Before The Throne
Obviously, the phrase itself isn’t the problem; it’s when it’s used for absolution, not action.
God is on the throne. God uses His people to carry out His work. These facts are not mutually exclusive. Throughout the Bible, we see God telling His people to petition Him to move to solve a problem. The oft-quoted corporate prayer verse, II Chronicles 7:14, actually is nestled between two verses we don’t hear so much:
"If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. "Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. (II Chronicles 7:13-15)
Even if the Lord Himself causes calamity on the land because of people’s sin, He will turn at the sound of prayers. The same thing happened in Nineveh.
Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them… "Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish." When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it. (Jonah 3:5, 9-10)
Time and again people tell me, “Well, God’s on the throne so it’ll all be okay” or “It’ll work out because God is in control.” These statements, without us doing our part, are actually an invitation to disaster. In telling us to cry out to God, the prophet Joel says, “Who knows whether He will not turn and relent” (Joel 2:14). And then he admonishes us to “Blow a trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly” (v. 15), and essentially have a massive sobering gathering of intercession, suspending our “fun” for a bit to petition Heaven.
God is certainly on the throne. That statement is as true as can be. And it’s because He is that when we go to Him, it moves things on earth. If Jesus Himself “lives to make intercession” (Heb. 7:25), to follow Him is to do likewise.
The fact that God is on the throne is what makes our intercession more than wishful thinking or ungrounded hope. It’s our confidence He will hear us and answer. But it’s never a reason not to pray.
There exists no absolution from intercession if we want action. While it’s not necessarily logical to our human nature that God will act because we pray, and may not act if we don’t, it’s the way He has established His kingdom. Certainly there are other things we do, as well, but skipping intercession makes the rest of what we do to end abortion the same social justice system that Satan is counterfeiting.
About the Author
Susan Tyrrell leads Bound4LIFE in Gadsden, AL and works with prayer ministries in the state. She completed her doctorate this year in educational psychology from Texas A&M University, and she teaches college English to support her prayer habit.
