MOBILIZING INTERCESSORS
[from Transforming Your Church into A House of Prayer by P. Douglas Small @ http://www.projectpray.org ]
To stand before men on behalf of God is one thing. To stand before God on behalf of men is something entirely different.
Leonard Ravenhill
We must move from asking God to take care of things that are breaking our hearts, to praying about the things that are breaking His heart.
Margaret Gibb
The best prayers often have more groans than words.
John Bunyan
Intercession battles poverty-gripped ghettos where people starve for lack of love and food. Intercession engages in conflict with a million evils facing our fellowman. An intercessor must bid farewell to self and welcome the burdens of humanity. In truth, the climax of prayer is intercession.
Dick Eastman1
We cannot ask in behalf of Christ what Christ would not ask Himself, if He were praying.
A. B. Simpson
What is Intercession?
Our definition for intercession must not begin with us or with the activity of interceding itself. It must begin with Christ – the ultimate intercessor. Andrew Murray says, “We have far too little conception of the place that intercession … ought to have in the Church and the Christian life. In intercession our King upon the throne finds his highest glory; in it we shall find our highest glory too. Through it he continues his saving work ... through it alone we can do all work and nothing avails without it.”2 Wesley believed, “God does nothing but in answer to prayer.”3
The dictionary defines intercession as “an interceding; mediation, pleading, or prayer in behalf of another or others.” A person who does the intercession is called an intercessor. Dutch Sheets, in his book Intercessory Prayer, gives this definition of intercessory prayer:
“Intercessory prayer is an extension of the ministry of Jesus through His Body, the Church, whereby we mediate between God and humanity for the purpose of reconciling the world to him, or between Satan and humanity for the purpose of enforcing the victory of Calvary.”4
The Focus of Intercession
The highest call of intercession is prayer for the lost, for those not yet reconciled to God through his Son, to come to Christ! By extension, the role of intercessor is one standing between - between Christ and others in need, especially those in need of salvation. Of course, intercession is not exclusively about prayer evangelism. There are also times when you and I, as Christians, may not be able to pray effectively for ourselves or for those near us. That is when we need an intercessor.
Everyone should do the work of intercession – but there are especially “graced” people who seem to be called to a ministry of prayer. These people lead the way in prayer for the church – they are the “prayer engine” of the Church. They may be a majority of one. They will usually be that one that both hears and smells the coming rain of revival before anyone else.
The Power of Intercession
Seventy years ago, Norway was no spiritual Eden. Thorlief Holmglad was pastor of a downtown church. His custodian met him as he stepped from the pulpit one depressing morning. “There is going to be a revival in this church!” he optimistically declared. “Does this look like revival?” the pastor asked him, pointing to the nearly empty church. “Come with me,” the custodian said, leading the pastor back behind the pulpit. “Do you see those water marks in the carpet? Those are tear stains. I have been praying and weeping here for five years. The Lord has assured me He is going to send a revival!”
Two women in a nearby city were also praying for revival in Norway. They prayed, “Lord if this burden is from you, will you send two more women to pray with us?” The two became four. They asked God to double the number again – to eight. He did. The eight asked for another doubling. The group enlarged to sixteen.
It was a restless Sunday evening youth meeting which God chose to interrupt. Those present were not very attentive and the leader was ineffective in seizing their interest. Suddenly, a white cloud began to slowly descend from the ceiling. The leader alone saw it. The lower the cloud came, the more restless the young people became, until the cloud touched the top of their heads. “Instantly, without any outward signal, all the youth fell to their knees praying, weeping, and confessing their sins.”5
The youth service carried over into the adult evening service. Adults too descended to their knees in penitent prayer. The next night, with no regular meeting scheduled most returned and did so every evening that week. Brokenness of spirit permeated every service. They were in the presence of God – and humility arrested pride and uncovered sin. For twelve years, the revival continued. It spread to other churches resulting in 20,000 conversions in Olso alone. Never underestimate the power – of one persistent, humble, faith-filled intercessor. God uses them to resurrect dead churches and change whole cities.
The Characteristics of an Intercessor 6
An intercessor:
Enjoys praying
Humble—no place for pride or conceit
—Servant to the pastor
—Submissive to the pastor
—Respects authority
—God gets the glory
—Shares it and then “lets it go”
—Be “other minded”
—Surrenders to the will of God
—Motivated by love
—Teachable
—Full of grace (forgiving)
Wants unity with pastor
—Supportive
—Encouraging
Additional gifts
—Discernment
The Qualifying of An Intercessor 7
II Chronicles 7:14 is often quoted as a roadmap for national renewal. It lays out three distinct acts on our part – We must confess our sin, humble ourselves before God, and turn from our wicked (warped, twisted, out of shape) ways. Charles Finney, evangelist of the nineteenth century, said repentance “… implies an intellectual and hearty giving up of all controversy with God upon all and every point…a thorough and hearty abandonment of all excuses and apologies for sin.”
When a church family felt directed by God to launch a ministry of prayer for the nation, Pastor Jack Hayford said they grappled with the “points for repentance” necessary to prepare hearts for such a prayer undertaking. Hayford cautions that no intercessors should use a list to claim a now-I've-arrived holiness, but to promote a systematic humility of heart and sincerity before God.
Wise believers come to God with a transparent heart and life for cleansing. They know that the God who summons to repentance (Hayford’s Definition: A successive transformation of thoughts, attitudes and desires) always offers a gracious “Summons”. God invites us to purity and pardon, not to reproach or rejection.
Moments of self-examination and repentance liberate us. Only those times can unlock our entrance into the chambers of prayer that result in confident, faith-filled, Scripture-rooted, history-changing, nation-impacting intercession. Hayford exhorts, “Take these points in prayerful transparency before the Lord. Let us be rid of every hindrance so that our boldness in prayer will not be limited.”
Hayford exhorts intercessors to pray,
“Father, keep me from any vestige of...
Religious pride and self-righteousness (Matthew 6:5-6, Luke 18:10-14);
Self-will, selfishness, covetousness (Matthew 6:19-21, James 4:3);
Faithlessness, doubt, unbelief, anxiety (James 1:5-7, Matthew 6:25-34);
Not loving, respecting, and applying God's Word (Proverbs 1:28-29, 28:9);
Spiritual adulteries, having idols in the heart (Ezekiel 14:3-13, 2 Corinthians 6:14);
Unforgiveness, resentment, having a critical spirit (Mark 11:25, Matthew 5:21-26);
Family discord, not being a responsible spouse (1 Peter 3:1-7);
Not being open and honest with the brethren (James 5:16);
Rebellion, being unwilling to be corrected (Proverbs 1:28-31);
Not having true concern for the poor and oppressed (Proverbs 21:13, Isaiah 1:15,17).
The Church it is said is the only army in the world that marches on its knees. Humility is critical. God resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
The Process of Mobilizing Intercessors
Imagine a congregation beginning a music and choir ministry – and paying no attention to the gifted and talented musicians in the congregation. If you want a music ministry, you have to identify and train your musicians. If you want a praying church, you have to identify and train your intercessors. These are the first steps toward the launch of a prayer ministry.
Five things need to be done with intercessors:
IDENTIFY intercessors for mobilization.
TRAIN them for effectiveness.
TEAM them for encouragement and confirmation.
DEBRIEF them regularly and consistently for input and insight.
DIRECT them for more focused prayer.
STEP ONE
Identified and Mobilized Intercessors
Though intercessors are called and gifted to pray, these people are rarely identified, trained, teamed, debriefed or directed. Early in the launch of your prayer ministry, you will want to identify these people who have a passion for prayer. If you are going to move forward in a church-wide ministry of prayer, it cannot be done apart from these people anymore than you can develop a music ministry without musicians.
If anyone in your church is praying at home, on a daily basis – it is intercessors. And the ones who will show up at a prayer meeting – are intercessors. Gather your intercessors to discuss the ministry of prayer. Pray with them. Listen to them pray. Watch for balance. Look for leaders among them. Assess the degree of wisdom, balance and maturity among them. Use that meeting as a beginning point for their training.
Use the passion of your intercessors and their fervor for prayer to help drive the prayer process forward. Don’t expect everyone to pray like some of your intercessors pray. And teach your intercessors to learn to pray in ways that model prayer for beginning pray-ers. This is a part of the training process.
Some scoff at the notion of training people to pray! The best musicians can benefit from vocal or instrumental training. The best preachers, anointed by God, can benefit from training – learning to interpret scripture soundly, preach with tempered passion, construct a logical and Biblically sound argument for the cause of Christ, and more. Because prayer as a ministry has not even been on our radar screen, we have ignored intercessors. In some places, the term intercession is strange and unfamiliar. Yet, intercessors are as naturally drawn to prayer as musicians are to music. Intercessors are graced to pray. We need to recover the prayer-fire of intercessors. Identify them and train them.
We should again sound a caution raised earlier. The heart of prayer is communion with God. Intercessors love to pray! Is that a problem? Yes! In the same way that preachers who love to preach can become imbalanced. More than 60% of American pastors read the Bible only in preparation for their sermons. They sometimes fail to value scripture for its’ devotional character – they see sermons in every inspiration point. In the same way, intercessors may fail to value prayer for the “sheer pleasure of God’s presence.” If they always move past communion to do the “work” of intercession – they not only run the risk of imbalance, but the danger of burnout.
STEP TWO
Training Intercessors
Intercessors have to be pastored as well. An intercessor without a teachable spirit is a time-bomb waiting to go off. Isolated to themselves, they will get out of balance. Without direction, they will lock into a single focus and style of prayer that lacks breath and vision. Finding those who have a passion for prayer is as simple as beginning a choir ministry. Make the announcement, “We are beginning a music ministry here at our church. Those interested in participating please show up Wednesday night.” You’ll get a mixed group of talented and would-be musicians. And they will need a director to sort through them, train them, divide them in sections - tenors and altos, sopranos and bass, keyboard and concussion. And quite frankly, to send some of them on their way.
When you call for intercessors and those interested in prayer, you’ll get genuine intercessors. Some will be veterans. Some will be prayer novices. Some will be would-be intercessors. Someone will need to direct the process and sort them out. They will need to be trained and teamed. Section leaders will need to be identified – those who can assist with emergency prayer, lead healing teams, prayer chains, crisis prayer, and all the other various passions you will find among the intercessors.
The training elements might include:
Prayer basics – Intercessors need to be encouraged to balance their prayer time. Relational prayer time (communion with God for the sheer delight of His presence) is foundational to people called to do the work of prayer.
Prayer Focus – Keep the focus on the lost, those who have not made a decision to follow Christ. Spiritual warfare sometimes becomes intense when you begin to pray consistently for unbelievers. The Evil One does not want to release those who are captive to sin. As the warfare intensifies, intercessors may shift their focus from prayer for the lost, to a preoccupation with the demonic. If they do, they will become the victims of a prayer diversion, unknowingly falling into the trap of the Evil One. He will do anything to redirect our prayer efforts away from the unsaved. Train intercessors to be vigilant in keeping their prayer focus on the lost! Their warfare is not primarily with the demonic, it is over souls.
Prayer Theology – Bible-based praying is the anchor for experiential, Spirit-led praying.
Prayer Resources – How to pray for the lost, for world missions, for the city, for other believers, for your pastor, for missionaries, etc.
Listening Prayer – How to hear God; journaling – recording the experiences of the night watches.
Don’t assume that intercessors intuitively know how to intercede or what to do with their intercessory experiences. They sometimes do not know what to do or how to handle the burden they feel for prayer, the strange sense of desperation for someone they hardly know, or the drawing to a particular city in a far away nation. They need coaching and training. And all of us need to recognize, as the prayer movement expands, we are on new turf. We don’t have or even need, neat answers for all God is calling us to experience.
Leadership Required!
The prayer process will not naturally unwrap. Someone will need to emerge who will serve as the leader of the army of intercessors. Only someone with a heart for prayer will inspire prayer and be respected by the intercessors. And only a leader will lead! Don’t make the mistake of placing an intercessor without leadership and organizational skills at the head of your prayer ministry. And don’t make the mistake of choosing a leader who has organization skills, but is not a person of prayer, preferably an intercessor, at the head of your prayer ministry.
To reference our earlier analogy, not all singers can direct a choir. On the other hand, it would be rare to find a choir director who was not a singer. Look for a person of prayer, with a call to pray, that has leadership and organizational skills. Not all intercessors can direct a prayer meeting.
STEP THREE
Teaming Intercessors
Team your intercessors for encouragement and confirmation. Many intercessors are loners! Teaming is not to create another intercessory prayer group. It is for the purpose of mobilization, for distributing prayer needs and assignments, and harvesting the data out of the seasons of the watch of these intercessors. You want to create a network of communication and encouragement for intercessors.
Do this in four different ways:
Establish Intercessory Prayer Teams (IPTs). These should number about five-to-ten intercessors, depending on the size of the church, smaller to larger. I prefer smaller groupings. Encourage youth intercessory teams. At least one of the IPTs should be a youth team with a youth prayer leader. The IPTs will not necessarily meet to pray together. They are “partnered intercessors,” teamed for prayer assignments and communication. Appoint a contact person for each team.
If you have as many as ten IPTs each with five intercessors, you may want to group the IPTs into Brigades. Use your own terminology. With each IPT you mobilize and team five intercessors. With a brigade, you mobilize and team five IPTs – 25 intercessors. And you should be able to do this with the click of an email.8
Depending on the size of your church, five prayer teams of five intercessors each would equal one brigade of twenty-five intercessors. Two brigades of twenty-five intercessors each would total about 50 intercessors in ten IPTs. They could mobilized one team at a time. Or one brigade at a time.
Suppose the number of prayer needs coming into the prayer office are as few as dozen a day. If you send all prayer needs to every intercessor, the number will be overwhelming. Too many requests will make the prayer mobilization effort ineffective. Too few, will likewise send the wrong message. Teaming intercessors into IPTs and Brigades will allow you to rotate the mobilization of your teams – sending one request to the first IPT, the second to another, and so on. Project Pray is now developing software to automate this process in connection with any church that has a web-site.
An entire brigade could be mobilized for needs with the highest urgency. All prayer needs could also be posted to the church’s web-site and viewed by all. And of course, if you have a prayer center, they would be featured there.
IPTs could be assigned different prayer tasks. They could be deployed team-by-team, or brigade-by-brigade for various assignments. A general call for intercessors will always bring the faithful core, but if that is your model, you may burn them out. This strategy allows you to spread out the intercessory load and involve more people.
Further grouping of these intercessors might be by zip-code, precinct or by area of the city. This is a part of mobilizing the church disaspora. This would allow the intercessors to connect and give the gift of prayer to the city, zone-by-zone.
Another way to group them would be in terms of their prayer support for the various ministries of the church. Here are the priorities:
First priority – prayer for the lost.
Second priority - prayer support for the pastor and for every staff member - a PIT (Personal Intercessory Team) crew for every leader. One experiment indicated that when leaders were prayed for every day, for 15 minutes, 89% reported a discernable difference in their effectiveness.
Prayer support for every church ministry (Example: Interface intercessors with the prayer-evangelism focus, lighthouses and more) and every church event, mission trip, etc.
Group intercessors in terms of their heart – their passion and burden for prayer.
Some of these intercessors may lead “prayer groups” during the week. Some intercessors may function as regular “prayer mission” teams praying at various places in the city for change and renewal.
STEP FOUR
Debriefing Intercessors
The scriptures tell us to “watch and pray.” The ancient word for prophet was seer! There is a connection between the prophetic and prayer. Don’t let the word prophetic confuse you. This is not meant in a strictly charismatic sense. Rather, God reveals things to intercessors. For this reason, they need to be teamed (for confirmation), debriefed (for valuable input) and directed (for more effective watching).
A dialectic needs to form between intercessors and elders; prayer leaders and staff. Elders need the helpful eyes and ears of intercessors; and intercessors must learn to offer their report to the elders at the gate and leave it in their hands, trusting their authority.
Because intercessors have not been trained, they don’t understand the perimeters of their authority. They have no where to go with the burning heart given them in prayer, or the clear signal from the Holy Spirit about some issue in the Church. Some pastors complain that intercessors in their congregations get out of order. This is confusing to the intercessors, since no order for intercessory prayer ministry has been established. They have no outlet for their insights. No connections for confirmation. No direction and clarity for prayer focus. They have been left to themselves. And without a pastor, they get out of balance.
Interfacing With the Elders
Intercessors have to be taught that they are “watchers on the wall” – not the “elders at the gate.” They are to submit their night-watch reports to the community of elders! And the elders should take their prayer hunches seriously! This will be a new experience for both intercessors and church leaders. If intercessors know that their prayer investment is valued, they can more easily rest in the reality that it is not their calling to “wake up the city!” The mobilization and leadership of the church is the calling of pastors and elders. Watchers on the wall who do not respect elders at the gate will never be security for the spiritual community. And elders, who have little regard for the warning sounds of the watchers, will not harvest the wisdom of intuitive and discerning prayers. For intercessors to feel passionately that a warning go forth, and to submit that message to the elders through prayer leadership channels, requires maturity! What if the elders do not share the intuitive deduction of the intercessor? What if the intercessor has translated their intuitive insights into concrete conclusions, without awareness? Can the intercessor submit to the eldership? Can the eldership hear the heart implications of the intercessor and take that into consideration? Can they gently correct and simultaneously affirm? We can all become enamored by our own gifts and fail to see that they are not really our gifts at all, but gifts to the body!
Example:
Rachel is an intercessor. In a season of prayer, she consistently felt a burden for the young couples in the church. The Lord, she felt, warned her about “trouble” coming. Some very specific things were placed on her heart in prayer. She called the pastor and shared her concerns, respectfully. The pastor listened. Thanked her for her concern and suggested that she continue to pray, but cautioned her about sharing openly the kind of things she raised concerns about. He assured that her impressions were groundless but that he did not doubt her sincerity. She left confused, yet assuring him of her support and her commitment to continue in prayer. Within a brief period, the situation exploded creating major relational damage in the Church. The pastor was embarrassed. Families left the Church. A staff member was exposed in sin. Great confusion ensued. All the ambiguous shadows that Rachel had seen and had shared with the pastor now could be easily interpreted. She had been discerning correctly.
What is her appropriate response?
Leave the church and find one that will honor intercessors more readily.
Go to the pastor and at least say, “I warned you! I told you so!”
Dig in and pray, now more than ever. Go to the pastor and assure him of her prayer support, loyalty and continued commitment to be faithful in her “watch” on the wall.
Of course, the appropriate response is number three. In the first option, Rachel is preoccupied with intercession as if it were her own gift! But that gift is not the “intercessor’s gift!” It is a gift to the Church, itself. The second option is loaded with pride and “I” language. The seer has gone blind. They can only see themselves. The third position reveals a true, humble, mature, team pray-er. How should the pastor respond if after some season, this intercessor came again with a prayer burden? Obviously, he should take such a matter under consideration. Now, with greater appreciation for the insights God has given through intercession and specifically this intercessor! Will that intercessor exploit the past? They must not! Will they “gloat” in any way over being right before? May God forbid! Or will they chide the pastor over not being heard? Not if they are mature!
Taking Seers Seriously
So often, a church struggle could have been avoided if a communication system had existed between leaders and pray-ers. But there was no means of debriefing – and the insights of an intercessor were wasted. A warning had been given in the night watches. But the congregation had no system, no process by which a spiritual warrior could offer a scouting report to leaders without seeming to be super-spiritual. The seeing dimension of prayer is needed to steer the church when things are hidden in the waters, or around the bend that cannot be seen from the captain’s wheel house. Trust has to be established between intercessors and leaders. The reports, intuitive hunches of intercessors – have to be seriously considered. As leaders trust the intuition of intercessors; and intercessors trust the authority of leaders – the church wins by the use of the whole body and its gifts.
At least once a month, the contact leader of every IPT should connect with the intercessory team and ask, “What is happening in your seasons of prayer?” The answers may not be revealing. On the other hand, several may report a consistent leading to pray for some issue. When a trusted intercessor is having a consistent leading in prayer, say for the youth of the congregation, it might be wise to pass that piece of information on to the staff. If a number of intercessors are focused by spirit-led prayer on the same target – that is a clue that must not be ignored. At the very least, their prayer burden will encourage those who are working in this area. At best, it may heighten sensitivity to the Spirit and avoid a problem or be a prelude to a breakthrough.
Occasionally, intercessors might be gathered by the brigade (25 intercessors; 5 IPTs) leaders to “pray back to God” the rumblings of their heart. Ask them for reports about insights, consistent burdens in prayer, Scriptures which the Spirit brings forth in seasons of prayer, even visions or dreams, the discerning moments that have come in prayer, words of wisdom or knowledge they have received, prophetic promises or warnings. Every intercessor should be encouraged to keep a journal to document patterns and to seriously record their prayer findings. Keep steering your intercessors toward prayer for the harvest.
STEP FIVE
Direct Intercessors
Intercessors will usually follow the burden of their heart and the leading of the Holy Spirit in prayer. But they should also be harnessed. They should take on prayer assignments. They should serve as a member of a Personal Intercessory Team (a PIT crew).9 This is different than the IPT – a teaming for general impressions and other assignments. The PIT crews are a prayer support team for key church leaders. They should also take their place in the congregation’s prayer room or center interceding for various ministries and members.
Team Intercessors
Intercessors that are not willing to be teamed are often loose cannons. They are as helpful to the prayer ministry as a talented musician who resists the direction of the minister of music. Being directed transforms a lone intercessor into a team player – remembering, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up ... Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Proverbs 4:9-12) Here is the power of agreement. Praying together, in the same direction, multiplies strength, prevents burnout, increases the reward and brings breakthrough.
When pastors and intercessors form a partnership, God’s grace is released in ways that are exceptional. Protection for the congregation is a natural result because the watchers are systematically deployed to take their place on the wall and their night-watch reports are taken seriously. In addition, their watching should be directed. Pastors can send them messages, “Pray into this! Watch with the staff over this issue or that concern. When you pray, would you focus on …”
In directing the prayers of intercessors, the goal is not to control them. It is to develop them as a part of a broader team. Genuine intercessors will be spirit-led. Unfortunately, for some intercessors, spontaneous spirit-direction in prayer is the sum total of their prayer experience. They must also be directed by Scripture-based praying – that should be a vital part of your training. And humble intercessors will quickly see that the Holy Spirit works through the leadership of godly pastors and elders who are over the watchers on the wall. Spirit-led, Bible-based, Pastor-sensitive intercessors – what a combination.
Confidential Intercessors
Some intercessors will develop as confidential advisors! Sometimes, the issues needing prayer will be of such a nature that they dare not be released “on the church’s internet prayer page!” Or through the prayer-chain. The requests themselves will need limited exposure and much secret prayer. The greater number of sensitive issues that pastors and elders are dealing with, the more the use of these confidential advisors will be required. It is important, however, to work at making sure you do not create a special class of intercessors – the included and excluded. It is also very important that you maintain the principle of plurality. A single intercessor as a confident-advisor is not wise. There is also safety in a larger circle of seers (Proverbs 24:6). Many of the best intercessors are women. And 95% of Senior pastors are men. Spiritual connections are among the tightest and most powerful that exist. Tragically, what begins as a noble and pure relationship can become destructive. There is fine line between the spiritual and the sensual. Pastors would do well to develop a group (A PIT crew) of trusted intercessors and avoid singular bonds. That group should be a mixed gender group.
Convergence Moments
When a number of intercessors have prayer experiences which “converge” – such collective impressions should not be taken as coincidence. Directed and debriefed intercessors will become a blessing to the pastor and the congregation. And the pastor will become a blessing to them by pastoring them and helping them develop their gift. Both share the same vision for prayer and evangelism. The result is a synergy and interdependence when relationships are strengthened and trust is established.
Intercessors must also know their boundaries. They must agree on the lines of authority and communication processes. Gentle pastoral corrections offer intercessors safety from deception and getting off track, keeping them focused and productive. Every pastor should give consistent support and respect to intercessors. Public affirmation of these leaders of the prayer movement gives priority to the work of prayer and honors intercessors for their secret labor. An annual luncheon for intercessors and prayer leaders demonstrates gratitude to those who are praying.
Mutuality Between Intercessors and Pastors
Doug Kamstra10 says pastors and intercessors should:
Encourage each other.
Pray for each other and with each other.
Regular contact (scheduled and unscheduled, formal and informal).
Recognize each others gifts.
Pleasing God is the basis of the relationship.
Intercessors should recognize
theological differences with the pastor.
pastoral authority.
—pastor gives assignments.
—pastor sets guidelines.
different spiritual perspectives, gifts, assignments.
different personalities.
different expectations.
any biases or wounds they have.
the pastor has other duties, cannot pray continually.
that God can shape the lives of others; we don’t have to.
that they (intercessors) need prayer too.
The Intercessor’s Commitment 11
Ask the intercessors to make a commitment like that expressed below.
By the grace of God, we intercessors seek to serve God, pastors and Christian leaders, fellow-intercessors and the leadership team in our community by daily lifting up intercession and petitions for:
Lost individuals and families who need Christ.
God’s purposes to be established; God’s kingdom to be invited.
Pastors and other Christian leaders and their ministry.
Fellow intercessors and their families.
Pastoral servant leaders who give direction to our city vision.
Lighthouses of Prayer and their Neighborhoods.
Unity in the church of Jesus Christ.
Walls of division to be broken.
Reconciliation to occur.
Strongholds to fall.
A canopy of prayer to cover our community.
A great spiritual awakening in our nation and around the world.
The peace of Jerusalem.
By the grace of God, we seek to serve our community by daily lifting up intercession and petitions for:
Our mayor and his leadership team.
Our civic servants and their protection – police and fire.
Judges – the justice and righteousness will prevail.
Our Schools and hospitals.
Child protective and Family Services.
Media Centers, Arts and Entertainment – information gateways.
Commerce and business – the favor of God upon our economy and jobs that provide for families.
The poor and disadvantaged.
Intercessor’s Agreement
Each intercessor should consider an agreement. Here is a model:
It is my covenant that I will pray faithfully for the salvation of spiritually lost neighbors, friends and family – for revival in the church to the end of great awakening in the community to the end of a great harvest with measurable cultural change.
It is my covenant to pray regularly for my pastor – that he would be a holy man of God, and for my church. I will support my pastor’s ministry and respect my pastor’s leadership. By the grace of God and with the pastor’s support, I will be an extension of my church to my community and to the intercessory network.
It is my covenant to pray for my community until there is unity in the church, until strongholds have fallen, until walls of division are broken, until reconciliation occurs, until a canopy of prayer covers our community, until all the lost hear the gospel and until God establishes his purposes.
It is my covenant to speak positively, bless and build up my pastor, my church, and other spiritual leaders in my community. 12
Some Intercessor Do and Don’ts
Don’t be a “spiritual bully” or initiate power struggles.
Don’t come on with “Thus said the Lord . . . .”
Don’t force action after “a word from the Lord”—let it happen.
Don’t have a critical spirit.
Don’t be judgmental.
Don’t have faulty theology or incorrect applications of Scripture.
Don’t “stay in the closet” all the time—be involved with other ministries.
Don’t practice gift projection.
Don’t put down others or put pressure on them to pray like you do.
Don’t divide.
Don’t have a “personal kingdom” (selfish ambitions).
Don’t be so heavenly minded that you become no earthly good.13
Engaging Intercessors
Here are some ways intercessors can be used:
Sweep the Sanctuary – every Saturday night. Do it in teams - IPTs! 25 teams of intercessors would require duty only twice a year.
Every classroom should have a PIT crew. An intercessor should occasionally meet the teacher before the Sunday School or discipleship class begins. Or, as the Sunday School teacher comes into the classroom, the intercessor might be leaving. “I’m praying for you. I know you’ll have a great day!”
Simultaneous intercessory prayer should be offered during the worship service and preaching of the Word.
Prayer for the lost loved ones of church members should be offered regularly – the names of the friends and family members called out in prayer at least once each week, until they come to Christ.
Every staff person should have a PIT crew - an intercessory support team. The rule should be: An intercessor for every worker – and every worker an intercessor.
Every ministry in the church should have an intercessor or intercessory team assigned to it. Every ministry should be a prayed for ministry. The Moravian Principle should be applied: No one works unless someone prays!
Prayer for the mission endeavors of the Church and for the missionaries supported by the Church is the work of intercessors. Sending funds for missions is not enough. We are throwing money at the darkness. We must provide the investment of prayer energy as well.
Prayer should be offered by intercessors for every member family of the congregation as often as a reasonable cycle of prayer will allow. In a mega-church, it may only be once or twice a year. In a smaller congregation, every member family can be covered in prayer weekly or perhaps, monthly.
Prayer should be offered for every business owned by church members. Pray for the blessing and favor of God. Ask God to bless these business owners in order that the Kingdom might be blessed.
Adopt a local fire station or police station. Do so especially if you have peace and safety officers in your congregation. Or if you have a fire or police station in the neighborhood of the church. Go a step further. Adopt police and fire personnel for personal prayer coverings.
Adopt a local School – one near the church. Bless them. Pray for them. Ask how you can serve them.
Consider “prayer ambassador” teams that are sent out to give the “gift of prayer” to the community. These teams of 3-5 people go in a priestly mode. They go to bless. They bring back needs – and allow the church to pray for specific needs in the city and neighborhood around the church. In such times, God shows himself alive to these people.
Pray for neighboring churches. List their name in the bulletin. Have the congregation, or at least intercessors, send them a note of encouragement, “We at Second Church are praying for you!”
Pray for places where sin abounds. For strongholds of evil in the city or even the neighborhood around the church to be broken. Pray light into the area, not merely the darkness out. Asking God to remove something only creates a vacuum (Matthew 12:43-45). Don’t pray evil things out without praying holy things in.
Redeem the land. God wants the “trees to clap their hands,” (Isaiah 55:12) the “seas to roar with praise” (Psalm 96:11) – all the earth to acknowledge him. Look at the places that reflect disorder, darkness, depression, oppression – and send teams to pray in those gaps. Invite God’s light. Pray that the land and buildings would be used for godly purposes. Ask that the owner and operator of the building would come to know God. Begin to pastor the community “by prayer!” (Ezekiel 22:22-30; Deuteronomy 32:43; Numbers 35:33)
Pray for the city. Pray for city leaders and for community needs (I Timothy 2:1-2). Have the intercessors take their prayer cues from the community newspaper. Nothing escapes God. Nothing is outside the concern of his kingdom. So many things have spiritual implications. Set the intercessors to praying for the city.
Here are additional intercessory opportunities. Some of these will require intentional leadership and organization.
Pastoral Prayer Support
Develop prayer partners for the pastor. He needs a PIT crew as well. Ask each member to do the work of intercession, whether or not they consider themselves an intercessor or not. Dee Duke of Jefferson City Baptist Church asks each member to pray for him once a month. They choose the day of month – the 1st or 21st – their own birthday. In a larger congregation this usually guarantees daily prayer support for the pastor. In smaller congregations, every day might not be covered, so improvise. A simple guide for prayer can be provided each week in the bulletin or on the church’s web-site. Pastor Dee Duke says that as folks pray for him, he feels the strength of that prayer. The church in a 13 year period grew from less than 200 to over 1200 regular attenders, an increase of about a thousand people in a city with only 1700 residents. Pastor Duke says the grumble factor has fallen to almost zero. When he steps into the pulpit on Sunday morning, almost a quarter of those present give him a thumbs up sign indicating that they prayed for him that week.
Go to www.myprayerteam.com to create an automated prayer support system for the pastor. On that web-site you will find supplies to support that program. Automatic email reminders are sent out.
Conduct an all-night Prayer Meeting
Many of the churches in the far east conduct an all-night prayer meeting beginning at midnight and concluding at 6:00 a.m. and they do so on a regular basis. In our culture, such a church-wide gathering might be held once a quarter with one of the intercessory brigades serving as the core of the gathering.
Build a Prayer Wall
It takes 168 watchmen, each praying an hour, to fill a wall for the week. The wall functions like an old-fashioned prayer chain. Each person prays for a designated hour and calls the next person. Prayer guides can be created. These watches are typically seasonal – once or twice a year. Some churches may be able to recruit enough participants – 650 to 700 – to have a perpetual prayer wall with each person filling a one-hour slot per month. Communities can easily accomplish this goal of a perpetual prayer watch over the city if churches would work together.
Some prayer walls are built around causes – they are issue driven. They may be built in response to a community crisis. A need. Or a call to revival. Others may be seasonal – Lent, or the days between the Resurrection and Pentecost. Some may use Steve Hawthorne’s annual “Seek God for the City”14 prayer exercise as a time to build a prayer wall.
A Prayer Blitz
Conduct a prayer blitz for special activities, services, etc.
Communication
Create an e-news letter for intercessors. You should have a regular weekly or monthly e-news bulletin. And then flash alerts for prayer emergency prayer. The regular e-bulletin would include: tips on intercession, journaling, scripture praying, information and inspiration, etc. Offer new web-links for prayer growth. Alert them to local, state and national prayer focuses. Keep evangelism and the harvest before them. Share testimonies and breakthroughs.
Subscribe to the PROJECT PRAY ebulletin with updates about prayer events around the world, news for intercessors and tips for local church prayer leaders. It’s free. Go to www.projectpray.org or call 704-938-9111.
Allow for some means of prayer impressions and insights of those in your prayer room or center, and those on intercessory teams – to filter back to the prayer leadership team, and on to the pastoral staff and elders, through established channels.
Prayer Walking
The Church Campus - Begin by doing a prayer walk of the church campus itself. That is safe! But this is often very powerful. Have the people form small teams of 3-5 and move through the complex praying for each room, each hallway, each ministry and activity. Bring them back into the sanctuary for a debriefing.
The Church Neighborhood - Prayer walk the neighborhood around the church. This provides a broader experience and gets your prayer evangelists together for the shared experience. Team them in groups of three – no more. Or, they will call attention to themselves. Break up couples for the experience. In the early stages of a prayer ministry, sometimes they find greater freedom when separated. Create routes that can be completed in about an hour. Plan for everyone to return to the church. Again, don’t miss the opportunity to debrief them. Have them share their experiences.
Make pray-walking a part of the effort to have the church “reconnect” with the neighborhood. After you have experimentally walked some immediate zone around our church, claim a specific perimeter for influence - a ten block area, then one mile, then a three mile zone. Ask the Holy Spirit, why is our church on this corner, for this time? Who lives around us and what are their needs? Who is down and out? Who is up and out? How can we be a better neighbor? What difference does our being in this neighborhood make? Would the neighbors feel better off if we moved or closed down? What is the level of the effectiveness of our witness in this neighborhood? Do they know we are here? Do they care? Do they know who we are? How do we find practical, concrete ways to connect the ministries of the church to the needs of our neighbors?
The Neighborhoods of the Members - Now, you should be ready to encourage members to prayer walk their own neighborhoods. There is great support material for these efforts at the National Prayer Committee office.15 Or get Steve Hawthorne’s book, Prayer-walking.
Mission Walking - We also want to participate in city-wide efforts to cover the whole of the city with prayer walks. Individuals, usually in not less than pairs, agree to prayer walk a certain area or receive their assignments for prayer walking.
City Neighbors – What businesses are around the church that could be “adopted” for prayer? A fire-house? Schools? Are there businesses owned by our members? What businesses around us need to be “prayed out?” What land needs to be redeemed? Shouldn’t the light drive out the darkness?
Our Samaria – Where is the Samaria near us? Is it a low-end trailer court? Apartment complex? Could prayer make a difference there? Designate prayer mission teams to consistently go and pray in these areas.
Mission Teams – Send teams out to other cities and nations to prayer walk.
Prayer support for the sick
Prayer requests should be passed on the IPTs for prayer. If you have an intercessory-family watch program, pass the prayer request on to the intercessor who prays for that family. If you have a functioning prayer center, one of the assignments of the call center can be to make a periodic outbound call to the sick for prayer support. This helps the pastoral staff in tracking the condition of the sick until they recover. And if you have developed healing prayer teams, here is an opportunity for them to shine.
Blessing and Watching Prayer for Families
Each intercessor might be given the responsibility of covering certain families in the church in prayer. For example, if you have 500 member families and 50 intercessors, each intercessor would be asked to adopt 10 families and pray for them. If each intercessor prayed for one family a week – at that rate each family would be covered in prayer at least four-to-five times a year.
Let’s say that I am an intercessor and a part of an IPT (Intercessory Prayer Team). As a team, we could also share our assignments, serving as a back-up for one another. This multiplies the impact of prayer and heightens sensitivity. One family is my primary focus, this week, others are my secondary focus.
Whenever there was a crisis in those families, the intercessor is alerted for prayer support. The entire IPT and other teams may also be asked to provide prayer support until the crisis abates. Intercessors are not expected to visit the sick unless they choose to do so. The family may not even know they have an intercessor assigned or the name of that intercessor. This is a silent ministry – a “watching” ministry.
Concerns about families bubbling up in prayer are passed along through the IPT leader to the prayer center, the prayer coordinator and the pastoral staff.
Simultaneous Intercession
Many churches provide simultaneous intercession during their services, particularly on Sunday morning. For the best results, position your simultaneous intercessors in a sound-proof room with mirrored glass so they can hear and observe the service without distracting the worship. 16 Simultaneous intercession can work without a visual link – but only with an experienced group of intercessors. Intercessors should not be passive observers – they actively pray. Sometimes, you can visibly see the passion of the intercessors affecting the worship. One year at the Church of God General Assembly, I was in the room where I could observe both intercessors and the worship event simultaneously. The intercessors were face-down, almost oblivious to the worship event. As they pressed into prayer with a rising tide of group passion, it was as if the spirit in that small room overflowed in the convention hall filled with 15,000 worshippers.
Moving Beyond the Church to the City with Intercession17
Doug Kamstra says, “Finding and engaging the intercessors at the city level is an important priority in mobilizing a city to pray. Intercessors are present in every church and are willing to step forward when challenged with an intercessory task. Once identified, intercessors should be challenged to pray in one accord for their city. They should be given specific things to pray for, such as
Prayer for the lost to come to Christ – for the gospel to go forth in clarity.
Unity among pastors and churches based on obedience to Christ.
Revival in the churches of the city.
Holiness and righteousness – for pastors to be holy men of God.
Fruitful evangelism—believers praying for and sharing the gospel with their neighbors and fellow workers.
Spiritual protection and guidance for public officials, city employees and schools.
Kingdom solutions to city problems.
The need for righteousness to prevail and evil to be exposed.
Intercessors are already praying. More and more are discovering that they are called and are linking across denominational lines to help establish God’s kingdom in a community. Some produce newsletters that link church and city intercessors.
Keep intercessors informed about what is happening as you develop a city-wide restoration ministry. Bring them together periodically to renew or reshape your unified vision. Share both prayer requests and answers. Give them a chance to pray together. Listen to intercessors. They hear from God. They frequently sense God’s will before others do.
Intercessory Praying for My City
City intercessors should also meet for prayer. Houston at one point mobilized intercessors across that city for monthly prayer, gathering as many as a thousand intercessors in the rallies. They might also meet for prayer coverage of special “city events.”
Sample Topics for City Intercessors 18
At the city level, intercessors might take on the task of:
Praying systematically for leaders and those in authority.
The Mayor, city council – its issues and even its agenda.
Pastors and churches in the city – everyone covered by prayer.
Law enforcement – Police and Sheriff.
Fire departments.
Crime blotters – concentration on high crime areas.
Praying over the local newspaper for city events, revival, restoration needs, reconciliation, families, spiritual strongholds, the destiny of the city.
E. M. Bounds says,
Praying, true praying, costs an outlay of serious attention and time, which flesh and blood do not relish.19
Not only do we have to overcome flesh – but Satan also is a great enemy to prayer. C. S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters gives us a view how Satan might coach his demonic assistants in their warfare against believers. Listen in:
Interfere at any price in any fashion when people start to pray, for real prayer is lethal to our cause.20
