Change A Life
“To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;” -2 Timothy 1:2-3
Above we read the words of the apostle Paul, written unto Timothy, whom Paul had taken in as his very own beloved son. And in this passage, we learn of a very important and needful truth: intercessory prayer.
It ought not to be any secret that Timothy rose to such a level of spiritual success that he did: and that this success was due in great part to the prayers and influence of the apostle Paul. For consider Paul ’s tremendous burden for prayer for his “son” Timothy: “without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day” (2 Timothy 1:3).
And the effects of his prayers—though not completely recorded in Scripture—are hinted at in the very end of Paul’s second epistle. “The second epistle unto Timotheus, ordained the first bishop of the church of the Ephesians, was written from Rome, when Paul was brought before Nero the second time” (2 Timothy 4:22b). We see by this portion of Scripture that Timothy went on to a position of authority in the church—though he was still perhaps quite young—and was ordained the first bishop of the church of the Ephesians.
Paul continuing the love of Christ
Yet it should be noted, in looking back in Paul’s past, how he was not the first to dispense such intercessory prayers. For the apostle Paul himself was once known as Saul of Tarsus—one that had been an extreme enemy of the church of God—and he was the beneficiary of Spirit-filled prayer himself.
“And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul was consenting unto his death.” -Acts 7:59-60, 8:1a
Notice how Stephen specifically prayed, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” This is a perfect example of intercessory prayer. Stephen stood between God and his persecutors, and asked God in an amazing way—as he was about to die—to forgive those that had done this terrible act to him.
Stephen’s prayer did not go unanswered. It is no coincidence that in the very next verse, (though it has been split up into a different chapter), Saul “was consenting unto [Stephen's] death.” And in chapter 9 of Acts, we read that one of the very next happenings in Saul’s life is his supernatural vision on the road to Damascus—perhaps a direct answer to Stephen’s prayer.
“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” -Acts 9:3-6
The effectiveness of intercessory prayer
We ought not to think that when we pray for another, that we are wasting our prayers, or that they will be of little use or effect. Rather—when we utter prayers with the help of God’s Holy Spirit—they become much bigger than ourselves. Stephen was a godly man, and yet his interceding prayer for Saul was answered in such a mighty way, and Saul became such a spiritual giant and bold missionary, that Stephen would’ve never dreamed that his prayers would be answered in the way that they were.
“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” -James 5:16
When we pray for another—according to God’s will—we do not limit God by our own weakness and limitation of mind, but we allow God to work freely in the life of another, and nurture up small mustard seeds of faith that may very well one day become trees of righteousness.
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” -Ephesians 3:20-21
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