When you pray, you don’t pray alone.

I’ve been studying prayer and recently, God took me to Matthew 6, the Lord’s Prayer.

“This, then, is how you should pray:

‘Our Father in heaven, . . .’” Matthew 6:9 NIV

For this first line, God gave me a picture of Jesus and the Holy Spirit on either side of me as I knelt. Normally when I think of “Our Father” I think of “Our” as the Church, other believers. God is “Our Father.” But that day, God pointed to His Son and His Spirit as part of the “Our.”

Son and Spirit also share the privilege and responsibility of intercession.

These verses point to Jesus as our intercessor:

• 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 [emphasis mine, Suffering Servant passage]

• Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:34

• 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

Did you catch the “always” in that last verse? If you think no one ever prays for you, think again. Jesus does. Always.

Paul points to the Holy Spirit’s role in intercession:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

When you don’t have the words, the Holy Spirit does, and those words match what Father God is thinking. Both the Son and the Spirit pray in alignment with God’s will, because They know it perfectly. That’s our challenge. To seek God’s will before we ask to make sure we are in alignment, too.

Remember group projects in school? There was always one person who was content to let everyone else do the work. Prayer is a group project with you, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Here are some tips on how to be a good group member:

1. Pray before you pray. Ask God how to pray for/regarding ___________.

2. God’s Word provides the foundation for prayer. Is there a promise or verse that fits your need?

3. Pray specifically. Jesus often asked what people wanted Him to do for them. Tell Him. 

Enjoy your group project of prayer. You have the best partners ever. You never pray alone.

Activities:

1. Create a family project: Fix dinner, do some yardwork. Give each person a task. What happens when one person opts out? How does this apply to intercession? 

2. Examine your prayers. On what do you base your requests?

3. How can you move your prayers from general to specific?