By Andrew Williams – December 4, 2021
“Please pray to the Lord for me,” Simon replied, “so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
Acts 8:24 HCSB
Good morning fellow disciples.
Intercession is defined as the action of intervening on behalf of another. Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of praying to a deity on behalf of oneself or others.
In this passage we see Simon the sorcerer asking Simon Peter to pray for him / intercede on his behalf to God. Why was he asking for this prayer?
The preceding verses tells us why:
“When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power too, so that anyone I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter told him, “May your silver be destroyed with you, because you thought the gift of God could be obtained with money! You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God. Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” Acts 8:18-23 HCSB
Do you know any sinful or misguided persons around you? As you look at your fellow disciples or even yourself are you in a place where you truly don’t understand what it means to be a Christian? Are you in need of someone to pray an intercessory prayer for you, or do you see someone that you can intercede for?
Today our prayer comes from Moses. God had threatened to destroy His people, the Israelites, but Moses interceded on their behalf. I implore you today to intercede on your fellow wayward disciples’ behalf. Be purposeful like Moses as recorded in Deuteronomy 9:25-29 HCSB:
“I fell down in the presence of the Lord 40 days and 40 nights because the Lord had threatened to destroy you.
I prayed to the Lord: Lord God, do not annihilate Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a strong hand. Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Disregard this people’s stubbornness, and their wickedness and sin.
Otherwise, those in the land you brought us from will say, ‘Because the Lord wasn’t able to bring them into the land He had promised them, and because He hated them, He brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’
But they are Your people, Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your great power and outstretched arm.
Amen.