Prayer To Prepare For The Ministry of Intercession

An Intercessory Prayer – Encouraging Others

Have you ever felt an unexplained burden on your heart to pray for the masses, for unnamed others, for your community or the world at large? The Bible is filled with examples of men and women who lifted up others in prayer, and Ephesians 6:18 tells us to: pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. 

What is Intercession and Intercessory Prayer?

The primary principle of intercession is simply to tell God what He tells us to tell Him as the means of releasing His power. He tells us what to pray in His Word. We can pray the Bible. It is profoundly simple. Intercession is God’s brilliant strategy for including the saints in ruling with Him in power. Its mystery is in its weakness, simplicity, humility, and accessibility to all.

God has chosen intercession as the primary means in which He releases His power now and forever. Jesus operated in the principle of intercession when He created the earth by speaking the Word to the Father (Genesis 1). He releases His power now and will rule the nations forever in partnership with His people through intercession.

• Intercession causes us to internalize God’s Word and changes us.
• Intercession unites our heart to people and places we pray for.
• Intercession renews our hope and faith.
• Intercession imparts life (John 6:63).
• Intercession makes a long-term impact beyond this age (Rev. 5:8, 8:1-6).
• Intercession humbles us.
• Intercession changes the spiritual atmosphere of cities and nations.
• Intercession causes multiple blessings to return to the intercessor (Luke 6:38). 

(Excerpt from The Revelation of Intercession by Debbie Przybylski)

Example Intercessory Prayer

Lord Jesus, I come to you today and thank you for the privilege of praying for others. I've been the recipient of others' prayers so often, I understand how powerful intercessory prayer can be.

I ask you first to cleanse my heart and show me if there is any unconfessed sin in my own life so that my prayers for others will not be hindered.

I thank you that through your name, I can come boldly before you and pray with confidence, according to your will and know that you hear me.

Raise up leaders who will serve you faithfully at all costs. Turn the hearts of fathers toward their children, and families toward you. Help them to exemplify your values, and make them bold in their faith. Strengthen my own family, and those closest to me, Lord.

May our love for you help us to love and forgive others and make a difference in our world.

I pray for teachers, for students, and for all those in authority and leadership, both locally and throughout the world. Give them your mind, and surround them with godly counselors who will exercise integrity and work for justice, morality, and freedom. Help them to esteem you, not dismiss you. Send revival, Lord.

I pray for the lost, the hurting, the lonely, the sick, the bereaved, and those who are imprisoned—behind both visible and invisible walls. Send your comfort, your peace, and your calming presence to those who are without hope. Protect the defenseless, and hold them close to your heart.

I pray for laborers to tell the good news of Jesus to people around our world. Jesus, my heart cries out for persecuted believers, too. Make them brave, and give them your powerful protection. I pray you will bring swift justice to those who want to destroy the innocent and those who carry your name.

Bind the power of Satan, and strengthen believers everywhere.

So many needs, Jesus, but you are adequate for every need. Your name is powerful, and your power is great. So it's in your name that I pray—and believe.
Amen

Who are you seeking intercession for today? Join our amazing praying community in the comments below and see God move in wonderous ways!

Rebecca Barlow Jordan is an inspirational author, speaker, and passionate follower of Jesus who loves to encourage others heart to heart.

She has written 11 books and over 1700 other articles, greeting cards, and other inspirational pieces. Her daily devotional Daily in Your Presence is available for delivery through Crosswalk.com.

You can find out more about Rebecca at www.rebeccabarlowjordan.com.

Publication date: September 7, 2016

This article is part of our larger Prayers resource meant to inspire and encourage your prayer life when you face uncertain times. Visit our most popular prayers if you are wondering how to pray or what to pray. Remember, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and God knows your heart even if you can't find the words to pray.

Now available is our new Daily Prayer devotional! An easy way to find start your day with prayer, read today’s prayer and sign up to receive by email.

Источник: //www.crosswalk.com/faith/prayer/a-prayer-of-intercession.html

The Pastoral Prayer

THE local elder is often asked to offer the pastoral prayer for the worship service. This is a solemn responsibility, and one that many an elder would much rather shy away from. Nevertheless it will continue to be expected of you as one of the spiritual leaders of the church. Here are a few suggestions that may guide you in making this prayer what God would want it to be.

Prepare Yourself

In this prayer you speak to God for the congregation. You seek to express their joys, their needs, their soul hunger. To adequately enter into this experience your own heart must first be touched.

So as you consider the awesome needs of the congregation, and how you can rightly represent them before the Lord, pray most earnestly that God will refill your own heart with His love and Spirit. Remember, the spirit and nature of the prayer can have much to do with the measure of blessing bestowed on the rest of the service.

Pray that God will use you as an instrument during the precious moments of prayer to draw the hearts of all into His presence, and prepare them for the message to follow.

Prepare the Prayer

It is not necessary to write out the prayer, although to do this occasionally can be very helpful. Even then, however, it should not be read. The point is that the prayer should be carefully thought through.

As a general guide to the prayer pattern it would be well to keep clearly in mind the following five essentials: 1. Adoration.

2. Thanksgiving.

3. Confession.

4. Intercession.

5. Dedication.

Adoration, Thanksgiving, and Confession

First, we approach God in the spirit of praise. We adore Him. We love Him. Not just because of what He has done for us, but because He is God—the Creator and Redeemer—the One in whom we live and move and have our being. Second, we thank Him for the blessings we have received from Him, for the privilege of worship, song, and prayer.

We are grateful for the plan of salvation, for the forgiveness of sins, for the hope of the gospel. Third, we confess our sinfulness, our proneness to for get Jesus, our ill tempers, our hasty words, our disregard for the needs of others, our selfishness and pride. We claim both forgiveness for sins of the past, and power to be overtomers in the future.

Our great burden is to be more Christ.

Intercession and Dedication

Fourth, our prayer leads to intercession or petition, taking into account the varied needs of our congregation. We pray for the church, for the pastor and his family, the church officers, each family, the young and the elderly. We pray for the community, for leaders in governments.

We should have a special burden for revival and reformation, pleading for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and for God's direction and blessing on every soul-winning endeavor.

The praying one will pray especially that rich spiritual blessings will result from the message of the morning. Finally, the prayer should conclude with a statement of commitment or dedication. “Lord, we thank Thee again for the privilege of worship. We surrender our hearts to Thee anew.

Make us conscious of Thy presence as we continue to wait upon Thee. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.”

As you think over these five foundation stones of prayer, you can readily see how logically a rightly balanced prayer can be developed around them. The prayer will not always reflect each in the order here suggested.

By all means avoid a stereotype outline that can become a rut. But have these principles firmly fastened in the mind. So often our prayers are almost entirely petition. How often the elements of praise and gratitude are omitted.

This should not be, and, with this suggestive outline in mind, it will not be.

Avoid Wordiness

Special study should be made to make the prayer meaningful and to the point, avoiding wearisome repetition.

On one occasion as we got up from our knees after one of the elders had offered an exceptionally lengthy repetitious prayer, another elder at my side whispered, “Wasn't that a dilly?” Perhaps his remarks were place considering the occasion, but on the other hand, the prayer was all of that and more. Unfortunately, ofttimes prayers ascend to heaven that weary even the angels. About three minutes is generally thought to be an appropriate length.

Pray in the Spirit

Some prayers are as formal and dry as the weather report in midsummer. If our prayers are to be effective we must first have a sense of real need, then the need must be expressed in earnestness and sincerity.

There must be passion in our praying. I do not mean sentimentalism, but intensiveness, earnestness, and spiritual enthusiasm.

There must be warmth and life— a holy passion for personal righteousness and for the triumph of God's cause.

“We” Not “Them”

Identify yourself with the needs of the congregation. This is very important. Study carefully the prayer of Daniel in Daniel 9:4-19. Notice how he prays, “We have sinned,” “Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets,” “We have rebelled.

” Daniel, a righteous man against whom even his enemies could find no fault, looked upon himself as a needy sinner, along with his captive people. When praying for the congregation, re member you are one of them. It is “we” not “them.

” Otherwise it gives the impression of self-righteousness, you interceding for the less fortunate “sinning” congregation (see also Ezra 9:5-15).

Simplicity and Sincerity

Keep in mind that in the prayer you are talking to God as to a friend. Talk simply and sincerely. Don't try to “put on.” Don't be unnatural. If your heart is right, and if you have a real concern for the church, its people, and its mission, the prayer will be effectual and pastor and people will be blessed.

My prayer: Dear Lord, it's a solemn responsibility to speak in behalf of the congregation in the worship service. Teach me how to better perform this task. Enlighten my heart to my own needs and to those of Thy people. Grant that my prayers may be much more than mere formal recitations, or needless repetitions of hackneyed phrases. May the words be meaningful and relevant, bathed in the spirit of gratitude and praise. May they be words that will lift hearts into heavenly places, words that will bring hope and encouragement, blessing and power. In Jesus' name. Amen

Источник: //www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1971/09/the-pastoral-prayer

Intercessory Prayer

spiritual practices› Why Pray?› What Is Intercessory Prayer?

a downloadable PDF on intercessory prayer.

What's Different About Intercessory Prayer?

Intercessory prayer is not the same as prayers for yourself, or for 'enlightenment', or for spiritual gifts, or for guidance, or any personal matter, or any glittering generality. Intercession is not just praying for someone else's needs.

Intercession is praying with the real hope and real intent that God would step in and act for the positive advancement of some specific other person(s) or other entity. It is trusting God to act, even if it's not in the manner or timing we seek. God wants us to ask, even urgently.

It is casting our weakness before God's strength, and (at its best) having a bit of God's passion burn in us.

“I commend intercessory prayer, because it opens man's soul, gives a healthy play to his sympathies, constrains him to feel that he is not everybody, and that this wide world and this great universe were not after all made that he might be its petty lord, that everything might bend to his will, and all creatures crouch at his feet.”
Charles Spurgeon

Intercession In the Bible

The Bible has many cases of people standing up for others before God. The most striking example is Abraham. He took the initiative to step forward before God on behalf of his neighbors in Sodom and its area.

He cared enough to do it, even though he knew how thoroughly wicked Sodom was, and knew how furious God was about it (which explains why he was so careful in speaking to God about it). Moses also stepped in when God was angry, standing in the gap in the most literal sense : offering his own life for that of his nation.

(Thankfully, God didn't take him up on the offer.) It was part of the role of a prophet not just to speak what God speaks, but to speak with God for the people of Israel. A fine example is the exchange between the prophet Habakkuk and God, where the prophet asks for God to act against injustice, but God replies about a coming doom.

Isaiah prayed with King Hezekiah to save the nation from defeat and destruction at the hands of Assyria, and the armies were suddenly turned back (see Isaiah ch. 36-39). The master builder Nehemiah prayed to God to bring about the rebuilding of Jerusalem and of his people.

Un the gods of the lore of most other lands, this God did not zap them with lightning or turn them into half-beasts. God listened to their cries — not by ignoring the wrongdoings which got the divine wrath kindled in the first place, but by saving at least some of the people and bringing them back to where they belonged.

New Testament Intercession

The New Testament has its cases of intercessory prayer. Jesus was the prime example of an intercessor. He interceded in prayer for God to bless and protect His followers. At the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

” Indeed, His whole life, His whole reason for being born, was to be a living intercession, a giving of His life to span the rift caused by our rebellion against God. Others followed Jesus' example.

Stephen's last words were an intercession on behalf of those who were killing him. Paul prayed constantly for the struggling young church, for character, behavior, witness, and wisdom.

It is Paul's regular intercession for the church and its people which sets the usual pattern for our own intercessory prayers. And Epaphras was the 'prayer wrestler' for the church in Colossae.

Even at its earliest, the young church was praying for people: for safe travel, praying that people might know Christ through other peoples' witness, praying for healing and health, for rescue, for wisdom, for childbirth, for spiritual growth, for marriages — asking God to bring benefit or blessing to people other than themselves. The others were not always beloved; they prayed for their political leaders, some of whom were out to kill them. But they knew their God was merciful and was intimately involved with what was going on in the world. And they knew they were called by God to share in that involvement.

Your Intercessory Prayer

The place where intercessory prayer must start is with you. It's great to know that others may be stepping up for someone before God, but God wants you to stand in the gap, putting something of yourself on the line. Otherwise, it's too cheap to be real. Your private devotions are not just for your own benefit.

If God's love is at work in you, you will care about others, and your love for them will lead you to take it to the ultimate Source of strength, healing, and love. Don't be fearful; be persistent and stubborn. God doesn't mind; God s to see divine love at work in you. God honors your part in the relationship.

You Never Pray Alone

It is best to always be aware that you never really pray alone. For when the honest love in you for other people causes you to ask God to act to strengthen, heal, defend, change, or bless them, there is someone else praying with you: the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is leading you to pray.

When your love is not whole or your mind is not clear, the Spirit steps in for you, to express the intercession and draw you into it. Christian intercessors over the past two millenia have prayed their intercessions in a 'Trinitarian' manner : to the Father, through the Son, and in and with the Holy Spirit.

God isn't fussy about the pattern, but it helps us to see some part of how God works in prayer.

Prayer Changes As Needs Change

The intercessory prayer you first pray about someone may not be what God wants you to pray for. For instance, you might be praying to lift a burden, but the Lord might be using the burden to prepare them to do something for God. Then again, your prayer might be what God wants to happen. Thus, we are to pray listening for the Spirit, and pray that God's will be done.

I find myself concentrating better when I mutter the words; it gives my mind more focus. The mind may go off to explore something during personal devotions, but not while you're interceding for others — those others must be your first concern.

So, it's sometimes best to do it before you seek stillness (though God will sometimes lead you stillness into intercession — be open to it).

A Time For Prayer, A Time to Act

Don't be surprised if the Spirit starts tugging on your heart to take some sort of action about a matter you're praying about. You may be the answer God sends into their lives.

That's not a license to be a buttinski, stepping into everyone's private lives some sort of conquering hero. But the Spirit might be calling you to be more than a bystander. Be ready for it. Be open to it.

When you intercede in prayer, bring your knowledge, gifts, abilities, attention and energies before God and say, 'use these, if that's what it takes to set this right'.

Gifted Intercession

Anyone can pray for others and step in with God on their behalf. But some people are gifted at prayers of intercession. They have an ear and a passion for the needs of others, and take them before God even when those other people reject God.

An intercessor's heart is touched for those in need, not so much on their side as by their side and on their behalf. They have a burden for that person. They persevere. They let the Spirit give them comfort about it, instead of worrying.

And when word of results comes, they celebrate and are happy about it. If that sounds you, then you may be a gifted intercessor.

Sometimes, someone is led to be an intercessor for a specific person or mission or task. Such people are valuable even beyond donors.

Such intercessors sometimes get a strong sense of coming danger about whom they're praying for.

They often report they're driven to their knees to pray about something they can't otherwise have known was happening. Sounds weird, but it's true.

Intercessors also pray for world, national, and local political leaders. This follows in the tradition of the early church's prayers for the Roman authorities. Some people actually think it's good to pray against evildoers and oppressive leaders, even to pray for their death.

When James and John asked for permission to do harm to their enemies by praying for divine acts of judgement, Jesus reminded them of why He was there (and they, too):

“For the Son of Man did not come to destroy peoples' lives, but to save them.”
(Luke 9:56)

Intercessory prayer aims to build people into what God wants of them, not to tear them down.

Thy Will Be Done

“Therefore faith prays in such a manner that it commits everything to the gracious will of God; it lets [God] determine whether it is conducive to his honor and to our benefit.”
Martin Luther, in a sermon on Matthew 8:1-13.

Will It Avail?

Some people claim we can ask God to do things on behalf of people, and know it will be done. It's understandable to think that, for Jesus promised that our prayers would cause things to happen, especially when we keep at it. But look again at the intercessors in the Bible. Their success was very real, but far from complete.

• Abraham stuck his neck out with a rightly-angry God, but could only save his relatives.
• Moses' people were spared immediate destruction, but his generation would not get the land God had promised — the next generation did.
• All of David's deep and totally sincere weeping and begging could not save his baby son — though it did set up for the birth of his successor.
• Jesus prayed for the unity of His followers, and the apostles prayed for the unity of the church. They gained much unity, but still had serious divisions.
• The apostles prayed for each of their poor, but had more poor members by the day.
• The apostles had hundreds of people constantly praying for their safety, but they died martyr's deaths.

In such cases, God's mercy does not override God's purpose nor God's justice, not to mention our own wills. We cannot fathom God's purposes or know for certain what God knows about what is to be.

God's love simply has a broader, deeper, longer work to do, and sometimes what we pray for simply cannot find a place within that work.

Intercessors sometimes must accept even the most bitter of losses, with the awareness that their prayers did not — and sometimes must not — avail. This is a hard mystery of intercession.

God Knows Best

None of us are fully aligned with God's purposes. There will always be a difference between the two. It's okay to ask for what you want from the situation; that's a part of being honest with God.

You can pray that your request somehow be found in the divine purposes, and pray for doorways to a better way if it can't be. (Maybe God will provide you a ram as with Abraham when sacrificing Isaac.

) But God may have other plans, and your part is to trust that God's plans will be best.

Intercessory prayer does not work by your own power, as if you were the Almighty. When prayer is answered, it is answered in God's way, and it may not be at all the 'victory' you are 'claiming'.

Most of the time, the Spirit's main work is to change you, to make you care more, and to get you to focus on what others are going through instead of only seeing life from where you are. Sometimes, something more happens.

“God, in giving us all free will, said to us: “Your will be done.” Some of us turn back to him and say: “My will is that your will be done.” That is obedience to the first and greatest commandment. Then, when we do that, he turns to us and says: “And now, your will be done.” And then he writes the story of our lives with the pen strokes of our own free choices.”
Peter Kreeft

Try these sites on spiritual practices :

Search this site, or other sites, for more on intercession.

Orig. 2000-01-14, ver.: 2016-10-15.
Intercessory Prayer. Copyright © 2000-2016 Robert Longman.

Источник: //www.spirithome.com/intercessory-prayer.html

Jesus Youth of America Intercession Ministry

The vision of the Jesus Youth Intercession ministry is to empower the movement by rekindling the spirit of prayer and reliance in the Divine providence in all our evangelization efforts.

“He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” John 21:6

Mission

The mission of Jesus Youth Intercession ministry is to be the power house of the evangelization efforts of the Jesus Youth movement by prayer, sacrifice and penance and accompany the families and youth to form a life style rooted in deep intercessory prayer by on going formation rooted in the six pillars of the movement.

As a Jesus Youth working in the vineyard of the Lord, there are occasions where we are caught up with our busy ministry life and challenged to dedicate time to personal and intercessory prayer for everyone.

We know that all the initiatives in our movement are rooted in prayer and Intercession is one of our main charisms within the movement.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger writes in his apostolic exhortation, ”Jesus preached by day, by night he prayed.” With these few words, he wished to say: Jesus had to acquire the disciples from God.

The word of the announcement must always be drenched in an intense life of prayer.

and makes it a praise in the earth. (Isaiah 62:6-7)

To strengthen our evangelization efforts in every region we are inspired to start an Intercession Ministry to empower all our efforts for the Lord. If you think God is calling to be part of this great mission to win souls for the Lord by prayer, fasting and penance then, let us all come together.

Intercession Ministry is calling you to be part of our missionary journey.

Daily Intercession

Intercession ministry is inviting you to be part of a daily prayer chain for the global evangelization and temporal needs of the faithful. This initiative will link the committed intercessors to be part of a global intercession network to pray for evangelization of the whole world.

Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Monthly Live

These virtual meetings are on a video or telephonic conferencing platform which will bring all the daily intercessors to come together in prayer, study and reflection. These meetings will serve as a continuous study, formation ,and accompaniment to the faithful to share their challenges, blessings and encourage and support each other.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. But we beseech you, brethren, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. (1 Thessalonians 5:11-14)

Quarterly Weekends of prayer gatherings

These gatherings are the times the committed intercessors in each region will gather for a day of intensive intercessory prayer and reflections.

This is an opportunity for the intercession network to know each other and build fellowships.

These gatherings are preferably at different Jesus Youth families and join for a common liturgical celebration or adoration of the blessed sacrament on their convenience.

Weekend of prayer gathering in South Jersey in 2016

With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:2-3)

Annual Intercession Summits

Every year the intercession ministry will come together for a three days national intercession Summit focussed only on intensive prayer, study and workshops on ntercession. Prayers using charisms and how to grow in spiritual gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.

“Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” (Job 42:8-10)

Источник: //spark.adobe.com/page/dYz3lg3GjW4in/

5 Principles for Effective Prayers of Intercession

I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men–1 Tim. 2:2.

Are you a believer in Christ seeking a more effective prayer life? If so, then it’s  important for you to  learn God’s principles for prayer so that your  prayers of intercession may receive His response.

These divine principles for effective prayers of intercession are revealed in God’s Word, They’re awaiting our discovery and application.

So in this post, we’ll consider five of these divine principles from Genesis 18 to see how Abraham practiced  effective prayers of intercession so that we also can apply them in our prayer life.

Five basic principles for effective prayers of intercession

Intercession refers to an act of interceding, an interposing or pleading on behalf of someone in difficulty or trouble. In the Bible it refers to our prayer to God on behalf others.

In Genesis 18, we can see Abraham’s intercession to God on behalf of Lot, his nephew. This case reveals at least five basic principles for our effective prayers of intercession.

1. Initiated by God’s revelation—Gen. 18:17-21

God was seeking an intercessor and He found one in Abraham. After receiving the meal prepared by Abraham, God made His heart known to him in Genesis 18:17-21 where God begins by saying, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?…”

Part of the footnote on this verse in the Holy Bible Recovery Version says,

“…God revealed His heart’s desire. The proper intercession is not initiated by man but by God’s revelation. Thus it expresses God’s desire and paves the way for the accomplishing of His will.”

Today, we can receive God’s revelation by reading His Word and proper ministry books that open up the Word. In Ephesians 3:3-4, Paul said,

“That by revelation the mystery was made know to me, as I have written previously in brief, by which in reading it, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ.”

2. For God’s people—Gen. 18:23

Both God and Abraham were concerned for Lot—one of God’s people who drifted into the world.

Although God had determined to judge that corrupted world, His heart was concerned for Lot, particularly as it relates to Lot’s relationship with Christ. Ruth, who would become a great grandmother of Jesus was a Moabitess, a descendant of Lot and God was concerned for Lot in order to protect Christ’s genealogy through her.

True prayers of intercession focus on God’s interest in His people. They are related to God’s gaining people in order to bring  forth Christ in them  and through them (Gal. 4:19). God needs us to intercede for His people, including the backslidden ones Lot so that Christ can be brought forth in them and through them.

May our prayers be turned from our private interests to care for God’s interest in people according to the desire of His heart.

3. An intimate conversation with God according to God’s heart—Gen. 18:22-33

“…Abraham remained standing before Jehovah” (v. 22). There God and Abraham had an intimate conversation as between two friends (Isa. 41:8).

It’s amazing to see how God opened His heart to Abraham and how Abraham conversed with God—even challenging God—on a human level, in such an intimate way.

To learn this lesson, we first need to learn to fellowship with the Lord. Then we need to learn to linger in His presence—to have an intimate conversation with Him.

This hymn: “Pray to fellowship Jesus, in the spirit seek His face” really develops this point. I encourage you to pray over the lyrics to learn to have such an intimate conversation with the Lord.

4. According to God’s righteous way—Gen. 18:23-32

Abraham learned another lesson regarding intercession, that is, how to appeal to God according to His righteousness (Gen. 18:23-32). Whether God expresses His love and grace toward a person may fluctuate according to His feeling. But God’s righteousness is absolute.

Righteousness is the foundation of God’s throne (Psa. 89:14).  So we need to learn how to challenge God according to His righteousness.

However, holding God to His righteousness is difficult to do without an adequate knowledge of God’s Word. For example, if God has given us His word of promise in the Scriptures, He would be unrighteous if He does not do according to His Word.

C. H. Spurgeon in The Secret of Power in Prayer said,

You put your finger down upon the very lines, and say, “Do as thou hast said.” This is the best praying in all the world. O beloved, be filled with God’s Word. (p. 21)

5. God speaking in our speaking—Gen. 18:33

Finally, we can see that Abraham’s intercession ended not with Abraham, but with God. Genesis 18:33 says,

“And Jehovah went away as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham…”

This Word gives us two practical points to remember. First, genuine intercession is God’s speaking in our speaking. Second, our prayers of intercession should  end when God has finished His speaking.  So we need to learn to remain with the Lord until He has finished His speaking.

Often, we look at the time and say, “My prayer time is over.” But, has God really finished His speaking? We may actually walk away from Him leaving the Lord with  no channel through which to finish His  intercession.  May we learn to let the Lord speak in our speaking and let Him finish His speaking.

Concluding thoughts…

As earnest believers in Christ, the Lord will surely lay many people on our heart.  He may give us the burden to pray for our family, friends, relatives, colleagues, classmates and neighbors. They all need our prayer, whether it is for their salvation, growth in Christ, or restoration from a backslidden ore dormant condition.

But,  it is not only they who need God and His salvation. Even more, God needs them for the accomplishment of His purpose for Christ and the church, His Body.

To this end may we be one with God to pray prayers of intercession that are:

1) Initiated by His revelation,2) For His people,3) In an intimate conversation with Him,4) According to His righteous way and5) With Him speaking in our speaking.

In this way God, can carry out His desire and accomplish His will on this earth.

If you’ve been helped by this post to see the divine principles for prayers of intercession, please share your appreciation in a comment.

References and Further Resources:

Источник: //holdingtotruth.com/2014/01/05/principles-prayers-of-intercession/