"My grandmother was a powerful example of an intercessory prayer warrior,” Tim said. “When I was growing up, she was like the ‘Pied Piper’ in our neighborhood. On her way to church on Sunday mornings, she walked through the streets and when the kids saw her coming they filed out of their houses and followed her to church. I have no idea how many people she brought to Christ.”
Despite her influence on his life, Tim fell away from the church as a young teenager. His path led to alcoholism, drug addiction, and selling drugs to support his habit. One person in Tim’s life never gave up on him—his grandmother. No matter how bad things were, she continued to pray for him and his salvation.
Intercession can be a lonely, drawn-out business, sometimes involving years of prayers when there appear to be few or no results. That was the case with Tim as he turned his back on God for 32 years. But eventually, through Alcoholics Anonymous and their 12-step program, Tim came to realize that God was the missing piece in his life.
On Palm Sunday, 1995, Tim finally stepped foot in a church again, the first time in more than three decades. As Tim put it, “The walls didn’t fall down, and the roof didn’t cave in. I found out God still loved me.”
This was just the first step in God’s plan for Tim. He has now been clean and sober for fifteen years, and today he is a minister of the Gospel with his own church.
Tim’s grandmother was the intercessor who stood in the gap between him and God’s judgment.
God is always looking for intercessors, people whose hearts are so in tune with His that they have an overwhelming burden to pray, even to plead with God, for the salvation of individuals, families, and nations.
Moses was an intercessor for his people. He was the one who stood between the Israelites and God’s judgment. Jesus was also an intercessor as He wept when He prayed over the city of Jerusalem. And when Jesus died on the cross, He was an intercessor for our salvation.
We can’t fathom the miracles that occur as a result of our prayers for others. Help us, Lord, to have hearts so in tune with Yours that we can immediately respond, to stand in the gap for the salvation of others.
Originally published in The Times, Frankfort, IN, on April 26, 2003, in a devotional story for the religion page.
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