Prayed for
To be able to pray "like breathing" there needs to be a great degree of confidence and certainty that our prayers are "OK", that we are able and allowed to pray and that our prayers will "get through".Something that helps us greatly in this regard is a beautiful truth portrayed in the letter to the Hebrews where we are reminded that Jesus is our Great High Priest. Now, one of the roles of a priest is to act as an intermediary - to be the bridge between God and us. The Priest's function is to speak to God on our behalf and to bring our requests and needs to God.
The Good News that Hebrews gives us is this:
- Our Intermediary, the One who speaks on our behalf and bridges us to God, is none other than our Lord Jesus. We don't need a Saint or a Mary or an earthly priest - we can go to Jesus.
- Jesus is fully human and so has complete understanding of our struggles and temptations - He knows exhaustion, betrayal, pain, shame, abandonment and all the brokenness of humanity.
- He is also fully God and is therefore unbiased, un-corrupt and free from impurity, greed or sin. We can trust Him completely!
- And he prays (intercedes or stands in the gap) for us. What an incredible thought - the Son of God who created us, came down for us and died in our place, now sits at God's right hand and prays for us!
When next you pray and think that your prayers may be bouncing off the ceiling, just remember this: Jesus is taking your prayers to the Father and He is praying for you!
| For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16) ... because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. (Hebrews7:24-25) |
