Levels of Intercession
We’ve spent the week look at our call to be persistent in intercession. Today let's get practical and think about how we can persist as we pray for people. Jesus gives us a clear progression in Luke 11:9-10: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
Ask. Seek. Knock. And you'll be answered, Jesus says.
Moving Beyond Simple Asking
Anybody can ask in prayer. Even young children know to ask God for things. These are our arrow prayers - quick moments of asking for God's help or strength or comfort.
But seeking is going deeper, it's persisting with God until we know His will in a given situation. Remember, God wants us to pray in line with His will. If we don't know God's will, perhaps we need to seek it in deeper prayer with Him, so that we know what He wants for the situation.
Seeking prayer is focused time of asking God to reveal His will. It's scouring the Scriptures for God's words to you that will give you guidance in how you should pray. Maybe God is calling you to start seeking instead of just asking, for somebody in your life.
Wrestling Until Breakthrough
And knocking is deeper still, it's banging on God's door until He has opened it up to us; wrestling with the situation and refusing to leave until God has opened a way for you – like the person in the parable, who kept knocking away even though his friend didn't want to get out of bed!
Knock prayers are when you wrestle with God for long hours and keep on praying until you have a breakthrough. Some of the most wonderful moments in prayer come through extended periods of knocking or wrestling with God.
When last did we go further than a quick ask? Intercession implies moving through these levels - from asking to seeking to knocking - with "shameless audacity" to push on and on in prayer.
And friends, we intercede like this because of our great faith that God will answer. Jesus had much to say about praying and believing that the prayer will be answered. His parable ended with these words: "because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need" (Luke 11:8).
When we intercede, we push on, and we seek, and we knock, and we believe with all our hearts that our Father will rise and see to the needs of the person we are praying for, whatever they might be. He answers in His time and in His way.
Believe it. Claim it. Pray it.
