Early in my marriage, I remember one nightbeing deeply distressed because I knew that prayer was important, and that I prayed for my wife—but was concerned that she didn’t pray for me.

Page forward a few decades and my wife has totally transformed as a true prayer warrior—an intercessor for the Lord.

My wife prays for so many, our children and our families—and of course she prays for me! And while that may not seem like a big thing, it has consumed her life—in a good way, for at least the past twenty years.

In fact so much so, that she provided me an opportunity to look at her prayer journals for much of the last twenty years as part of a project that we are working on. Honestly, I was amazed, not at each particular name in her journals, but the faithfulness and the consistency of her praying!

And until now, most of those prayers had been in secret! And they haven’t always been for those who love her—but even for those who despitefully used her!

Effectual Prayers

The Bible reminds us that “the effectual, fervent prayers of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16 KJC)!” Or as it says in the Amplified Bible translation:

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

The emphasis should not be on the fact that we as believers believe that we are righteous, because it is not a righteous that is a result of anything that we have done. Instead, it is a righteousness that comes directly from the relationship that we have with the Father, through Christ and His work on the cross.

This righteousness is part of the goodness of our relationship with the Lord in that through His death, and our acceptance of Him, we are made righteous! That is a praise God moment right there!

But the power of prayer is not contained solely in the repetition of prayer. But it is a matter of “heart” that empowers our prayers with the force of the entire Will of the Father, through the Holy Spirit. In fact, it is the “heart” component that makes our prayers “effectual!”

And then, it is that realized power of our effectual prayers that open the doors to the power of Christ. Not only power, but “tremendous power that is available” through Christ! That’s the Gospel right there!

But the questioned asked, was, “Who is praying for you?”

Who Cares?

Actually, the answer to the question of who cares is important. Perhaps you are thinking, that if I pray for myself—do I need others to pray for me? The easiest response is related to scripture where we see that there is power when the believers come together and pray one for another.

As the Word says, “Where two or three are gathered together in My (Jesus) name, I am there in the midst of them, (Matthew 18:20).

Simply put, the lives that we live were not supposed to be in isolation from other believers. We are supposed to come together and pray for one another. In fact, we are really walking in disobedience for us to believe that all we need is God—because God directs us to be intimately involved with other believers so that we can pray one for another.

In fact, it reminds me of a situation with a person that I thought was a fairly good friend. When he began to share that he was going through difficult situations, I offered up that I would pray for him—and in fact, I would have my church pray for his situation as well. Almost before I finished my sentence, he chimed in, “That’s okay—I have enough people praying for me already at my church!”

To be totally honest, I would have never thought that a friend—or anyone would turn down the offer of more prayer! And the evidence of that is that when our church goes out to witness to strangers, what we offer to them at a minimum is prayer, and rarely does that offer get rebuked. And that is even when asking to pray for non-believers!

The point is, to have someone who professes to be a Christian turn down the opportunity for prayer is worth noting as “interesting,” to say the least. But I think that the easiest answer to the question of “who cares” is that God cares, and empowers the believers with tremendous power when we “pray one for another.”

Jesus Cares!

See praying for one another is a critical part of who we are as Christians. I personally believe that praying for others is even more important than praying for yourself. How important is praying for others? So important, that the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that His disciple Peter would be greatly challenged, noted in these words from Luke 22:31-32 NKJV:

And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

How great is it knowing that no matter what we are going through, that we are being covered in prayer by the Lord Jesus Himself! Honestly, I believe that this is a fact that many believers minimize in their Christian walk!

The knowledge that Christ is praying for me, interceding with the Father for my sake, gives me comfort and reinforces that “He will never leave me—never forsake me!” In fact, the pattern of Jesus praying for all in the Household of Faith should be a sign of the level of importance that intercessory prayer has as a component of your faith walk.

What is Intercessory Prayer?

Intercessory prayer is the ability to intercede in prayer on the behalf of others, or to literally function as a “go between.” To intercede for someone means, “to intermediate, to plead, to arbitrate, to negotiate….”

Now put that in the context of Christ, going to God the Father on our behalf! There have been times when I needed Christ to intermediate, when perhaps God was ready to give up on me. Or maybe He was there to plead my case before the great Righteous Judge, arbitrating the terms of my case.

Sure I had messed up; sure I could have been written off; sure, I looked hopeless—but, Jesus prayed for me! Hallelujah!

And as a believer, daily we can plead, intermediate, arbitrate and negotiate with the Lord on the behalf of others and be found faithful in what the Lord required when He said, “Pray, one for another.” That is, to stand like Christ, being compassionate for all the World…because we are being sifted, and only the power of God intervening can save us!

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