Jesus Prays for Us
Scripture: Hebrews 9:24
(ESV)
24 For Christ has
entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true
things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our
behalf
Devotion:
We have been pondering the wonders
of prayer over the last few blog posts and we continue to reflect on prayer today.
Prayer is an inexhaustible topic. So much of the scripture is about prayer it
is hard to avoid. If you are an average Christian like me, you probably do not spend
too much effort into understanding the intricacies of prayer. It is something
we often approach as a rote exercise. We do it because we were trained since we
were children to say our prayers. Yet behind the scenes, just hidden from our
view there is activity. Warfare really going on between Jesus and the forces of
the heavenly army and Satan and his demons.
Today’s scripture pulls back that
curtain ever so slightly to give us a glimpse of what Jesus does with our
prayers. We are taught that Jesus enters the throne room of God. In the holy of
holies, he stands in the presence of God our Father. What does he bring with him
into the holy place? What is his purpose for being there in God’s presence?
Christ comes into the holy place as
a perfect sacrifice on our behalf. He brings with him all the prayers of the
saints and presents them as an offering to God. Unlike earthly priests who have
to repeat sacrifices and offering day after day, month after month and year
after year. Jesus appears before the Father only once and remains there forever.
Christ has given the last measure of devotion to save people from their sins. So,
the Father has accepted his perfect sacrifice once and for all humankind.
Therefore, the Father loves the Son
and receives Christ’s sacrifice gladly and acquits those who love the Son from
all their guilt and declares them holy. Christ never leaves the presence of
God. He is there continually offering up the prayers of the saints to the
Father that each prayer may get an answer in full. Christ never fails us. Satan
views this activity of Christ as an act of warfare against his kingdom. Satan
seeks to do everything in his power to keep the saints from praying and if possible,
deceive the faithful into believing that their prayers are not being heard in
heaven.
We would rather not think of what
must go on for our prayers to be heard in heaven. But we must always be keenly
aware that prayer is spiritual warfare. We, Christians, are front line soldiers
in the battle to establish the Kingdom of God here on earth. Each time we pray
for “God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We are marking out
territory for God that Satan does not want to give up. Resistance is to be expected
and even welcomed. Let us fill the throne room with our prayers.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father thank you for
sending your son to save us from our sin. We take courage from Jesus’ life,
death, and resurrection. We are certain of your love for us, and we know that
you are helping us to be victorious in our battle with sin. Train us to be good
soldiers in the war that rages in the heavenlies and here on earth for the
souls and lives of each one of us. Give us courage to fight the good fight that
we may run the race of life victoriously. Amen.
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