Monday, February 8, 2016    
       Like many of you, my life before Christ came into it was drastically different from my life today and, because of it, many of us had a similar experience when we started walking with Jesus. I am referring to the snide remarks and the name calling from those who had known the way we had conducted ourselves previously. To be fair to them, they did not know what to make of us, many believing we were just going through a phase and that we would snap out of it in time. They didn’t know, and neither did we at the time, that the Bible says that those who are in Christ become new creations. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17) I even remember hearing a few of my friends and fellow workers offering to pray for me because, according to them, I was really “messed up.” Praise be to God that later on, many of these who had offered to pray for me, would come asking me to pray for them.
       These leads me to the topic of intercessory prayer. It is a beautiful and beneficial thing. Think about this: How do you feel when someone asks you to pray for them? How about when you are going through a hard trial and someone reminds you that they are praying for you? Doesn’t that give you comfort and reminds you that there are people around who genuinely care about you? Well, I came across a verse this morning that really comforted and warmed my heart. Here it is: “Therefore He (Christ) is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because He always lives to intercede for them.” Wow! If it does us a great deal of good to hear that people we love are praying for us, imagine how much more blessed we are that out Savior is always interceding (praying) for us.
       If you’ve ever wondered, after you’ve come out through a violent storm in your life why you are still standing, this is probably the reason. Jesus prayed for you. He constantly prayed for His Disciples when He walked among them, but now that He sits on the right hand of the Father in Heaven, He prays unceasingly for all who are His. Be encouraged today. Jesus is praying for you.
 
Memory verse for the week: (Jesus prayer to the Father, John 17:9)  “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.”