⁹ “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours …”

Prayers of intercession begin with Jesus, and are a priestly function. While we see this sort of praying for others in the OT (Abraham, for example, interceding for his worldly nephew Lot in Genesis 18 and Moses praying for the rebellious calf-worshiping Israelites in Exodus 32:11-14), the epitome of this kind of praying is found in Jesus praying for His own. He asks “on their behalf” or “concerning them.”

This reminds us of the Holy Spirit who, “intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom 8:26–27). What an assurance that God the Son and God the Holy Spirit pray to God the Father for us. What perfect prayer that is because 1) there is no miscommunication between the members of the Trinity for they know each others’ minds perfectly well and 2) these prayers are “according to the will of God.” Jesus would soon give another demonstration of praying according to God’s will in the Garden of Gethsemene where He prayed three times, “Not my will be done, but Yours” (Luke 22:42).

His purpose was to fulfill the will of His Father (John 4:34) and His Upper Room prayer is a continuation of that purpose. We can say then, that not only was it the Father’s will for Jesus to pray for His disciples, but also that the content of His prayer was in line with God’s will. One can almost hear Jesus’ words at the tomb of Lazarus, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me” (John 11:41–42). The apostle John, for one, did not forget what he learned about prayer from Jesus, when 50 years later he wrote , “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14).

Intercession is a priestly activity, and Jesus was the perfect priest according to the book of Hebrews, “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; (Heb 7:25–26). His prayers therefore are perfect, holy, unmixed with personal ambitions or selfish goals. He perfectly prays for His own. And we are the beneficiaries.

Lord, I praise You for taking my needs to Your Father, for having my needs as the subject of Your conversation—in my best interest.