Pages: 1

Why Aren't Intercessors Not Interceding?

(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: bjc

I HAVE NOTICED THAT PEOPLE ARE READING THREADS AND PRAYERS AND NOT INTERCEDING FOR EACH OTHER.I THOUGHT THIS WAS A WEB WHERE WE ALL SHOULD PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER AND NOT JUST WAIT FOR SOMEONE TO PRAY FOR US.LETS TRY TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT OTHERS AND PRAY FOR EACH OTHER IN AGREEMENT.O.K.? bjc


Posted by: SERAPHIM-ServingHimOnly

Quote:
Originally Posted by bjc
I HAVE NOTICED THAT PEOPLE ARE READING THREADS AND PRAYERS AND NOT INTERCEDING FOR EACH OTHER.I THOUGHT THIS WAS A WEB WHERE WE ALL SHOULD PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER AND NOT JUST WAIT FOR SOMEONE TO PRAY FOR US.LETS TRY TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT OTHERS AND PRAY FOR EACH OTHER IN AGREEMENT.O.K.? bjc


Hi,

I am very new here. Just joined today as a matter in fact. I agree that there should be at least one intercessory post per request being that there are over 9,000 members. However, I don't believe you should worry necessarily. No one posted to my prayer request entitled "My Circumstances" which is on the "Prayer When You Need A Breakthrough Board". However, I did receive a personal e-mail that had a prayer on it. So perhaps people are still interceding but either verbally or directly in the personal e-mails. I know that I have responded to some requests by posting and some by uttering a prayer after reading it. I am sure that the mighty works of the Lord have not ceased in this group. Many Blessings to you and thanks for that peptalk..I am sure it encouraged someone to pray more.

Love YSIC


Posted by: JeriRose12

Lord, I pray You will bring us the needed intercessors. I have noticed the same thing. I kinow why many aren't. It's because of all the other stuff in our lives we have to attend to. And there are so few faithful warriors, we just can't get to all the threads. Well, I don't have to tell You, Lord . I've been telling You....I just wish those posting so many needs (Pray for me; pray for me; pray for me!) would pray for some others needs, too. I am in agreement with bjc. Why aren't more people intereceding? But I know why. There are only 12-18 faithful prayer warriors who regularly try to get to a lot of threads. Some are regulary kind of sort of--on for a while, then off. Also, many of us just don't feel led to pray for certain posts or we pray in the Spirit (tongues), rather than post in the thread. So we are praying. That is why I started the "24 hour" renewel prayers (which I have fallen behind on, Lord, and I pray others are covering). We just can't cover all the needs we want to. Lord, we are not praying robots or machines. I can't just spit out a prayer. I want to be Spirit led. Oh, Lord, that we had enough warriors, so each of us being Spirit led, could cover all the needs, while we each only responded to those the Spirit led us, too. Anyway, Lord, go NOW, and grab some people off the internet who will come on here and be fatithful warriors. Some of us have been on the front lines, and we need re-enfrocements while we take leave. I don't want to quit or give up or wear out....but I AM tired, and I do need to be renewed and refreshed for a fresh go at this. Lord, You know our hearts and the willingness, but we live in this flesh, that gets weary and worn. We ask for strength and zeal to keep on. We ask for a fresh anointing with the Holy Ghost and fire. Come into this thread, right now, and refuel us for the next manuevers(?). We want to be faithful and willing. We want to be ready and obedient. Oh, help us get that armor on and get going. Let us charge the gates of hell and win victories for the Lamb!!! Father God, I ask that all who read this, will touch the screen and feel fresh anointing to the call on their lives to pray. We need a refilling, a renewl, a fresh flow of Your Spirit. Forgive us for being more into fellowship than interceding. Help us go where Your Spirit leads, pray as Your Spirit leads. Lord, I bow before You, I lay myself on the alter . Make me Your willing vessle. Not willing to burn out for You, willing to burn ON for You. Put the fire of the Holy Ghost in me NOW, this minute. Touch me, Jesus, with Your hands. You ever live to make intercession, and You are our Captain. We will follow You wherever You lead. We will pray what You tell us to pray. We will not be weary in well doing. We will do good and not faint. Pour out a literal flow of power, anointing, blessing, fire, virtue and streangth through this post. May all who read it, feel the mantle of the intercessor settling upon their shoulders. Lord, transfer that from bjc and I and all others who post in this thread. We pray that all who come here will be called to intercede on this site. I pray each one coming here will receive the prayer warrior's anointing. Come/go to each one, Jesus, and place the praying spirit on each and everyone. Put this thread before Your people. Those coming on here for the first time, let them be drawn to this thread. Do not let them be able to pass it by. Let the deep call to deep, and let the truly Spirit filled, in love with Jesus, open this thread. Oh, Lord, raise up prayer warriors and interecessors right out of this thread. Let a band of special forces emerge from this thread. Father, I ask in Jesus Name and for Your glory!!! For the saints and for the Lamb!!!

~JeriRose~

Therefore, He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.


Posted by: ANOINTED WARRIOR

amen as an agreement let it be as though holding hands for God to move in and bring some new warriors here that are possessed by the Holy Spirit as well that Jesus takes us into a new realm in him by placing are hands on the screen, Jesus you know what to do appear before are midst with all your glory


Posted by: SERAPHIM-ServingHimOnly

Corinthians 1
9God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

10I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.


Posted by: StarChilde

Jeri I agree with you... and te others..if those ppl just asking ALL THE Y TIME and never praying for anyone would just come to the realization that praying for others is a BLESSING!

I STAND IN AGREEMENT WITH THE PRAYERS OFFERED HERE DEAREST ABBA FATHER~IN JESUS CHRIST'S PRECIOUS NAME~AMEN & AMEN


Posted by: mariposa

I agree, StarChilde. I originally came here seeking prayer and found out that praying for others made me feel better. I've been working overtime and rather tired, but do try to get here regularly and pray for at least one person per visit. Some days I pray for several people.

Heavenly Father,
Please raise up more prayer warriors for annointed.net. Place a burden on the heart of every visitor here to pray for at least one other person--let each one reach one. Thank you, Father God, for the prayer warriors You've already led here and may they all feel Your blessings rain down upon them. In Jesus' precious name I pray. Amen.


Posted by: FaithnJesus

I am also very new to this site and to message boards in general. I agree that some members read requests and say little prayers as they do so, and that is wonderful. But it is also very important for those of us who post prayer requests to hear from the ones who are interceding on our behalf. It's very uplifting and reminds us that Our Lord is working in whatever our circumstance. Our lives are very busy, especially this time of the year, but we all need to take time to let each other know that we are being lifted up to the Lord Jesus in prayer by our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we all read and answer one request at least two people will be blessed---the author and the reader. And so on.... and so on.....

Blessings of Our Lord Jesus to you all!!!


Posted by: SERAPHIM-ServingHimOnly

Always Something to ponder:

I was upset about having no shoes until I met the man with no feet.


Posted by: rachel70

Some of us pray but don't always post.I only have a computer at work so I don't always have time to post. But ,I do log on every day. But , I know what you mean I posted a request earlier in the week and no one posted. It seems like the only ones posted are the ones that look life threatening or someones spouse left them. Some people don't seem to have time for the small ones.


Posted by: kathylong

I try to post prayers as I feel led. Sometimes I don't have the words of comfort and simply ask God { verbally} to help them. I do know that I was feeling sorry for myself and this was God's way of saying helping others and praying for them makes everyone involved feel better.
Kathy

message received God thank you


Posted by: ANOINTED WARRIOR

I am going to let it rip now on General, then breakthrough then healin, then teens going t otake a while but Jesus will move through me so its worth it


Posted by: SERAPHIM-ServingHimOnly

Copyright © 2000-2003 Robert Longman Jr. You can use any Spirithome.com material freely anytime for non-profit, non-commercial personal, church or educational use only, if credited.

What's Different About Intercessory Prayer?
Intercessory prayer is not the same as prayers for yourself, or for 'enlightenment', or for spiritual gifts, or for guidance, or any personal matter, or any glittering generality. Intercession is not just praying for someone else's needs. It is praying with the real hope and real intent that God would step in and act for the good of some specific other person(s) or other entity. It is trusting that God will act, even if it's not in the manner or timing we seek. God wants us to ask, even urgently. It is casting our weakness before God's strength, and (at its best) having a bit of God's passion burn in us.

"I commend intercessory prayer, because it opens man's soul, gives a healthy play to his sympathies, constrains him to feel that he is not everybody, and that this wide world and this great universe were not after all made that he might be its petty lord, that everything might bend to his will, and all creatures crouch at his feet."
(Charles Spurgeon)



INTERCESSION IN THE BIBLE
The Bible has many cases of people standing up for others before God. The most striking example is that of Abraham. He took the initiative to step forward before God on behalf of his neighbors in Sodom and its area. He cared enough to do it, even though he knew how thoroughly wicked Sodom was, and knew how furious God was about it (which explains why he was so careful in speaking to God about it). Moses also stepped in when God was angry, standing in the gap in the most literal sense : offering his own life for that of his nation. (Thankfully, God didn't take him up on the offer.) It was part of the role of a prophet not just to speak what God speaks, but to speak with God for the people of Israel. A fine example is the exchange between the prophet Habakkuk and God, where the prophet asks for God to act against injustice, but God replies about a coming doom. Isaiah prayed with King Hezekiah to save the nation from defeat and destruction at the hands of Assyria, and the armies were suddenly turned back (see Isaiah ch. 36-39). The master builder Nehemiah prayed to God to bring about the rebuilding of Jerusalem and of his people. The key motivation behind these men of faith as they took their concerns to God was compassion. They loved the people, the culture, the faith with a love like God's love, and it burned in them so much that they dared to take on God on their behalf. Unlike the gods of most other lands, this God did not zap them with lightning or turn them into half-beasts. God listened to their cries -- not by ignoring the wrongdoings that got the divine wrath kindled in the first place, but by saving at least some of the people and bringing them back to where they belonged.

The New Testament has its cases of intercessory prayer. Jesus was the prime example of an intercessor. He interceded in prayer that God bless and protect His followers. At the cross, He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Indeed, His whole life, His whole reason for being born, was to be a living intercession, a giving of His life to span the rift caused by our rebellion against God. Stephen's last words were an intercession on behalf of those who were killing him. Paul prayed constantly for the struggling young church, for character, behavior, witness, and wisdom. It is Paul's regular prayer for the church and its people that sets the usual pattern for our own intercessory prayers. And Epaphras was the 'prayer wrestler' for the church in Colossae.

Even at its earliest, the young church was praying for people : for safe travel, praying that people might know Christ through other peoples' witness, praying for healing and health, for rescue, for wisdom, for childbirth, for spiritual growth, for marriages -- asking God to bring benefit or blessing to people other than themselves. The others were not always beloved; they prayed for their political leaders, some of whom were out to kill them. But they knew their God was merciful and was intimately involved with what was going on in the world. And they knew that they were called by God to share in that involvement.



DOING IT YOURSELF
The place where intercession must start is with you. It's great to know that others may be stepping up for someone before God, but God wants you to put something of yourself on the line. Otherwise, it's too cheap to be real. Your private devotions are not just for your own benefit. If God's love is at work in you, you will care about others, and your love for them will lead you to take it to the ultimate Source of strength, healing, and love. Don't be fearful; be persistent and stubborn. God doesn't mind; God likes to see divine love at work in you. God honors your part in the relationship.

It is best to always be aware that you never really pray alone. For when the honest love in you for other people causes you to ask God to act to strengthen, heal, defend, change, or bless them, there is someone else praying with you : the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is leading you to pray. When your love is not whole or your mind is not clear, the Spirit steps in for you, to express the prayer and draw you into it. It's been the practice of Christian intercessors over the past two millenia that intercessory prayer is prayed in a 'Trinitarian' manner : to the Father, through the Son, and in and with the Holy Spirit. God isn't fussy about that pattern, but it helps us to see some part of how God works in prayer.

The intercessory prayer that first comes to you about someone may not be what God wants you to pray for. For instance, you might be praying to lift a burden, but the Lord might be using the burden to prepare them to do something for God. Then again, your prayer might be what God wants to happen. Thus, we are to pray listening for the Spirit, and pray that God's will be done. I find myself concentrating better when I mutter the words; it gives my mind more focus. The mind may go off to explore something during personal devotions, but not while you're interceding for others -- those others must be your first concern. So, it's sometimes best to do it before you seek stillness (though God will sometimes lead you out of stillness into intercession -- be open to it).

Don't be surprised if the Spirit starts tugging on your heart to take some sort of action about a matter you're praying about. You may be the answer God sends into their lives. That's not a license to be a buttinski, stepping into everyone's private lives like some sort of conquering hero. But the Spirit might be calling you to be more than a bystander. Be ready for it. When you intercede, bring your knowledge, gifts, abilities, attention and energies before God and say, 'use these, if that's what it takes to set this right'.



GIFTED INTERCESSION
Anyone can pray for others and step in with God on their behalf. But some people are gifted at intercession. They have an ear for the needs of others, and take them before God even when those other people reject God. An intercessor's heart is touched for those in need, not so much on their side as by their side and on their behalf. They have a burden for that person. They persevere. They let the Spirit give them comfort about it, instead of worrying. And when word of results comes, they celebrate and are happy about it. If that sounds like you, then you may be a gifted intercessor.

Sometimes, someone is led to be an intercessor for a specific person or mission or task. Such people are valuable even beyond donors. Such intercessors sometimes get a strong sense of coming danger about whom they're praying for. They often report that they're driven to their knees to pray about something they can't otherwise have known was happening.

Intercessors also pray for world, national, and local political leaders. This follows in the tradition of the early church's prayers for the Roman authorities. Some people actually think it's good to pray against evildoers and oppressive leaders, even to pray for their death. Not that God would pay any attention to you if you did. But such thinking poisons your attitude. Pray rather that the Spirit would lead them or change them. When James and John asked for permission to do harm to their enemies by praying for divine acts of judgement, Jesus reminded them of why He was there (and they, too):

"For the Son of Man did not come to destroy peoples' lives, but to save them" (Luke 9:56).

Intercessory prayer aims to build people into what God wants of them, not to tear them down.



THY WILL BE DONE
"Therefore faith prays in such a manner that it commits everything to the gracious will of God; it lets [God] determine whether it is conducive to his honor and to our benefit."
(Martin Luther, in a sermon on Matthew 8:1-13.)

Some people make the claim that we can ask God to do things on behalf of people, and know that it will be done. It's understandable to think that, for Jesus promised that our prayers would cause things to happen, especially when we keep at it. But look at the Biblical intercessors again. Their 'success' was very real, but far from complete. Abraham stuck his neck out with a rightly-angry God, but could only save his relatives. Moses' people were spared immediate destruction, but his generation would not get the land God had promised -- the next generation did. All of David's deep and totally sincere weeping and begging could not save his baby son -- though it did set up for the birth of his successor. There is no evidence Paul ever lost the 'thorn in his side'; it may have helped his ministry in some ways, but at some point one runs out of lessons from such a thorn. The apostles prayed for the unity of the church, and gained much unity, but still had serious divisions. They prayed for their poor, but had more poor members by the day. They had hundreds of people constantly praying for their safety, but they died martyr's deaths. In such cases, God's mercy does not override God's purpose nor God's justice, not to mention our own wills. We cannot fathom God's purposes or know for certain what God knows about what is to be. God's love simply has a broader, deeper, longer work to do, and sometimes what we pray for simply cannot find a place within that work. The intercessor sometimes must accept even the most bitter of losses, with the awareness that their prayers did not -- and sometimes must not -- avail. This is the mystery of intercession.

We should follow the example of Jesus, who prayed on Thursday that He not have to go through what He was to go through that Friday. He prayed, "Not my will, but Thine". In praying that, He was not resigning Himself to death. He was praying with the confidence that whatever was needed to happen would and should and must happen, and though that apparently meant death, so be it. Praying 'thy will be done' is not the same thing as praying with doubt. It is the act of putting your trust in Whom it belongs.

None of us are fully aligned with God's purposes. There will always be a difference between the two. It's okay to ask for what you want from the situation; that's a part of being honest with God. You can pray that your request somehow be found in the divine purposes, and pray for doorways to a better way if it can't be. (Maybe God will provide you a ram as with Abraham when sacrificing Isaac.) But God may have other plans, and your part is to trust that God's plans will be best.

Intercessory prayer does not work by our own power, as if we were the Almighty. When prayer is answered, it is answered in God's way, and it may not be at all like the 'victory' you are 'claiming'. Much of the time, the Spirit's main work is to change you, to make you care more, and to get you to focus on what others are going through instead of only seeing it from where you are.


Posted by: StarChilde

SERAPHIM-ServingHimOnly thank you for that on intercessory prayer... I come here to ask prayers & ended up being an intercessor, a blessing in itself.
I do as I feel led to do...I don't feel led to open every prayer request coming in, or even reply to all I do open...
When I started here, my daughter could not walk... she walks now after 2 months of not walking...attributed to MANY prayers, on MANY PRAYER lists and prayer sites. I am an intercessor for many of them, not just here, for ministries as well, for my family, and my friends...sometimes I do not even know who I am praying for,...I just get prompted by the Holy Spirit to pray, & I do, in the spirit.
Sometimes I get hurts in my body when praying for someone or even talking to someone...I know I've been blessed w/ this gift...for me to say to someone hey are you hurting here and here, they usually ask why and then I watch their mouth drop as I explain...some get away FAST heheheh...it's ok...I can pray as they run also!
When I don't post a prayer to a reply, I either don't feel led to..OR the only thing I can do is pray in tongues, because I do not feel my words are adequate. Sometimes I am needed at home & can't... our 2 yr. old is QUITE curious & creative & physical intercession is needed here!
And Rachel sorry , but you are WRONG HERE 'It seems like the only ones posted are the ones that look life threatening or someones spouse left them. Some people don't seem to have time for the small ones.' I answer threads of ALL types & so do other prayer intercessors here!We have a list of over 200 couples RIGHT NOW, being prayed for in a vigil & fast for 72 hours...that is an enormous amount of ppl being prayed for... threads are here to say prayers to COVER ALL REQUESTS, even if not indiviudually opened God STILL HONORS OUR PRAYERS!
I, as many others, have a life away from our computers... requests come in by the THOUSANDS A MONTH!!! There may be many many registered, but ever look to see when some last posted? For many, it was just one post, one time or years since their posts!
I will NOT apologize for not opening every prayer request I see, or every time I open a thread feel I HAVE TO post a reply! How do you post in tongues? How can I tell my family no... I cannot be there for you... I HAVE to answer EVERY ONE of these prayer requests! I have used general prayers in some instances, but when I do that...I ALSO pray in the spirit...and TELL THEM ALSO!
I have other things I must do, as a wife, a mom, a sister, a friend that also is in my life... I cannot sit here at this desk for 24/7....what do you want us to be? prayer robots? without feeling led... or feeling at all...we are doing it with LOVe and From Love...REGARDLESS of what anyone thinks to the contrary.
When I leave my desk, there are many many many many prayers sometimes requested in my abscence... I do not have the time free to go to EVERY one... neither does anyone else here.God knows our heart..He hears our prayers when they are posted or not posted...He ALWAYS hears us in the spirit & ALWAYS FEELS US IN HIS HEART.
Many times I even put my daughter to sleep reading posts... it's hard typing one-handed,many times I read & pray, & I always pray in the spirit when I open my emails of subscribed threads/posts...I feel I am praying to strengthen the first prayer...
I DO KNOW THIS...GOD HEARS US WHEN WE PRAY AND ARE RIGHT WITH HIM... and I am not in this for the praises of men... "nuf said!"


Posted by: JeriRose12

Lord God, add to our numbers daily. That's what has to happen. Not just a handful of us trying to answer the thousands of requests. I heard only 30-70 total threads used to be started in a day, and JG said now it's in the 1000s. I only see 12-18 people who get around with any regularity. Lord, we few can not do it all. The task is huge. Please send warriors and intercessors. Please lead us by Your Spirit. May we refuse to be manipulated by a "0" next to a request and be moved totally, 100% by Your Spirit. If Your Spirit is not in it, then what's the point? I pray we will not be machines but those whol let the Spirit tell us how and what to pray where and when. I love You, Lord, and thankyou for helping us intercede. It is such an honor!!! I will go now to find the ones You lead me to. In Jesus Name, amen!!!

~JeriRose~