We are the church. Described as a society, family, and structure, we are “…fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” Described as a body, individual believers relate to each other as Jesus does to the whole: “…all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”
So we pray for the church, and one another in it. With the four friends who bring a paralytic to Jesus opening the context, and Elijah’s prayers for the covenantal people of God closing it, James urges believers in the nascent church to confess their sins one to another, “and pray one for another, that you may be healed.” When the church is blessed, I give thanks. When the church sins, I confess. Only the Messiah atones. But every little messiah intercedes.
We identify with our nationality, too; for us, as American. Patriotic commitment to a nation-state is modern, but dual citizenship for believers is not. Per Peter: “Fear God. Honor the emperor.”
To the extent we identify as American, we pray not only as strangers in a nation distinct from us, but as part of it. We seek forgiveness and favor for our country as Daniel does for his people: “O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act.” Or we do it as Job for his children. Daniel prays after Israel’s almost total destruction; Job, before his children’s. But since there is still some savory salt and shining light, we are blessed not only to offer prayers of contrition and repentance, but also of gratitude and grace.
To a day and a week being more like the one who showed us his right, shouldered our wrong, and “always lives to make intercession” for us.