One On One: 100 Days With Jesus--PASSIONSample

 Intercessor: The One who prays for you    

What if you knew Jesus was on His knees in the next room, praying for you? 

On the night before He died, Jesus was exactly where He wanted to be—with His disciples. They sat and talked and ate together until almost midnight. Before some turned in and a few went with Him to Gethsemane, Jesus led them in prayer. 

Really, He let them eavesdrop while He talked with His Father. He didn’t have to pray out loud, but He did because He wanted them to hear His heart. John 17 captures what He prayed—it’s the longest prayer in the Bible yet you can read it in three minutes. 

If you really want to know someone, listen to them pray. You find out quickly God cares less about your eloquent words or your posture or even perfect doctrine. God listens for your heart. 

On that important night before the cross, Jesus first prays for Himself. The hour had come He and His Father set in eternity past for Jesus to pay for our sins. By this time tomorrow, Jesus will be in a grave and his work on earth done. Jesus talks about the future as if it has already happened. He knows His mission will be a success. So as He turns in His report, Jesus asks His Father to restore their relationship—back to how it had been before Bethlehem. Jesus wants His glory back. 

Next, Jesus talks with His Father about the men and women who sat around Him. As the greatest teacher loves His students, He intercedes for them. God gave them to Him, now He asks God to protect them and keep them strong, to keep their hearts focused, and to keep them loving and persevering in Him. Jesus asks His Father to guard their souls. 

Then, Jesus intercedes for us. “I am praying for them for they are yours.” (Wow!) He asks God to help us live set apart to Him—to help us put Him first. He asks for God to help us remember every day we belong to Him. He asks God to help us love each other and to show the world what it means to love God together. 

Jesus still prays for us. With great joy, “He lives to intercede with God on our behalf,” (Hebrews 7:25). Right now He’s sitting at God’s right hand, asking His Father to meet every one of your needs (Romans 8:34). 

So it’s true—at this moment, Jesus really is in the next room praying for you. Knowing you better than you know yourself—what you need or want, where you’re strong, where you lack—and loving you more than words, Jesus acts as your go-between with God, our Father. 

Stop and think about that. Does this feed your confidence and joy today? What step of faith might you be willing to try now that you know Jesus is behind you?

Tomorrow: One on one with God in the garden