In this article I am providing selections from And One to Grow On: Intercession, a chapter from our co-authored book, Our Holy Spirit Arsenal – Victorious Living Through the Gifts. This book can be purchased through our website – www.restormin.org, or from other on-line book sellers like Amazon.
Holy Spirit has impressed me that intercession is a critical ministry for this time..
Now, AND ONE TO GROW ON: INTERCESSION… Military campaigns are typically initiated with intensive aerial attacks. Remember the “shock and awe” bombardments of the Iraqi campaign? In like manner, intercession is spiritual air war which utilizes the speaking gifts and prophetic action to release Holy Spirit’s shock and awe on enemy strongholds. Intercession is comparable to natural air war where the enemy is assaulted. This air attack releases angelic hosts on enemy headquarters and lines of communication and supply, creating havoc and chaos in his ranks. Natural air power is concentrated on specific targets where the enemy is vulnerable and open for exploitation. The same is true for spiritual intercession as Holy Spirit directs proclamations and prophetic actions that render Satan’s spiritual hierarchy of principalities, powers, rulers, and demons ineffective and defenseless to resist Holy Spirit’s acts of power to displace and destroy his hold on lives.
Intercession is where the Spirit’s weapons and tools are put into action, where the proverbial rubber meets the road. Most believers have the concept of intercession being a prayer meeting where some of the church women meet during the week to go over prayer requests. In most fellowships, this prayer time is the least attended meeting in the church yet one of the most important! Intercession is the ministry of a priest (intercessor) standing in the gap between the facts of life and spiritual reality of the truth of God’s Word. They use Father’s language – calling those things which are not as though they were (see Rom. 4:17), manifesting God’s will on earth. Intercession is literally living on behalf of others, using the weapons of our warfare to destroy the devil’s works (see 1John 3:8)…
God has been seeking intercessors since man’s fall in the garden. Speaking through prophets, the Lord declared His need for an intercessor: “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him” (Isa. 59:16)… “I looked, but there was no one to help, and I wondered that there was no one to uphold; therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; and My own fury, it sustained Me” (Isa. 63:5).
The Old Covenant Hebrew word for intercession is paga, “to impinge, by accident or violence, or by importunity – come (betwixt), cause to entreat, fall (upon), make intercession, intercessor, entreat, lay, light (upon), meet (together), pray, reach, run” (Strong’s H6293). These meanings obviously imply both speaking and acting on the intercessor’s part. In our ministry experience, we’ve seen intercession take the following forms:
1) Spiritual Warfare… Intercession is ministry where Satan’s kingdom is destroyed and displaced with God’s kingdom reality. The Old Covenant is filled with military engagements which are types of spiritual warfare in the New Covenant, most of which occur between our ears. Second Corinthians 10:3-6 explains that spiritual warfare pulls down strongholds, which are areas of darkness (ignorance) in our minds which are not exposed to Holy Spirit’s illumination and truth of God’s Word. The mind is the battleground where the enemy must be uprooted and cast out; otherwise he will continue to negatively influence one’s thought life. Proverbs 23:7 states, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Just as the Israelites were instructed by God to utterly destroy the seven nations occupying the Promised Land (See Deut. 7:1-2), we’re to utterly destroy strongholds of darkness in our promised land, our New Covenant life in Christ.
Spiritual warfare should never be entered with the outcome in doubt. Satan was defeated once and for all at the cross and through Jesus’s resurrection. Our position in spiritual warfare is to enforce the victory already ours in Christ. Too many Christians think their first names begin with V for Victim, when in Christ V is for Victor because they’ve been made more than conquerors (see Rom. 8:37).
Fear-based prayers and belief that we’re powerless against the enemy’s attacks are a result of ignorance of God’s Word and covenant promises. Yet many prayer meetings begin with fear-filled prayer requests and end with, “Well, I hope God heard our prayers.” God responds to faith, not fear. When words are fear-based, we’re only reinforcing the enemy’s stronghold and calling it prayer. Spiritual warfare is an act of victorious celebration in the face of apparent defeat. Intercession doesn’t ignore facts of life; it violently engages those temporary facts with the eternal truth of God’s Word, knowing His truth will supersede, override, and cancel those facts through faith.
2) Burden Bearing… Intercession also includes sharing another’s load. Paul encouraged believers to: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). The law of Christ is to bear, or bastazo, one another’s burdens. This word bastazo carries with it the meaning of removal, so we’re not to lug someone else’s load of problems around with us – that leads to burn-out. Through Holy Spirit’s power, in intercession, we’re to remove Satan’s burden from another’s shoulders. The prophet Isaiah explained: “It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil” (Isa. 10:27). Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) is our example of the perfect intercessor. He says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt.11:28-30).
The question we must answer is whose load are we bearing – God’s or Satan’s? Our intercession is to remove and dispose of fear, sickness, disease, poverty, bitterness, and all effects of the curse that Satan authors and uses to steal, kill, and destroy (see John 10:10)…
[This chapter continues to explain 3) Putting Satan under Our Feet; 4) Divine Protection; 5) Travail as in Childbirth; 6) Divine Intersections; 7) Lightning Anointing; 8) Gift of Suffering; and Principle of Dominion]
Conclusion… Intercession is the ministry of the hour where heaven’s resources are available to believers in this new creation role as kings and priests. The present-day ministry of Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father is to make intercession for the saints through Holy Spirit within us. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to Hos purpose.” What is His purpose? Intercession. Here’s the reality: Jesus Christ is in partnership with believers who are intercessors through the Spirit. As we intercede through prophetic actions and declarations, Jesus intercedes with us through His Spirit. Paul explained in his letter to the church at Corinth that believers are “workers together with Him,” or co-laborers with Christ (2Cor.6:1). This truth of partnership is never more fully realized than in intercession!
I hope this has spurred your interest in the ministry of intercession. We stand at a tipping point for our nation, if not the entire world. Only the intercession of the saints has the power to initiate a mighty move of Holy Spirit to restore us to our former position as being a nation under God. No political party or man-made solution exists to solve the problems existing today – only God’s intervention which will only come through our intercession! Selah…
Holy Spirit has impressed me that intercession is a critical ministry for this time..
Now, AND ONE TO GROW ON: INTERCESSION… Military campaigns are typically initiated with intensive aerial attacks. Remember the “shock and awe” bombardments of the Iraqi campaign? In like manner, intercession is spiritual air war which utilizes the speaking gifts and prophetic action to release Holy Spirit’s shock and awe on enemy strongholds. Intercession is comparable to natural air war where the enemy is assaulted. This air attack releases angelic hosts on enemy headquarters and lines of communication and supply, creating havoc and chaos in his ranks. Natural air power is concentrated on specific targets where the enemy is vulnerable and open for exploitation. The same is true for spiritual intercession as Holy Spirit directs proclamations and prophetic actions that render Satan’s spiritual hierarchy of principalities, powers, rulers, and demons ineffective and defenseless to resist Holy Spirit’s acts of power to displace and destroy his hold on lives.
Intercession is where the Spirit’s weapons and tools are put into action, where the proverbial rubber meets the road. Most believers have the concept of intercession being a prayer meeting where some of the church women meet during the week to go over prayer requests. In most fellowships, this prayer time is the least attended meeting in the church yet one of the most important! Intercession is the ministry of a priest (intercessor) standing in the gap between the facts of life and spiritual reality of the truth of God’s Word. They use Father’s language – calling those things which are not as though they were (see Rom. 4:17), manifesting God’s will on earth. Intercession is literally living on behalf of others, using the weapons of our warfare to destroy the devil’s works (see 1John 3:8)…
God has been seeking intercessors since man’s fall in the garden. Speaking through prophets, the Lord declared His need for an intercessor: “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; and His own righteousness, it sustained Him” (Isa. 59:16)… “I looked, but there was no one to help, and I wondered that there was no one to uphold; therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; and My own fury, it sustained Me” (Isa. 63:5).
The Old Covenant Hebrew word for intercession is paga, “to impinge, by accident or violence, or by importunity – come (betwixt), cause to entreat, fall (upon), make intercession, intercessor, entreat, lay, light (upon), meet (together), pray, reach, run” (Strong’s H6293). These meanings obviously imply both speaking and acting on the intercessor’s part. In our ministry experience, we’ve seen intercession take the following forms:
1) Spiritual Warfare… Intercession is ministry where Satan’s kingdom is destroyed and displaced with God’s kingdom reality. The Old Covenant is filled with military engagements which are types of spiritual warfare in the New Covenant, most of which occur between our ears. Second Corinthians 10:3-6 explains that spiritual warfare pulls down strongholds, which are areas of darkness (ignorance) in our minds which are not exposed to Holy Spirit’s illumination and truth of God’s Word. The mind is the battleground where the enemy must be uprooted and cast out; otherwise he will continue to negatively influence one’s thought life. Proverbs 23:7 states, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Just as the Israelites were instructed by God to utterly destroy the seven nations occupying the Promised Land (See Deut. 7:1-2), we’re to utterly destroy strongholds of darkness in our promised land, our New Covenant life in Christ.
Spiritual warfare should never be entered with the outcome in doubt. Satan was defeated once and for all at the cross and through Jesus’s resurrection. Our position in spiritual warfare is to enforce the victory already ours in Christ. Too many Christians think their first names begin with V for Victim, when in Christ V is for Victor because they’ve been made more than conquerors (see Rom. 8:37).
Fear-based prayers and belief that we’re powerless against the enemy’s attacks are a result of ignorance of God’s Word and covenant promises. Yet many prayer meetings begin with fear-filled prayer requests and end with, “Well, I hope God heard our prayers.” God responds to faith, not fear. When words are fear-based, we’re only reinforcing the enemy’s stronghold and calling it prayer. Spiritual warfare is an act of victorious celebration in the face of apparent defeat. Intercession doesn’t ignore facts of life; it violently engages those temporary facts with the eternal truth of God’s Word, knowing His truth will supersede, override, and cancel those facts through faith.
2) Burden Bearing… Intercession also includes sharing another’s load. Paul encouraged believers to: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). The law of Christ is to bear, or bastazo, one another’s burdens. This word bastazo carries with it the meaning of removal, so we’re not to lug someone else’s load of problems around with us – that leads to burn-out. Through Holy Spirit’s power, in intercession, we’re to remove Satan’s burden from another’s shoulders. The prophet Isaiah explained: “It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil” (Isa. 10:27). Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) is our example of the perfect intercessor. He says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt.11:28-30).
The question we must answer is whose load are we bearing – God’s or Satan’s? Our intercession is to remove and dispose of fear, sickness, disease, poverty, bitterness, and all effects of the curse that Satan authors and uses to steal, kill, and destroy (see John 10:10)…
[This chapter continues to explain 3) Putting Satan under Our Feet; 4) Divine Protection; 5) Travail as in Childbirth; 6) Divine Intersections; 7) Lightning Anointing; 8) Gift of Suffering; and Principle of Dominion]
Conclusion… Intercession is the ministry of the hour where heaven’s resources are available to believers in this new creation role as kings and priests. The present-day ministry of Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father is to make intercession for the saints through Holy Spirit within us. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to Hos purpose.” What is His purpose? Intercession. Here’s the reality: Jesus Christ is in partnership with believers who are intercessors through the Spirit. As we intercede through prophetic actions and declarations, Jesus intercedes with us through His Spirit. Paul explained in his letter to the church at Corinth that believers are “workers together with Him,” or co-laborers with Christ (2Cor.6:1). This truth of partnership is never more fully realized than in intercession!
I hope this has spurred your interest in the ministry of intercession. We stand at a tipping point for our nation, if not the entire world. Only the intercession of the saints has the power to initiate a mighty move of Holy Spirit to restore us to our former position as being a nation under God. No political party or man-made solution exists to solve the problems existing today – only God’s intervention which will only come through our intercession! Selah…