“Each prayer group is tempted to think its approach is the most effective way to pray.  Yet we find – if we’re willing to take the first step and actually get out there and pray with those who are different from us – that it’s Jesus we have in common.  When we’re standing in His presence together, focusing on Him, theological walls come tumbling down.  Prayer is not about us.  It’s about Jesus, His fame, His purposes, His desires.” Fawn Parish

May we not deprive ourselves of the richness, the wisdom and the many dimensions of God. Recently I was able to live with people from over 40 nations.  We lived with this diversity for many years in the past, and it was a tremendous experience to live with so many cultures once again.

Presently we are in Germany training people from many different countries who are working in many nations. It is wonderful and reminds me of what heaven will be like. In the same way, I have had the experience of praying with and meeting intercessors of not only different countries, but of different denominational backgrounds, ages, personalities and approaches to prayer.  It is a real delight for me to meet and get to know such a diverse group of people.  Some have been praying for years and some are beginning and wanting to learn more. I sense the delight of God in every single person who wants to learn to pray.

He enjoys all these different types of prayer warriors, and we should too!

Open your heart to others who may have a different denomina-tional background or prayer style than yours.  Know that God is not limited to just one style of praying.  He enjoys them all and is thrilled with every young Christian who is learning to pray. It is really time that we begin to focus on Him and forget our differences. This does not mean that we shouldn’t pray with those who are like us, but we must be willing to pray with those who are different and not judge their approach to God.

Remember that Jesus is the treasure, the Word of God is the treasure map, and each one of us is a clue to that treasure. We miss out if we never mix with those who are different, because they have clues to the treasure that we need. We see a wider spectrum of God’s nature as we see the diversity of one another.

The main thing that keeps us apart from one another is our pride. Someone has said that pride is like bad breath. You’re the last person to know you have it. God wants us to walk in humility, and to esteem and honor one another. The richness of God is wild, untamable and unfathomable. We must passionately seek to embrace humbly anyone who has a clue to the treasure of Jesus. Intercession is diverse in so many ways – cultural backgrounds, gender, denomina-tional background, spiritual maturity, etc.

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ” (1 Corin-thians 12:12).

The Diversity of Intercessors

“God didn’t make a mistake when He made us different.  He did it for a purpose.  Just as we need all the parts of our physical body, we need all the different prayer styles in the body of Christ.  We need all the different prayer styles to pray everything that is on God’s heart.” Alice Smith

The following are many prayer styles that show forth the treasure of diversity in the body of Christ.

• Worship intercessors – They like to worship during prayer times or sing their prayers to God.
• Warfare intercessors – They like to uncover the enemy’s evil plans and stop him through their prayers.
• Crisis intercessors – They like to pray for emergencies.
• List intercessors – They like to pray from a list.  They often have missionaries, unsaved friends or the sick on lists.
• Issues intercessors – They like to pray for issues in the news such as government decisions, disasters or scandals.
• Nations intercessors – They like to pray for countries or over a map.
• Prophetic intercessors – They like to listen to God as much as they speak.  They like to pray on-target prayers.
• Mercy intercessors – They feel the heart of God and pray in a way that brings God’s mercy into situations.
• Special assignment intercessors – They like to pray for situations or people that God puts on their heart.
• Administrative intercessors – They like to organize others to pray.  They inform others of prayer needs, organize prayer chains and help others to pray more effectively.
• Evangelism intercessors – They like to pray for the lost until they are saved.
• Flexible intercessors – They like to use a variety of prayer styles in prayer and can move from one style to another according to the need of the moment. 

“Prayer should enlarge, not limit, our view of God.  God is so enormous,
so multi-faceted, that no one prayer group could ever fully express or represent Him.” Fawn Parish

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC