The prayers of the righteous avail much.
Intercession is not just praying for someone else.
It is often called "standing in the gap," which is what intercession is - it is laying yourself down over the broken place of the bridge, stretching yourself out so that your brother or sister can safely walk over the bridge from bondage into freedom.
That bondage may be illness, hurt, pain, depression, brokenness, addiction - whatever it is that is in the way of that person's freedom...
That bondage causes a gap in their bridge such that they can not pass over. Therefore, they cannot live the healthy, fulfilled life that God has for them.
But, prayer - a willingness to cry out to God on that person's behalf, an urgent call to God for someone else's freedom - that prayer reaches God's ear, and through that intercession, that passionate beseeching of Heaven on behalf of a fellow brother or sister - that person is brought out of pain, out of hurt, illness or addiction, to a place of freedom.
I've witnessed it so many times, and I am reminded that my prayers for others are a small thing, compared to what Jesus, the #UltimateIntercessor did. He laid down His life in painful sacrifice for our sins, so that we could cross the bridge to freedom.
If I want to be like Him, I have to have a heart to intercede for others; I must be willing to cover the gap in their bridge to freedom.
