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Abraham And Intercessory Prayer


The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, continues his catechesis on prayer this week by turning to the Old testament and the prayer of Abraham. Abraham uses intercessory prayer to ask God not to destroy the city of Sodom. The Holy Father points out that by doing this, Abraham appeals to God's justice, but also to his mercy.
Praying for others is perhaps the most important gift we can give. Scripture, along with the Communion of Saints, provide the benefits and graces of this type of prayer. Abraham, our father in faith, is one of the very first examples of this type of prayer.
You can read Pope Benedict's catechesis here.
"This aspect of prayer[intercessory prayer], said the Pope, reflects God’s unfailing mercy for his creation."
~Pope Benedict XVI
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Victor S E Moubarak said…
"Praying for others is perhaps the most important gift we can give."

I so agree.

By praying for others we show God our generosity of spirit.

God bless you always.
May 18, 2011 at 2:21 PM
Mary N. said…
Abraham's prayer to the Lord is my mother's very favorite scripture and she prays this way all the time. My mother has been given a number of "prophetic words" about the times we live in and God keeps leading her to pray in the manner of Abraham's intercessory prayer for the city of Sodom. I would like to share some of my mother's "words" on my blog but I am worried that people will simply look at the negative aspect instead of focusing on the positive message of what God is asking us to do to prevent things from happening and the beautiful message of an "era of peace" that will follow a purification period (which we are already in). What are your thoughts on this, if you don't mind me asking? I know you pray a lot, go to Eucharistic Adoration regularly and to Mass frequently so I thought you would be a great person to ask advice about this matter. I don't want people to be frightened but neither do I want them to be unprepared spiritually. My mother has "direct hits" quite often so I take her words very seriously. Some of what she has spoken of has already happened but some have not yet. She does not have apparitions but God has given her some fairly strong charisms (which is part of the reason I am writing about them on my blog). My mother would never, ever, make things up. She is a strong Catholic and head-over-heels in love with the Lord. I should have e-mailed you instead but it simply "poured out" after reading your post about intercessory prayer.
By the way, great post :) Obviously you can tell it affected me deeply. I'll check out the link, too. Intercessory prayer is more important now than ever before. God bless you, Karin.
May 19, 2011 at 11:34 AM
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