CHRIST’S LAW OF INTERCESSION
‘I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority.’
We cannot, certainly, be Christians without believing in the power and efficacy of the intercession of one on behalf of another. God is a Spirit. Just as in the religious world and in the language of Holy Scripture we say God is Love, God is Light, God is Goodness, Righteousness, and Strength, so in the world of science we say God is Power, Force, Law, and Order. If on the one hand it is heresy and pantheism to say that everything is God, on the other hand it is the most profound Catholic truth to say, God is in everything, and He upholds all things by the word of His power.
I. Is prayer superfluous?—But if that be so, it will be said by those who wish to expel Him from His own universe, that God knows best what is for the good of ourselves and of our friends, and that to intercede with Him on their behalf is superfluous. Ah! that is not the mind of God. In endowing us with the gift of freewill, He has determined that we should be moral agents in the matter of His gifts and blessings as in everything else. The ordinary results of His Providence He bestows on all who are born into the regular conditions of humanity—life, breath, air, sunshine, rain, food, and the like. But where special exercises of His energies are needed and desired, in the things either of the mind or body, these He reserves for those that ask Him.
II. Prayer for others.—If we are genuine servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall pray even more for others than we do for ourselves. As Christ in glory intercedes for us, so ought we to intercede for men. In proportion to our faith, love, and zeal, will our intercessions be heard.
III. No stint on the temper of prayer.—We should place no stint whatever on the temper of prayer and on the habit of bringing the wishes of our hearts, whether for ourselves or others, before God. ‘The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ So great is the power that it becomes one of the strongest motives in the cultivation of holiness. The nearer we are to God the more we shall prevail in our prayers for those whom we love.
Archdeacon William Sinclair.
Illustration
‘The saintly Bishop Jackson, whenever he was at home in the afternoon, used to retire to his room at four o’clock, and there for an hour, with the list of the clergy of the diocese spread out before him, he concentrated his thoughts on the character of each in turn, and poured out his heart for them to Almighty God, according to their circumstances, needs, and characters. There were few of his clergy, down even to curates lately ordained, of whom he had not formed some definite notion; and he was thus able, as their father in God, to bring all his sons, young and old, before the throne of grace.’