PROPHETIC INTERCESSION
The New King James version has a foot note to
this clarifying that here ‘prophecy’ implies
‘prophetic vision’. Without prophetic vision
people drift away. I have found that many a
time intercessory groups drift aimlessly without
knowing what they are to pray for.
Many of us might begin praying
according to our own understanding
when we are in the initial phase of
intercession. But we need to enter
into a deeper level / realm of
intercession.
Someone shared about initial days in
the intercession ministry:
“I really thought that I was an intercessor
then. I took myself a notebook and began
to write down, very systematically, a list
of the things I wanted the Lord to answer.
It had the date of the request, what the
request was, then another place for the
date when the Lord answered. To me this
was intercession. I could not have been
more wrong. I was very diligent in prayer,
but oh so misdirected in that diligence.”
The scope and efficacy of prayer gets
restricted when it is guided by our own
understanding.
Fidelity to God’s will is
a necessary
precondition for the
prayers being
answered. “You ask
but do not receive,
because you ask
wrongly…” (Jas 4:3).
The attitude of the intercessor should be,
“Here I am… How I love to do your will, my God”
(Ps 40:7-8).
The intercessor
becomes the trusted
aide, the lieutenant
of God. Therefore,
God reveals His mind
to the intercessor.
Example:
Andhra
Pradesh
Cyclone in
1996
Jennifer LeClaire
on her initiation
into prophetic
intercession:
“The turning point for me was during a mission trip
to Nicaragua. I woke up feeling severely depressed
for no apparent reason. I felt down and out, like
giving up, throwing in the towel, calling it quit and
running home to pull the covers over my head. It felt
like my best friend had just died. I sat there for about
20 minutes trying to figure out what was wrong with
me and crying out to God to help me escape these
oppressive feelings. As I persisted, I heard that still
small voice in my spirit saying, “Despondent. This is
how the people of this nation feel. Pray.”
Despondence is a feeling of extreme
discouragement, dejection or depression. Once the
Lord gave me that insight, I joined with others in a
circle to pray against the oppression with the
weapons of our warfare, which are not carnal but
mighty through God to the pulling down of
strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4).”
The Hebrew word for ‘prophet’
when translated literally means
‘spokesperson’. “I will put my words
in the mouth of the prophet, who
shall speak to them everything that I
command” (Deut 18:18). The
prophet is an intermediary between
God and His people.
We have been hearing about the Prophet and the
Prophetic role of leadership, etc. But not much about
the Prophetic character of prayer/intercession. We
generally think of a Prophet as one who speaks to
people on behalf of God.
But the Biblical concept of the prophet is much wider.
The first action by the prophet in the Bible - Abraham is
not connected with “prophesying”, but interceding for
the people under the judgment of God “for he is a
prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live”
(Gen 20:7).
In Gen 18:16-33, Abraham intercedes for the people of
Sodom and Gomorrah.
Prophetic intercession is not coming to
the Lord with a prayer list, but coming to
the Lord to get a prayer list.
“The Lord GOD does nothing, without
revealing his secret to his servants the
prophets” (Amos 3: 7).
In fact, every time a situation which
warrants prayer support arises, the Lord
searches for an intercessor:
“Thus I have searched among them for
someone who could build a wall or stand
in the breach before me to keep me from
destroying the land.” (Ezek 22:30).
SIX STEPS TO PROPHETIC INTERCESSION
In intercession, we are just “like
clay in the hands of a potter, to
be molded according his
pleasure, so are men in the
hands of their Creator, to be
assigned by him their function”
(Jer 18:6; Sir 33:13).
Step 1: EMPTY OUR
PLANS AND PLACE
OURSELVES AT HIS
DISPOSAL
For this we first need to
unburden our thoughts,
anxieties, and really empty
ourselves in order to be
available to the Holy Spirit to
inspire in us prayers that are
according to the will of God.
Example: Punjab
Step 2: SEEK GOD’S PLAN: WHAT TO PRAY FOR?
1 Jn 5:14-15: “And this is the boldness we have in him,
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we
know that we have obtained the requests made of
him.”
It is like a Commander-in-chief unfolding a military map
specifically outlining a target to be hit. For this we need
to lend our “eyes” and “ears” to Him.
Example: Intercession at Delhi Forts on 10 May, 1994
Step 3: KNOW HIS
STRATEGY: HOW TO
PRAY?
Since we are engaged in a
complex spiritual exercise
which is beyond human
comprehension, we
should discern the right
strategy, “Lord I have so
many enemies. Lead me
to do your will; make your
way plain for me to
follow”
(Ps 5:8).
Prophetic Prayer action: Mr Robert Misst in his book: “Worship, Warfare and
Intercession” writes: “We experienced similar results in 1989, when a team of
intercessors prayed for the unification of Germany. At the Berlin Wall, we did a
form of prophetic act and intercession, what is now commonly known as “the
Jericho March”. It was my first prophetic prayer action experience. We walked
for some part alongside the Berlin Wall that divided West and East Germany,
declaring its ultimate fall; in response to the prophetic words given to
prophetic intercessors of Germany and Europe. A week later, our local TV news
station showed the breaking down of the wall and reunification of West and
East Germany.” The two Germanys were unified in 1990.
Joshua 6: 1-5 – Intercession and Fall of Jericho.
Is 55:11- “So shall my word be that goes out from my
mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it will
accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the
thing for which I sent it.”
Step 6: THANK GOD FOR
ANSWERING OUR PRAYER
Our prayers are always
answered: YES, NO or
WAIT.
Is 65:24 – “Before they
call I will answer, while
they are yet speaking I will
hear.”