Some people say: “Intercession is fine for people who have time on their hands, but I am too busy”. What that actually says is that God takes second place to my agenda, and that is the root of sin. It is like a bowl of fruit. Pour water in, and that represents the space we leave to God - the fruit is more important. You have to make times when you throw out the fruit and fill the bowl with water.

Then, we need to look honestly at what time we give to refreshment and leisure. We might claim that we are too tired to use that time to pray. What we really are saying is: 'prayer is work, I need some down-time'. But refreshment at its most radical comes from time with God. It will pay dividends in renewed energy and an ability to discern what really is necessary in our lives, rather than what we fancy is necessary.

The busy person’s Intercession

The prayer of the heart calls you to be in Jesus’ presence and lovingly seeking the face of the Father. The thing of greatest importance is to start. That means that you are willing and God will use that intention to bless you. You may drop off to sleep, or feel plagued by distractions, but it is the willingness to start with Jesus which brings about a reordering of your mind and heart. God works gently with willing souls in their deepest self, their spirit.

Don’t look for deep feelings, inspiring ideas and eloquent words in your communication with the Father. Look for the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness and self-control.

The working of Intercession

When Jesus returned to his home town Nazareth, he went to synagogue on the Sabbath. There he read Isaiah’s prophecy about how the Messiah would bring peace, liberation, healing and a time of the Lord’s favour. Then he sat down and said all this was coming true at that very moment in front of their eyes. He was stating “I am the Messiah”.

They were impressed at how the popular local carpenter had been transformed into such an outstandingly charismatic person in the time he had been away. His words were loaded with wisdom and his touch healed the sick, but they also saw that he had no army. An oppressed people will dream of being liberated from their invaders, and they would want to give the Romans some of their own medicine.

Jesus would say that he had not come to thrash the Romans, but to change the hearts of the Romans. Indeed, within 300 years, the Empire would become Christian, and Rome would become the center for the Rock on which his Church is built. Jesus would teach that the real warfare would be in individual hearts against the empire of evil which gives rise to such manifestations as Rome's cruel domination. How was this change of hearts to be brought about?

First he would break the power of evil on the cross, and open the lockgates to the Father’s love. Then he would come back on earth in a second body, his Church to unite and heal the world. We are dealing here with  the mystical uniting of all the people in whom he and the Father would be living through the Spirit.

Who are these members of Jesus’ spiritual body? They are busy mums, hardworking farmers, and sailors and factory workers and nurses and policemen and cleaners, and those who struggle or bear pain resigning themselves to the will of God. Once a person is seeking the loving relationship with the Father, their every action can be an act of Love to the Father.

Within the dynamic of the spiritual body of Christ, in which we are profoundly united, the Father receives each act of love and takes its energy, which is love itself and multiplies it. He then sends it back to earth to some soul who is stuck in sin or blinded by the dazzle of this world. These rays of light penetrate to their spirits and they are empowered to begin to change and cooperate with the call of God.

Let there be no doubt that this is how the Kingdom or peace, justice and love is established and is building up. Do not look for clear avenues of revolution, but the steady building up of goodness in individuals. It is not revolution but evolution. This is all part of a divine design to unite and transform humanity, and to renew the face of the earth. That is how the divine economy functions, and each of us are called to play our special role in this transforming process of intercession.

Why does our Father act in this way?

We could ask: why does the Father withhold some graces until human beings begin the process through intercession? Is he being mean? No, he is being totally just. He is honouring us. We are beings of a grandeur so remarkable, that he will not short-circuit the process of our regeneration by minimising our roles. He, who can do all things, wants us to reach the dignity of being his co-workers with immense potential to act through and with him. We will never be complete until we have grown into mature sons and daughters, true images of our Father.

How generous God is to allow us, who are the root of the world’s woes to play an integral part in the repairing and restoring of all things!