Intercession of Job

Every week, before our regular Saturday evening service begins, a small group of us gather to seek God, pray and share any insights the Lord has given us pertaining to our church, the Body of Christ or things in general. Recently, one of our "Watchmen", Tricia, shared about a cousin of hers who had died just the day before.

Tricia had stood firm in faith, telling the parents of the ill young man that God would heal him. While he was a Christian, his family was not. Tricia was certain that when healing came, it would show his parents that God was real. When he died, she was left to figure out what God meant for her to learn in the midst of apparent tragedy.

Discussing this opened the door for others of us to share times when we each faced a death that we felt shouldn't have happened, at least according to our doctrine. That was the problem: we were praying based on our doctrine, rather than as the Holy Spirit was leading us to pray.

Tricia found much of the answer to her question in the book of Job. Job was a righteous man. He is described as being "blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1). Yet, his entire life was turned upside down. Nearly everything he had, and nearly all those he loved, were destroyed. Even his health was taken. His wife actually said, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!"(Job 2:9) Job's response is one we should all learn to apply to our own lives:

Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity? Job 2:10

We see from this verse, and indeed the whole book of Job, that Job did nothing to "deserve" what happened to him. Yet, for all his righteousness, Job still lacked in one area of his life. After God challenges him with a series of questions, Job finally comes to understand.

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes Job 42:5-6

Job knew about God, and led a blameless life. But he didn't really know God. Though he was "doctrinally correct", he lacked the intimate relationship with the Father that God wanted him to have. His righteousness was based on acting how he thought God would want him to act, rather than on a direct response to the presence of God in his life.

Jesus summed it up with the following:

Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. Jn. 5:19

We invariably pray according to our own understanding. Whatever you have been taught about prayer, faith and God's will, that is what you tend to pray for and about. If you come from a background that emphasizes faith, you may well feel that any situation can be overcome if you have enough faith. This is often the case, but not always. What if you are praying for the wrong thing? Perhaps you are even praying for something to happen that is contrary to God's will in the matter. (You might be wondering how praying for healing could be contrary to God's will. Read Job 1 and 2, and rethink whether illness is always something we can use a "blanket prayer" against.)

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Rom. 8:26-27

What Tricia and the rest of us gained that evening was an understanding that there is a higher level of intercession than praying according to doctrine. There is praying as the Holy Sprit leads you to pray. Instead of automatically praying what you think you should pray when you become aware of a situation, ask God to show you exactly what He wants you to pray for. Often, it will be exactly what you were going to pray for anyway. But, at times it may be something you didn't expect. At those times, you will find yourself entering a realm where your prayers take on a level of power that you may not have experienced before. You are praying in unity with the Holy Spirit. This agreement with the Spirit of the Living God releases a measure of faith that is truly the sort that moves mountains. Also, praying this way is addictive. You come to relish the intimacy such prayer brings between you and the Father.

This is also a way to deal with the conundrum of unanswered prayer. Some fall back on the rather trite idea that "God answers prayer, but sometimes the answer is 'No'". This has elements of truth to it. There really is such a thing as asking amiss, no matter how much faith you have (Js. 4:3). But, Christians should always come to God expecting our petitions to be heard and answered accordingly. Learning to be sensitive to what God wants you to pray for is key to having your prayers answered. You may find that if you pray as the Spirit leads, all your prayers are answered because you have asked for only those things God wanted you to ask for to begin with.

Why I call this the intercession of Job is because of how the story of Job turns out. Job's three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, had offered many explanations of why Job was suffering. All of them were wrong. So wrong in fact that God was angry with them. He commanded them to offer up a burnt offering and have Job pray for them. Job, who looked to be most in need of his friends' prayers, actually was the one to intercede on their behalf, and God heard him. Then He restored twice as much as Job had lost. When Job finally came to know God instead of just know about God, he found a level of acceptance before the Father that his friends lacked. God listens to those who listen to Him.

But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word. Isa. 66:2

Job learned to tremble at God's word. He acknowledged his spiritual poverty that came from not knowing God as he should. This, and not his righteousness, is what made him a powerful intercessor for his friends. When you come to the point where your first petition to God when you pray is to ask Him to show you what you should pray for, you will open the door for God to use you mightily on behalf of others.

Previous articles:
Redefining Prayer