As I think of those prayerful believers who have intersected my life, men and women who took very seriously this call to intercession, a few names come to mind:

• A woman named Lynne recently told me of her grandfather who prayed for her before she was born. She keeps at home a treasured letter in which he wrote his prayer for the next three generations of his family — that they would all become Christians. God is graciously answering these prayers. The day she told me about this letter, her fourth son, Mark, confessed Jesus Christ as His Savior and Master at his baptism. A wonderful answer to the prayers of his great-grandfather, a man he’ll someday meet in heaven.

• My mother-in-law, Virginia Vaught, has taught me a great deal about prayer. She and her husband prayed for all five of their daughters to marry strong Christians. In His great mercy God has answered those hundreds of prayers. And by God’s grace I became one of the benefactors of all those pleadings before the Lord. While I was caught in my sin for many years, my future in-laws were praying for me, though they had no idea who I was. As I look back on my life the past 25 years, I can see the results of my in-laws’ many prayers. Two years after my conversion to Christ, He led me to leave my home state of California and move to Dallas. There I met the woman I was to marry. In reflecting upon how I met my wife, it’s clear that someone had been praying — Bill and Virginia Vaught.

• A man named Rick spoke at a retreat I attended two years ago. Though he was raised in a Christian home, he went through a long period of sin during his college years. Eventually he came back to the Lord and is now very involved with his church. He said in his message, “I don’t know why the Lord protected me when I had gotten into drugs and all sorts of immoral living while in college.” When Rick finished his talk, an older man came up to him and said, “Let me tell you a story. I knew your parents during your college years. I worked with each of them and I remember the agony they went through during your time of rebellion. They were constantly on their knees while you were caught up in sin. God heard their prayers and that’s why you were protected.” Someone was praying.

Someone was praying.

    The supreme example of someone wrestling in prayer is our Lord. Try to grasp the agony within His soul as Jesus went through inner torture on our behalf:

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. (Hebrews 5:7-9)

    Jesus suffered tremendously for us in order to save us. Imagine the agony He endured on our behalf while in the garden of Gethsemane. Try to grasp the immense burden on His shoulders as He anticipated the horror of the cross.

    Our Lord calls those He saves to wrestle in prayer on behalf of others — that the lost might be saved and the saved might be strengthened and persevere in their faith.

© 2001, Jim Clark, Hope for Life. Used by permission. From More Than We Could Ask, By Jim Clark. Published by New Leaf Books.
Title: "Wrestling on Our Knees (part 3)"
Author: Jim Clark
Publication Date: November 14, 2001

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