Heads bowed, hands clasped, the words are spoken softly and gently. A prayer is lifted up for this need, for that person, for those in trouble or affliction. There is need, want, despair — for someone or for many. A hope is voiced that God will intervene, help, safeguard, or assist. Then, with these needs and wants laid before God, the prayer ends, "In Jesus' name we pray. Amen." That's it; that's the assurance that God will hear us, for this prayer is being offered in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the one interceding for us before the throne of God.

To offer sacrifice was one of the primary roles of the high priest, standing there before the very throne of God in the temple. To stand on the edge between the sacred and the profane and to serve as the intermediary between God a…