Sermons | FBC Boerne

Sunday Sermon | Prayer: Intercessory Prayer

• FBC Boerne • Season 1 • Episode 9

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What if prayer isn’t symbolic comfort but real work that God uses to change lives, families, and cities? Pastor Jason Smith opens with a story from a house church he recently visited in India, where a new believer—the first in his village—hosts eighty worshipers in two concrete rooms and radiates a dignity the world can’t explain. From that picture of courage and purpose, we move into James 5 and the deep logic of intercessory prayer: confess honestly, pray earnestly, and expect God to act. Along the way, we revisit Abraham pleading for Sodom and Moses standing in the breach for Israel, moments that anticipate Jesus, the great high priest who lives to intercede and invites us into his work.

We get practical without getting gimmicky. You’ll hear simple habits that actually help: journaling, answered prayer, walking as you pray, praying the promises of God, and using short, focused prayers with a partner or group. We also confront the hesitations most of us carry: fear of “nothing happening,” feeling unqualified, or getting stuck in outcome control. The answer isn’t hype—it’s access. If you belong to Christ, you have the Father’s ear. And when we pray the way Paul prayed—prioritizing knowing God, walking worthy, perseverance, unity, and bold witness—we align our requests with God’s revealed aims while still asking for good things, including healing.

You’ll hear vivid accounts that ground these truths: unseen strength sustaining Adoniram Judson during imprisonment while believers interceded across an ocean; testimonies of healing and unusual breakthrough from Guatemala to India; and a vision for a church where confession is safe, lists become labor, and courage rises like Acts 4. The thread through it all is simple and demanding: stand in the gap, bear one another’s burdens, and ask. If God often chooses to work through intercession, what might he do through yours today?

If this conversation stirred your faith, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review with one person you’ll intercede for this week. Who are you standing in the gap for?

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SPEAKER_00:

Well, good morning, church family. If you're a guest with us this morning, my name is Jason Smith. I have the awesome privilege of being the pastor here of First Baptist Bernie, and I want to welcome you. Before we jump into our sermon series on prayer, I I was with a group that spent two weeks on a mission trip in India. And so I want to share just a really quick story. I want to describe the picture that you've seen on the screen. By the way, Chad and I are going to work on a podcast just to be able to tell much much more details about that. But he's on vacation with his family. So really by the end of the month, we'll release that podcast. But this story right here, in the top left corner, I'm I'm walking into a home. We traveled about 45 minutes to outside the city to get to this home. And this is a spot where a house church is meeting. This is during the middle of the day. Let's call it a Tuesday. And it is about 95 degrees. In that bottom left picture, you can see I am sweating profusely. But there is a group here of mostly women and children that were meeting in the middle of the day for just for church. Most of the men are at work at this time. But they were so privileged and happy to have us. And so they uh they had their worship service, and then they wanted us to sing, uh to say a few words with them. And then and then afterwards, I got to meet the man on the right. The man on the right, uh we just wanted to interview someone while we were there and just talk to them. The man on the right, uh, this happened to be his home. And and he had come to faith in Jesus about six months ago. And and this is his home, and this is where the church meets, and he is, he was the first believer in his village. Okay? The first believer in his village, and now this home church has grown to about 80 people in that village. They meet, uh he meets with other couples in his home every night for Bible study, and the church meets there about three times a week. But what struck me the most, the Lord touched me deeply with this scenario because I got I got to pray over him, and in this situation, here is a bottom cast Indian that is a field worker that has less education than my youngest child, that is never going to amass riches in this world. But he had such dignity, such purpose. He stood so tall, he was so privileged to have us in his home at the church, and I could just I could just see the countenance difference from him and so many other that I met. And it deeply, deeply impacted my soul because of this. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And and this is the beauty of church, right? That's a church. By the way, his his home had two rooms, uh, one concrete room, and then we were in the other room of the home. And this is a church, because the church is wherever the people of God meet, and the Spirit of God was palatable in that church. It was it was magnificent. I'll I'll remember him the rest of my life. So just wanted to share that quick story. We had a number of stories to share. Uh, tune into that podcast later in the month. Okay. We are in the middle uh this fall, we're walking through a prayer series where uh each week I've been trying to give something practical as we talk about prayer. I am greatly encouraged. So many of you have come up to me and said, hey, the practical things are have been amazing. I've been putting those into practice. All right, so the first practical thing was for you to journal, all right, for you to write down your prayers and actually check them off as the Lord answers them. Additionally, when you journal, it helps you get organized, okay, so that you can remember to pray for all the people in your life that you need to be praying for. The second practical thing was take a walk so that you don't fall asleep and you need cardio and you can pray while you do it. The third practical thing was for you to pray the promises of God. And we produced a PDF, a sheet. Uh we handed these out. They're still available, I think, in the foyer, but they're also available online for you to have. There are lots of books that have just the promises of God. We produced a basic sheet. You could do this on your own, okay? But pray the promises of God. That'll come up again in today's sermon. Fourth practical thing uh I'll tell you to do is get a prayer partner. Have you ever had a prayer partner? Okay, I've had prayer partners and they have done wonders to move my prayer life forward. Okay, you can pray, have a prayer partner with your spouse. You can also have a prayer partner with a close friend. Okay. I actually heard a couple months ago uh there was there was a lady that came up to me and informed me that there was a group, a prayer group that began to form because uh similar people that had prodigal children, children that were away from the Lord, had heard of one another, and they began to meet on a regular basis, okay, and pray together, okay, and greatly encourage one another. Okay. Real quick advice if you pray with a prayer partner or in a group, one, get organized, two, stay focused, right? The time can get away from you by talking about a lot of other things. Three, you can pray for a long time, okay? And you can actually pray for many things. But when it's your turn to pray, pray short. Pray one topic, and that allows others to stay involved. All right, if you give a five-minute prayer, it's very difficult for your prayer partner to tag along with you, okay? That's just a public service announcement for everyone that's ever had a prayer partner. All right? There we go. All right, turn with me in your Bible to James chapter 5. This morning we're going to be looking at intercessory prayer. James chapter 5, intercessorary prayer. Adonar M. Judson, many of you have heard of him, was America's first foreign missionary in the early 1800s. He and his wife sailed to what which was at the time Burma, now modern-day Myanmar. The mission field in Burma was brutal, the climate harsh, the language difficult, and the people were resistant. Judson would bury several of his children and even his beloved wife Anne. At one point, Judson was thrown into prison, into a filthy Burmese prison. He was chained at night with his feet tied to a bamboo pole and his body hanging upside down. The guards would beat him, mock him. Disease was spreading quickly through the prison. He was starved, wasting away, and nearly forgotten. From every human perspective, it looked like his mission, the gospel mission there was finished. But back in America, unknown to Judson, churches that knew him began to pray and plead God for him. Groups gathered to intercede. Not only for his release, but for his courage, for perseverance, and for breakthrough in Burma. Now, later in his life, Judson would give testimony that during those exact months of despair that he felt this almost mysterious strength and resolve to endure that he could not explain at the time. And it was only years later, okay, when he corresponded with his churches back in the States, that he discovered that it was during those exact days, those darkest moments of suffering, that believers were specifically moved to pray for him. Well, Judson survived, okay, he was released, he went on to translate the Bible into Burmese, that's still used today, and there was a movement of God that was absolutely incredible. That is in all the history books. What sustained him? Because it surely wasn't just pure grit and human determination. Now listen, it was the unseen power of God released through the intercession of ordinary Christians who refuse to stop praying. This morning we're going to look at the importance of intercessory prayer, of you praying for your loved ones. How many of you in here? You have a loved one that is far from Jesus. Okay? Of you and I praying for God's mission, okay? Praying for each other as a church. So with that, listen as I read James chapter 5, beginning in verse 14. James writes, Is anyone among you sick? Then you must call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Will you pray with me? Our Heavenly Father. God, as we have gathered together in your name as the local church, just a body of believers that believe that you meet with us because of the name of Jesus Christ, because of his blood on our behalf. Father, we have met together to sing your praises and to open your word, to hear from you. Father, please, through your spirit, encourage us, teach us, equip us of the absolute importance, the power of prayer, of intercessory prayer, that you would allow us to intercede on behalf of others for the glory of your name and your kingdom. Teach us and encourage us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Genesis chapter 18. God is ready to pour out his wrath upon Sodom and Gomorrah. God's patience for their sin has run out. The cup is overflowing. He is ready to pour forth his judgment. His judgment is about to rain down from the sky, but suddenly the narrative takes a pause. Verse 17, it says, The Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do? Since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Now those are promises that God gave to Abraham. Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do? So God discloses to Abraham that he is about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. And upon hearing the news, Abraham is filled with compassion, draws near to God in prayer, and this startling scene unfolds. Check this out. Abraham begins interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah, pleading with God. And it sounds like this God, if there are fifty righteous people in those cities, if there are fifty, okay, there is no way that you could wipe out those fifty righteous along with the wicked. God, I know your character. And the Lord agrees with Abraham's intercession. He says, if there are fifty righteous, I will spare the whole of the two cities. And I won't wipe them out if there's fifty. And then Abraham pauses and he thinks about it. He says, God, forgive me. I am nothing but dust and ashes. That you would allow me to come and speak to you again. But Lord, if what if we are five short of fifty? What if there are only forty-five righteous? Would you still spare the two cities? If there are forty-five. And the Lord agrees. He says, if there are forty-five, I won't wipe out. What if there are only forty? Okay. If there's only forty. Lord, what if there's only thirty? Okay. If there's only thirty. What if there's only twenty? And all the way down to ten. As the scene unfolds, listen to me. What a magnificent scene. You have to remember this is God's word. If this were not God's word, God's revelation of himself, you would not believe this. Okay? You would not believe that God disclosed his plans to Abraham, a sinful man, okay? A sinful man, but one that knows God. And then God allows this finite human to wrestle with him over God's own justice. Over God's justice. And to intercede on behalf of sinful man. Now there's a similar scene in Exodus chapter 32, when Israel has right after the covenant of the Ten Commandments, okay? As Moses comes down the mountain, Israel has created a golden calf. And the Lord says to Moses, Stand back, I'm going to destroy every one of them and start over with you. And Moses intercedes. Moses says, God, remember your promises that you gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God, what would the nations of Egypt and the rest of the nations say? And Moses intercedes and God relents. Now, in both of these instances and others, the scripture is anticipating the one true intercessor named Jesus Christ. The great high priest that Hebrews 7.25 says lives to make intercession for us. Hebrews 4 says that Jesus sits at the Father's right hand, sympathetic to our weaknesses, and bids us, he says, Come. Come to the throne of grace. I know your weaknesses come because he lives to make intercession for us. Listen, believer, when the Bible teaches you and I to be intercessors in prayer, we are echoing Jesus' priestly work. Listen to John 15, 15. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know his master's business, what his master is doing. But I have called you friends. For all the things that I have heard from my father, I have made known to you. You see, the change in status that happens here is because you and I have been invited into the mission. You are no longer a slave, you are a friend. Revelation 1:6 calls us a kingdom of priests. The Holy Spirit of God resides in you. You no longer have to go through an earthly priest because you are a kingdom of priests, and because Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father, you have complete access, and you and I are called into Jesus' priestly work. Now I know your heart will say, Who am I? Who am I? Would God really listen to me? Yes. Yes, believer, take hold of that which Christ has accomplished for you. And until we do, God will not release spiritual breakthrough. Scripture articulates time and time again that God chooses to work through the means of human intercession in order to advance his kingdom. So listen to James 5:16 again. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. Or listen to Galatians 6.2. Bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. Now I want you to imagine with me a church that is doing this really well. In our services, in small groups, close friends, one-on-one. I want you to imagine a church doing this really well. Because their members are willing to lay down their pride and their self-sufficiency in order to let someone else know I need prayer for my marriage. Not just the safe stuff like my Aunt Susie's kidney problem. No, no, no. I'm struggling with lust or my bitterness because I cannot forgive. And there's no fear of gossip or shame. Because God has given this church wisdom and a trust that this is a safe place, a safe space of confession, just like James 5.16 says. A safe space of confession. But listen, not just confession intercession. That is, they don't just make prayer lists, they actually pray for each other. Imagine a church like this. Whereas in Acts chapter 4, the church was collectively afraid because threats of the Jerusalem Sanhedrin. And so one evening they gathered together for prayer. In chapter 4, verse 31, it says, And when they prayed, the place where they had prayed, where they had gathered together was shaken. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak the word of God with boldness. Or again in Acts chapter 12, when Peter has been imprisoned and is about to be executed, and the church gathered together all night for a prayer meeting of intercession. Church, what is preventing us from becoming the church that we imagined? Now for the uh for the I want to go on record, right? We have pockets of very healthy intercessory prayer. Okay? You may not know that uh we have a prayer ministry team, and that you can submit prayer requests on our website. We have a drop-down submit prayer request. That goes to the prayer ministry team, and and anyone who chooses to subscribe to that. You I get them, you can get them, and you can pray for those, okay, in intercessory prayer. You may not know that, but we have that. We also have uh some of our growth groups that do an incredible job of not only caring but praying for one another. Okay, in those small groups, okay, praying for one another. I detailed at the beginning that there have been uh groups that pop up with specific, like uh uh prodigal children. We even have one group that meets every Monday at the church office to pray for our church and for revival. You can be a part of that. They're a pretty loud, obnoxious little group of ladies, but you can be a part of that. They would love to have you. Okay. So, yes, some of the pockets, we have pockets of genuine intercessory prayer. It exists. But what makes us hesitant to grow in this area? And not just in the church, I'm talking about in your life with your family and your friends and your neighbors and your coworkers. Can I suggest a few things that make us hesitant to grow in this area? For one, I think most of us really doubt it makes a difference. We secretly feel that prayer is rather symbolic than it is effectual. You say, I'm not a pastor, I don't pray that well, I'm struggling myself. Who am I? But intercession does not depend upon eloquence or perfection, it depends on access to the throne of God through Jesus Christ. Do you have that? Okay. But what if I pray and nothing happens, Pastor? Listen, this is big. This fear can paralyze us. Because, yes, there's an element of risk. Because truthfully, you can't control the outcome, can you? Sometimes God says no. Sometimes God says wait. Believer, God is calling you to obedience. Do you trust his character? Even if the answer is no, do you trust his character? Because he will be faithful and work for good. You say, All right, Pastor, I'll take the step of faith. Can you teach me what do I pray for? Can you teach me how to pray an intercessory prayer? So several years ago, I read this book that uh combs through all of Paul's prayers in the New Testament. By the way, it's been re-released under a different title, and I forgot to look it up. My apologies. But there is a uh there's a chapter in the book where he lists out every uh it's written by D.A. Carson, a call to spiritual reformation. Sorry. There's a chapter in the book where he lists out every prayer of Paul's uh that he wrote in the New Testament. And I got the idea that right outside of it, I would just write a real short summary of what he prayed for, right? Because Paul can be very wordy and it can be hard to like fit. Now, what did he say? Okay. So I just wrote out to the side what he actually prayed for. I want to rapid fire, I want to read you the uh the summary things that Paul actually prayed for in the New Testament. Okay. Here he says, I pray that they that they all may be saved. I pray that you would have unity. I pray that God would fill you with a joy, a peace, and a hope. Join me in struggling as you pray for me, that I may be rescued, so that I would be able to serve and my service would be acceptable to God. I pray that Christians, he's writing to the church, that you would know that you lack nothing. You lack nothing in the Spirit of God, and that you would walk worthy. I pray that you would understand that God is going to use your trials for others. I pray that you would walk worthy. Pray for my service. I pray that you would walk worthy in the midst of your trials. I pray that you would know God. Again, I pray that you would know God. I pray that you would declare the gospel. I pray that you would persevere. I pray that you would know God. And as you know God, that you would be able to discern God's will and then that you would walk worthy. I pray that you would have peace in trials. I pray that you would know God and that you would walk worthy. Pray for us as we preach the gospel. I pray that you would be filled with faith and love. I pray that you would be able to walk worthy through your sufferings. May God sanctify you and may He keep you blameless. Paul writes, I praise God because your faith is growing. I pray that you would walk worthy and that you would fulfill your purpose by walking in faith. I pray that you would be encouraged. I pray that you would be delivered from evil, that you would have peace, that you would have strength. I pray that your faith would be strengthened and that you would use the gifts that God has given you. Quick sampling. Okay. Now, what I noticed as I read through that and as I wrote out to the side, first of all, was how little Paul prayed for circumstances to be changed. Did you notice that? I mean, these churches are poor and they're being persecuted. What did he pray for? That they would know God. In the midst of their circumstances and their suffering, and that they would keep the faith, that they would walk worthy in the midst of that. Let me give you an example of this. Ephesians 1, 16 through 19. Paul says, I do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge of him. Okay? This is why I wrote out to the side. I told Jesus wordy, like to know God. That's what he's saying. I want you to know God. Listen to what he says. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you would know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory, of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe. I pray that you know God. This is how Paul prayed. Alright, so one, if you want to know how to pray intercessory, number one, give faith its priority in the midst of trials, okay? Give it its priority. Number two, pray God's promises. Okay? Especially if they are if they are a believer, pray God's promises over them. Okay? Recall our sheet. Pray that God would give them wisdom. You have to know God's promises, that God offers guidance and provision and peace. Number three. Do not be afraid to ask for good things. Okay? Do not be afraid to ask for good things. That is, don't just pray, Lord, your will be done. Okay? And that's it. Do not be afraid to ask for good things. Pray for breakthroughs. Like Abraham, plead your Savior's compassion and mercy. Right? Confidently stand in the gap. May it not be said that God wished to show mercy, that God wished to move, but didn't because no one asked, James 4.2. Or because no one stood in the gap, Ezekiel 22, verse 30. You say, all right, Pastor, how about this one? What about praying for healing? Well, time does not permit for me to give a dissertation on the subject of healing, but let me quickly say a few things. There is a major theological error in some circles that says it is always God's will to heal. And they quote Isaiah 53, verse 5, and says, by his stripes we are healed. And therefore the cross of Christ has accomplished all healing. When Lane and I, we couldn't get pregnant for the first seven years of our marriage, and early on we had a family member that came up to us and told us, barrenness was done away with at the cross, and you just need faith. That's stung, if I'm honest. Simply put, the error is not in saying that the cross has accomplished all healing. The cross has accomplished all healing. The error is stating when the perfection of healing comes. Because that perfection of healing, ultimate healing, comes in the end. At glorification, when Christ returns and comes and makes all things new. In the interim, we still get sick and we still die. So if your favorite faith healer wears glasses when he preaches, there's probably something amiss. It's true. You should look for that. You rule half of them out just with that. Did you know that Paul left one of his traveling companions on his missionary? He left someone behind because he was sick and could not continue. Did not Paul pray three times for the thorn in his flesh, his physical ailment, to be removed? But God replied, My grace is sufficient for you. So, believer, have wisdom. Your wholeness is on the other side of glory. And it is not always God's will to keep you on this side longer. That said, pray for healing. Ask for it. It's scriptural. It's scriptural. Now a lot of times in the West, God uses the means of medicine and medical intervention. But not always. I know of many medical reports that suddenly change, and the only explanation is God's healing. In India, where we were, we heard countless, I'm telling you, 20, 30 testimonies of people that came to faith and their family came to faith through healing. It was nothing. God's willingness to move in the darkness of India and to move through healing or in the Muslim world, seemingly through dreams and visions. It is like, okay, God moving incredibly. Now, I will tell you, there have been a few times in my own life that I firmly believed I was involved in a healing prayer. One of which I've told you many years ago, you probably forgot. It's all good. About 10 years ago, I went on a last minute stand-in on a mission trip to Guatemala. Like last minute emergency, can you go? Yes, I've filled in. And uh one day I I was there and I was I was digging a hole with a team of people to put in a uh uh a sewage system for for the church. Okay, what I can't remember the term right now. A septic system, thank you. All right, so we're putting in a septic system. Now, I have you ever dug a large hole? Like good good grief. It it is difficult. So we are spending days digging this hole. You know, a bunch of 20, 30-year-old men just digging like crazy. Well, I'm in the bottom of this hole, and suddenly the the pastor from a nearby church, that church came and says, Pastor, could you could you hop out of that hole? We need to go pray for someone. So I'm filthy, right? Just filthy, sweating, dirty, right? And I'm like, sure, let's go. And while we're on the way, he told me, I said, What are we praying for? He says, This lady has malaria. Now, I remember that distinctly because I was a last-minute stand-in for going to Guatemala for a mission trip, I didn't have time to take any of the malaria stuff. So it distinctly rings out in my mind, hey, you you have literally no protection. And and by the way, this lady has malaria. So we get to her house. It it wasn't medically diagnosed, all right? So fair enough. But we get to her house and and she is noticeably high fever. I mean, as high fever as it gets. And she begins to unfold her situation, and it is it is overwhelming her situation. Her daughter had left, she's a Christian trying to raise her granddaughter, her husband's sick, all sorts of things. And standing there on her front porch, broken over the destitute of the situation, we prayed. I prayed in English, he prayed in Spanish. And we did. I felt I felt the spirit of the Lord as we prayed, but I do often, and so we left. Next day, I'm back to dig a have I told you guys how hard it is to dig a hole? Good grief. I'm in my hole digging, and uh pastor comes and he says, Hey, look up. Do you see her over there? And I was like, What are you talking about? And there's a group of ladies that had come to the church to do something at the church, and there's what's a young lady that's that's dressed and normal, and he points to her and he says, That's her. And I was like, You gotta be kidding me. I I didn't recognize her at all. He's like, Yeah, she said the fever left her as soon as we prayed, and she went in the house and we left. Okay, praise God. I don't know. But the scripture commands it, this the scripture calls us forward to bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. Church. Why are we hesitant? To genuinely trust God in prayer and to intercede, to take the risk, to step out in faith, to say, look, I I can't control you, God, but it's not going to be because I don't ask. What would it look like if First Baptist Bernie grew considerably in service, in our small groups, one-on-one, in genuine intercessory prayer. Will you pray with me? Our Heavenly Father, we pause to praise you. There is no God like you. There is no God like you who spoke the universe into being and entered into creation and laid down the life of your Son so that we might know you, so that we might have ultimate redemption and healing, ultimate glorification. Every promise is ours in Jesus Christ. And yes, Father, we we struggle because we only have the first fruits and we long for all of it, but Father, may it not be because we do not believe, and may it not be because we do not pray fervently for all that you want to do in our midst. Father, stir up our faith. Show us, Father, so often we we just haven't seen. We haven't seen you move in prayer. Father, as we step out in faith, God, show us how to pray. Teach us, show us you you moving in power and might. We want nothing more than to see the glory of your kingdom and your name high and lifted up. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Church family, the praise team is gonna come and lead us in two final songs so that we have time to respond to whatever the Spirit of God has stirred in your heart, okay? We'll have ministers down here at the front who would love to pray with you. Would love to pray, would love to intercede with you. If you or a friend, if you want to come and you want to pour out your heart upon the altar, if you want to intercede for your loved ones and and your friends and neighbors, and you want help with that, come. Whatever the Spirit of God has stirred inside of you, be obedient. Would you stand?