. The wonderful thing is that Jesus accepted his small faith and granted his request. God will grant your request too!
5. WE STRUGGLE WITH SELFISHNESS
a. Our normal tendency is to just pray for ourselves. It’s hard to pray for others when we have our own needs. But the Bible is filled with examples of men and women who interceded for their nation and for God’s people to accomplish His will, forgetting their own problems.
b. Think what would have happened if they HADN’T prayed:
- If Elijah hadn’t prayed 7X, it would never have rained.
- If Abraham hadn’t prayed, Lot and his family would have perished in Sodom’s fires.
- If Moses hadn’t prayed, God would have destroyed Israel.
- If the early church hadn’t prayed, Peter would have been beheaded.
c. LIKEWISE, IF WE DON’T PRAY….our loved ones/friends will be lost….our country will become morally bankrupt….our children will face the judgments of calamity, war, and poverty.
III. INTERCESSORY PRAYER = TARGETED PRAYER
A. SPECIFIC & DETERMINED PRAYER
1. Intercessory prayer can be compared with the history of modern warfare. In WW2, the preferred bombing technique was “carpet bombing.” The idea was to drop as many bombs as possible over a given area and hope to hit something. This is like many people’s generalized prayers!
