There are perhaps seven functions of prayer: worship, praise, thanksgiving, confession, intercession, supplication, and advocacy. Most of these we are familiar with. However, there is one aspect perhaps not so commonly utilized–advocacy. This is one of the great ongoing ministries of the Lord Jesus “out of this world” on behalf of “His own…in the world.” “We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 Jn. 2:1). This beautiful word, translated there as advocate, has invested in it also the ideas of comfort, consolation, encouragement, all for the “alleviation of grief” (W. E. Vine).
Nothing grieves the child of God more than the consciousness of having sinned. Beyond the act committed is the more serious fact within. The Holy Spirit is grieved, the indwelling Saviour is offended, and the Father is displeased. Fellowship restored and forgiveness granted comes by honest confession (1 Jn. 1:9). Yet there may remain a sense of not enjoying the smile of the Father. When we remember that turned towards the Father is our Advocate as a comforting presence, speaking on our behalf, our comfort returns.
The adversary speaks against us to God, always presenting us in the worst light. Our blessed Advocate always presents us to the Father in the best light–all that we are in Him. We see this in the Lord’s mighty prayer in John 17. How would we have prayed for the disciples? There is Peter; perhaps our prayer would be for him, “Lord, I pray for dear Peter. He is a good brother, zealous and energetic, but he is a bit impulsive at times. He so often jumps in to speak before we can say a word. Lord, please help Peter in this.”
Then there were James and John, “sons of thunder” (Mk. 3:17). How would we pray for them? “Lord, I pray for them, such good brethren, but a bit hot-headed. Remember how they wanted to call down fire from heaven on the Samaritans? Help them, Lord.”
There, too, was Andrew, quiet Andrew, never preaching, just a “bringer.” He brought the lad with his loaves and fishes; he brought the Greeks who wanted to see Jesus; he brought his brother to the Lord. “Lord, I pray for Andrew. Make him more public in his witness; help him to speak out.”
But how did the Master pray for them? He presented them before the Father in the best possible light, not mentioning one flaw (vv. 6-9). That is true advocacy.
Job did this for his friends. Those men really gave him a hard time. They misjudged him, charging him with secret sin. They judged him in the light of reason, tradition, and ethics, only imprisoning him in discouragement, frustration, and self-vindication. Then at last the Lord takes up his case, tells them to go to Job, and “My servant Job shall pray for you.”
How would we have prayed for those “friends” after all that they had done? “O God, remember how they judged me for sin I had not committed; remember their slander, their pious self-righteousness. O God, pay back to them what they so cruelly did to me.”
That was not Job’s prayer. The Lord knew he would still pray for them as “friends” and seek their blessing. The evidence that Job’s prayer was a godly advocacy is in Job 42:10. “The Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends.” Gone were the bars of his bitterness against them, gone were the chains of his anger and frustration. He was free of all that, and the Lord’s approval was evident in restored blessing.
What a healthful thing is this ministry of advocacy. When last did we engage in it? Bring your brothers and sisters (wives, husbands, children, too) and present them to the Father in the best light with no reference to their failures. Make them beautiful before God, even that brother, that sister. That is advocacy.
Of course, this is more than mere sentimental honey on the offering, manufactured sweetness. It is possible only as we enter into an appreciation of the “riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph.1:18). May God deliver us from the slandering tongue, the godless gossip, the critical spirit, and the shrivelled soul, and may we learn the holy art of advocacy. We will discover fellowship with the One who could say in figure of His beloved, “Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee” (Song of Sol. 4:7).