For us, in us, and by us: Intercessory prayer in action
This article is the second in a series on congregational prayer practices. We hope that these articles inspire congregations to correct this imbalance of liturgical priorities, especially as it regards intercessory prayer. You can catch up on the conversation with the first article here.
The pressures to cut back on the time given to congregational intercessions have followed the church throughout most of its history. Sadly, for reasons that articles later in this series will dig into, congregational leaders have tended—at least in some times and places—to view congregational intercessions as optional. Before looking at specific cases that describe how we got to this point, let us begin with a theological perspective of how intercessions are meant to function in the body of Christ.
For this we turn to Augustine, the fifth-century North African bishop who wrote extensively about the church, including its role in the world. Among his vast body of work is a set of rarely read commentaries on the book of Psalms. In English those books are known as the Expositions of the Psalms, and in them Augustine systematically works through each psalm in numerical order, offering a variety of interpretations and applications to their meanings.
The commentary on Psalm 85 (which is actually Psalm 86 according to the numbering system in our modern Bibles) is where Augustine works out a key aspect of his theology about the body of Christ, and it is built around the practice of prayer:
The one sole savior of his body is our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who prays for us, prays in us, and is prayed to by us. He prays for us as our priest, he prays in us as our head, and he is prayed to by us as our God. Accordingly we must recognize our voices in him, and his accents in ourselves.
Part of Augustine’s brilliance, in this passage and throughout his wider body of work, comes from his ability to work in groups of threes. Consider how this concept of threes works when it comes to an ordinary conversation between human beings. An interaction between two people can only move in two directions: from person A to person B and back again. But adding just one more person to that conversation (person C) allows for many more potential connections (A to B, B to C, A to C, C to B, etc.). Just one additional person creates many new directions for those voices to speak and to be heard. This kind of exponential expansion is how Augustine describes Christ in relationship to the church. He names three roles for Christ: priest, head, and God. That three-ness of relationships allows for prayers to be offered in multiple directions, in a set of three movements: Christ prays for us, in us, and is prayed to by us.
Augustine’s description of Christ’s relationship to the church paints a picture of an interactive body. That is, the church’s very nature, by being connected to Christ, consists of multiple paths of dynamic movement. Prayers move not just on one level or in only in two directions (human-to-God or God-to-human); the church and Christ both speak with multiple voices. Christ speaks to God the Father on behalf of the church, interceding for us as our priest (Hebrews 4:14-5:10; John 17:20-26). Christ also speaks within the church itself in his role as the head of that body (Colossians 1:17-20; Ephesians 1:22-23). This is all while the church prays to Christ, because he is the God which the church worships (Matthew 14:33; Revelation 5:11-14).
Consider the implications of these multiple and dynamic relationships for the church’s intercessory prayers. For every prayer that is offered we assume that there is someone listening. In some cases that speaker is a human being who “sends” their prayer to God, the listener. In other cases, God is the one speaking, with human creatures serving as the listeners. As Augustine’s meditations on Psalm 85 point out, Christ is both a hearer and a speaker—the first by receiving our prayers as God, and the second by praying in the church as our head. His role as priest incorporates acts of both listening and speaking by receiving our prayers and extending them to the Father.
The church, then, prompted by Christ’s high priestly role, is called to both listen and speak in its intercessions. Congregations are embedded in local cultures and societies, all of which are damaged by sin and corruption. We therefore listen to the injustices that we hear about from our neighbors, and then we speak about them, asking God to intervene. Christ our priest, in turn, speaks these prayers that he hears from us and extends them on our behalf to his Father. In short, a church that intercedes as part of its liturgical actions invites dynamic interactions on several levels. The church, as listener, finds itself connected to the world. As speaker, it finds itself connected to Christ. Because Christ is God, which implies a lordship and sovereignty over all things, the church finds itself drawn even further into the world, listening more closely to the voices of the wounded, sick, imprisoned, and victimized. Those needs will inevitably seem overwhelming, and the church will be increasingly out of its depth to solve them under its own power. Therefore, the praying congregation will continually envision its high priest as both head and God who empowers the church to act boldly and wisely in the affairs of the world.
The dynamism inherent in Augustine’s threefold formulation is a necessary component of our praying. The beauty of what Augustine describes here is that these multiple voices, moving in many directions, do not conflict with each other. None is overwhelmed by another; none “talks over” any of the others. The voices are distinct, yet orderly. We could think of it this way: within the church there is a veritable symphony of voices, not unlike an orchestra. Melody and harmony lines move in concord with each other, all from a variety of instruments with their unique sound qualities and pitch levels. When the church prays in Christ, its many voices are also coordinated so that they work together. Rather than disorder—which is what the anxious voices of the world produce—the intercessory prayers of the church, according to Augustine, are harmonious.
In the following articles in this series we will look at specific historical case studies showing the pressures on the church to limit these interactive and dynamic liturgical moments. Augustine’s words provide insight into what intercessory prayer should be. Because the church’s prayers are multi-vocal and multi-directional, that requires numerous listeners, in addition to multiple speakers.