Prayers That Strike The MarkSample

 Pleading the Blood of Jesus

As intercessors, when we stand in the gap in prayer for others, we “plead the blood” of Jesus before God’s throne. This means we declare the truth of Christ’s shed blood and apply it to the situation we are praying for. We state our faith in the superior power of the sacrificed blood of God’s own Son to set right a particular wrong. We cry out for God’s mercy, knowing that, because of His blood, “mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13 NKJV). When we pray like this, our prayers strike the mark without fail.

In this way, we remind God of His Word, a practice we learned about in day 4 of this devotional series. However, we must first understand the benefits of the blood and the cross before we can apply them. The Word tells us what the blood of the Lamb has already accomplished. Therefore, we can make declarations, not only petitions; and at times, we move into spiritual warfare, putting on the armor of God and declaring to Satan what Jesus has accomplished.

We overcome Satan when we testify personally about what the Word of God says the blood of Christ does for us. (See Revelation 12:11.) “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary” (Psalm 107:2 NASB). In a sermon called “Pleading,” famed preacher Charles Spurgeon said this:

"Do not reckon you have prayed unless you have pleaded, for pleading is the very marrow of prayer. He who pleads well knows the secret of prevailing with God, especially if he pleads the blood of Jesus, for that unlocks the treasury of heaven. Many keys fit many locks, but the master-key is the blood and the name of Him that died but rose again, and ever lives in heaven to save unto the uttermost."

The most powerful plea before God, the devil, and the world is the blood of Jesus Christ. We have no merit of our own. We cannot prevail over evil by virtue of our prayer technique or life experience. We can only bring ourselves into God’s presence because of the blood of His Son Jesus, and we can only prevail over the forces of wickedness by means of that same blood. Yes, “there’s power in the blood”!