Product Code Database
Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of prayer on behalf of others, or asking a saint in heaven to pray on behalf of oneself or for others.
The Apostle Paul's exhortation to Saint Timothy specified that intercession prayers should be made for all people.
St. Ignatius and the other church fathers, such as Paul the Apostle, who were keen on intercessory prayer based this practice on Jesus' own teachings which required that one pray for others, especially one's enemies:
According to Lionel Swain, of St. Edmund's College, Ware, St. Paul believed intercession to be one of the most important aspects of faith and praying life, as praying for others is a recurring theme in his works.John Greehy, John Quinlan, Lionel Swain and S. Purcell. "Homiletic Notes", 17 The Furrow Vol. 19, No. 11, Supplement: The Bible, No. 6 (Autumn, 1968), pp. 14–19 Prayer acts as a way for St. Paul to acknowledge God's power. Intercessory prayer also acts as a way for the Apostle to "share in ... the Father's redemptive love"."Homiletic Notes" 17 Paul believed that prayer transformed the person doing the praying, as much as the one being prayed for, which creates a stronger bond between him and God.
Prof. Dr Johannes van Oort, Professor Extraordinarius in the Department of Church History and Church Polity of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, adds that, in addition to praying for wisdom, the early church was very much involved with different , one of which being healing. Praying for other people's illnesses was another way that intercessory prayer was important in the early church, as healing was a sign of "the power of God's Kingdom".van Oort, Johannes. "The Holy Spirit and the Early Church: The Experience of the Spirit". Hervormde Teologiese Studies 68.1 (2012): 1–7. This gift of healing is specifically mentioned, among the other charismata, as a sign of being a true Christian by Irenaeus in his text, Against Heresies.
A very powerful intercessory prayer scripture in the Bible is Bible Verse James 5:16: Pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
/ref> Sullivan goes on:Patricia A. Sullivan, "A Reinterpretation of Invocation and Intercession of the Saints", Theological Studies, 66.2 (2005) 381–400. cdn.theologicalstudies.net/66/66.2/66.2.6.pdf. See also Lumen gentium, 51.
When we ask a saint to intercede for us, what is happening at a deeper level is that we are taking refuge in the all-enfolding community of the redeemed, approaching God thru saintly symbols of Christ's victory and of our hope. Saints want always what God wants, what is best for us whether we pray for it or not. They are in a perpetual attitude of praise for God’s love and care, to which we join ourselves, praying, more precisely, with them rather than to them. The value of our petitions is that they turn us in confidence toward the God who loves us, allowing God’s work to be more effective in us, and thru us in others.It would be anathema to ask God to try any harder to do good. By invocation of a saint "we take refuge in faith in the all-enfolding community of all the redeemed," where "each is responsible for all". They are "creative models of holiness".Karl Rahner, "Why and How Can We Venerate the Saints?" Theological Investigations 8, trans. David Bourke (New York, Seabury), 1977, 23.Karl Rahner, "The Church of the Saints," Theological Investigations 3, trans. Karl-H. and Boniface Kruger (New York, Seabury), 1974. 100.
The Quran says that the pre-Islamic Arab pagan gods will not be able to intercede with God on behalf of humankind,See , and that "the guilty" ( al-mujrimīn, ) will not benefit from any intercession on the Day of Judgment.See Other passages that deny the efficacy of intercession include and . Still others say that God is the only intercessor (, ; ; ). However, the Quran is not to be understood literally and an Tafsir is necessary for proper interpretation.
For example, "intercession is mentioned in the Qurʾān with respect to angels praying for the believers and the Muhammad praying for erring but repentant Muslims."Hoffman, Valerie J., “Intercession”, in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC. Furthermore, it became an orthodox Islamic doctrine or "cardinal belief" that "Muḥammad will intercede for all Muslims on the Day of Resurrection." While this particular tenet practically remained unchallenged throughout Islamic history, the widespread Sunni Islam and Shia practice of asking deceased prophets and saints for intercession by praying at their tombs have become contentious issues in the modern Islamic world. All these different types of intercession are often labelled by Salafi/Wahhabi Muslims as a type of polytheism, in a manner akin to the attitude of many towards the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox practice of saint-intercession.
meta-study of the literature in the field have been performed showing evidence only for no effect or a potentially small effect. For instance, a 2006 meta analysis on 14 studies concluded that there is "no discernible effect" while a 2007 systemic review of intercessory prayer reported inconclusive results, noting that 7 of 17 studies had "small, but significant, effect sizes" but the review noted that the most methodologically rigorous studies failed to produce significant findings.K. Masters, G. Spielmans, J. Goodson "Are there demonstrable effects of distant intercessory prayer? A meta-analytic review." Annals of Behavioral Medicine 2006 Aug;32(1):21–26. [2]David R. Hodge, "A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature on Intercessory Prayer" in Research on Social Work Practice March 2007 vol. 17 no. 2 174–187 Article abstract Full length article
|
|
