Christ’s 24/7 Prayer

Did you know that Jesus is praying for you? This is part of his ongoing work and ministry. The Bible reveals that Jesus “speaks to the Father in our defense” and that Jesus “always lives to intercede” for us (1 John 2.1 and Hebrews 7.25).

His ministry was in part prophesied by the threefold ministry of the priests in Old Testament Israel: (1) to make atonement by offering sacrifice, (2) to make intercession, and (3) to bless the people. Jesus Christ has brought these three distinctively priestly roles to their full consummation.

In his position as priest, Christ offers to God the most effectual prayers and intercessions for our salvation. Martin Luther wrote in the 1500s, “The priest comes forward to take all the shortcoming of the people upon himself as if they were his very own and pleads with God on their behalf. From God he receives the word with which he is to comfort and help everybody. . . . For by the fact the Christ is priest he turns God into our Father.”

This is just one example of the different Persons of the Trinity working together: If it were not for Jesus, God would not be our Father! The only people who can call God their “Father” are his children. And we can be God’s children only through what Jesus did for us.

Currently, as you read these words right now, Jesus Christ is interceding in the presence of Yahweh our Father God so that all who are penitent may enjoy reconciliation and shalom with the Father.

So, whenever you pray, you are not praying alone. You are joining Jesus who is already praying for you and with you.

Let’s join him. He waits patiently each day and each night to see who will join him in praying for the world he died for. And he’s glad each time we show up to pray with him.

—Harry K. Zeiders