Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit

his next powerful prayer secret is one that is being given to us in three different verses. As you will see in these next three verses, both Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit have a very powerful intercessory prayer ministry for each and every born-again believer.

As a born-again child of the most high God, not only do we have the right to be able to approach God for either ourselves or someone else we may be praying for, but we also have the right to ask both Jesus and the Holy Spirit to help intercede directly for us or for someone else that we may be praying for.

In other words, not only can we step in the gap and intercede and pray for someone else for whatever their prayer need may be, but we can also ask both Jesus and the Holy Spirit to step into the gap and pray for us and with us to God the Father on that specific prayer request.

If God the Father can be moved to answer some of our own personal prayers that are prayed direct to Him all by ourselves, can you imagine how much more success we would all have in our prayer life with Him if we ask both Jesus and the Holy Spirit to pray for us and with us on certain prayer assignments?

Here are the three powerful verses where this specific revelation is being given to us by the Lord:
"Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us." (Romans 8:34)
"Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 7:25)
"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." (Romans 8:26-27)

The first two verses are referring to Jesus' intercessory ministry that He has for each of us and the third verse is referring direct to the Holy Spirit Himself. Notice in the first and third verses the exact same words are being used in reference to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Those same exact words are that They both "make intercession for us."

In the Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus specifically tells us that we are to pray direct to God the Father if we have any specific prayer needs. We are not to pray direct to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or to any dead saints who are living in heaven. We are to only pray direct to God the Father in the name of Jesus if we have any specific prayer requests.

These three verses are giving us an incredible revelation in that not only should all born-again believers pray direct to God the Father, but that Jesus and the Holy Spirit will also be praying direct to God the Father for all of us as well.

And if Jesus and the Holy Spirit will also pray direct to God the Father for all of us, then this means we can approach both Jesus and the Holy Spirit from time to time to personally ask Them to pray for us and with us on a particular prayer request.

When you sum it all up, I believe the above three verses are giving us 5 key pieces of revelation that we can use in our own personal prayer life with the Lord. Here are the 5 key pieces of revelation put under the following appropriate captions.
1. Jesus Christ Makes Intercession For Us

The first two verses are directly referring to Jesus Christ. When the Bible tells us that Jesus will "make intercession for us," there are some who do not believe that this should be interpreted literally.

Their interpretation of the words that Jesus will "make intercession for us" is that it is not referring to Jesus making or offering any specific prayers to God the Father on our behalf. Their definition of the word "intercession" is that it is only referring to Jesus remaining in the presence of God as our High Priest.

In other words, Jesus as our Redeemer and High Priest, now sits at the right hand of God the Father in a position of power and authority, and as such, we can pray direct to God in Jesus' name as an intercessor for someone else, but we are not to ask or expect Jesus to pray for us or with us. Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross has now opened up the gates to heaven and to the very throne of God Himself. As a result, we can now go and pray direct to God Himself with any specific prayer requests that we may have for Him.

However, myself and many other noted Bible scholars do not agree with this symbolic interpretation of the phrase that Jesus will "make intercession for us." We believe that these words are meant to be taken very literally.

In other words, if these two verses are telling us that Jesus will make intercession for us, then we should take this statement as a literal statement and believe that Jesus will literally, not symbolically or figuratively, but literally make direct intercession for all of us from time to time.

In other words, Jesus will be praying direct to God the Father on our behalf as different needs and circumstances arise in our lives.

The obvious key word in these three verses is the word "intercession." Here are several definitions from some of the different Bible Dictionaries as to what the word "intercession" means:
Prayer offered in behalf of others
To assail with urgent petitions, entreating God for His favor
The act of petitioning God or praying on behalf of another person or group
To reach, to meet someone, to pressure or urge someone strongly
The act of intervening or mediating between differing parties, particularly the act of praying to God on behalf of another person

All of these definitions are showing us that whenever a person is interceding for another person before God the Father, they are literally praying for that other person and whatever his special prayer need may be at the time.

So when these verses are telling us that Jesus Himself will be making direct intercession for us, then I believe this is showing us that Jesus has a very special role as an actual Intercessor for all of us, and that He too will actually pray direct to God the Father for all of us from time to time.
2. The Holy Spirit Makes Intercession For Us

Not only can Jesus Christ pray and intercede for all of us from time to time before God the Father, but the last verse tells us that the Holy Spirit Himself can also pray and intercede for all of us from time to time as different needs and circumstances arise in our personal lives.

With the third verse on the Holy Spirit using the exact same words as it does with Jesus in that He too will "make intercession for us," then I believe the same principles of interpretation should be used on this verse and that we should also interpret this verse very literally.

In other words, we should interpret this verse that the Holy Spirit Himself can literally intercede and pray direct to God the Father for all of us from time to time.

This means that both Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit can now become our actual prayer Partners and prayer Allies from time to time depending on what we are praying for to God the Father.