Somebody's Praying for You!

Did you know that somebody's praying for you? At every moment of the day, at each hour of the night somebody's praying for you. For every need you have, every heartache you experience, somebody's praying for you. Every joy you embrace, every gift you receive is in direct relationship to the fact that somebody's praying for you. 

Who is praying for you? Who is praying for you right now? I'll tell you who. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are praying for you right now.

There is within our one, true, living God a relationship as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We cannot always intellectually comprehend the divine mystery of that oneness. So, God helps us by revealing himself to us in these three ways. He wants us to know him in his fullness. He characterizes and reveals himself to us as the Father who creates, loves and judges righteously; the Son, who is our friend, redeemer and advocate; and the Holy Spirit who intercedes, convicts, fills and guides. Throughout Scripture we can find the evidence of God praying for us.

We have a record of four profound documents by John, the beloved disciple of Jesus Christ. He was the youngest disciple and lived the longest. We read in Mark 3:17 that, along with his brother James, he had the moniker of one of the Sons of Thunder. For all the noise and rattle that this title holds, his documents are some of the most profoundly descriptive of the love of God and some of the most theological. John wrote his Gospel, the story of Jesus, along with three letters 1, 2 and 3 John.

In 1 John 2:1-2 John wrote to the Christians of his day in this way: My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. Jesus Christ is our advocate to the Righteous Father. He stands up for us, by his blood and body. He speaks a word for us, when no one else will. He holds session with Father God and argues our case. He strides into the great courtroom of God and declares that we are his to defend, his to justify.

 

The Apostle Paul also wrote about the incredible work that Christ does on our behalf. In Romans 8:31-35 he wrote: What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

When Jesus Christ intercedes for us, the world and our lives are very different. To "intercede" means that he intervenes. He breaks in between God who judges the righteous and the unrighteous and seeks reconciliation for us. When Jesus came to earth, he jumped right in the middle of a sinful mess and started cleaning up. And he hasn't finished yet! He still is interceding for us!

There is one other who is praying for you as well. That is the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul wrote earlier in Romans 8:27: And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

The Apostle John remembered Jesus saying something about the Holy Spirit—something wonderful and beautiful. In John 14:16-17a, Jesus told his disciples: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.

In John 17:6-26, the disciple-author captures the essence of Jesus' prayers during his days just before he was crucified and rose again. This an incredible view into the prayer life of Christ. Jesus prayed for his closest disciples as the days of trouble and crucifixion approached. In John 17:6 we read: I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Here Jesus acknowledges the gifts the Father bestowed on him in the disciples and in their obedience to his mission—namely the spreading of the Gospel to the whole world.

Jesus went on to recall in prayer the disciples' acceptance of the Gospel. Let’s read verses 7-11b. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you.

Here Jesus gave one of the most concise descriptions of a disciple: they heard the word, they accepted the word, they knew it with certainty, and they believed that Jesus was sent from God. He also described his understanding of their need for his intercession. As he prayed for them, he acknowledged that he would not be with them much longer and that the Holy Spirit would be coming. So, he prayed for them in very specific ways. This band of first-generation believers needed protection, unity, joy, sanctification and love. Read John 17:11b-19 (emphasis added).

Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

That was Jesus' prayer for the disciples with whom he walked on the earth. He prayed for them because he knew how critical it was for them to be safe and pure so that the Gospel could reach us today! Which brings us to the reality that Somebody's praying for you.

Jesus moved from prayer for his contemporaneous disciples to pray for all of his disciples in the future! What an incredible thing! But, then again, he is God and he is longing for the restoration of his entire creation.

Let’s read how Jesus prayed and is praying for you in John 17:20-23. 

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message [That’s you!], that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

The overarching theme of Jesus’ prayer for you is twofold: that you find unity with your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus and the world can know him and his great love! Sin has broken us apart, brothers and sisters. We can see it in church divisions, broken marriages, feuding families, alienated friendships, corrupt business deals and abuses of all kinds—all of which Jesus knows about! He prays that we would believe in him, thereby destroying those things that would tear us from each other and from him. Can you hear his heart of love as he prays for you? (vs. 24-26)

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.

Not only does Jesus pray for you, but the Holy Spirit intercedes for you! Paul wrote in Romans 8:26-27: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

The Spirit of God longs so deeply for restoration and unity that words are inadequate. It’s like a mother hovering over her sick child. The child has been in a fever for several days. The mother breathes prayers to God, asking for her child to be delivered from this ravaging illness. On the fourth day the fever is not subsiding and the child must be taken to the hospital. The mother is now covered in hospital gown, gloves and mask. The doctors and nurses are speaking in hushed tones as she strains to hear about any progress. Tears no longer come to her eyes. They have gone dry with weeping. As the child seems to have no improvement, the mother leans against the wall and a deep groan comes from her heart and throat. If only she could take the child's place! If only if she could remove the fever! That is the kind of deep prayer of intercession the Holy Spirit prays for you. When words are not enough and the pain and the sorrow is too great, the Holy Spirit is praying to the Father for you!

Somebody's praying for you today! Do you sense it? Do you know that your point of pain or struggle is not a lonely struggle? Do you understand that the loss or the regret has an intercessor? Somebody's praying for you!

What shall we do in response to these great acts of love? Psalm 116 is great to read in whole. Here is Psalm 116:7 and 17 which can reflect what our responses can be.

Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.

I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord.

Let us move forward now, resting in the truth that Someone is praying for us. Let us raise mighty thank offerings to our great God and King and call on him today and every day!

Amen

M.R. Hyde

Copyright 2020