My 2 Cents

Intercessory Prayer
By Bob & Donna Benson

Prayer is our way as believers to communicate with God. More importantly, God commands us
to pray. We can talk aloud, silently, or a combination of the two. We can sing our prayers.
There is no right or wrong way to talk with God/Jesus/the Holy Spirit. The important thing is
that we spend time each day, throughout the day talking with our Father in Heaven. There are
different types of prayers. To name a few, there are prayers for forgiveness, thanksgiving,
thankfulness, personal needs, and intercessory. This article is about the last…Intercessory
prayer.

Intercessory Prayer is going to the Father to intercede on behalf of others. It is setting

aside our needs and replacing them with the needs of others. It is asking God to help,
heal, comfort, and provide for the needs of others. God knows all our needs and the needs
of every person on the planet, however; for unknown reasons it is our prayers that move God
to action. Our God is a loving, giving, and kind Father. He wills only for our good. Yet the ills of
the fallen world have brought pain and suffering into our lives and into the lives of others.
Intercessory prayer brings God into the picture and places our hope in him alone for the help
our loved ones, friends, and family need. Intercessory prayer is our way of reminding God we
are counting on him. We are acknowledging that God is in control and we need his help in the
situation.

Matthew 7:7-11 ( KJV)

7
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be
opened.
9
Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10
Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

John 11:22 ( KJV)

22
But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."

John 14:13-14 ( KJV)

13
And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14
If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

John 15:7 ( KJV)

7
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be
done for you.
John 15:16 ( KJV)
16
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit,
and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give
you.

James 1:6 ( KJV)

6
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and
tossed by the wind.

1 John 3:22 ( KJV)

22
And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those
things that are pleasing in His sight.

1 John 5:14-15 ( KJV)

14
1ow this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will,
He hears us.
15
And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we
have asked of Him.

The previous verses promise us that Father God and Jesus will hear us and will respond when
we pray. We must have a positive attitude of faith that God will answer our prayers. In
addition, we must remember to keep his commandments and do pleasing things. We are to
abide in Jesus and he will abide in us. All this reminds us what we must be do for God to
respond to our prayers.

There is no room for doubt in our prayers. Doubting is common among many Christians. “I
know God can heal my friend, but maybe it is not his will to heal him.” This is just a form of
doubt do not fall into this trap. When we doubt we are telling God we are not sure He can,
will, or wants to help. We are saying it is not God’s will for us or those we pray for to be
healed, helped, comforted, etc. That is in direct opposition to the verses above. When doubt
becomes a struggle, remember the man in the Bible who said, “Yes Lord I believe, now help my
unbelief”. God so loved the world, he sent his only son Jesus that we would have life and have
life more abundantly. Abundant life is a life lived in faith, hope, and firm belief that God can and
will respond to our prayers. Abundant life is putting our lives and the lives of those we love and
care for into God’s care with the firm belief God is in control. Illness or healing, life or death;
these are in the hands of God. We can stand firm in our faith because Jesus overcame death
and the grave and our belief in him gives us the ability to stand firm in him.

We cannot take ownership of the answers we want. We must remember that sometimes no
answer is an answer. Sometimes the answer is no and sometimes the answer is not right now.
Sometimes the answer is yes, however; it does not happen the way we expect. Sometimes the
answer is yes, but we have to make changes in our life…we have to do our part. We cannot
put God in a box. His way is not our way. Please remember God’s love is real and alive. We
can count on God to act. So pray believing without doubt, stand firm in your faith in God our
Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We write all this to ask you to join us in intercessory prayer for Noe and Susie. You all know
Noe is in LA for treatment for his heart problems. However, we know that faith in Jesus’
healing touch and the miracles we know he has and will perform is our hope. We ask you to
join us in intercessory prayer for Noe. Please add Susie to your prayers. She is struggling with
her blood sugar…it is too high.

Please pray without doubting that Jesus will heal Noe and Susie completely. Stand firm in your
faith and add your prayers to ours in intercession for these two wonderful and Godly pastors.
Join us in ministering to them in prayer just as they have ministered to us through their prayers
and actions. Any time God lays them on your heart, stop a moment and pray for them. This is
true for any one God places on your heart…remember this is not just a “for Noe and Sue
thing.” Intercessory prayer is what our Christian life is about. It is what Noe and Susie have
been teaching for years…We are all called to minister to each other through actions and
prayer. Now is the time for you to put into action what they have been teaching you!

We are the family of God. We are called to action and to pray!