🙏☁️👴👵🧔🧕👨‍🦱👩‍🦱👨👩Devotional Series: Living in Answered Prayers (Day 5 – Joining the Intercessor)

Ari Umble

19 Sep 2025 — 4 min read

Day 5 – Joining the Intercessor

Scripture: Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25
Reflection: Jesus Himself is interceding for us right now. Our prayers join His, aligning us with His heart and purposes for the world. As we pray, we are co-laborers with Christ, filling the earth with the fragrance of heaven until His kingdom fully comes.

Prayer Prompt: Write down a prayer that you want to outlive you — something for which future generations will thank God.

✝️ Jesus – The Perfect Pray-er

Volume of Prayers:
The Gospels show Jesus praying frequently — at least 25 distinct instances.

What He Prayed For:

God’s will to be done: Gethsemane (Matt. 26)
His disciples: John 17
Forgiveness for enemies: Luke 23:34
Glory to the Father: John 12:28

What He Didn’t Pray For:

He never prays to avoid the cross at any cost — He prays to fulfill the Father’s plan.
He doesn’t pray for personal wealth, revenge, or even political liberation.

Were His Prayers Answered?

Yes — though sometimes through suffering. His resurrection is the ultimate answer.
His intercession continues (Heb. 7:25), so His prayers still shape future generations.

Jesus’ prayer life was not just personal; it was deeply intercessory — standing in the gap for others before the Father. Exploring His prayers through the lens of His role as Intercessor reveals His heart and His ongoing ministry for us even now.

🧎 Jesus as the Intercessor: Big Picture

An intercessor is one who stands between two parties, pleading, mediating, or advocating on behalf of another. In Scripture:

Priests interceded for Israel (Lev. 16, Num. 6).
Prophets interceded for the people (Moses in Ex. 32; Samuel in 1 Sam. 7:5–9).
Jesus is the ultimate and perfect intercessor (1 Tim. 2:5).

Key Verse:
“Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.”
(Hebrews 7:25)

Jesus’ prayers — in His earthly life and His heavenly ministry — reveal what His intercession looks like.

📖 Key Prayers of Jesus as Intercessor

1. Prayer for Peter’s Faith (Luke 22:31–32)

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Jesus doesn’t pray that Peter would avoid the trial — but that his faith would not fail.
This prayer carried Peter through the shame of denial and into restoration (John 21).
It shows that intercession may not remove suffering but ensures ultimate perseverance.

2. Prayer for His Disciples & Future Believers (John 17)

This is Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer” — the most intercessory moment recorded.

For Protection: “Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your Name” (v. 11).
For Sanctification: “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth” (v. 17).
For Unity: “That all of them may be one, Father … so that the world may believe” (v. 21).
For Future Generations: Jesus explicitly prays “for those who will believe in me through their message” (v. 20) — that’s us.

This prayer shows Jesus’ vision stretching beyond the disciples, securing the faith and mission of the Church through every generation.

3. Prayer from the Cross (Luke 23:34)

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Jesus intercedes even for His enemies, modelling what He taught (Matt. 5:44).
This is not just a personal prayer — it becomes a declaration of His mediatorial work: His death itself is the answer to this prayer for forgiveness.

4. Gethsemane Prayer (Matt. 26:36–46)

Jesus prays that if possible, the cup would pass from Him — but ultimately surrenders to the Father’s will.
This is intercession at the costliest level — He is agreeing to drink the cup of wrath for others (Isa. 53:12: “He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors”).
His obedience here secures our reconciliation with God.

5. Prayer at Lazarus’ Tomb (John 11:41–42)

“Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me.”

Jesus prays publicly so that the people may believe — intercession becomes a witness.
This shows that His intercession is heard without fail, giving us confidence that He still intercedes effectively today.

✝️ Jesus’ Ongoing Heavenly Intercession

Jesus’ intercession did not stop with the Ascension. Scripture shows He continues to pray for His people:

Hebrews 7:25: He lives to intercede for us — His priestly work is ongoing.
Romans 8:34: Christ is at the right hand of God interceding for us, ensuring nothing can separate us from God’s love.
1 John 2:1: Jesus is our “advocate” (paraklētos) when we sin — interceding like a defense attorney before the Father.

This means His prayers are not historical artifacts — they are present reality. He prays for our perseverance, sanctification, and ultimate salvation right now.

🧠 What Jesus’ Intercessory Prayers Reveal

He Prays According to God’s Will
- He prays for unity, holiness, protection, forgiveness — things God already desires to give.
He Prays with Perfect Insight
- He knows our needs better than we do (Peter didn’t know how much he’d need that prayer).
He Prays for Eternal Outcomes
- His prayers are not just for relief from trouble but for lasting transformation (faith, witness, sanctification).
He Prays for the Whole People of God
- His intercession is not only individual but corporate — for the Church as a whole, across generations.

🌱 Impact on Future Generations

John 17 explicitly covers “those who will believe” — meaning every Christian today is a direct beneficiary of Jesus’ prayer.
His intercession ensures the preservation of the Church through history, despite persecution and trial.
His prayers will ultimately be answered in the unity and glory of the people of God in the new creation (Rev. 21:3–4).