Intercessory Praying: Asking God to Do What I Cannot (PrayerLife)

Climbing the huge sand dune at Warren Dunes State Park (Michigan)

I'm preaching this Sunday at Redeemer on praying for others when their spiritual lives are failing (1 John 5:16). During my own praying time this morning I am praying for people. And I am reading portions of Richard Foster's book Prayer. Foster writes:

"In the ongoing work of the kingdom of God, nothing is more important than Intercessory Prayer. People today desperately need the help that we can give them. Marriages are being shattered. Children are being destroyed. Individuals are living lives of quiet desperation, without purpose or future. And we can make a difference…if we will learn to pray on their behalf." (Richard Foster, Prayer - 10th Anniversary Edition: Finding the Heart's True Home, p. 191)

How true that is! In my desires to help other people my severe cognitive and physical limitations show themselves. I am, to a large degree, incapable and unable. But God is capable and able. So I pray for people, asking God to do for the people I love what I cannot do.