Being an intercessor is different from someone who prays; every Christian can pray but not every Christian is called to intercede.
Intercession is a selfless ministry, the intercessor has to be spiritually sharp to respond quickly to what the Holy Spirit is saying and prompting them to do. A typical way God draws one’s attention is to burden them with an issue he wants them to seek his face for which usually doesn’t shift until one takes action to intercede.
The Ministry requires you to be very responsive, the Lord can wake you up in the middle of the night to pray, he can prompt you to fast for a short or lengthy period of time. Some Intercessors have the Spirit of Prophecy as God may direct them to deliver a message to a person after intercession. It is a Ministry that requires a lot of discipline as one needs to create time to meet with God regularly.
All of these requirements can be tough on the flesh but are necessary; your soul, body, mind and spirit need to be trained. In 1 Cor 9:27, Paul says: “I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Intercession forces you to mature spiritually; you cannot afford to be petty or take offence easily and you have to see things from the spiritual perspective all the time. For instance, people will be aggressive towards you just because of what you stand for in Christ but you cannot use this as an excuse to retaliate as the enemy can use this as a leeway to attack you.
Spiritual attacks is a part and parcel of this ministry. As intercessors, we are warriors attacking the enemy and his kingdom, consequently, he will do anything to retaliate but remember what Jesus said in John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Do not worry, spiritual attacks makes us come out of the war zone stronger and our faith level increases.
Following the principles of God faithfully will bring out the following characteristics in an intercessor:
- You will become a bold person.
- You will be able to discern what is of God from what is of the devil very quickly.
- You will become a very disciplined person.
- Fasting will become second nature.
- Because you intercede for others, God will fight on your behalf.
There are of course some things you will need to watch out for as an intercessor:
- Do not take your prayer life for granted.
- Do not be a man-pleaser, this can lead to disobedience when God instructs you to carry out a task. Remember the disobedient prophet in 1 Kings 13: 24-28.
- The agents of the enemy will recognise you, you cannot afford to be naive.
- You have to be careful and watchful in everything you do. The enemy is watching every step you take.
- Do not indulge in any kind of sin.
Remain Blessed
Toro
This is very true. Thanks for sharing.
Excellent Toro. A woman after God’s own heart. I pray that the Lord would raise up many more Intercessors in this endtime. God is looking for men and women to stand in the gap for nations, brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ. and the world at large.
Iya àfin Osuntoki. Thank you for writing such an insightful and inspiring article. I have no doubt it was Holy Spirit inspired. What a comprehensive guide and source this article will be for all intercessors, especially new ones I pray for more grace and fresh daily anointing for you. May the light of Jesus in you continue to shine brighter and brighter for His glory.
The last points really hit home for me. It’s very helpful to know how and where to be vigilant in the life of an intecessor.
Thank you for writing this blog.
Powerful message, sis. Very true and powerful. As intercessors, The Lord can wake us up in the middle of the night, fasting should be second nature. I feel really blessed by this post sis. May the good Lord bless you for your obedience, my dear sister Toro
Thank you for sharing. Paragraphs 4 and 5 confirmed what God was saying to me this morning.
Thank you very much for the spirit led article and for allowing the Holy Spirit to use you to minister into the lives of intercessors. The article provokes one to examine their life as and intercessor and stirs a deeper yearning to pant after God’s own heart. May God continue to use even more than before. God bless
Good respond in return of this difficulty with firm arguments and telling everything about that.
This is the perfect blog for anyone who hopes to find out about this topic.
You understand so much its almost hard to argue with you (not
that I really would want to…HaHa). You certainly put a brand new spin on a subject
that has been written about for a long time. Great stuff, just excellent!