Imagine a young worker makes a serious mistake at work that obviously will cost him his job. The boss is angry as he should and everyone knows the consequence of such a mistake. But then, the supervisor walks into the boss’s office, not to make excuses but to speak for the young worker. The supervisor puts his name on the line and says, “Please, give him another chance. I’ll take responsibility if this happens again.”

That supervisor didn’t have to do that. He could have stayed quiet and let the worker face the consequence of his action, but he didn’t.
This is how the heart of an intercessor should be.

A lot of times, when we hear the word “intercessor”, we prescribe it as a role for “fire Christians”, specific “prayer warriors” or for those who have been in the faith for so long.
An intercessor is one who stands in the gap for others while partnering with God in His redemptive work on earth.

Every believer is called to walk in this role, but is your heart truly the heart of an intercessor?
Do you have a heart that loves others sacrificially, a heart that refuses to be indifferent about the sufferings of others and carries their burdens, a heart that discerns God’s will for His people and for the earth—ready to stand in the gap.

In scripture, we see the heart of Moses towards the Israelites in Exodus 32.
The children of Israel had brought the wrath of God on themselves when they chose to make and worship a golden calf in Moses’ absence, disregarding all that God had done for them.

Exodus 32:7-10
New King James Version
7 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.

8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ”

9 And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!

10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”

These were the same people who had complained against Moses, questioned his leadership, and spoken about returning to Egypt.
Moses could have simply stepped aside and let God’s judgment befall them, but see his response to God:

Exodus 32:11-14 
New King James Version
11 Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: “LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people.

13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”

14 So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

Immediately Moses heard God, his response was to appeal for the people!
And look at the result: “So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.”
Moses took on the role of an intercessor and pleaded with God on behalf of the Israelites, and God heard him.

Even after that, Moses understood the gravity of what the Israelites had done, he returned to God and prayed:
Exodus 32:31-32 
New King James Version
31 Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold!

32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”

He was willing to bear their burden!
“Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book…”
This is what it means to be an intercessor; he was honest before God and had compassion for the people. He didn’t make excuses, instead He stood in the gap, even to the point of offering his own life.

God is looking for people who will refuse to be indifferent to the brokenness around them and who will stand in the gap even when it doesn’t benefit them.
You don’t need a special title or to be an acknowledged “prayer warrior”. You don’t need eloquent words or years of spiritual experience.

For you to intercede effectively and discern God’s plans for His people, your heart must carry the people’s burden. Be that outstretched hand for those who may have given up on themselves. Be someone who doesn’t look away from the troubles of others.

The world needs intercessors; people with hearts like Moses, who won’t let people perish.
Today, develop the heart of an intercessor. Let God strip away your indifference. Let Him give you compassion for the lost and the wayward. Let Him teach you to carry burdens that aren’t yours, to feel the weight of what grieves His heart.

Prayer Point
Father, help me to have the heart of an intercessor. Today, I do away with my indifference to the struggles around me. Teach me to carry the burden of others with compassion and persistence and give me the courage to love sacrificially.