Intercession Explained 2

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Intercession is a powerful and valuable expression of prayer ministry that has its own unique and wonderful place in ministering to the needy.

In part 1 of this series I opened the subject for you, and in this lesson I will move into the explanation of what Intercession is.

We have already seen that some people find a sense of burdening coming upon them at times when they pray. This can be emotional feelings, deep inner perceptions and physical responses within their body. The person is not sensing these things on their own behalf, but on behalf of someone else who is in need.

When this burden comes upon them, placed there by the Holy Spirit, the intercessor will pray with fervour and intensity, pushing through the barrier and resolving the sense of burden that has come upon them. Once they have done so a feeling of relief and going back to normal settles upon them.

So, What is Intercession?

I see Intercession as having three components. It is firstly the ‘making of a petition’, or pleading on someone else’s behalf. So, a person could write a letter to an employer, on behalf of someone else, pleading with the employer to consider the special needs of the person being interceded for.

When ever someone pleads on behalf of someone else, that could be identified as intercession.

At the same time intercession carries the idea of ‘identification’. The person writing on behalf of a friend is identifying with and feeling concern for the situation of their friend.

Thirdly, intercession involves one party ‘acting on behalf of another’. Not only do they identify with the burden, but they use their own position, authority, voice, strength or wit to lend aid to the one who is burdened.

Often people who are helpless appeal to those who have better standing than them to act on their behalf. When someone does that they are acting as an intercessor, making intercession.

The Intercession Process

I picture the intercession process as starting with a person who is stooped over and weighed down with a burden. That burden could be fear, grief, shame, sickness, debt, obligation, insecurity, or whatever.

An intercessor comes along and identifies with that burden, by stooping down to stand alongside the burdened person under their load. Now, the intercessor is not personally burdened by the same fear, grief, or whatever. But they tune in to that burden, as it were.

Then the intercessor allows the weight of that burden to be taken on their own shoulders, so the person who had the burden is relieved. As the intercessor shoulders the burden the other person is able to stand tall, stretch and feel the joy of relief.

Temporary intercession would result in some relief to the burdened person, before they carried their load again. While that is not as good as total freedom, it is better than no relief at all.

Alternatively, the intercessor could carry off the burden so that the person is permanently set free from its load. However, if the intercessor was then permanently burdened there would not be the victory which the Holy Spirit wants to bring, through Christ’s finished work.

Ideally the intercessor, being stronger in spirit and with the Holy Spirit’s anointing, will not only shoulder the load, freeing the burdened person, but have the spiritual might to totally destroy and throw off the burden completely.

Christ the Intercessor

Our best example of Intercession is Jesus Christ and His work for us on the Cross.

Mankind is burdened by sin and the death penalty which comes from our sinfulness. Jesus became human, identifying with us and our situation. He then, on the cross, took all of our burdens upon Himself, so we could become totally free from sin and death.

Jesus then defeated sin and death, throwing them off and coming back to life. He defeated the devil, sin, death and all the evil which attacks us. He went through the whole process I described earlier in the Intercession Process. And now we can live completely free from sin, death and hell.

An Ideal Example

Back in 1980, in New Zealand, a young man I was encouraging in his ministry came to me to share his first experience of Intercession. Mal was a ‘no-holds-barred’ enthusiastic Christian who jumped in and did what he felt impressed to do, without needing to understand what was going on. It was great to see his faith in action, although at times he seemed to be living dangerously.

He excitedly shared with me that he was entering into the ministry of healing people’s inner lives which he had seen me do. What he actually stepped into was powerful intercession.

The Baptist Pastor at Te Puke asked Mal to assist him in praying for a woman who had breakdowns at the same time each year. As the three began praying in the woman’s home Mal prayed in tongues (praying in the Holy Spirit) for a while, then felt an incredible burden come on him. He continued praying as he wept and struggled with intense feelings. Then the intensity turned to a feeling of delight and freedom.

The lady explained that as they started praying she saw in her imagination a baby in a darkened room, desperately crying for the attention of the adults whose voices could be heard through a closed door. The woman felt the agony of the baby and realised it was a vision of her as an infant. She also realised that the sound of a baby crying always accompanied her times of breakdown.

She then told Mal, “When you became emotional something wonderful happened”. She saw the door open and Jesus walk to the crying baby. He picked the baby up and cradled it in His arms. As He did so the woman felt pain and tension drain out of her body until she felt a wonderful release and peace.

Analyse This

The woman was under a burden of personal pain that went back to her infancy. It may have been rejection, but we don’t have a label for it. When a burden of intercession came upon Mal, the Holy Spirit released a healing process into the woman’s life, as Mal carried the pain for a season.

The ministry of the Spirit brought to the woman a revelation of the source of her problem and also revealed Jesus as the healer of that situation. Once the prayer process was over there was no more burden being carried. Mal only shouldered it temporarily and the woman was able to be free from pains she had carried all her life.

Note that Mal did not know the effect of his praying. He simply allowed himself to be moved by the Holy Spirit. Only when the lady explained what she was seeing could Mal have known the effect of his prayers.

The Baptist pastor said, “I’ve never seen anything like this ever before”. He probably thought Mal was a spiritual wonder-worker, but Mal was way out of his depth, just going with what the Holy Spirit led him to do.

Rees Howells

The book, Rees Howells Intercessor, about this great man of prayer from mid last century is a wonderful example of a man identifying with others and then having great impact in prayer.

His experience and example are a mixture of a burden to identify with the needy, and the development of a small group of prayer warriors who received prophetic guidance in their prayers. You will find it a great encouragement to spirit-led praying.

Release of Intercession

In the lovely and powerful name of Jesus Christ I release a spirit of intercession upon the body of Christ and upon those reading this, so that the supernatural ability to bear one another’s burdens becomes abundant in the Body of Christ, so God’s Kingdom will come and His will be done in the earth as it is in heaven.

To see the first part of this study on Intercession go to the following link …..

http://chrisfieldblog.com/ministry/intercession-1

Building Your Faith Through Challenges

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When David stepped up to fight Goliath his faith was bolstered by his past experience of defeating a lion and a bear. Those earlier faith challenges were part of building up his faith.

We too can watch our faith grow as it tackles increasingly more demanding challenges. I want to share an example from history that clearly illustrates the progressive nature of growing faith.

Rees Howells came to prominence in World War Two, as an intercessor who prayed for and declared victories before they were ever achieved on the ground. Norman Grubb wrote the book, Rees Howells Intercessor, which documents many of the testimonies from this exemplary life. Others who were part of the prayer ministry have made their own records of the events.

Two examples of growing faith in Rees Howells’ ministry are encouraging and illustrative. In the 1920’s Rees Howells stepped out in faith to buy properties, for a Bible College and a school for missionary children. Those purchases were made by faith, for sums of 6,000 and 3,000 pounds. Then, before the war began he was led to purchase a third property, for Jewish orphans, worth 20,000 pounds. Each purchase involved much prayer and pressing in to God to provide, as he did not have the means to pay for them.

The earlier experiences of buying the less expensive properties prepared Howells for the huge 20,000 pound purchase.

Similarly, in his prayer ministry, Rees Howells moved from one mile-post to another. In 1940, when the United Kingdom was subject to intense bombing raids by the Germans, Rees was challenged to believe God that no bombs would land on his ministry properties and that all the people would be safe. This was particularly challenging for his property in Swansea, as it was close to a major target area of industrial activity. After much agonising prayer Howells was impressed to claim the Passover text, Exodus 12:13, “I will pass over you”. That gave everyone complete assurance that they would be safe. In the afternoon meeting of September 8, 1940, he said, “I could put it in print that no devil can touch anyone here.”

That, however, was just a warm-up battle in itself. Rees was next challenged to believe that God would protect the whole of England from the intended German invasion. Read these diary notes from the prayer session of September 12.

“We prayed last night that London would be defended and that the enemy would fail to break through, and God answered prayer. If we have protection for our properties, why not get protection for the country?”

Norman Grubb gives the following information in his book, Rees Howells Intercessor.

Mr. Churchill, the Prime Minister of Britain at that time, in his War Memoirs, gives September 15 as “the culminating date” in that Battle of the Air. He tells how he visited the Operations Room of the RAF that day and watched as the enemy squadrons poured over and ours went up to meet them, until the moment came when he asked the Air Marshal, “What other reserves have we?”. “There are none,” he answered, and reported afterwards how grave Mr. Churchill looked, “and well I might,” added Mr. Churchill. Then another five minutes passed, and “it appeared that the enemy were going home. The shifting of the discs on the table showed a continuous eastward movement of German bombers and fighters. No new attack appeared. In another ten minutes the action was ended.” There seemed no reason why the Luftwaffe should have turned for home, just at the moment when victory was in their grasp. But we know why.

After the war Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding, Commander-in-chief of Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain, made this significant comment: “Even during the battle one realised from day to day how much external support was coming in. At the end of the battle one had the sort of feeling that there had been some special Divine intervention to alter some sequence of events which would of otherwise occurred“.

We see here that the Lord mightily used Rees Howells in prevailing prayer. But we also see that Howells was able to build on earlier skirmishes and faith challenges, to step up to more compelling and challenging moments.

Don’t be perturbed by the challenges facing you at this time. They are like the lion and bear which David faced. They are nothing to be sniffed at – dangerous challenges in their own right. But they are also just the training program for you to move on to being “mighty in faith”. Allow your present challenges to be stepping stones to awesome victories which God has in store for you.