The life of an intercessor

Hi saints

Are they any members of this forum who are gifted in the ministry of intercession who would care to share how they knew their calling was in this ministry?

A believer's life is a life of prayer and most believers are able to pray for themselves and their loved ones , however I believe there are those in the body who have a ministry of intercession their prayer life is mainly intercessory prayer for other believers, pastors, countries, lost souls etc but often accompanied with a ' heavy burden' a term those with this ministry use to describe how intercession is born.

DW's sermon a call to anguish is a great example of an Intercessor's life and so is the book by Norman Grubb on Rees Howells Intercessor! But just would love to hear from those in the ministry how they knew their calling was that of intercession.

Blessings in Christ!

Bump

hi, like most things in Christ, talking about your role and how you did this or that and what happened is the beginning of your losing your effectiveness because it is not about you. the truh is like a chisle bragging because it was used in the hands of a master to create a piece of art.this is also why there are so few miracles in the public ministry today.jimp

Hi Jimp

Thanks brother for your post cautioning us not to brag. Perharps I can clarify what the intention of the thread is. It is not for the purposes of disclosing one's prayer life after all our prayer is secret and should only be known by the Lord.

My question is just asking for testimonies of how intercessors came to know that there are intercessors! In the body we have pastors, preachers, evangelist, missionaries etc and most will testify how they were led into that ministry however there is a very huge vital ministry of intercession which isn't noticeable to all because it is a behind the scenes ministry and I consider it to be very important because of it's nature. Intercessors are prayer warriors who are yielded vessels who pray by the leading of the spirit for others. There are behind the scenes praying the body through.

We just hardly know or hear of their ministry and I am certain there are some who are being called or might be being called into this ministry or know some intercessors. Would love to hear their testimonies of how they recognised their calling!

Hi Leedepah
"I am starting to think there is a "burden" for intercession, a calling I think. There is a growing sense that He wants this to be the primary function in your life. Other ministries take back seat. Maybe that is the difference between normal prayer and the ministry of intercession."- Leedepah

Thank you for your reply brother this is what the this thread is trying to establish. The little we know about this ministry or gifting is that it is the work of the Holy Spirit. He lays a " burden" in the intercessors heart. And the Intercessor responds in obedience by yielding themselves to the Holy Ghost to pray. Like you mentioned in your post there could possibly be a feeling , knowing or drawing towards a life of intercessory prayer! I know that sometimes as believers we operate in some ministry e. g giving, encouragement, teaching etc because we are good at it but when it comes to intercessory prayer it is different. I don't think one chooses to become an Intercessor rather it Is God who chooses the yielded vessel.

There is a different prayer ministry of intercession caracterised by mainly praying unceasingly for another believer or a lost soul , pastors or even nations. It is a prayer that is mainly for others , a burden carried for others that is different to our normal prayer life which is mainly charcterised by our own needs or requests .This is exactly what this thread is endeavouring to establish.

It is my belief that all Christians are called to pray. However, the Lord has his set watchman, that have proved themselves being faithful in prayer and the study of his word.

These watchman also do what the Lord bids us to do. If he says go to the park and wait we do it. If he tells us to say something to someone, we do it.

I was born again on October 12, 1986 in a small revival meeting at the Brumley Baptist Church. I became very active in personal soul winning, bible study, reading of the word 5 chapters a day and prayer.

I remember, in 1993, after I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, I began getting pains in my heart and feeling a little sick to my stomach. I went to the doctor and they couldn't find any thing wrong.

Not thinking anything more about it, I was reading my bible before going to bed and that feeling started coming on me again. Then I was laying in bed, put the book down turn off the lights and turned over and started to pray, when I felt a stirring in my spirit.

I couldn't help it, I slid out of bed and on my knee's humbling myself before God. Quietly, not to disturb my wife I began to pray in the Holy Spirit. then the pains began again, it wasn't a sick feeling, but more of a heavyhearted that made me groan from deep inside of my spirit.

After about 30 minutes the pains went away and I felt refreshed bodily and spiritually. I felt a release in the spirit and went back to bed.

I didn't know what was going on, I didn't understand. I didn't know anything about intercessory prayer. I was in a Christian bookstore, and found a book by Andrew Murray titled Intercessory prayer. I wasn't going to by the book I believe I wanted one on soul winning instead. That book by Andrew Murray, kept entering my mind. I felt drawn to it. So I bought it and devoured the book in about three days.

The Lord used this book to help me understand what was happening. I never thought to ask my pastor. I never even thought to ask the Lord in prayer what was going on. This book opened my eyes, not only about intercessory prayer, but also that I can ask My Father anything like;

* what is my purpose in ministry and life?
* Lord who was I just praying for and why?
* Lord, why did I commit that sin? What is the root of it so that you can work in me to help me from doing it again?
* Why did my pastor say that? etc.

Then I found another book I call it my little gem sent from God, It has revolutionized my prayer life. The Holy Spirit directed me to get it and is titled "Practicing the presence of God" by Brother Lawrence. I have come to the conclusion from this book and by scripture that "praying Always" maybe a greater work that Jesus, mentions in the Gospels.

Since 1993, I have an attraction to the subject of prayer. I have a drawing to pastors, teachers, evangelists, revivalists,and writers who are also prayer warriors and intercessors. I have learn much through Ravenhill, E.M. Bounds, A.W.Tozer, A.W.Pink, and many others. This site sermonindex.net has been a great resource for myself.

I have found the longer I have been used in the ministry of intercession, the more the Lord Reveals to me through his word and spirit what I am praying and some times whom.The Lord has shown me great and glorious things and what he has in store for the Church here in America. However, he has order me not to talk about most of the things he has revealed. I don't even bring this stuff up to my pastor. It is just between myself and God. This is the hardest part of intercession for me.

I have ask the Lord, what his calling is for my life, and he has told me that he has set me first and foremost as his watchman, or prayer warrior, Intercessor, pray-er, whatever you want to call it.

If you want to talk send me an email sonsigns at gmail dot com

Bearmaster,
I know a lot of people call the art of intercession a ministry. It isn't a five fold ministry to be sure, but more of works.

hi, like most things in Christ, talking about your role and how you did this or that and what happened is the beginning of your losing your effectiveness because it is not about you. the truh is like a chisle bragging because it was used in the hands of a master to create a piece of art.this is also why there are so few miracles in the public ministry today.jimp

Hi jimp,

This is an interesting statement that you made, given this logic there would be no one that could teach on prayer and fasting because by default, if they did, they would be bragging. This attitude (principal) is from the enemy, it desires to shut down any conversation about prayer and fasting because that spirit knows the effectiveness of it.

No one would accuse Andrew Murray of bragging about his prayer life, yet he wrote some of the most effective books about the subject. George Mueller, David Brainerd, George Whitfield, Hudson Taylor also wrote a lot about the subject, and I personally don't believe that their motive was to brag but to rather testify to others regarding the effectiveness of a red hot prayer life (ie living close to God).

There is such a need right now for prayer and fasting that any talk of it should be WELCOMED by the body. The reason that the Lord gave us the teaching gift is so folks with revelation on a subject can teach us who don't have the same revelation. We need each other, plain and simple... :-)

Hi Lindi,

If you are looking for some insite into intercessory prayer there is a book called "The Azusa Street Revival" by Frank Bartleman that is a good book on the subject. Additionally, David Brainerd's diaries are an excellent resource.

The book by Bartleman is available free online but is hard to read (text is very small) so I ended up buying it from Amazon on my Kindle. Additionally, Brainerd's diaries are available free online as well.

If you run across any good resources, please let me know as well, my email is on the profile page or you can find me on Facebook :-)

Blessings!

In the spirit of sharing what the Lord is doing in the lives of His people, i offer my very limited experience.
When I was a first saved, the Lord graciously sent me mentors who happened to be gifted in the ministry of intercession. It was in observing their lives that I began to be drawn towards the same ministry.
What I have been allowed to partake of is mostly 'emergency-type/short-term' burdens not long-term ones.
I have found great joy in being allowed to pray for others and sometimes seeing the fruit of such prayer.