Is It True That Jesus Prays for Us?
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"Jesus prays for us." I don’t know about you, but anytime someone tells me that they have been praying for me, I am encouraged. After all, if we are honest, we all need prayer. Before I ever came to the Lord, many years ago, I knew that someone was praying for me. After I came to the Lord, I knew that someone was praying for me. We in turn, throughout our Christian life, have looked to prayer as that strengthening, healing, and comforting balm. Paul the apostle wrote these words to the Colossians:
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Colossians 1:9).
Paul looked at prayer as an obligation; something that needed to be done. As Paul ministered throughout his life, he desired the prayers of his brothers and sisters in the Lord. Without reservation, he spoke plainly and simply regarding the need for prayer so that work of the ministry would move forward:
“Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you” (2 Thessalonians 3:1).
“Brothers, pray for us” (1 Thessalonians 5:25).
Throughout Paul’s letters, he implores believers to pray for one another. As it pertains to prayer, we are our brothers’ keeper:
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16).
But what about Jesus? Since we are told to pray for one another, is there any need for Him to pray for us? Does Christ pray for us? Yes, thankfully He does.
Jesus Prays for Us - When Does This Happen?
On the night of His betrayal, Jesus prayed one His most powerful prayers. Of all the prayers that Christ prayed in the gospels, this prayer – at least a great portion of it – concerned not just His disciples who were with Him, it also concerned us:
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:20-26).
In His greatest hour of need, as He was about to endure what would be the greatest event in human history, he pauses to pray for His people.
One of the greatest forms of prayer that we have at our disposal is intercessory prayer. Simply defined, intercessory prayer is the act of praying on behalf of others; this of course is how Jesus prays for us. What Christ Himself does, He instructs us to do also:
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (2 Timothy 2:1-6).
Why Does It Matter So Much That Jesus Prays for Us?
Imagine Christ picking and choosing which of His children to pray for, on the basis of our performance. If this were the case, I am sure that He would avoid praying for us at times. But He has interceded and does intercede for us all.
“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25).
Jesus death on the cross is intercession personified. His death there was not only the greatest and purest form of sacrifice, but it was the also the greatest intercession of all. Christ stepped in and took our place when it was needed most. The book of Isaiah makes this stunning prophecy concerning this act:
“Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).
This prophecy was confirmed by His death, and then by the words of the apostle Paul:
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
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3 Things Jesus Prays for Us to Do or Be
Jesus’ intercession in His high priestly prayer, which we have referred to previously in the gospel of John, remains one of the most intimate and personal prayers that Jesus ever prayed. In this prayer, He prays three distinct things that He desires for us.
First, Christ prays that we would be one. Christ knew that if we are to accomplish the task that He has called us out to do, that is, to preach the gospel, that there needs to be unity. This unity pertains to who Jesus is and what He has done. If there is a mixed message here, the gospel will be diluted, and it will lose its power.
Christ next prays that we might see His glory. I believe this glory has to do with being in His presence. We are reminded of Isaiah’s vision in chapter six of His writing. His response to being exposed to the glory of God was life changing, to say the least:
“So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts’” (Isaiah 6:5).
This is what the Lord desires of us as we enter into His presence. We should praise Him, and we should worship Him, and give thanks to Him. All of these are absolutely warranted in His presence. But what He desires most is transformation. He wants us to be like Him. Is that our desire?
Thirdly, His prayer was that we would be filled with His love. Christ spoke these words:
“By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).
This love is unselfish, and it is the defining mark of our union with Him to the world. The world does not care about church attendance, and all the other things that we may do that are associated with Christianity. Do we love each other is what the world without Christ is looking for.
These three things Christ prayed are what He desires, because they are what we need. But why do we find ourselves fighting against these things in our life? No, we do it maliciously or even rebelliously for that matter. But simply due to selfishness and carnality on our part, these things have a difficult time settling in our lives. It’s not that we don’t have them at all; we just don’t have them enough.
One More Powerful Prayer That Jesus Has for Us
There is yet one final prayer that that Christ prays on our behalf.
“And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren’” (Luke 22:31-32).
Here Christ specifically addresses Peter, but the ‘you’ spoken here is plural. Satan desires to shake us all into submission. But Jesus speaks to us words of power and comfort as He tells us that He has prayed for us, that our faith would not fail. Though Peter would stumble and do a terrible thing, His faith remained intact. We know this because he did return to the Lord, and both his relationship with the Lord and his eventual ministry would flourish. Satan, as always, meant it for evil, but God in His infinite wisdom meant it, and allowed it all for good.
With all that we endure in this life, it brings empowerment and encouragement to us, knowing that Christ has prayed, and continues to pray for us. Thank you Lord!
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