What is intercession and who can intercede?

de-joelhos-orando

When you hear the word intercession, what is the first thing that comes to mind? You may remember the church's prayer circle or a small group called 'intercessors' that many churches have, where people are making petitions to God. And yes, this is intercession! But today I want to lead you to a somewhat broader understanding of what intercession means.

The origin of the word Intercede is from Latin, which is intercedere, which means: intervening and being between something. You must remember that even in mathematics there exists the theory of sets, where intersection means being between two or more sets. The origin of these words is the same, so it has the same meaning. With that in mind, let us now understand what it is to make intercession before God, for someone or something. To understand even more clearly, let us go to what Paul describes to the Romans about Jesus:

"Quem deve acusar qualquer um contra os eleitos de Deus? É Deus quem te justifica. Quem os condenará? Foi Cristo Jesus que morreu; e mais, quem ressuscitou e está à direita de Deus, e também intercede por nós. "- Romanos 8: 33,34

Interceder significa colocar-nos entre algo, estar entre algo, intervir, podemos então entender que Jesus, intercedendo por nós, não apenas fala ao Pai, mas se interpõe entre nós e o Pai. E não foi isso que Jesus fez quando veio à Terra e morreu por nós? Sim, ele é nosso grande intercessor porque ele próprio veio em carne para intervir em nosso relacionamento com Deus e para impactar esse relacionamento para sempre. E a melhor notícia é que até hoje ele continua a intervir em nosso nome.

But we did not stop there. Today we are called to be intercessors before God. Just as Abraham interceded for a people, with Jesus himself interceding for us, we can be between God and a cause. Can you imagine the greatness of what this is? Not just great and powerful, but accessible and made for all of us. Just as evangelism is not the work of only one who is considered an Evangelist, or prophesying only to the Prophet, intercession is not a function of only a select group.

If we think that Jesus only did what he saw his father do, then I imagine that we, as imitators of Christ, should do the same. We can all confidently enter into the new and living way opened by Jesus (Hebrews 10:19). It is not only to intervene, but also to see answers to these prayers.

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has entered the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to the faith we profess, for we do not have a high priest who can not sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who, like us, went through all manner of temptation, but without sin. So let us approach the throne of grace with all confidence, that we may receive mercy, and find grace to help us in time of need. "- Hebrews 4: 14-16

Nothing earthly can make us worthy to intercede for anything. Only the blood of Jesus is what makes us able to present the causes of the nations before him. Besides, we'll never be interceding alone. While we pray for something, Jesus himself prays for us. He is the one who stands before God.

Even as a house of prayer, we are committed to intercede until the return of Jesus. Every day we enter the path Jesus opened and we pray. Not only do we speak, but we are representatives of a cause. But this burden is not available to those who are full-time in a prayer room. It is for all of us that we confess Jesus and believe in him.