Have you ever stopped to really think about this whole idea of intercession? Most of us read it or hear it and just pass by it. But, let’s camp out for a minute and think about this.
We know that God the Father loves us and works all things for the good of His people who love Him. We know that He knows all things and He had a plan to bring us to glory before we ever existed. He is unchanging, Sovereign and all powerful.
We also know that 2 other parts of the Trinity are “interceding for us”, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Whenever we pray in Jesus’ name, He intercedes for us to the Father. The Holy Spirit does it at a spiritual and emotional level as well in accordance with God’s will.
But why and how are they interceding? The word has a few levels of meaning. It can mean someone in between, not so much in a blocking sense, but more like an amplifier. It can mean to “fall in with” a person as soldiers falling in line with each other to form a company or even like Jesus did after his resurrection with the travelers on the road to Emmaus. A third meaning is to formally petition like an attorney or representative would take desires and form them into a document to present to the court. The fourth meaning is to pray for and entreat (ask someone earnestly or anxiously to do something).
When we speak of Jesus and the Holy Spirit interceding for us, which is meant? I think all of the above is the right answer. They are not trying to coerce or convince God the Father, they are not trying to argue for Him to change His mind. That would be a silly thought with an all-knowing and unchanging God. It also would not be consistent with the shared power and authority of the Trinity.
No, I think the correct perspective is of 3 loving parents or grandparents. They simply love to talk about us. They love to discuss our lives and they do not lie, but they see the best in us and for us. They formalize plans together (although the plans have existed for all eternity) and they care and pay attention to everything we want and need even when we don’t know we want or need it.
But, wait, there is more. The word used in verse 26 when talking about the Holy Spirit interceding is a Greek word found no where else in the bible. It isn’t just entygchanō, intercession. No, in this one reference it is hyperentygchanō. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just intercede for us. He Hyper-Intercedes. He intercedes on steroids.
The next time you are feeling down, or bad, or lonely, or hurting or unloved, pop this verse into your mind. Up in Heaven the Holy Spirit is cheering for you. The Holy Spirit is shouting your name from the mountaintops of heaven for all to hear because you are a child of the most high God. The Holy Spirit is bragging to the angels and saints about how much you are loved and cherished, how you are made in the image of God and how one day you will be clothed in the garments of righteousness and join the multitudes in singing God’s praise. You are family.
My Answers:
11.
R: In our weakness, interceding for our prayers in accordance with the will of God
L: Teaching from the H/S
A: Power to be witnesses
A: Direction and calling – being compelled by the Spirit
E: Unity of the Spirit, the bond of peace – to be one body of Christ (the church)
E: The sword of the Spirit = the word of God
1C: Understanding from the Spirit of God
12.
a.
The Spirit is God and always does the will of God and is accord with the will of God. He intercedes for God’s people so that God’s will for His people is done. He does and provides, through grace, what they are incapable of doing on their own: knowing God’s will
b.
My wife, my kids
My wife, kids, BSF kids, co-workers, pastors, customers, business owners, friends, neighbors, etc.
The Notes are Good 