Jesus Prays for You: A Tender Truth for Tired Hearts

Dannah Gresh: Kristen Wetherell offers this tender truth about Jesus.

Kristen Wetherell: He’s praying for us, because it is only by His strength that we will make it all the way home!

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Heaven Rules, for October 27, 2026. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Today, we’re continuing to explore the present-day ministry of Jesus. It didn’t end when He ascended to heaven. He continues to serve us and labor for our good from the right hand of the Father.

One of the most precious ways He does this is through His ministry of intercession. That’s a fancy theological term for something so beautifully simple. Put plainly, it means that Jesus prays for you. Yes, YOU. You personally. He’s looking upon your particular needs and bringing those to the Father. Wow, what a truth! 

The interceding ministry of Christ is rooted in His role as the Great High Priest. In Old Testament days, the levitical priests would need to offer sacrifices, prayers, and praises on Israel’s behalf because they were the only ones allowed into God’s presence. But when Jesus came, He flipped all that upside down. Here’s Nancy to tell us more about that. This message is from her series, “The Wonder of His Name.”

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: The Old Testament priests were sinful men. They had to offer sacrifices for their own sins before they could offer sacrifices for the people. But Jesus, the Scripture tells us, was holy. He was innocent. He never sinned. He had no need to offer a sacrifice for Himself. The only sacrifice He offered was all for others. It was for us. It was on our behalf.

The Old Testament priests offered sacrificial animals. Those animals could never take away sin. They had no saving merit for sinners. They foreshadowed the one, future sacrifice that would fulling atone for sin.

God accepted guilty sinners (back then) on the future hope in the work of Christ that was anticipated in those sacrifices.

On the other hand, as the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus offered up Himself, the perfect sacrifice for every sin that had ever been committed, or ever would be committed. His body was the sacrifice for sin. And, He was the priest that offered that sacrifice to God. He's the sacrifice, and He is the priest.

The Old Testament priests entered the presence of the God in the temple once a year on the behalf of the people, because the people couldn't go in there themselves. But when Jesus offered His perfect sacrifice for sin, the temple curtain, the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple, it was torn in two from top to bottom by opening the way of access to God in heaven.

Turn to Hebrews 10:19. This is where we read about that.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near. (vv. 19–21) 

The Old Testament Jews never heard that . . . draw near. What they heard was stay away! Don't come near; you'll die. This is because of Christ's sacrifice that we can draw near with a true heart with full assurance of faith. No more barriers between us and God.

Jesus, the God/man. He came to bring a holy God and sinful man together, to restore us to fellowship and right relationship. Jesus satisfied the wrath of God by offering up His life on the cross. There’s no more sacrifice needed for sin. We don’t have to go through another person to get to God. We go directly to God, not on our own merit, but through Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest.

Now, His sacrifice on the cross is a finished work. It was a once and for all sacrifice. And you’ll read that phrase numerous times in the book of Hebrews. Once and for all. But Jesus work on our behalf as a priest is not over. He still serves as our Great High Priest today in heaven. He has an ongoing ministry. He intercedes, and He advocates. Let me just say a few words in relation to His priestly ministry of intercession for us in heaven.

You may remember that the Old Testament priest wore a garment that was called an ephod. E-P-H-O-D. That ephod had an onyx stone on each shoulder on which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. Six names on one shoulder, six names on the other shoulder. Then they wore another garment that was called the breast piece of judgment. And on that piece of cloth were set twelve stones that were engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

And the Scripture tells us about this in Exodus 28. It says:

Aaron [who was the first high priest] shall bear their names [the names of the people] before the Lord on his two shoulders . . . [and] on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord. (Ex. 28:12, 29)

Remember we said that was a role of the Old Testament priest to offer up prayers on behalf of the people. And in case they would ever forget, they had the names of those twelve tribes on their shoulders and on their hearts. As they went before the Lord, they would remember the people to the Lord. They would pray for the people. They’d make intercession before God on behalf of the people.

Well, Hebrews tells us that as our Great High Priest, Jesus is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (see Heb 7:25) That’s what a priest does. That’s what a priest does. He bears our names on His shoulders and on His heart. And as He goes before the throne of God, He carries us to the Father. He prays for us.

Oswald Sanders has said in his book on The Incomparable Christ,

We could not live the Christian life for a day were it not that He lives to intercede for us. . . . There is no personal problem for which He has no solution, no enemy from whom He cannot rescue, no sin from which He cannot deliver—because He ever lives to make intercession for us.

And because He lives to intercede for us always, there’s not a single day or hour in our lives that we cannot endure and press on. As we pour out our needs to Him, our need for direction, our need for wisdom, our struggle with indwelling sin. He sympathizes, He understands, He gets us, and He makes intercession for us to the Father. He has been here. He is in the flesh. He knows. He’s walked this earth. He’s lived this life. He knows our needs, and He prays for us.

So in Hebrews 8:1 it says: “Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.” Jesus, our Great High Priest—He mediates between us and God. He approaches God on our behalf. He makes us right with God. He prays for us. He continually leads us into the presence of God by the virtue of His perfect sacrifice and His intercession on our behalf.

Knowing Jesus as our Great High Priest gives us a basis for confidence. We don’t have to just slink into the presence of God and worry that He might not like us that day or He might be mad at us because of something we did. We can go with confidence and assurance in the name of Jesus our Great High Priest because the price for that sin has been paid. He is the sacrifice and He is the priest.

Hebrews 4:14:

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (vv. 14–15)

Because He took on our humanity, because He was tempted, He sympathizes with us when we are weak and tempted. And because He never sinned, He is able to help us when we are tempted and when we need grace to go on—the grace of God. He is surely a “merciful and faithful high priest” (Heb. 2:17).

So Hebrews 4:16:

Therefore let us then with confidence draw near [draw near, draw near] to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Dannah: Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, reminding us that Jesus is our Great High Priest. Isn’t it sweet that we can go to the Lord in confidence, praying to Him whenever and wherever—about whatever? And yet, when we feel too weary to pray for ourselves, Christ picks up those burdens and brings them to the Father on our behalf. Such good news, right?!

If you’re tired today, weighed down with sins or sorrows, Jesus is your Great High Priest, and He delights to intercede for you.

If you’re a mom, you probably know what it is to feel tired. Kristen Wetherell is right there with you. She’s a pastor’s wife, mother, and author of the book Humble Moms. She and I had a conversation about how this sweet truth that Christ intercedes for us applies to motherhood. I’d love to share part of that chat with you. Here’s Kristen.

Kristen: I once heard my pastor say as well, “Imagine if you could hear Jesus praying for you in the next room. Wouldn’t that give you strength?” I just loved that, so I think we have wonderful insight here into that ministry.

Dannah: Let’s open our Bibles to John 17 and read some of that because it’s such a beautiful thing. He’s clearly, in the beginning verses, praying for the disciples. In verse 9 He says, 

I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me [the believers], for they are yours.

And at verses 20 and 21 He says, 

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

He’s talking about me. He’s talking about you. Mind boggling! And you’re saying He’s doing that for us right now.

Kristen: What a sweet gift, to think that the Son of God is thinking about me personally and praying for me. That will give us strength on hard days. You know, I don’t always find myself literally thinking about this throughout the day. Sometimes God gives me the grace to think about this.

But oftentimes, it’s in hindsight. I get to the end of a long day, and I’m just kind of breathing out, “Thanks for helping me get through this day.” Because some days just feel like that! They’re not all like that, but some days do feel that way.

Dannah: I saw a meme the other day of a little boy walking up to a school bus and he gets about two feet away and then he just sits down and plops backwards! And I was like, “That’s how I feel this day ended for me! I’m trying to get on the bus to go home, and I’m like, ‘Uh, I can’t go any further!’” Jesus is interceding for you on those days.

The way Jesus prays here in John 17, there are some things here for us to learn as moms about how we can intercede for and pray for our children, don’t you think?

Kristen: I absolutely think so! I think that we can let His prayers shape ours, even as we realize that we’re the one praying to Him, right? We’re the one asking Him to do what only He can do in the hearts of our kids: save them!

But, yes, I loved when you mentioned about Him praying for all those who will believe. And it seems like the primary prayer of His in this chapter is protection from evil. So He says in John 17:15: 

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

So Jesus is well aware of what we’re up against, what our kids up against. It’s often the triple threat: the world, the flesh and the devil. And so He’s praying for us, because it is only by His strength that we will make it home!

Dannah: Yes. As a mom, when you look at raising your children in this world, right now, a very post-Christian world; it’s no longer a country that is affirming or welcoming to belief in Jesus Christ, especially belief in the Word.

I read a recent survey of the beliefs of Americans, and 67% of parents of children under the age of eighteen said they’re Christian. But when they were surveyed more deeply, only 2% of them actually had beliefs that lined up with the Word of God.

Kristen: Oh wow!

Dannah: That’s what you’re parenting in! So, what are some of the things that feel evil or frightening to you as a mom, that you need protection from?

Kristen: The pervasive, post-Christian worldview. So the “water” that our kids are swimming in . . . While there were drops of that water when I was growing up, I was not swimming in it. They are swimming in a totally different river.

Dannah: That’s a good picture. 

Kristen: Yes, and what an opportunity and a high calling for us to make our homes these safe places that are surrounded by Christ’s worldview, a biblical worldview, where nothing’s off the table. You come through our doors, you ask whatever questions you need to ask.

We talk about these things here because we know the truth, and we know what reality is. And we have the Son of God praying for us as we do that, and as we seek to do that for our kids.

Dannah: This post-Christian worldview is not working for kids. You have kids who are extremely confused about their gender, extremely confused about sexuality. It’s not like when they’re thirteen or fifteen or sixteen like when we were kids. It’s when they’re eight. They’re having to enter into a conversation they’re absolutely not ready for.

They’re confused about good and evil, what’s true and what’s not true, because truth is being erased. If you can be male if you’re really female, then what other truth/facts don’t really matter? I think the epidemic of depression, anxiety, and stress that we’re seeing in children today is a result of their confusion.

They say that the average child between the ages of seven and twelve scores as high on anxiety scales as those who were put into inpatient treatment in the 1960s. But we’re just saying, “That’s normal. This is how all the kids are.” Well, it isn’t how all the kids are. But it’s the evidence of evil infiltrating our worldview system, in their lives.

One very, very liberal left-leaning thinker wrote about her concern for girls. She said, “Ironically, I don’t know what to do with this.” Because she would be very pro-choice, pro-gay, make up whatever gender you want.

And yet she said, “I cannot reconcile the fact that the girls I treat as a therapist who are the least depressed, the least anxious, the least stressed are the religiously active evangelical kids.” Now, it’s not that they didn’t have problems, because they were coming to see her, but she could see a difference. Truth matters! We’ve got to pray for our children to be protected!

Kristen: Right! And that’s another thing that Jesus prays for in this passage, that the disciples—and we as Christians—would anchor ourselves in the truth. When you have an anchor in the truth, you’re not going to be tossed about by every wind of evil doctrine. You’re not going to be deceived by what the world says is your truth. You have the truth!

Dannah: Okay, this is exciting! I feel like we’re making a list here. So, first, Jesus prays for protection from the evil one. Second, He prays for them to be anchored in truth, and He says, “Your Word is truth.” Right?

Kristen: That’s right.

Dannah: I often tell young girls, “You can’t know the truth unless you open your Bible. John 8:31 32.” We love verse 32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” But we forget that verse 31 says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” And then, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” We’ve got to be in the Word! So, what else do you see? How else does Christ pray for us in these passages? 

Kristen: That’s right! Well, we see that verse 26 says, “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” This is astounding!

So Jesus is praying to His Father with His disciples, and He’s talking about this eternal trinitarian love between Father, Son, and Spirit that has always existed being in you and in me. It really is mind-blowing! I cannot comprehend this.

Perhaps that’s why Paul prays for the “strength to comprehend [along] with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of] . . . the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that [we would] be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:18–19).

It’s mind-blowing that Jesus is actually praying that we would grasp not just on a head level but on a heart level—tasting, seeing the love of God for us. And isn’t that what we want most? Not only for ourselves, but for our kids, is that they would be so filled with the Holy Spirit who pours God’s love into our hearts that they would love Him, that they would abide, that they would love the truth, that the truth would set them free. You know, it all really comes to this prayer, that our kids would love Christ.

Dannah: You know, there’s one more thing in these verses that I think we can go back to. It’s in John 17:17 where we were talking about Jesus’ praying that we would know truth. As part of that, He also prays for their sanctification. Could that be the fourth thing? He prays for them to be sanctified. What does that mean?

Kristen: So, growth in Christ-likeness, looking more like Him, being set apart as holy to the Lord. And what a sweet thing that Jesus not only won’t abandon us as we pursue holiness, but that He prays for us. Then He gives us His Spirit to empower this sanctification.

God works, and we work. We’re in the Word, and then the Holy Spirit uses the Word to convict us of sin or anxiety or whatever else we might be struggling with, and then sharpens us by that Word to make us more like Jesus. So, He’s praying that we’ll look more like Him.

Dannah: Wow, I don’t know about you but I am feeling so encouraged. I so enjoyed that conversation with Kristen. It is sweet to be reminded not only that Jesus prays for us, but what He prays for us. 

• Jesus prays for protection from the Evil One. 
• Jesus prays for us to be in His Word and know truth. 
• Jesus prays that we would know His love. (That’s my favorite!)
• And Jesus is praying for sanctification and heart-transformation in our lives.

And we get to reflect his heart by praying these things for others! Maybe that’s the takeaway for today as we close. Imitate Christ by interceding for your kids, your family, your friends, your neighbors. I’m not sure there’s a more meaningful way to love them than this.

We often refer to ourselves as a prayer ministry here at Revive Our Hearts. We believe in the power of prayer, and we would be so honored to intercede for you. Did you know you can submit prayer requests at our website? Just visit ReviveOurHearts.com/prayer to fill out that form. When you do, one of our team members will bring that request to the Lord. 

Now, don’t forget, this month’s gift for a donation amount is still available—but only for a few more days! Let me tell you, it is a good one. Nancy has released an Advent devotional titled Consider Jesus: Meditations on the Person and Work of Christ. It’s a meaningful resource designed to help you fix your eyes on Jesus all December long, and it’s yours when you give. Visit ReviveOurHearts.com to request your copy, or call us at 1-800-569-5959. 

Tomorrow, we’ll fix our eyes on Jesus together once again. It’s our last day in this “Consider Jesus” series of ours (but if you’re a regular listener, you know that’s what we always seek to do around here). If your circumstances are causing you to scratch your head and search for wisdom that’s higher than your own, there’s good news waiting for you in tomorrow’s episode.

Please be back for Revive Our Hearts.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

All Scripture is taken from the ESV.

*Offers available only during the broadcast of the podcast season.