What is the prize I’m seeking in intercession?

Do I pray because I’m sympathetic with the suffering I see, or empathetic with the desperate feelings the suffering produces? Yes, those are good reasons to pray, but I’ve found that they don’t keep me praying for someone. Healings, conflicts resolved, money provided, sleep restored, freedom from oppression and so much more are blessings that easily give rise to the occasion of prayer but what is it that drives me to keep praying for someone with those needs?

Prayer that only their circumstances might change for the better doesn’t go to the depth of love. The more I know the Christ and walk with Him, the more I’m constrained to keep praying because I see something beyond the temporal experience of blessing. I am drawn to look deeper and farther out for them. The glory and love of God in my heart calls me to seek something “further up and further in”#[1] for those for whom his love calls me to intercede.

Have you asked me to pray for your healing from some illness? I will, but also and primarily for something reaching far beyond that in your soul.

In fact, I would rather pray for the strengthening of your spirit and deepening of your character than for your physical healing. Why? Because first, if God is merciful and graces you with health, it’s only temporary and secondly, in his infinite wisdom and love for you, God may not heal you physically but he will never stop calling you and growing you into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ.

So, whatever I pray for someone else concerning whatever circumstance they face, the ultimate desire of my heart for them is that God may give then through their current trial both a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in a deeper, personal knowledge of Him – an enlightenment of the eyes of their hearts,#[2] so  they will know…

• the hope of Father God’s calling,
• the riches of the glory of Christ’s inheritance in the saints, and
• the surpassing greatness of the Holy Spirit’s power toward us who believe.

The greatest miracle from the Lord’s hand I seek for my brother or sister is the joy, hope, and faith that stand firm in any and every adversity.

Those gifts belong to God but when we ask them of him for others we anticipate his generous heart pouring out freely the gifts of his Spirit within them. In this then, he is glorified and those for whom I pray experience together with me all of goodness and strength of soul he has planned for us.

I recommend listening to Dr. David Jeremiah’s sermon on Colossians 1:9-14 included below. Dr. Jeremiah clearly presents the Apostle Paul’s teaching. It helps us to see why we pray for each other, and NEVER stop praying.#[3]

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[1] “Further up and further in” is a phrase used 14 times in C.S. Lewis’ The Last Battle. When the children arrive in Aslan’s land, they discover that however much they run in to discover the glories of that land, there’s so much more “further up and further in.” It’s also a major theme of The Great Divorce as the visitors to heaven are invited to travel further up the mountain climbing ever higher into God’s kingdom.

[2] “Biblically, the heart is the control center of the entire self. It is the repository of one’s core commitments, deepest loves, and most foundational hopes that control our feeling, thinking, and behavior. To have the “eyes of the heart enlightened” with a particular truth means to have it penetrate and grip us so deeply that it changes the whole person. In other words, we may know that God is holy, but when our hearts’ eyes are enlightened to that truth, then we not only understand it cognitively, but emotionally we find God’s holiness wondrous and beautiful, and volitionally we avoid attitudes and behavior that would displease or dishonor Him. In Ephesians 3:18, Paul says he wants the Spirit to give them “power . . . to grasp” all the past, present, and future benefits they received when they believed in Christ. Of course, all Christians know about these benefits in their minds, but the prayer is for something beyond that—it is to have a more vivid sense of the reality of God’s presence and of shared life with Him.” [Excerpt from PRAYER, by Timothy Keller (© 2014 by Timothy Keller)]

[3] “Wisdom and Understanding” – Dr. David Jeremiah on Colossians 1:9-14