The Oxford Dictionary of Current English defines art as “Human creative skill or its application.” Intercession is an art. It is a skill that must be learned, just as a Lawyer has to learn the art of mediation and arbitration.  Intercessors are those who by reason of practice of Intercession have come to master certain skills, what are known as Intercessory Tools, which they make use of to achieve acceptable results.  Because Intercession is done, this qualifies it to be an act, too. 

Intercessions are actions, which are done in a particular place and at a particular time.  It is also correct to say that the Aspects of Prayer which we discussed in Chapter Four are essentially an Intercessory Tool.  So that Intercession is not a single string of prayer made for somebody, but a combination of several aspects to achieve a divine cause.  It’s like a carpenter who should master all his tools in order to produce a perfect finished product.  No single tool does the job except as used together with other tools.

Divinity of Intercession

Two of the members of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, are masters in Intercession.  Talking of our Lord Jesus Christ the writer to the Hebrews says: “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that comes unto God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.” (Heb 7:25). Two fundamental truths are revealed here regarding the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

First, that He saves those who come to God through Him.  This is what (Acts 4:12) says: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” And yet John puts it even more explicit when he records Jesus as having said that: “All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37).  Saving mankind was the foremost work Jesus came to do.  But what then has to happen to those who are saved?  Jesus says that He will pray for them to the Father. 

It seems that after the resurrection Jesus now lives to making intercession for the saints.  Can you believe it if I tell you that Jesus mentions your name to His Father and ours in heaven?  Yes, He does.  Moreover, John says: “And if any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (John 2:1). The word “advocate” or the one who pleads for another in a court of Law, a Lawyer, is the same word translated Intercessor. The other member of the Godhead who is master at Intercession is the Holy Spirit. Consider (Rom. 8:26 and 27):

“Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.  And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

Sometimes these two verses can be the most misunderstood and misinterpreted ones.  Both discourse analysis and semantic techniques are vital here to make justice to the text.  First of all it is important to note that the Holy Spirit only helps us.  To help simply means to provide with the means towards what is needed or sought. 

To help is to aid.  It is not to do everything for us.  We are only helped if we have a deficit.  It is to make a contribution to the alleviation of a difficult.  So the Holy Spirit only comes in when we lack.  The Holy Spirit helps us because we have infirmities.  The word ‘infirmity’ here does not point to a disease or a particular physical handicap, but to a weakness.  And the weakness we have is spelled out: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought.  That is the weakness we have; we do not simply know the prayer request exactly as it should be. 

Remember it is not saying that we don’t pray, and neither is it saying that the Holy Spirit is supposed to pray for us always.  This verse is saying that the privilege to pray is ours, but when we jumble up our prayer items, the Holy Spirit is available to correct and help us.  And accordingly, it is not the Holy Spirit who is searching the hearts here, it is God.  The truth has been revealed to us: in the mind of the Spirit there is only an affinity to doing God’s will.  And this is the task of the Holy Spirit, to check our prayer requests and to align them with God’s will. 

If men and women were not evil, self-conceited, selfish and desiring only of their own interests, there was not going to be any need for the Holy Spirit helping  us to pray for anything and it is for the Holy Spirit to make sure that all the ‘anything’ is done according to the will of God.  If this was not so, then man would have been passive in prayer.  This could have made many affirmative statements in the Bible on prayer to be of no effect at all. 

For example, many active statements are recorded in the Bible: Samuel said that he would sin if he ceased “to pray” for the Israelite (1 Sam. 12:23); King Cyrus made a decree concerning the rebuilding of God’s house and that they (the Israelite) “should pray for the life of the King and of his sons.” (Ezra 6:10b); the Psalmist challenges everyone to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” (Ps. 122:6); Jesus instructs us to “Pray to [our] Father which is in secret.” (Matt.6:6); the disciples entreated the Lord to “Teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1); Jesus Himself said He would “Pray the Father ….”(John 14:16); Philip persuaded the Samaritans to, “Repent … and pray God….” (Acts 8:22); Paul urges all Christians to, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thess. 5:17) and James is not tired of encouraging us to “pray one for another.” (Jas. 5:16).

From the foregone, it is evident that we do the praying and the Holy Spirit does the helping.  Similarly, the Holy Spirit does not speak in tongues for us.  (Acts 2:4) clearly says: “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” First of all these people were filled with the Holy Ghost, and antecedent to this, they began to speak in tongues. 

Notice that these people spoke but the Holy Ghost gave them utterance. Psycholinguistically, speaking and uttering are not the same.  Speech is ideally codified in our mind and then given force with the help of the larynx by the brain and emitted through the mouth as utterance.  If the Holy Spirit should give utterance it would mean that the people spoke and the Holy Spirit ordered their words. 

Thus, both the men and the Holy Spirit are actively involved in the process of speaking in tongues.  We decide to speak, and the Holy Spirit gives us the power to utter it.  If men would decide not to speak, the Holy Spirit would have nothing to give power of utterance to. So, whereas Jesus intercedes for us in accordance with the already finished work of redemption, the Holy Spirit helps us to pray rightly for God to answer us. 

The former does it right at the Mercy Seat in heaven, thus achieving the work of a High Priest; the latter does it inside the court as the priest would do, and thus helping us in the elaborate process of redemption whose end is to help us reach the seat of mercy.  In all these, man is the end, for it is man who should be helped to pray and it is man who should be pleaded for in order to be accepted in the beloved.

Old Testament Concept of an Intercessor

God says: “Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.” (Eze. 14:14). The implication here is that Noah, Daniel, Job, and indeed many Old Testament heroes were men and women of prayer. They were Intercessors. In order to understand the power and effectiveness of Intercession we need to go back to the Old Testament and see how it was done. 

We may start by considering an Old Testament text, (Jeremiah 7:16): “Therefore do not pray for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear you.” To understand this verse, it is important to note the context in which it was said.  The people had defiled the temple making it a “den of robbers.” (11). They had stolen, murdered, committed adultery, sworn falsely, burned incense to Baal and had walked after other gods (9). 

God had warned them several times but they had failed to heed (3, 13).  And God had passed a passive judgment upon them (15).  These people had done too much and God feared to forgive them, knowing the power that Intercession had.  At this stage the only one that could reverse the situation was an Intercessor, a man like them who would dared to stand right before God.  Interestingly, God wanted to convince Jeremiah that the people did not need to be interceded for and provided evidence that: “Sees thou not that what they do in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem.” (7:17). God knew that it was only an Intercessor that could save the situation.

Secondly, it was only an Intercessor that could change God’s mind.  In (Jeremiah 27:18) we read:  “But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make Intercession to the LORD of hosts....” The context in which this verse falls is very much different from the first one.  Here God has actually sanctioned the Israelites’ captivity.  God Himself calls Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon his servant (5).  He continued to caution that if there was a prophet who should prophesy for their redemption, such a prophet would be lying (15).  And God sealed it that nobody should bother Him on that issue any more (22).  But again, in (27:18) God gives an implicit truth that the Intercessor can change God’s mind on an issue, even if it was sealed.

Thirdly, God regarded certain courageous men in the Bible that would dare to speak or warn on His behalf as Intercessors.  Thus in (Isaiah 59:16) it is said: “And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no Intercessor....”  God was bewildered that not even a single man was found to stand up for Him.  Such a man who would bravely stand up for God, whether at local or in national crisis, God would refer to him as an Intercessor. In (Ezek. 22:30) God is looking just for one link to help Him pacify His anger, which has been aroused because of one sin after another.  In any given place, God’s solution for crises is a man, usually a single man only.  So it was in this case, should one man be found whose heart would be loyal to God and who should cry out for forgiveness, God would answer.  But everyone had turned against God, and God destroyed them (31).  

Fourthly, in the Old Testament a watchman at the wall performed the job of an Intercessor.  In (Ezek. 3:17), God tells Ezekiel: “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel:  therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.” The notion of a watchman here is different from the modern notion in which we equate a watchman to a night guard only.  In those days when cities were fortified and people lived in the safety of the walls, a watchman was an outstanding figure. He was the Chief Protector of his people because he provided warning to the whole city. 

In God’s view a watchman was a prophet, when he received word from God and transmitted it to the people, and a herald, when he provided warning to the people.  Notice the nature of warning; it was from the LORD’S mouth.  In other words, the herald sounded back God’s word as he received it. Critical analysis of the above discussions reveals the following. 

An Intercessor needed to combine both the priestly as well as the prophetic qualities in him.  A priest spoke from the people to God, thus he stood in the gap on behalf of the people. But he was also a prophet because he was called to hear from God and speak on God’s behalf to the people.  Now in the dispensation in which the priestly office was acutely separated from the prophetic, it was very difficult to find many Intercessors.  Thus, perhaps, it explains why God always regretted having found no Intercessor (Ezek 22:30, Is. 59:16).      

Greek Concept of Intercession

In Greek two words are used, entugchano and enteuxis, for Intercession and an Intercessor, respectively.  The basic idea of Entugchano is to make an appeal and modern translation adopts this meaning.  But the root idea of the word Entugchano is to, “Light upon, by chance; to meet accidentally.”

Hebrew Concept of Intercession

The Hebrew word for Intercession is paga (and its verb means “to intercede”).  Paga literally means to “light upon.” Paga connotes the same meaning as Entugchano.  Both have the notion of chance and a sense of urgency.  The “Lighting upon by chance” and the “meeting accidentally” of Entugchano and the “chancing upon” of Paga both point to the same result, action when it is prompted.  By that we mean that Intercessions are triggered by promptings or sharp intentions, which the Holy Spirit may bring by ‘chance’ or ‘accidentally’ to an individual’s consciousness. 

In these promptings, time, place and action are intertwined.  That is to say, the Holy Spirit triggered imaginations or promptings may come to anybody at any time and action is expected immediately.  Deductively this means that Intercession needs quick response.  Delay is denial in Intercession. When the promptings come, pray.  Never postpone the promptings.  The place of the “chance upon” is as important as the person “chanced upon.” Imagine an individual about to be involved in an accident.  The Holy Spirit prompts you to pray.  You say you will pray later.  The accident occurs and the person dies or is injured.  Who is to blame?  It is therefore vital to pray when the promptings occur, where they occur, and for whom they occur.

General Definition of Intercession

From the foregone, it is quite clearly observed that an Intercession is not just a prayer. Intercession is not just standing in the gap.  Intercession is not just pleading for someone.  Intercession is not just sitting awake like a watchman.  Intercession is not just praying for others.  Intercession is not just combating the powers of evil for the Kingdom of God. But Intercession is all of the above. All of the above can sometimes happen individually while other times occurring collectively.  But whenever they occur, they need to be obeyed.  For whom they occur, they need to be obeyed.  And at whatever time they occur, they need to be obeyed.  All types and aspects of prayer need to be employed in order to achieve an intercessory assignment. Intercessions are thus: The Holy Spirit directed promptings that may come at any time for anyone at any place and an appropriate prayer be employed to achieve divine results.

Exemplification of the Intercessory Concept

Jacob in the Bible gives us the example of how Intercession works.  And two passages from the Old Testament express this concept:

“And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.  And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.  And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.” (Gen. 28:10:12, emphasis mine).

Clearly, Jacob intentionally left Beersheba for Haran.  But he unintentionally selected his place of rest at night.  Suddenly, that place happened to be the very gateway to heaven (Gen. 28:17).  This confirms that Intercessions are accidental but God planned.  For Jacob could never have known whether that place was the door to heaven except by divine promptings.  And what happens in this place? 

Firstly, Jacob has an encounter with the divine (Gen. 28:12b).  Secondly, the LORD renews the covenant He made with his fathers, Abraham and Isaac (Gen. 28:13-14).  And lastly, the LORD gives Jacob direction for his continued journey (Gen. 28:15).  But note how he brings out very clearly the concept of accidental meeting: “And Jacob waked out of his sleep, and said, surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.”(Gen. 28:16, emphasis mine). So are Intercessions, God can be there and you do not know, except and unless you obey the divine promptings. The second passage is also like the first:

“And he arose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two woman servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And he said, I will not let you go, except you bless me. And he said unto him, What is your name? And he said, Jacob.  And he said your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince you have power with God and with men, and you have prevailed.” (Gen 32:22-28).

This passage denotes the spiritual warfare aspect of Intercession but connotes the underlying principles of the meaning of Intercession.  To start with the last, again Jacob accidentally chooses a place to remain alone.  A man that shall change his destiny appears.  Jacob, a trickster and conman, has met his name-changing destiny.  He becomes a prince of God.  One act of obeying the divine promptings can usher one into divine destiny.  He has accidentally or by chance selected a place and in that place his destiny is unfolded.

The first one is an aspect we call spiritual warfare.  Many times in Intercession we need to wrestle.  To meet your destined place is one thing but to wrestle in order to gain your territory is another.  In (Gen. 28), we saw how God easily gave the place Beersheba to Jacob.  But several years ahead we see how God instructs Joshua to be strong and courageous in order to take over the “Promised Land”.  This time Joshua with Israel had to fight for what was promised (Joshua 1:2, 6,9 and Joshua 6-13).  You have to wrestle to get your inheritance, and that is what true Intercession is all about. But the nature of our fight is one of authority, victory, position of faith and one of occupation, glory be to God!

Irrevocable Need for Intercessors

Intercessors behave like pregnant mothers.  They groan and travail to bring about a divine change.  Just as groans of travail precede birth, so the Holy Spirit begotten Intercessions forecast new life, new hope and new possibilities for individuals trapped in the impossible.  A baby truly is a good thing.  All expectant mothers know that very well.  But they also know of the pain during labour as well.  Yet when the child has been born, who remembers the pain?  I remember when Clarice, my wife, was in the labour ward the excruciating pain she underwent. Yet when our baby girl, Emmerance, was born she was so happy that she almost forgot about the pain of labour. So it is with Intercession.  We go through pain, hunger and prolonged periods of prayer and warfare. And things do not seem to be pleasant.  Yet when we see people getting saved, relationships restored, miracles, signs and wonders, financial breakthroughs, nations at peace, God’s will being done, and the list is endless, we get excited and forget about the supposedly discomfitures of travailing.   

The other need for Intercessors is missionary in scope.  We need them to pray so that the Lord can send labourers into the fields to harvest the souls. They are also needed to engage in spiritual warfare, to liberate the masses from the enemy’s attacks through disease, sicknesses, poverty, and countless other vices. This follows from the fact that we are partners with the Lord Jesus Christ in Intercession.  Failure in our Intercessions affects the fruit of Jesus’ Intercession as well.  The benefits of the Lord’s Intercessions flow to us through our Intercessions.  Intercessors are thus needed to birth God’s will on the earth; for the needy harvest fields; for restricting Satan’s work on earth through warfare and for the making of Christ’s Intercessions benefit the saints.

Qualities of an Intercessor

I always refer to Intercession as a “People-centred” Ministry.  The following are the characteristics of an Intercessor: He or she:

Must love God: Jesus assigns this to be the most important commandment.  Answering to the question: which is the greatest commandment in the law, Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with your entire mind.” (Matt. 22:37). It is first of all important to note the inquirer and the nature of his inquisition.  The one asking this question is a Lawyer, a professional in legal matters.  He should have known the law, but he failed short as his nature of inquisition reveals.  First, he asks from a wrong motive, to tempt Jesus.  Secondly, a supposedly Lawyer seems to be ignorant of the law.  It is apparent from the tone of his voice that he was looking at the Decalogue for his answer.  Little did he understand that God honours every word that proceeds from His mouth.  Jesus’ answer does not come from the Decalogue but from what may appropriately be termed “Principles for Living” in (Deut. 6:4-25).  However, there were other laws, such as concerning relationships (Ex. 21:1-17), concerning fighting (Ex. 21:18-32), concerning property (Ex. 22:33, 22:15), concerning social and legal issues (Ex. 22:16-31), concerning fair play (Ex. 23:10-13) and feasts (Ex. 23:14-16).  These are few among the many moral, legal and liturgical laws that were to be followed.  In fact, in tempting Jesus with this question, the inquirer has abrogated another law from whence Jesus extracts an answer, (Deut. 6:16): “Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God.” However, Jesus overlooks this and uses this occasion to give the greatest commandment. The command to love the LORD our God with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength is the first and the greatest.  The nature of this love is that:

It should be with all our soul:  The heart is the seat of our emotions such as love, hate, happiness, sorrow, joy, fear, and so on.  All emotions are expressive.   In other words, we always do something with our emotions.  If we are sorrowful, for instance, we may cry.  If we are fearful, we may panic and if we have joy we may laugh.  To love God with all our heart is to show it through our emotions.  We may demonstrate it in laughter, dancing, shouting or singing.  Secondly:

It should be with all our heart:  The soul is the seat of man’s (woman’s) affections and will.  To love God with all our soul is to love God with a deep regard and appreciation.  It is to love God consciously. It is to make up our minds to doing it.  It is to choose to love Him and not to hate Him.  It is not to “love God with all our spirit”.  To love God with all our human spirit is to make man a passive lover and God an active lover.  Rather, to love God with our soul is to love God apart from God!  It is to pour out our affections to God independently in deep appreciation and regard. Thirdly:

It should be with our entire mind:  It means to love God intelligently, imaginatively and thoughtfully. We have to ponder on who God is and how to love Him best.  It is loving God lively.  Don’t we do the same as humans?  When we first see someone whom we tend to love, we ponder on such feelings and evaluate the price. Then we choose deliberately to love or to do otherwise.  That is how we should love God, intelligently and thoughtfully. Fourthly:

It should be with all our strength:  This means loving God with might, power and security.  Here the body is involved.  In this view the total man is involved, body, soul and spirit.  Loving God with all our strength is applying ourselves to Him.  It is doing things for Him. It is serving others for Him.    It is this part, which compels us to do something, an act, or a deed, which itself demonstrates our love for God.

In summary to love God involves our all being.  It is to verbalize it by saying it.  It is in our attitude.  It is our actions, sacrifice, obedience and unconditionally following Him.  It is communicating with Him on frequent bases. This is what we should be remembered for, that we loved our God!!!

Must love people: People are the reason why the Ministry of Intercession exists.  The second most important commandment in the Law is all about people: “And the second is like unto [the first], you shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matt. 22:39). To the degree to which we love ourselves to that degree Jesus says we need to love our neighbours.  A neighbour is simply every acquaintance or stranger we come across on a daily bases.  We need to love people whether they are rich or poor, white or black, loving or irritating!  This is a grace we receive from our Lord.  We don’t need to discriminate but all the people are to be loved the same.

Must identify with people: A biblical Intercessor always identifies with people.  “We” instead of “I” must be fondly used in prayers.  Other people’s defects, sins and shortcomings become also the Intercessor’s.  One of the best prayers of identification is found in (Nehemiah 1:6): “Let your ear now be attentive, and your eyes open, that you may hear the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you now, day and night, for the children of Israel your servants, and confess the sins of Israel, which we have sinned against you: both I and my father’s house have sinned.” (Emphasis is mine). Nehemiah identified himself with the people.  He included himself in their sins and God answered his prayer of repentance on behalf of Israel.  Similarly, when we pray, we ought to be included in the faults of other people.  In fact, we need to ask the LORD to deal with us on behalf of others.  That is not to say that we have physically done what other people have done, but like the priests who served barefooted in the Tabernacle, we also are pilgrims who are still on the same path as our offending brothers and sisters.  Identify with people’s strengths as well as their weaknesses.  When someone falls plead with God for him or her as if it were you.

Must know God: The original root of the word ‘know’ in the Bible has the concept of “meeting” like a male and female would meet sexually.  Knowing in the Bible speaks of intimacy.  No sooner we realise how important it is to know God personally than we begin to understand how good God is.  It is from this knowledge of God that we begin to appreciate God’s will and what He does not like.  Our intimacy with God grows as we spend quality time in the Word and in prayer.

Must be holy: The priests that served in the Tabernacle of Moses were expected to be physically fit, mentally sound and socially upright.  Physical disabilities of any sort disqualified them to the priestly office.  We are the New Testament royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).  Similarly, God expects us to have neither spiritual disabilities nor deformities.  God Himself commands us to be holy because He is holy (Lev. 11:44).  To be holy is to be sacred, hallowed and set apart to the worship or worthy of God (Heb. 12:14 and Matt. 5:8).  Holiness is being like Jesus, doing what He does, saying what He says and behaving the Jesus’ way.  The state of holiness is what enables us maintain our sinlessness life style, which has been imputed on us through righteousness.

Must be full of the Holy Spirit: An Intercessor must be full of the Holy Spirit.  He or she must be filled in the Holy Spirit everyday and not just the initial experience.  Intercessors must allow the Holy Spirit to lead them.  This is so because whomsoever the Father accepts as his or her child is expected to be led by the Lord’s Spirit (Rom. 8:14).  Furthermore, an Intercessor must be controlled and must walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, which results from a serious prayer life (Luke4:14).  The Intercessor’s foremost tools are the OlHOlHo Holy Spirit promptings.  Care should therefore be taken that the Spirit of Dad God is not quenched nor irritated or grieved.  We grieve or annoy Him by what we carelessly say.  We grieve Him through malice, slander, gossip, and backbiting, lying, cheating and through deliberate disobedience.  According to the Greek concept of Entugchano, missing the Spirit’s prompting is failing in our Intercessory duties.  It is therefore incumbent upon an Intercessor that he or she be very sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Must be people of outstanding character: Character is moral virtue, or moral excellence.  However, it transcends the outward expression and becomes the inner quality of purity, resolute, power and virtuous expression.   It is being what others should imitate.  It is being a public testimony, a salt and light to those around us.  It is to love, to give, to be open and transparent.  It is to have the mind of Christ.

Must be faithful: To be faithful as it applies to humans is to be trustworthy.  It is to be trusted that you can keep promises with respect to both rewards and punishments.  To Nehemiah responsibility was tied to faithfulness: “That I gave my brother Hanani … charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.” (Neh. 7:2, emphasis mine).  Leaders should be men and women who are faithful and who fear God above their subjects.  God rewards us according to our faithfulness (1 Sam. 26:23) and Paul describes Onesimus as a faithful brother (Col. 4:9). Faithfulness is a quality of those that will be trusted with the responsibility to pray for others.  Jesus is said to be a faithful High Priest (Heb. 2:17) and Paul exhorts, “Epathrus… who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salute you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” (Col. 4:12). A faithful Intercessor like Epathrus can be depended on.  You can leave him with a request and you can be rest assured that the job will be done.  Epathrus is not like many of us who are quick to volunteer but too slack to act.  How many times do we promise that we would pray for someone and we never did?  Faithfulness therefore is an important quality of all Intercessors.

Must be merciful: Mercy is defined as kindness.  The biblical mercy is the highest kind known as loving-kindness.  Mercy has the power to avert judgement.  It defiles the rules of justice.  Without mercy no single person could perhaps be saved.  Mercy is the expression of true love (1 Cor. 13:4a) and merciful people will obtain mercy (Matt. 5:7).  Jesus Himself is said to be a merciful High Priest, that is why He is able to sympathise with our weaknesses (Heb. 2:17).  A merciful Intercessor will treat people kindly and is surely poised to be a successful mediator.

Must be prayerful: - Prayer finally should define all Intercessors.  It is not enough to talk about prayer, to brag about the many technical terms you know about it or even to show off your genius on prayer.  It is only enough if you can actually pray.  It is through prayer that people, communities and nations are brought before God.  It is only through prayer that their destines are shaped.  Pray when you feel like and pray even when you do not feel like.  Pray all the time; pray every time.  Pray for someone or something that comes to your mind by accident; it is God appointing and ordaining that meeting of minds – His mind and ours – because for whosever or whatever we pray for, their destiny is shaped for sure.  This then is how God’s purposes are realised on men and situations; through prayer.

Intercession: A Role and a Gift

Intercession is both a role and a gift.  As a role it is expected of every Christian to pray for others.  Christians have been called upon to intercede for others (James 5:16): “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”  Every Christian here is addressed without exception.  This makes the intercessory business a role. There are also other people who do not just pray for others, but have a special grace about prayer.  These ones have a definite affinity for prayer above the common Christian.  They pray longer, one hour could be their minimum.  They pray with more intensity.  They enjoy prayer and usually see more frequent answers to their prayers.  Those who qualify to these characteristics, in addition to having the grace to hearing quite clearly from God and may even possess the gift of prophecy, have the gift of Intercession.       

In summary, Intercession is both a role and a gift.  As role every Christian is commanded to pray for another.  It is also a gift when one has a special affinity for prayer which is above the common Christians, and can pray for extended periods of time regularly and is known to see tangible and dramatic answers to prayer.

Categories of Intercessors

Based on the premise that Intercession is a gift, we can identify about five categories of Intercessors:

General Intercessors: These Intercessors spend long hours praying over prayer lists, prayer guides and many other miscellaneous prayer requests given to them.  They normally do well on prayer items handed over to them and can be trusted to pray for requested prayers. Ask a General Intercessor to pray for something and you can be rest assured that the job will be done.

Crisis Intercessors: A Crisis Intercessor prays almost exclusively on assignment and the assignment comes from the presence of God. They usually hang on to a prayer request revealed to them by God until it is resolved or until God gives them a breakthrough.

Personal Intercessors: Some Intercessors receive a special calling to pray on a regular basis and with intensity for a specific person or persons.  These persons are usually Pastors and other Christian leaders.  These people who receive such a calling are called Personal Intercessors.  Personal Intercessors have the following qualities:-

They have love for the person they pray for:  It is very important to love the person you pray for.  Desire that such a person or persons succeed, is in good health and is walking according to the will of God.  It is also important to realise that those people you pray for are humans and are likely to blunder.  Do not be disappointed to see them not change as quick as you expect them.  Be objective and realistic. 

Be confidential: It is very important to keep confidences of the people for whom you pray.  Many times you will be called upon to pray for very sensitive issues concerning your leader.  Be sure to be prepared to keep secrets.  Failure to do this, is failing in your duty as a Personal Intercessor.

Maintain a positive attitude: It is very important to protect and defend the person you pray for.  Defend him or her or them in times of gossip, castigation, accusation, and so on, and then take the matter to God in prayer. 

Be spiritually realistic:  It is very important to be very realistic about spiritual issues especially those that could be detrimental to your leader’s life.  A Personal Intercessor is not called to be an adviser to the one they pray for; this calls for realism.  You have no authority to rebuke him or her if they are wrong.  Instead, you should, in love, stand for them in prayer and reason before God for them.

Be sensitive to the person/s’ needs:  It is very important to be sensitive to the people you pray for and their needs.  Be ready to listen from God about their needs and pray accordingly.  Do spiritual warfare for them when the LORD prompts you.  Satan’s forces directly attack Personal Intercessors because they play a defensive role on behalf of leaders.  Do not be discouraged, it is worthy to die for a divine cause!  Jesus said that we should have good cheer because He has overcome the world (John. 16:33)     

Warfare Intercessors: Some Intercessors are called especially to engage the enemy in high-level spiritual warfare.  This is an advanced kind of Intercession and by far the most demanding and potentially dangerous of them all.  Warfare Intercessors do warfare on a much more regular basis than any other category.