Key Verse: "Confess your faults one to
another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
- James 5:16 KJV
As an encouragement cheerfully to offer intercessory
prayer, remember that such prayer is the sweetest God ever hears, for
the prayer of Christ is of this character. In all the incense
which our Great High Priest now puts into the golden censer—there is not a
single grain for Himself. His intercession must be the most
acceptable of all supplications—and the more our prayer is like Christ's,
the sweeter it will be. Thus while petitions for ourselves will be
accepted, our pleadings for others, having in them more of the fruits
of the Spirit, more love, more faith, more brotherly kindness, will be,
through the precious merits of Jesus—the sweetest oblation that we can offer
to God—the very fat of our sacrifice.
Remember, again, that intercessory prayer is exceedingly prevalent. What wonders it has wrought! The Word of God teems with its marvelous deeds. Believer, you have a mighty engine in your hand, use it well, use it constantly, use it with faith, and you shall surely be a benefactor to your brethren. When you have the King's ear—speak to Him for the suffering members of His body. When you are favored to draw very near to His throne, and the King says to you, "Ask—and I will give you what you will," let your petitions be, not for yourself alone—but for the many who need His aid.
If you have grace at all, and are not an intercessor, that grace must be small as a grain of dust. You have just enough grace to float your soul clear from the quicksand—but you have no deep floods of grace, or else you would carry in your joyous bark—a weighty cargo of the needs of others, and you would bring back from your Lord, for them, rich blessings which but for you they might not have obtained.
"Oh, let my hands forget their skill,
My tongue be silent, cold, and still,
This bounding heart forget to beat,
If I forget the mercy-seat!"
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