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Intercession – The Strategy For Reaching Nations

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SyRe2“The evangelization of the world depends first of all upon a revival of prayer. Deeper than the need for men – deep down at the bottom of our spiritless life – is the need for the forgotten secret of prevailing, worldwide prayer. Pray that our mission work may all be done in this spirit: waiting on God, hearing the voice of the Spirit, sending forth men with fasting and prayer. Pray that, in our churches, our mission interest and mission work may be in the power of the Holy Spirit and prayer. A Spirit-filled, praying church will send out Spirit-filled missionaries, mighty in prayer.”

As we go to the nations with the Gospel of Christ, we must be men and women of prayer and intercession. There is a tendency for the enemy to get us too busy in important matters where we actually miss out on the best. Intercession is going to cost us. It is the key strategy in reaching nations. We read in Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful”. This is not some half-hearted endeavor, but it will cost sleep, time and energy. We have to devote ourselves to prayer. It’s a personal choice and discipline to pray and not give up. Prayer is hard work. We must see with the eyes of faith and vision the potential and power of intercession. Vision determines priorities, and our priorities determine our destinies. It must be a high priority in the life of a missionary. You and I will never see results without it.

“What a mystery of glory there is in prayer! On the one hand we see God in His holiness, love, and power waiting and longing to bless man. On the other hand there is sinful man, a worm of the dust, bringing down from God by prayer the very life and love of heaven to dwell in his heart. But the glory of intercession is so much greater: when a man is bold and asks from God what he desires for others. He seeks to bring down on one soul, or it may be on hundreds and thousands, the power of the eternal life with all its blessings.”


Keys to Power in Intercession

“Christ’s power to save, and save completely, depends on His unceasing intercession. The apostles’ withdrawing of themselves from other work to give themselves continually to prayer was followed by the number of the disciples multiplying exceedingly. As we, in our day, give ourselves to intercession, we will have more and mightier conversions.”

We want to share with you some practical ways you can develop a life of prayer and intercession. We have adapted the following from Debbie’s second book on intercession. Here are listed seven keys, enough for each day of the week. Why not meditate and pray about one on each day? Ask God to develop these in your life and begin practicing them. This will prepare you in the greatest way for reaching a nation or city for Christ. In order to make a deep and lasting impact in cities around the world, we must lay hold of prayer and intercession with all our heart. God is maturing us for harvest. We believe that these ways, if taken seriously and applied, will open a wide door into your destiny in reaching the nations.

  • Cultivate praise, worship and thanksgiving – Worship and praise God throughout the day now. Worship changes how we see our situations. It is a joyful way to live successfully in the end time. As we ascend to the throne room in worship, then we can descend back into the harvest field here on earth, pray, and war for its release. God can give us keys during our seasons of worship that unlock the path before us and bring glory into our situations here on earth. Everything in us should give praise to the Lord. David says in Psalm 34:1, “His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Practicing praise and worship will lead you into a more powerful life in missions.
  • Raise your view of God – He wants to give you a bigger picture of Himself. Raise your expectation level of what God can do in your life supernaturally through prayer. What glasses are you looking through? How do you see God? How does He see you? Whenever God brings us to a new level spiritually, we must adjust how we see God. Warfare is not primarily taking authority over the devil but it is discovering the majesty of God and His supremacy. Our view of God is most important in reaching nations and will bring us into a more powerful life of intercession because we begin to view everything from the greatness and supremacy of Christ.
  • Let God stretch your faith – Believe Him for something bigger than yourself. Faith and prayer move God to work on your behalf. Are you trusting God for something that is bigger than yourself that only He can do? Are you stepping out of your comfort zone and asking Him for things that are God-sized and not man-made? Let us keep in mind that God will not do anything without believing prayer. We read in Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Exercising faith empowers our prayer life.
  • Practice purpose-driven prayer – Focus on God’s plan rather than your own needs. When we focus on the negatives and our own needs, we are practicing problem-driven prayer. Purpose-driven prayer focuses on God’s overarching plan. By faith you can pray for his maximum glory to be achieved in any situation. This frees the Lord to replace your problem with His provision. God wants to move us into a much higher realm of His purposes for the nations. As our hearts touch the heart of God, we begin to have His desires and goals. We see things as he sees them. We are committed to His glory. A powerful life of intercession is a life that practices purpose-driven prayer.
  • Practice God’s Presence – Become a best friend of God. Learn to abide and walk in peace even in the midst of the storms of life. There is a place in the spirit far above all principalities. The enemy wants to get you out of the place of abiding. Learn to take thoughts captive and forgive quickly. Look at everything through the eyes of Christ, and practice meditating on God’s Word. “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about them” (Psalm 119:97, 77:12). As you practice God’s presence, the spirit of intercession will permeate your life.
  • Have a Kingdom of God mentality – Practice holiness in your lifestyle. God wants to bring us into a new level of holiness. Kingdom living is living a life of holiness and living out the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. It is letting God be the King in every area of your life. It is submitting to His Authority. It is letting God refine you and teach you to walk in love and forgiveness. This is where the enemy is defeated. There is power in prayer for those who live a holy life. James 5:16 says, “The fervent prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” As you walk in holiness, the Kingdom of God will rule in your life and missionary work.
  • Learn to wait on God in prayer – It brings forth his maximum purposes. In order to move with God’s direction in the end times, we must learn this secret. The truth is that it is in waiting that we will accomplish the most for God. It is in waiting that He will give us His secrets to kingdom living. How much time is wasted when we run down the wrong road? It is in waiting that the very highest direction for your life can come forth on a daily basis. What may look like a loss of time is really only time multiplied on your behalf. God is able to do things with a lot more efficiency than you are. “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him” (Psalm 62:5). As you wait on God, He will give you strategy in reaching nations.

What can we do to stir up the spirit of intercession? There is a twofold answer. Let every Christian, as he begins to get an insight into the need and the power of intercession, begin by exercising it on behalf of single individuals. Pray for your children, for your relatives and friends, for all with whom God brings you into contact. If you feel that you do not have the power to intercede, let the discovery humble you and drive you to the mercy seat. God wants every redeemed child of His to intercede for the perishing. It is the vital breath of the normal Christian life – the proof that it is born from above.” Quotes by Andrew Murray

 Training in World Missions

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Prayer Is The Strategy Of Heaven

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12376824_1071088856287554_8701785010003690252_n“Intercession is standing before the court of heaven and pleading a case or cause before an awesome God. There are things that deeply touch the righteous Heart of the Father and above all, He is jealous of His glory…”

Our God is a mighty warrior. He is a God who has a strategic plan. And you and I can take part in this strategic plan. I doubt if very many of us wake up in the morning and enter the day realizing that we are at war and that strategy is of utmost importance. The truth is that prayer is the greatest strategy in the world. Prayer is the strategy of heaven. As we use this weapon of prayer, God then gives us His strategy for life on earth.

The majority of the Church worldwide has not yet awakened to this strategic weapon of prayer and intercession. If we did, we would be using it, and our prayer meetings would be packed to overflowing. I envision that day coming. We will begin to realize more and more that nothing happens without prayer. Often in the natural we look to man-made methods and schemes to get the job done. We think big money and promotion will reach the world. We try harder with our human ingenuity. No! That will never work, at least not long-term. Prayer and intercession will prepare the way for the harvest. We must set our hearts above. We must choose to use heaven’s strategy rather than man’s human devices. We must set our minds above and learn to intercede. Prayer is the strategy of heaven.

“Since, then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:1-2).

It is in prayer that God gives us heavenly strategy to do the work on earth that will touch the world. I have seen this over and over again. In intercession God gives us the greatest plan. In the quiet place God opens to us His greatest secrets. Everything that will make a difference has to have the touch of the supernatural. God does the work through us, and He gives us His plan in prayer. Multitudes did use the strategy of prayer on the Global Day of Prayer. Corporate intercession took place in 169 nations. But it must continue with increasing intensity and commitment. The days we are living in are evil, and nothing but intense intercession will bring in the harvest. These are days of opportunity, and God is raising up intercessors to take back the land in every nation as they use this heavenly strategy. Never underestimate the true potential of prayer and intercession.

Never fail to realize that an hour in prayer can make a huge difference in the strategic outcome of your day.

“Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16).

Ways to Touch Heaven’s Strategy of Prayer

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).

I find in my life personally that a quicker way to enter into the throne room of God is through worship, praying the Word of God and fasting. This brings us quickly into heaven’s perspective. We touch heaven through our praise, we touch heaven through praying the world, and we touch heaven when we deny ourselves through fasting. We are then able to concentrate more fully on God’s heart.

  • Worship and Praise – Worship, praise and thanksgiving should be incorporated into our lives as much as possible. When you are down or discouraged, try the medicine of praise and thanksgiving. It is a good medicine because it puts our attention back upon the greatness and the glory of God.

    “We can never underestimate praise as one of the greatest and most powerful weapons of war which the Lord has placed in our hands. And, when praise becomes high praise, it commands the unlimited resources of heaven because it gives absolute glory to the Lord. In a way which is beyond our understanding, deliverance and redemption are wrought through praise with great power for such conclusively speak of the supreme victory of Jesus.” 

  • Pray the Word of God – If you want to grow in your prayer life, grow in your study of the Bible and in praying it. God loves us to pray His Word. God loves us to use the sword of the Spirit, His Word, in intercession for the lost. It keeps us on-target, and we begin to think the very thoughts of God.

    “The promises and blessings of God’s Word are conditional. What God has done before, He will do again under the same climate and by the same standards. It is for this reason that intercession must be solidly built upon and directed by the Word. This means that the intercessor must know and quote the word. This is not so the devil can hear but because a case must be made before the Lord… God is committed to His word and the fulfilling of it.” 

  • Fast and Pray – Fasting is a key to a powerful prayer life. Fasting together with prayer will help you to tap into heaven’s riches and strategy in a way nothing else can. It quiets your outer man so that your inner man can hear the heartbeat of heaven.

    “Jesus was always ‘prayed and fasted up’ while the disciples were not. This is why He always had authority in any situation. It is too late in the crisis to ‘get fasted and prayed up,’ so to speak… The benefits, blessings and powers of fasting are clearly revealed in the Word. Firstly, fasting brings the flesh into submission in all areas and herein lies the secret of the power… Fasting is a total denial of self which is mandatory if one is to be a true disciple of Jesus ( 16:24). Thirdly, there is a mysterious relationship between fasting and the power of heaven intervening on our behalf.”

Is it always easy to go heaven’s way? No, we are tempted by earth’s attraction. We are tempted by quick results and man-made schemes, by things that look so good. We are attracted by fleshly fame and fortune. But in reality prayer is what really will get the job done. Prayer and intercession will bring glory to the King and touch earth with heaven’s riches. Prayer is the strategy of heaven. Prayer is the work, the strategic work, of the Kingdom. Prayer will prepare the way for the King.

Never forget this, because your enemy will tempt you in every way possible to get the job done through human resources. He will promise you a quick, painless way to get results. But the quickest way is go straight to the King yourself in prayer. And He will reveal to you a strategy of life that will release His greatest glory through you here on earth. Why is this true? It is because you will be living and doing exactly what you were made for.

And I promise you that this is a joyful and fulfilling way to live.

“God puts no limitations on His ability to save through true praying. No hopeless conditions, no accumulation of difficulties, no desperation in distance or circumstances can hinder the success of real prayer. The promises of prayer are linked to the infinite rectitude and to the omnipotent power of God. There is nothing too hard for God to do. God is pledged if we ask, we shall receive. God can withhold nothing from faith and prayer.” Quotes by Michael Howard

By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
IHOPKC

For additional training on the intercessor and strategic prayer, read Deeper Still: Secrets to a Deeper Prayer Life by Debbie Przybylski.