Table of Contents:
Who is the prayer warrior?
We may have heard of these historic prayer warriors, like Francis of Assisi, Brother Lawrence, John of the Cross, Brother Roger, George Whitefield, John Wesley and George Muller. [i]
(See an old film of John Wesley’s life at the bottom of this page).
But I think you will be amazed at who THE Prayer Warrior is.
It is very surprising when and how Jesus prays and also the results.
(This is part 3 of Jesus the High Priest)
Jesus saves completely
In Hebrews it tells us that Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through Him.
That is quite an amazing statement – no half measures, he really is a prayer warrior!
But how is that achieved?
There were many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office.
Hebrews 7:23
But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood.
Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.”
Jesus is eternal – He always lives to pray for His people, to intercede for them.
That is difficult for us to get our heads round that – the Son of God in heaven is praying to God the Father for us – right now!
Okay, Jesus is able to save us completely because He is praying.
That is a bold, faith creating statement.
And here is another one:
God is doing the work
Those He predestined, He also called;
Romans 8:30
those He called, He also justified;
those He justified, He also glorified.”
There are no ifs and buts in that statement.
He, GOD, saves completely and those that are saved will be with Him in heaven – in Glory.
It is a rock solid statement.
Why? Because He always lives to intercede for them.
To intercede means to plead and pray for another person.
Certain names written on the High Priest’s chest
Jesus as Prophet sees what God sees and so what does Jesus want to teach us?
What happens when we think wrong thoughts during our worship, how can that be acceptable worship to a holy God?
If there had been any newspapers when Jesus walked this Earth, I wonder how they would have reported his resurrection!
Now, the High Priest in the Temple went into the sanctuary with only the names of the twelve tribes of Israel on his chest.
This is a picture of Jesus in heaven with only the names of those He has chosen before the creation of the world, upon His chest.
And what does that mean ‘on his chest’ it means they are next to His heart.
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
Ephesians 1:4-6
In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will — to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”
When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before He was crucified He prayed:
I am not praying for the world, but for those You have given Me.“
John 17:9
And later in the prayer He says:
My prayer is not for them alone, (that is His disciples) I pray also for those who will believe in Me, through their message.”
John 17:20
In these examples Jesus intercedes only for those who will be saved, so that they will be saved completely.
But you could say, what about the times when Jesus prayed for people to get healed?
Yes, God is always giving out His temporal blessings of good things, but Christ’s intercession for His own people is always ongoing, which will cause them to persevere, and in the end will result in them entering into Glory.
Simon Peter fails big time
An example of Christ’s intercession is where He is talking to Simon Peter:
Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.
Luke 22:31
But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.
And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Well, the sifting time came, and Simon denied the Lord three times.
But, because Jesus had prayed that his faith would not fail, he came back strong in faith, and he was able to preach to a multitude of people, and three thousand people got saved.
Jesus Christ the High Priest, the Prayer Warrior, interceded for Simon Peter.
He was able to save Simon completely.
Jesus, the Prayer Warrior, is praying for you
He is able to save us completely.
The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the fruit of Christ’s intercession. For Jesus said:
I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever – the Spirit of Truth.”
John 14:16
The Bible shows us that Jesus is the King of kings, here we look at Psalm 2 which is all about him.
The whole of humanity wants to hide from God, ignore him and rebel against him.
When humanity stands before God there is nowhere to hide from his justice and being found guilty – therefore a Mediator is required.
If God has called you, then Christ the High Priest has died for you, so that the Divine justice is satisfied and the penalty has been paid for.
You are no longer condemned, you’ve come to be one of God’s children.
But also Christ the High Priest continues to pray and intercede for you in heaven, and He never, never, never fails in all that He does.
Jesus Christ is going to save you completely – to bring you to Glory.
He’s given you the Spirit of Truth to live in you, a constant Helper, Counsellor, and source of strength for your life.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
Hebrews 4:14-16
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Therefore holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the Apostle, and High Priest whom we confess.”
Hebrews 3:1
More detailed articles covering:
Jesus the Prophet Part 1 Wild prophet?
The prophet Jesus is greater than Moses Part 2
Jesus Speaking Prophet Part 3
References:
[i] ’10 Prayer warriors who changed history’
High Priest image: thanks to The Pictorial Dictionary published by The Educational Book Company, London
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