Intercessory Prayer

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people (Ephesians 6:18, NIV).

Prayer is primarily about speaking with God, having a one2one with Him, talking and listening; in essence knowing God through communicating with Him. Intercession, however, involves a standing in the gap, an intervention, mediation, arbitration, negotiation, a stepping in on somebody else's behalf through prayer.

Prayer is an essential part of a Christian’s walk with God. This is how we communicate with him, and one way he communicates with us. When the veil was torn, we were given intimate and immediate access to God, but he also assigns us the responsibility of praying for other people. Intercession is a part of prayer in that it involves talking and listening to God.

The Lord Jesus Christ stands between us and the Father. That is why we pray “in Jesus’ name” because it’s by His sacrifice that we are made righteous and can approach the throne of God. The model of intercessory prayer is Christ’s ministry as a whole. He physically threw himself across the chasm that would have separated man and God forever. The model of intercessory prayer is Christ’s ministry as a whole; at the cross but also during his ministry (1 Timothy 2:5-7). For example

He stood between the Pharisees’ stones and the woman caught in adultery.

He restored unclean people to their communities and forgave sinners so they could be reconciled with God.

Intercessory prayer is not only a privilege but a command to “continue steadfastly in prayer” (Colossians 4:2; Ish 53:12). May we be faithful to this admonition.

Pastors Marcus and Norah Chilaka

(Senior Pastors)