Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn’t bear to see someone go through something? My brother-in-law Ron was diagnosed with cancer in his palette and he was in Sloan Kettering Hospital in NYC recovering from mouth surgery. The surgery was about 10 hours long and they had to reconstruct his palette and remove three teeth. They had to take skin from his arm to rebuild the roof of his mouth and skin from his leg to replace it.
It was the third day after the surgery and we had just walked in to visit him. I sat down in the chair and he was sleeping due to heavy sedation for the pain. His wife Debbie went over to him and asked him how he was doing. Ron replied “Why do I have to suffer so much?” I immediately got up from my chair, grabbed my purse, my Bible and headed to the elevator. I went down to the lobby where the chapel was located. I immediately walked to the front, knelt on the floor and started to sob.
Let me give you a history of what happened before his surgery. Ron went into this surgery with a pair of boxing gloves on because he was determined to fight the good fight of faith. Our sayings would be “I’ll snap the neck of Satan” and “crack his teeth.”
A week before Ron’s surgery, he went into Home Depot and was in the checkout lane, he looked up and saw Larry Holmes (the famous professional boxer) standing in front of him. After a brief conversation, Ron felt like God was confirming to him that this was a fight and he was never to give up. Satan would not win. Put on your boxing gloves and get ready to crack the teeth of the enemy.
There I am in the chapel and I am a mess. I have said every prayer and petition possible. I cried out, “LORD HELP HIM FIGHT THIS BATTLE!” “GIVE HIM THE STRENGTH TO FIGHT!” My plea was that in Ron’s state he would fight. I sat in the chapel for almost two hours reading through Psalms. I was in total peace and felt connected to my Father. When I was ready to leave, I started to close my bible and Psalm 3:7-8 (NLT) was right in front of me. It read “Arise O Lord! Rescue me, my God! Slap all my enemies in the face! Shatter the teeth of the wicked! Victory comes from you, O Lord.” I started to laugh and thank the Lord. God was speaking my language. Shatter the teeth means I’ll crack your teeth. I knew He heard my plea. God is so merciful.
I composed myself and gathered my things. I went back to the Ron’s room and Debbie asked if I was in the chapel praying. I boldly exclaimed “yes”. She explained that while I was in the chapel, Ron out of nowhere started to proclaim to the world “I AM FIGHTING – I AM FIGHTING!” I stood in the doorway and began to cry. My prayers were answered! God is so amazing! I knew God was with Ron during this battle and that Ron was fighting.
After that experience, the words intercessory prayer came to my mind so I decided to look them up. During the search, I found this awesome description of intercession from the RCCM International Garden of Prayer:
What is Intercession?
Intercession is the act of going on behalf of someone else that needs help from Almighty God, to be merciful and gracious unto someone else and not self. In most cases it is prayer for those whose situations or circumstances need the mercy and grace of God’s immediate attention. Intercession touches the very heart of God, the Ministry of Jesus and the help of the Holy Spirit. Intercession requires a giving up and giving unto, as an act of God’s love, mercy and compassion. The intercessor must be ready and sensitive to God at all times, totally yielded to Him, and willing to be touched by the infirmities of someone else. Intercession requires you to become selfless, forgetting about your needs, desires and wants. Wow-I read this and thought that is incredible.
Jesus intercedes for us with God. He is our intercessor. Have you ever wanted to help someone and didn’t know how to? Intercessory prayer can be the biggest gift you can give someone. I had no I idea that’s what I did. All I knew is that my spirit could not sit there and do nothing. That got me thinking of ways going forward how I can bless and stand in the gap for someone else. I no longer have to feel powerless. I will not go down with out a fight in any situation. I don’t know about you but I have some teeth to shatter!
James 5: 16 (NLT) The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
