Pray First: The Person of Prayer
The priority of prayer
The place of prayer
The plan of prayer
The power of prayer
The person of prayer
Isaiah 59:19 (NKJV) When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
Isaiah 61:6 (NIV) And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God.
1 Peter 2:5 (NIV) you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Revelation 1:5-6 (NLT) All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. 6 He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
Revelation 5:9-10 (NLT) And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God.”
What is the role of a priest?
1. Minister unto the Lord
Deuteronomy 10:8 (NKJV) At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear [carry] the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day.
2. Stand between God and people
1 Timothy 2:1 (NLT) I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.
The word intercession is derived from two Latin words that mean, “to go between.”
Prayer — “the act of asking for [requesting] a favor with earnestness.”
Intercede — “pleading in favor on the behalf of another.”
Numbers 16:41-48 (NLT) But the very next morning the whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the Lord's people!" 42 As the community gathered to protest against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle and saw that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of the Lord appeared. 43 Moses and Aaron came and stood in front of the Tabernacle, 44 and the Lord said to Moses, 45 "Get away from all these people so that I can instantly destroy them!" But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. 46 And Moses said to Aaron, "Quick, take an incense burner and place burning coals on it from the altar. Lay incense on it, and carry it out among the people to purify them and make them right with the Lord. The Lord's anger is blazing against them - the plague has already begun." 47 Aaron did as Moses told him and ran out among the people. The plague had already begun to strike down the people, but Aaron burned the incense and purified the people. 48 he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped.
Ezekiel 22:23-30 (NLT) Again a message came to me from the Lord: 24 “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: In the day of my indignation, you will be like a polluted land, a land without rain. 25 Your princes plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land. 26 Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean. They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them. 27 Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money! 28 And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, ‘My message is from the Sovereign Lord,’ when the Lord hasn’t spoken a single word to them. 29 Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice. 30 “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap...
Eight reasons our prayers go unanswered:
Not God’s will (1 Jn. 5:14-15)
Unbelief (Js. 1:6-7)
Wrong motives (Js. 4:3)
Deliberate sin (Ps. 66:18)
Unforgiveness (Mt. 5:23-24)
Dishonoring our spouse (1 Pet. 3:7)
Forgetting the poor (Prov. 21:13)
Failure to ask (Js. 4:2)
“Seven Traits of an Intercessor”
1. Unselfish (Gen. 32:11-34, Js. 5:13-16)
2. Willing (Mt. 11:30, Gal. 6:2)
Are we willing to care about the things He cares about?
3. Full of faith (Jer. 32:27, Mt. 19:26)
What’s the point of standing in the gap if we don’t believe anything will happen?
4. Love mercy (Mic. 6:8, Js. 2:13)
5. Bold (Jos. 1:9, Heb. 4:16)
6. Perseverance (Is. 62:6-7, Lk. 18:1)
7. Reliance (Rom. 8:26)
Romans 8:26 (ESV) Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Ezekiel 22:30 (NLT) I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.