What if your prayers are the only thing that allows God to act in someone's life? To think, that your connection with God might be what saves someone else's life... what an awesome thought!
Let's examine just a few biblical examples, where, had these men not prayed, people would have been destroyed.
Paul:
On that wild, stormy night, when all others were fearing for their lives, he was in communion with the One who controls the winds and the waves.
"Because there was in that ship one man through whom God could work, the whole shipload of heathen soldiers and sailors was preserved...These things were not written merely that we might read and wonder, but that the same faith which wrought in God’s servants of old might work in us. In no less marked a manner than He wrought then will He work now wherever there are hearts of faith to be channels of His power."
(Ed 256)
We could be that "one man"! But will we? Or will we be so caught up by the spirit of the crowd that we are no different from them?
Moses:
We see this principle once again in the example of Moses. We cannot intercede without first searching our own souls. Moses had not shared in the sins of the people, thus enabling him to intercede for them. For them! The very people who despised, even sought the death of him and Aaron.
"Moses lingered; for he could not consent to give up all that vast multitude to perish, although he knew that they deserved the vengeance of God for their persistent rebellion. He prostrated himself before God because the people felt no necessity for humiliation; he mediated for them because they felt no need of interceding in their own behalf... And by his intercession he held back the arm of vengeance, that a full end was not made of disobedient, rebellious Israel...Moses dared not cease his entreaties. He took hold of the strength of the Angel, as did Jacob in his wrestling, and like Jacob he prevailed." (3T 357, 358)
Moses truly loved the people for whom he was praying. He would not take honour for himself, leaving the people God had chosen to their fate. No, he was willing to have his name forever blotted from the book of life, to die in their stead. Could a lack of this kind of love be the reason we don't see answers to our prayers?
Abraham:
From the account of this man of faith, we can learn many lessons on how to intercede. As he approached the Lord, there was no self-confidence, he did not boast of his own righteousness. He made no claims on the grounds of his obedience, or the sacrifices he had made in following God's will. He spoke to God as to a father, with confidence.
"Love for perishing souls inspired Abraham’s prayer. While he loathed the sins of that corrupt city, he desired that the sinners might be saved. His deep interest for Sodom shows the anxiety that we should feel for the impenitent. We should cherish hatred of sin, but pity and love for the sinner. All around us are souls going down to ruin as hopeless, as terrible, as that which befell Sodom. Every day the probation of some is closing. Every hour some are passing beyond the reach of mercy. And where are the voices of warning and entreaty to bid the sinner flee from this fearful doom? Where are the hands stretched out to draw him back from death? Where are those who with humility and persevering faith are pleading with God for him?" (PP 140)
What a thought! A human being, by his prayers, could hold back the Omnipotent's vengeance! All this, merely a type of the intercession of our Great Example.
Jesus:
"The Son of God is Himself the great Intercessor in the sinner’s behalf. He who has paid the price for its redemption knows the worth of the human soul. With an antagonism to evil such as can exist only in a nature spotlessly pure, Christ manifested toward the sinner a love which infinite goodness alone could conceive. In the agonies of the crucifixion, Himself burdened with the awful weight of the sins of the whole world, He prayed for His revilers and murderers, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34" (PP 140)
And now, to think that we have this same power available to us! Our prayers can change the course of history, can change lives. How could we not use this infinite resource?! What would happen if we spent all the empty minutes in our day in intercessory prayer? What if, whenever we are tempted, instead of yielding we immediately started praying for someone else? What if we prayed for our governments? For our leaders? For our families? A struggling friend? Yet so very, very little of our time is spent in this all-important work. As I think of all the time I've wasted, of how easily I've given up... I'm overwhelmed by the sheer loss... Oh the victories that could have been gained, the souls who could have been saved from ruin. If only I had prayed...
May I not be guilty of neglecting to intercede.
*abbreviations: Ed (Education), PP (Patriarchs and Prophets), 3T (Testimonies for the Church Volume 3)
