Job 16:21
O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!
One of the great acts any person can do for another is to pray for them. There are many things I cannot do for others, but I can always pray for them. I don't have the money to pay another’s bills, but I can pray for God to give them money to pay their bills. I don't have the power to heal someone of a sickness, but I can pray to God who has the power to heal and ask Him to heal them. I don't have the power to restore a relationship of a broken marriage, but I have the power to pray and ask God to work in the hearts of the individuals whose marriage is broken. You may not have the power to physically help others, but you do have the power to help them through your prayers.
Job said, O that one might plead for a man with God. Job was pleading for someone to pray for him. David said in Psalm 142:4, I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. David had no one who cared for him enough just to pray for him. How sad that all these men wanted was for someone to pray for them, but no one took the time to pray for their needs.
Do you plead for others with God? Is your prayer life about you, or is your prayer life filled with prayers of pleading for others with God? I can show you how much you truly live for others by whether your prayers are filled with you pleading with God for others. Your prayer life reveals whether your life is about you or if it is about living for others. Let me show you what pleading for others with God is.
First, pleading for others is to supplicate with God for them. To supplicate is to pray for their needs. Your prayer life should be filled with praying for the needs that others have. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with praying for your needs, but you would do better to pray for the needs of others.
Second, pleading for others is to intercede for them. Interceding is praying for their spiritual needs. Is your prayer life filled with praying for others to be saved? Do you pray by name for the backslidden to get right? Prayer is the best place to talk about people because prayer is letting God do the work in their lives. If you want to talk about the problems that others have, talk about their problems in prayer.
Third, pleading for others is to present their case to God as a lawyer should plead your case to a judge. Do you flippantly pray for others, or do you spend time preparing your case to plead for another in prayer? Praying for others should be more than just reading through a prayer list; it should be you defending them to God and showing Him why He should do what you are asking for Him to do in their lives.
The key to these three areas is the word plead. To plead for someone is to beg or earnestly call to God in prayer for them. The word plead means to be importunate for them. To be importunate with God for others is to constantly ask God to help someone until the prayer is answered. In other words, it is like the man who harassed a friend at midnight to give him bread, and because of his importunity the request was answered. Are you pleading with God for others? Are you being importunate with God for others? Don't be guilty of being a one-and-done person in your prayers for others, but plead for them importunately, for that type of praying is what makes the difference in lives.
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