Dear Church,
Effective praying happens at the intersection of heaven and earth.
I live in Monroe, Michigan. Monroe is located south of Detroit, north of Toledo, on the shores of Lake Erie, and off I-75. The main north/south road that cuts through Monroe is Telegraph Road. It used to be called “bloody Telegraph,” before I-75 was constructed, since it was the main, heavily congested, north-south artery connecting Detroit to Ohio.
Our church building is adjacent to Telegraph. One mile north of us is M-50, which runs from east downtown Monroe to the west. M-50 and Telegraph Road intersect. If I were standing in the center of this intersection, which road would I be on? The answer is: I would be on both M-50 and Telegraph.
Think of an intersection. Intercessory prayer is intersectionary prayer. We pray for others, where heaven intersects with earth. We see this in The Lord’s Prayer, when we pray, “God, let your kingdom come, let your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.”
Authentic praying happens at the intersection of earth and heaven. We see this in 1 Timothy 2:1.
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers,
intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.
The biblical Greek word translated as ‘intercession’ has the sense of to converge. To converge, in the case of praying, is to come between God and the person we are praying for. When I pray for others, it helps to remember that I am kneeling in the place where the resources of heaven converge with the limitations of earth. Thus, I am praying in a place of great power, love, and hope.
My expectation that God is empowering my prayers makes, for me, a great praying difference.
Love,
PJ
EXERCISE
Using Colossians 1:9, fill in the blank with someone you are interceding for.
For this reason, since the day [I] heard about ______,
[I] have not stopped praying for _____.
[I] continually ask God to fill _____ with the knowledge of his will
through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives…
From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Praying.
