The word ‘mourn’ in this Scripture isn’t referring to grieving over a problem or an unfortunate incident. The Lord Jesus was talking about something spiritual here; He was talking about the intercessors, those who intercede for individuals, groups or nations. Each time the Jews broke their covenant with Jehovah, they came under a curse. So whenever the prophets talked about mourning in the Old Testament, they were calling for intercession by the nation for a change.
When you intercede for the lost, you’re actually identifying with them. The same thing applies when you’re interceding for the sick. At times you seem to feel the pain and misery that sick one is going through, as though you were in the same condition. It’s a form of identifying with other people’s condition. In 1 Corinthians 2:16 the Bible says we have the mind of Christ, which means when we talk to the Lord like this, we’re bringing forth His mind and the Holy Spirit will soon comfort your heart. The prophets of old called on the people to mourn for the nation whenever they sinned and turned away from God. After they had fully repented and God had accepted their repentance, the prophets would once again come up to comfort the people with the Word of God, saying to them, “Be comforted because the Lord has restored you, the Redeemer will come and glory is coming back to Zion!”
My friends and I started interceding for the Church, the sick, the lost and the nations of the world right from our teenage days. We were drawn to this by the Holy Spirit, and many times God told us about the coming days, when the anointing of God’s Spirit would come mightily upon us to preach the gospel with great power and bring many from darkness into light. So you see, we didn’t just come about what we’re doing today by accident. They are the result of prophecies that comforted us years ago. We are living in that comfort of the Holy Spirit today, praise be to God!
