O Holy Father,
As we direct our eyes toward You today, we see You sitting in a place of splendor and majesty. “Strength and joy are in Your place,” and nothing is too difficult for You (1 Chronicles 16:27; Jeremiah 32:27). Thank You for opening the heavenlies that we might peer into this place of final reality (Revelation 4:1).
With the veil drawn back, we glimpse Your Son interceding for us at Your right Hand (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 2:9). He prayed for us in the Garden of Gethsemane and continues to do so even today (John 17:20-21; Hebrews 7:25). How can it be?
As we stand awestruck in Your majestic brilliance, we realize that prayer doesn’t begin within our hearts but within Yours. Whatever Christ is currently interceding for our world is far more critical than any request we could devise. The prayers of this One — the One Who is the image of the invisible God and the radiance of Your glory —these are the prayers that will be answered (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3)!
S. D. Gordon said that prayer “begins in the heart of God, sweeps down into a human heart upon the earth…then it goes back again to its starting point, having accomplished its purpose on the downward swing.” Is this not the prayer that we want for our nation? The prayer first kindled by Your desire? Yes, give us ears to hear this prayer.
As we listen closely, we hear Jesus say that You prepared a body for Him (Hebrews 10:5). With reverential wonder, we realize that body has two meanings. One was the form of the bond-servant He assumed on earth, but the other is the current form, “the church, which is His body” (Philippians 2:7; Ephesians 1:22-23). Yes, we are a part of that body as we are “being built together (with others) into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22).
Therefore, as His dwelling place, His body, may we join Him in His daily intercession — first for our church, then for our world. You intend that, “as He is, (we) are in this world” (1 John 4:17). His house “shall be called a house of prayer,” and “we are that house of His” (Matthew 21:13; Hebrews 3.6 CJV). Oh, Father, teach us not only how to pray but especially to listen well. May our intercession be the repetition of Your own. In Jesus’ Name, Amen