“Our prayer must not be self-centered. It must arise not only because we feel our own need as a burden we must lay upon God, but also because we are so bound up in love for our fellow men that we feel their needs as acutely as our own. To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them.”
John Calvin (1509-1564) is widely attributed as the source of this statement on prayer.
As we focus on the discipline of prayer this Lent, let us do so with others in view, not just ourselves. Making intercession for others is, in the words of Calvin, both “powerful and practical,” and it’s likely the most generous gift we can give someone else. How is intercession for others a part of your daily rhythm of life?
Try this exercise. Make a list of people to pray for this Lent. Not sure how to intercede? Try praying Ephesians 1:15-23 or 3:14-21 over them. Keep it in the place where you physically go to pray or in your Bible for daily reference. The Apostle Paul would likely this say is the “first” thing each of us should do every day (cf. 1 Timothy 2:1).