Jeremiah 15:1 – "Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth."

This text is not teaching that saints in heaven intercede for men on earth. It is teaching there is no prayer from anybody that will help Israel. They have gone too far.

I Timothy 2:5 – "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"

I. Intercessory prayer is very good.

A. Psalms 65:2 states, "O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." God always hears prayers.

B. II Chronicles 30:27 declares, "Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven." When the Passover was kept during the reign of Hezekiah, there was much rejoicing, and the prayer of the Levites came up before God.

C. Revelation 5:8 states, "And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints." Our prayers are a sweet perfume before God. He keeps our prayers. How many of your prayers does God have stored in heaven?

II. Intercessory prayers – One person prays for another person.

A. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest intercedes for all Israel by taking the blood of the Passover lamb into the holy of holies.

B. In Genesis 18:23-32, Abraham intercedes for Sodom. If there were only 10 righteous souls, the cities would be spared.

C. Moses prayer for Israel.

1. In Exodus 32:11, Moses prayed, "And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?"

2. In Exodus 32:31-32, Moses continued to intercede for the nation of Israel, "And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. 32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written."

3. God replies to Moses prayer by stating that Israel had gone too far, they would not be forgiven, but they would not be destroyed, as recorded in Psalms 106:23, "Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them."

D. The apostle Paul interceded for the nation of Israel in Romans 10:1, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved."

E. Luke 23:34 – "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots." Jesus prayed that God forgive the sins of those that crucified him. Is not this what we should do? Matthew 5:44,45 states, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

III. It is not wrong to ask for intercessory prayer. Psalms 99:6-8 states, "Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them. 7 He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them. 8 Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions." Moses, Aaron, and Samuel prayed for Israel, whom God heard and refrained from destroying Israel, although he punished them for their wickedness.

A. Israel asked Samuel to pray for them on several different occasions.

1. Israel asked Samuel to pray for them when the Philistines attacked them. I Samuel 7:8 states, "And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines."

2. When Israel asked a king, it displeased Samuel because he knew it displeased the Lord, and he prayed for them. I Samuel 8:6 states, "But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD."

3. I Samuel 12:19 states, "And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king."

B. Moses prayed for Israel when fiery serpents bit them. Numbers 21:7 states, "Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people."

C. Other examples of intercessory prayer.

1. Jeroboam asked the man of God to pray for him to restore his hand, I Kings 13:6, "And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before."

2. Hezekiah sent Eliakim, Shebna and the elders of Israel to Isaiah, asking him to pray for Israel against Rabshakeh. II Kings 19:1-4 states, "And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. 2 And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. 4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left."

3. Zedekiah asked for prayer, Jeremiah 37:3. "And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the LORD our God for us."

4. Abraham prayed for Ishmael.

a. Genesis 17:18 states, "And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!"

b. Genesis 17:20 reveals that God heard the prayer of Abraham for Ishmael, "And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation."

5. Moses prayed for his sister Miriam when became leprous because she complained about the Ethiopian woman Moses had married. Numbers 12:10 states, "And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee."

6. When Aaron made the golden calf, and led Israel into idolatry, God was going to kill him, but the intercessory prayer of Moses saved his life. Deuteronomy 9:20 states, "And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time."

D. We are to pray for the sick when they ask. James 5:14-16 states, "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 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."

E. Paul often prayed for the churches he established.

1. Romans 1:9 states, "For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;"

2. I Thessalonians 3:10 declares, "Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?"

F. Paul asked the Ephesians to pray for him in Ephesians 6:18,19, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,"

IV. The value of intercessory prayer.

A. We will be like Jesus Christ, as reflected in Matthew 6:9, "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name."

1. Jesus said to pray, "our", "we", and "us".

2. We are not to pray, "I", "my", and "me".

B. We must pray for our enemies as stated in Luke 6:28, "Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you."

C. We are in good company when we pray for others. – Consider all the prophets and faithful servants of God mentioned above.

D. When we pray for others, we may save them from destruction.

1. Abraham saved Lot and his family from destruction.

2. Moses prayer preserved Israel on more than one occasion.

3. The prayers of the church at Jerusalem saved Peter from being killed.

4. The prayer of faith can cause people to be healed.

V. We do not claim anything by prayer. (The reason we pray is because we cannot get a thing on our own. We pray, asking God for his grace, mercy and help.)

A. Hebrews 4:16 states "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

VI. Intercessory prayers have limits.

A. Sometimes people can get so far into sin; and continually refuse to listen to God’s warnings; God is finished with them.

1. Jeremiah 7:16 states, "Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee."

2. Jeremiah 11:9-14 gives a good summary of the wickedness of the people of Israel, "And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. 11 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them. 12 Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble. 13 For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal. 14 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble."

B. I John 5:16 states, "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it." God states there is no need to pray for the person who has sinned the sin unto death.

C. Our prayers do not change God; our prayers change others and us.

VII. Conclusion.

A. I John 5:14-15 states, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."

B. I Timothy 2:1-3 states, "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour." We should pray for our elected leaders that we might be able to lead faithful lives to God; that government won’t get in our way.

C. I Samuel 12:23 states, "Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:"