Have you ever wondered about the true impact of your prayers on the lives of others? In this video, Pastor Mark Finley will help you discover the truth about intercessory prayer, exploring the biblical foundations and real-world effects of praying for those around us. Lear the transformative power of “how to pray for others” and how it can change destinies, heal wounds, and bring about divine interventions. Jesus, the Apostle Paul, and many spiritual giants throughout history have emphasized the importance of praying for others. But how exactly do we do it? What should we say? And what can we expect as a result? Join us as we answer these questions and more, providing you with practical steps and insights to enhance your prayer life.

<p>Have you ever wondered about the true impact of your prayers on the lives of others? In this video, Pastor Mark Finley will help you discover the truth about intercessory prayer, exploring the biblical foundations and real-world effects of praying for those around us. Lear the transformative power of “how to pray for others” and how it can change destinies, heal wounds, and bring about divine interventions. Jesus, the Apostle Paul, and many spiritual giants throughout history have emphasized the importance of praying for others. But how exactly do we do it? What should we say? And what can we expect as a result? Join us as we answer these questions and more, providing you with practical steps and insights to enhance your prayer life.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

HopeLives365

Mark Finley

How to Pray for Others: The Secret Weapon You Never Knew You Had


Is it possible for our prayers to change the course of someone's life? Let's unravel the truth today. But let's pray first. Father in heaven, as we study intercessory prayer, this so important topic. Teach us the truth of your word and teach us the power of intercessory prayer.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen. The Apostle Paul was an old man now. There were deeply etched lines in his face. His hands were trembling. His gray hair belied his age.

And he recognized that he had to say something significant, something important to the churches that he had planted in the Mediterranean Basin. So as the result of that, in prison in Rome, pain wracking his body, he's been shipwrecked and stoned, beaten with rods. Here, the Apostle Paul writes to the church at Philippi. And in Philippians chapter 1, Paul says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making request for you all with joy." The Apostle Paul says, I'm in prison in Rome, and I'm writing back to the church at Philippi, and I'm praying for you. Intercessory prayer is biblical.

But then Paul invites the church to pray for him. They were not together. They were hundreds of miles apart. And Paul, in Philippians 1, verse 19, says this. For I know that this, what's he talking about?

I know this, I know this trial, this difficulty, I know this imprisonment that I'm going through. I know this will turn out for my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Christ. What does Paul mean This will turn out for my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Christ. What does Paul mean, this will turn out for my salvation? Wasn't Paul saved on Damascus Road?

He was. How could their prayers in Philippi impact Paul in Rome? He says, it'll turn into my salvation. Another word for salvation, the word there is sotaria in the Greek original language, and it means healing. So what Paul is saying there is, I'm going through a trial.

I'm going through difficulty. And because you are praying for me, the difficulty is not going to destroy me, but it's going to heal my soul in ways that it draws me closer to Christ, because through your prayer I will be drawn closer to Jesus. Intercessory prayer is biblical. Now what is intercessory prayer? Intercessory prayer is prayers in which we pray for another person.

All through the New Testament you find that. For example, let's go to the book of Ephesians, chapter 1. And we find again in Ephesians 1, verse 15 and 16. Therefore, Paul says, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you for making mention of you in my prayers. Paul says to the church at Ephesians, we're not with you, but I'm praying for you and I know it's gonna make a difference.

Well, what was Paul praying specifically about? That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. That the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of your calling. What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance and the saints. He's writing to the church at Ephesus.

What was Ephesus like? Ephesus was a city of maybe 150, 000 up to 180, 000 people. It was a seaport city. It was a commercial center. Goods from all over the world were shipped into that city.

It was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire. You have Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Ephesus. It was probably the richest, wealthiest city in the empire, at least 1 of the top 2 or 3. It was a godless, materialistic, secular, sex-centered, thrill-jaded, morally twisted society. And there, in the middle of that society, Paul had raised up the church at Ephesus.

And he writes back to them, and he was saying, never forget the hope of your calling. I'm praying that you'll never lose sight of your identity. I'm praying that you'll sense that you're sons and daughters of God. Paul believed in intercessory prayer. But you say, wait a minute.

Isn't God doing everything He can for my son, my daughter, my husband, my wife, whether I pray or not? Here's I have a son maybe that doesn't know Christ. Isn't God doing everything he can for them? Isn't he sending his Holy Spirit to their heart? Isn't he enlightening their mind?

Isn't he working in their behalf? He is. But in the controversy between good and evil, there are ground rules. And 1 of those ground rules is God will never violate the freedom of choice of another. Because if he would do that, Satan would cry unfair.

God is a dictator and a vindictive judge and a wrathful tyrant and he manipulates people's wills. God longs for us to come to him based on who he is, his loving character. But when we pray for somebody else, God can look at Satan and say, just as I respect the individual who's being prayed for, just as I respect their freedom of will, freedom of conscience, their choice, I respect Mark Finley's choice in praying for them. And the river of water of life is poured out from heaven through the intercessor to touch that person's life. You say, is that biblical?

It is. Our intercessory prayers enable God to do more because we're praying than he couldn't do if we didn't pray. First John chapter 5. There are many passages in the Bible that talk about intercessory prayer and its importance and power. There are just a few that tell you what happens when we pray.

There are just a few that pull the curtain aside. 1 of them is 1 John 5. And notice, verse 16, if anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, what's the sin that doesn't lead to death? Or what is the sin that leads to death? The sin that leads to death is the unpardonable sin.

Now the only sin that God will not pardon is the sin that we do not confess, we cling to, and we openly, knowingly rebel against him. And pretty soon our hearts become hardened and we don't hear the voice of the Holy Spirit anymore. So if anyone sees his brother sinning a sin that does not lead to death, he doesn't commit the unpardonable sin. He, who's that he, the intercessor, will ask. What does it mean he'll ask?

It means he'll intercede for that person, he'll pray for that person. And he, who's that he, capital H, that he, that's God, will give him, who is the him, the intercessor, life for those who commit sin that doesn't lead to death. What an amazing reality. When we pray as intercessors, God gives us life for those that sin not unto death. Does it mean they are saved because of us?

No. It means that the life of God flows through us to touch their life, not to force or coerce their will, but to beat back the angels of hell, to convince and convict them of truth so they're more likely to accept it, so they have a better opportunity, a better choice. Our prayers do not manipulate another person's will, but they open vistas of understanding. They open channels of light. Ellen White, in the book, Second Selected Messages, page 377, makes this amazing statement.

It's such a powerful statement that I wrote it in my Bible. Ministering angels are waiting about the throne of God. Where are the ministry angels waiting? Around the throne of God. To do what?

To instantly obey the mandate of Jesus Christ in answer to every prayer offered in living faith. So here you have a son or daughter that doesn't know Christ. You brought them up to be faithful to Jesus. 1 night they're about ready to go into some pub or nightclub. You don't know where they are.

They're in some major city and you're on your knees praying, Oh God, be with my daughter, Alice, be with my son, John, Lord, they were brought up in a godly home, Lord, they don't know you. Your prayers ascend to heaven. Ministering angels are standing about the throne waiting for the mandate of Christ to answer prayer. Your prayers ascend to the most holy place where Jesus is. And Jesus looks at the angel and he says, you go, you go.

And the angel descends from heaven. And the angel works to beat back the forces of hell, not to manipulate your son or daughter's choice, but to enable a new light to go into their mind. And that person remembers their child, and they say, I'm not going to go there. Now, are all of our prayers answered when we pray for our children, our neighbors? Yes, they are.

Not 1 is not. Because the Bible says this in 1 John 5, verse 14. This is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, He hears us. Is it God's will to save your son or your daughter? It is.

Where is the confidence in our prayers? No. We kneel and in faith have confidence in Christ. Every prayer is answered. As we pray, angels descend.

As we pray, the Holy Spirit works in the heart of another. Does that mean they always will respond? No. It doesn't mean they will always respond, but it does mean that if they don't respond, they're troubled inside. They're convicted inside.

I've had people so troubled that they, when we were praying for them, that these, the troubling, led them to just totally abandon their previous activity. There was a wife who came to an evangelistic meeting of a pastor. I wasn't holding this particular meeting. And she invited her husband to come. He said, I'm not coming.

I have no interest in religion. I'm going hunting and fishing this weekend when the evangelist was having the meetings. His wife came to the pastor and told the pastor that. The pastor organized a prayer group with the wife. They began to pray and pray and pray.

Last night of the meetings, this man came. The wife didn't know it. She was sitting about the third row. He came in late, sat right at the end, and right at the last pew of the church. The evangelist made an appeal, and this man, get up, came forward under such conviction.

His wife talked to him later, and he said, look, I had no intention of coming, but I couldn't sleep all night. Something was convicting me. I had to come to this meeting, and I gave my heart to Jesus. When we pray, Great Controversy, page 525 by Ellen White, God will do an answer to the prayer of faith, that which he would not do did we not thus ask. Intercessory prayer makes a difference, Taking 1 person at a time, praying for that person.

Job 16 verse 21. Notice the specificity of this passage. Job 16 verse 21. Oh that 1, 0 that what everybody? 1 might plead with a man, for a man, with God.

O that 1 might plead for a man with God. That is the work of intercession, writing the name of a son, a daughter, a husband, or wife that doesn't know Christ. My father prayed for my mother for over 10 years. And eventually, the Spirit of God convicted her through some providential circumstances in her life to accept Jesus fully, to accept the Bible message, to become part of the Adventist community. Oh, that 1 might plead for a man with God as a man pleads for his neighbor.

This work of praying for people by name. Did you know that Jesus prayed for people by name? He did. We're looking here at the book of Luke. If you have your Bible, you're taking notes.

You're looking at Luke chapter 22, verse 31. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked for you that he might sift you as wheat. Did Satan know the potential of Peter? Did Satan know that Peter had the potential to become a mighty warrior for God, a great preacher for God, a leader in the New Testament Church? He knew all that, didn't he?

He could see Peter's potential. So Jesus says, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked for you. Who do you think Satan asked? Think he asked God, I'd like Peter? And you think God would say, okay, no, not at all.

You think he asked, no. I think Satan went to his evil angels and said, look, that man has tremendous potential. I want him. That's why Satan wants to destroy our youth, because he knows the potential they have. Jesus says, Simon Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat, but I've prayed for you and when you have returned To me, strengthen your brethren.

I prayed for you that your faith would not fail. Jesus prayed for Peter by name. As we pray for people by name, God works powerfully in their lives. Do you have a prayer list? Are you praying by name for those that don't know Christ?

But there's something else I want to share about this. Just as Jesus prayed for Peter by name, Jesus is praying for you by name. You are on his lips today. You are in his heart today. He is our great high priest in the sanctuary above.

And you remember, the high priest had the names of the tribes of Israel inscribed on each of his shoulders. Why? Because he was strong enough to carry them. You remember, the names of the children of Israel were inscribed on the heart of the high priest. Why?

Because he understood their needs, their heartaches, and their sorrows, and his heart went out to them. And the high priest's role was to pray for Israel. It's 1 of his roles. Jesus has you on his lips today. You are in his heart today.

He is strong enough to carry your burdens today. When the journey is long, when the mountain is high, When the road is rough, when the valley is dark, never give up because Jesus is praying for you. At this point, you understand the power of praying for others, but could there be things in our own lives that hinder our prayers? If you wanna know the answer, watch this video next. This media was brought to you by AudioVerse, a website dedicated to spreading God's word through free sermon audio and much more.

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How to Pray for Others: The Secret Weapon You Never Knew You Had

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