As we continue our exploration of spiritual practices together as a church, our focus for the month of April is intercessory prayer.
In Mark 12, a teacher of the law asks Jesus, “of all the commandments, which is the most important?” And Jesus responds with two- love God and love others. For the last six weeks, our focus has been loving God as we journeyed through 40 days of intention for Lent. Now in the month of April we are shifting our focus to the second part of Jesus’ answer- love others.
When you think about intercessory prayer, what comes to mind for you? This is one type of prayer many of us practice often. We take prayer requests in Sunday School, we pray for those who are sick or in need, we ask a friend to pray for us during a test or interview, and we respond to someone sharing a struggle with us with “I’ll pray for you.” But what is intercessory prayer? Is it giving God a list of requests or something more?
To intercede is to plead or make a request on behalf of another from a Latin word which means literally to go between. Augustine described intercessory prayer as praying “for the well-being of others before God.”1 When we intercede for others, it is as if we are literally bringing people before God and holding them there in God’s presence as we step into their shoes and present their requests, their needs, their desires, and their struggles before the Lord our Maker. We can intercede on behalf of those we know as well as those we do not know at all. Intercessory prayer, then, is one way we love others.
Intercessory prayer also impacts us. When we develop a rhythm of praying regularly for others, our vision begins to shift, and we begin to see the world and the people around us how God sees them- as people who are dearly loved and valued by their Creator. Further, as we intercede on behalf of others and develop ears to hear the whisper of the Holy Spirit who is at work within us, the Holy Spirit connects us to what he is doing in the lives of others aligning our prayers with his work. Praying this way also prepares us to take action and participate in God’s work in the world around us.
The Practice: Neighborhood Watch
This month we are going to practice intercessory prayer by praying for our neighbors. This means you will pray for the people who live on your street, in your apartment building, on your hall, etc. Even if you do not know these people by name or sight, you can still lift them up before God in prayer.
Twice a week for the month of April, sit on your front porch, balcony, or somewhere you can see your immediate neighborhood. Look around you. Think about each family who lives here. Each one of these homes is filled with people whom God loves and is a place where God is already at work.
Spend a while praying over your neighborhood. Pray for each household you can see, even for the people you do not know. Imagine yourself holding them up to God. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you where he is at work in the lives of your neighbors, what needs they have, and how you can meet them. Pray for God to give you opportunities to meet your neighbors and to join him in his work, and pray for the courage to bear witness and participate in what God is doing in the lives of your neighbors.
May our hearts be stirred with love for our neighbors as we intercede on their behalf this month.
- Foster, Richard J. Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home. New York: HarperOne, 1992, 259. ↩︎
