I’ve been thinking about supplication—the asking kind of prayer, a type of intercession. Whole ministries are dedicated to intercession in many churches where intercessors have finally achieved recognition and status as a church department. The argument for having an intercessory prayer team is pretty strong, so shouldn’t we take advantage of these willing souls storming the spiritual world on our behalf? After all, aren’t believers instructed to pray for others?
Intercessory Prayer as a church ministry, however, can be confusing and misunderstood. These teams have been variously touted as the powerhouse of heavenly anointing, the go-to team for unloading one’s troubles, the stormtroopers against demonic threats, and a strategic force for achieving victory. When operating with integrity, well-grounded in the Word of God, and humility, it can be all of these and highly effective.
In the worst case scenario, it’s a source of glorified gossip, a dumping ground for people who can’t seem to find purpose in church, or a place for eccentric personalities that are attracted to behavior that is downright weird. Nobody starts out with the intention of starting a group that borders on the bizarre, but it happens when its members are not firmly grounded in God’s Word and rely more on how people feel or their current “inspiration” without biblical discernment.
The nature of contact with the spiritual world can look a bit strange and the world of intercessory prayer groups can be an easy target of the enemy to create havoc. I have seen individuals that are overzealous-and-not-so-well-grounded, but have good intentions, run with ideas that are of the flesh and wacky. Flaky stuff rides out its popularity and then eventually dies out. It’s a good thing God is not so easily offended. But let’s assume that’s not the case in your church community.
- What does a spiritually healthy relationship with intercession look like?
Besides supplication (a form of intersession that involves asking God for something), intercession is often described as “standing in the gap” on behalf of someone else (Ezek. 22:30). It’s a common enough phrase, but what is the gap, who is in it, and what are the two sides? I’ve heard people “pray” as if God is holding out on people and they plead for God to intervene or impose on someone’s free will—not likely to happen. It’s as if the intercessor is standing in between God and the person staving off God’s anger with pleading. Yet God’s Word says that God’s mercy is new every day, His gospel of grace is available to all, and His love never fails.
The gospel message is that of love and grace extended to humanity, but it never compromises someone’s free will, nor does it present God as a tightwad doling out blessings on a whim that requires pleading and fasting to move His hand. Nothing could be farther from truth. So, the kind of “prayer” that asks God to force another person to believe or that someone’s misfortune is somehow God’s divine will is completely misdirected.
What, then, is the gap? Is the gap between the demonic realm and the person? What does Scripture have to say? Yes, we really do have an enemy, and it is not God (Eph. 6:12, 1 John 5:19). We have been given power (dunamis) and authority in the Name of Jesus to put the enemy to flight (Matthew 28:17-19, Mark 16:17, John 14:13–14, Acts 1:8). So, yes we do stand in the gap between the enemy and another for deliverance as we drive out the enemy with the Word of God and the authority of Jesus’ Name. I prefer to call it what it is—deliverance, not prayer, because I see prayer as communication between people and God.
- Are you outsourcing prayer* to intercessory groups and relinquishing your individual communication with God because it requires commitment you may not be willing to give?
The word “outsourcing” is usually about as welcome as foot fungus. It means loss of jobs and customer service agents speaking unintelligible English only after pressing a seeming endless series of numbers to get to a live voice. Outsourcing is when you subcontract labor outside your business to do work you don’t want to do or to lower cost for the labor by people willing to do it for less money. The whole point is that it decreases the cost of doing business, thereby increasing the bottom line. Considering the consumer frustrations related to outsourcing, it’s a wonder that the net effect of customer loss is not higher than it is. Is this what we are doing with intercession?
Being a Christian is all about getting to know God more each day. We find out about God in His Word and in the “secret place” where we fellowship with Him. We develop our story with God as we believe His Word and see the works of His hand in our victories.
Completely giving over our concerns and needs for others to bear is abdicating our privilege to speak to God and hear from Him for ourselves. Yes, there is a place for asking others to stand with you for strength, especially when you feel weak, but it is not a replacement for your relationship and communion with God. We need both—a personal prayer life and a communal prayer life.
- Does the intercessory group have some special insider practice or connection to the heavens that the rest of us don’t have?
Scripture speaks of function gifts to the body of Christ—pastor, teacher, apostle, prophet, evangelist, administrator, deacon, bishop. Intercessor is not on the list. It is not a special function for a select gifted individual. They do not have a special hotline to heaven that is inaccessible by other believers. Intercession is for all believers, but some believers understand prayer better and give themselves to praying for others more so than others. These are the prayer partners that join with you in faith and expectation for effectiveness in their prayer.
- Do you ask others for prayer in hopes that someone else’s prayers will be heard because you think they are more “anointed” or their prayers more powerful?
The authority in prayer, deliverance, and declaration given by Jesus is for all believers. Furthermore, because a person uses eloquent language in their public prayer does not guarantee their prayer is effective. We should never be intimidated by the fact that someone else can pray with eloquent passion. A simple prayer that is faith-filled and anchored in God’s Word is highly effective. Prayer is an issue of faith (James 5:15), whether or not expressive language is used .
- Is more better?
Does asking for the same thing over and over or adding more people amount to nothing more than sustained unbelief*? God does not demand us to beg for His grace and mercy over and over just in case He didn’t hear. How many times should you ask God for the same thing? Isaiah 43:25–26 NASB says, “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins. Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together; State your cause, that you may be proved right.” Putting God in remembrance of His Word and the many times He has come through for you is not because God forgets. It is because we forget and need to remind ourselves of His faithfulness and promises. So, when we “pray through” to victory, we repeat, declare, and confess is His Word on the matter, not pleading or begging. It is the fuel that feeds our faith.
So, what is the point of prayer and intercession?
Prayer is a conversation with God that may include such things as giving thanks, expressing adoration, and bearing one’s soul of concerns to our Creator. It may include making requests on behalf of someone else (supplication—a form of intercession)—healing, deliverance, mercy, and the like. God invites us to ask of Him in faith believing that what He has promised, He shall deliver. That of course, requires us to know what God has promised. So as not to be confused, intercession that is not prayer per se may involve deliverance and declarations of God’s Word into the spiritual world.
Prayer is also hearing what God wants to say. He speaks to us many ways—in the inspiration and revelation in His Word, in the prophetic “still small voice,” in dreams and visions, in signs and wonders, just to name a few. This is why we need to have a solid prayer life, a life of communication with the Lord, as well as joint prayer times with people of like faith—expressing our adoration, thanks, and supplication as a body of believers. Together, as intercessors, we share in the proclamations of faith and in the declarations of God’s promises that overcomes the enemy of our faith for ourselves and others.
*Special thanks and acknowledgement to Dr. Geoff Wattoff for the phrase, “outsourcing prayer,” and to Dr. Rolland Baker for the phrase, “sustained unbelief.” Both phrases prompted my musings and capsulized some thoughts.
Copyright 2016 by Eva S. Benevento. All rights reserved.