The Intercessor

“Prayer is not a preparation for the battle; it is the battle.”
Leonard Ravenhill

“Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual and the fellowship must enter every day.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The greatest thing anyone can do for God and man is pray.” 
S. D. Gordon

“The intercessor is God’s prophet upon the earth today.” 
Norman Grubb

“Intercessory prayer is spiritual defiance of what is in the way of what has been promised.” Jack Hayford

Our previous blog, The Prevailing Power of Persistent Prayer, underscores the unparalleled potency of persistent, unwavering prayer in life’s most arduous trials and spiritual battles. It elucidates biblical examples of tenacious faith and persistence, illustrating how such fervent prayer has historically catalyzed profound spiritual breakthroughs and revival. Every believer has been granted the supreme privilege of communing with the Creator of the universe through prayer. Yet within the lives of some Christians burns an ember of holy desperation, a smoldering hunger to enter the Most Holy Place, beyond the veil, and wage spiritual warfare through fervent, prevailing intercession. The Bible upholds shining examples of these mighty intercessors who ushered in sweeping revivals, cultural transformations, and deliverance through their passionate prayers. Though the call to prayer exists for all, a distinct company of believers carries a unique mantle and anointing for sustained, effectual intercession.

The Scriptural Summons for Intercessors
Throughout the biblical narrative, the Father issues an unwavering call for watchmen and intercessors who will give themselves to the holy work of fervent, prevailing prayer. In Isaiah’s exhortation, he reminds the people, “You who remind the LORD, take no rest, and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her a praise in the earth” (Isaiah 62:6-7, ESV). This charge unveils God’s longing for a generation who will refuse to relent in petitioning His throne until promises are fulfilled and His Kingdom purposes are established. Like the Old Testament prophet Samuel who declared, “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you” (1 Samuel 12:23, ESV), today’s intercessors must embody a spiritual militancy to pray without growing weary, no matter how protracted the battle or how formidable the foe. Ezekiel’s divinely-appointed watchmen further exemplify this sacred mandate: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, you shall give them warning from Me” (Ezekiel 3:17, ESV). Intercessors function as spiritual guardsmen, keeping eternal vigil and sounding Heaven’s alarm at any demonic encroachment, injustice, or slumber among God’s people. Their watch continues day and night (Isaiah 62:6), dispensing tireless vigilance and Kingly intercession from spiritual ramparts. Like the widow, who “did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:37), these unsung ministers travail before God’s presence with holy insistence until deliverance manifests.

The Church’s Supreme Weapon
While earthly advocacy proves impotent against certain systemic evils, the prayers of committed intercessors usher in God’s superior intervention. Paul reminded the Corinthians, “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4, ESV). Intercessors wield heaven’s most formidable arsenal, the divine power of fervent, biblically-grounded prayer to demolish hell’s fortified centers of operation. Like Spirit-empowered shock troops, they infiltrate and destabilize seemingly impregnable demonic strongholds through prophetic prayer assaults. Jesus modeled the way of the intercessor, habitually pressing into extended seasons of night vigil to intercede for the disciples, the multitudes, and the cosmic purposes of the Father’s Kingdom (Luke 6:12). Having launched His public ministry only after an extended 40 days of isolated prayer and supernatural equipping (Matthew 4:1-2), Christ exemplified prayer as the supreme catalyst for accessing the Spirit’s power and discerning the Father’s strategies. Intercessors must drink this same cup of unreserved surrender as they contend for the Lord’s purposes.

The Unstoppable Force of Prevailing Prayer
Perhaps no biblical account illustrates the dynamism of persistent, biblically grounded prayer more than the influential prophet Daniel. Gaining revelatory insight into the spirit realm’s hierarchy and activities, Daniel learns that the angelic messenger sent to him faced formidable opposition. The angel recounts, “The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me” (Daniel 10:13). Though facing opposition or resistance, the angel prevailed against the malicious powers hindering the Lord’s purposes for Israel. Emulating the posture of intercessors, Daniel engaged in earnest prayer and fasting, demonstrating humility and seeking God’s intervention. His devotion and persistence, exemplified by his unwavering commitment even in crisis moments and protracted supplication like in Chapter 9, contributed to the breakthrough when angelic reinforcements arrived to overcome the demonic resistance and secure victory. The New Testament’s most profound example of persistent, prevailing intercession involved none other than Jesus. Instructing His sleepy disciples in Gethsemane, Jesus urged them, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38, ESV). Hours earlier at the Last Supper, likely in the Upper Room, Christ had underscored the necessity of abiding prayer: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7, ESV). Departing to pray in solitude, Scripture describes the Son of God as “being in agony He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44, ESV). This uncompromising spiritual prayer militancy exhibited by our Savior reveals the potency of prevailing prayer in securing strategic victories.

Transcending Half-Hearted Indifference
Regrettably, even professing believers often succumb to prayerlessness and spiritual apathy. God lamented such deplorable nonchalance, “And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30, ESV). Intercessors must flee such perilous indifference and heed Christ’s admonition to the Ephesian church, that despite their doctrinal accuracy and outward religiosity, “you have abandoned the love you had at first” (Revelation 2:4, ESV). Just as the sleepy, ill-prepared virgins were barred from the wedding feast in Christ’s parable, so the spiritually negligent will find themselves potentially excluded from the Lord’s end-time purposes and His bridal blessing (Matthew 25).

The Holy Spirit Propels Prevailing Prayer
Though it demands sustained spiritual tenacity and sacrifice, no devoted intercessor wields lone perseverance. The supernatural dynamic of prevailing prayer flows through union with the indwelling Holy Spirit. Paul declares, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26, ESV). As believers abide in vital communion with the Spirit, He unveils prayer burdens and prophetic strategies that ignite and empower their spiritual labors. In this sacred partnership, believers find themselves not only recipients of divine aid but also conduits of heavenly authority, as they yield to the leading of the Spirit in prayer. Just as the early Church experienced outpoured power after obeying the command to “wait for the promise of the Father” through united prayer (Acts 1:4, 14), today’s intercessors can only wage victorious spiritual campaigns by maintaining radically spirit-filled lifestyles.

An Army Arising: Intercessors for the End-Times
Throughout history, remnant companies of night-and-day intercessors have sustained revival fires and spearheaded societal transformations through prevailing prayer. Like the famed Moravian prayer vigil of the 1700s, an unbroken chain of 24/7 intercession cultivates atmospheres saturated in God’s presence where societal healing and reformation spontaneously erupt. For over one hundred years, this Spirit-inspired prayer furnace in a small German village burned with incalculable influence. From these sustained labors of prevailing prayer, a generation of pioneering missionaries emerged, sparking a worldwide missions movement that impacted nations. Now, in the spirit of 2 Chronicles 7:14, the Lord summons a new regiment of consecrated intercessors who will “humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (ESV).

The 'cosmic stakes' have never been higher for the emergence of a raised-up company of prevailing intercessors. Even now, the earth groans under the oppressive weight of darkness, injustice, and sin’s tragic consequences. Multitudes remain bound, broken, and perishing without the slightest hope of rescue or redemption. The only constraining force hell understands is the diligent, fervent prayer of consecrated believers who will refuse to retreat from the battlefield. The urgent summons of Heaven reverberates from Scripture’s pages, who will ascend Zion’s holy hill with clean hands and a pure heart (Psalm 24:3-4) to become living ambassadors of Christ’s Kingdom through prevailing intercession? If this is your calling, will you embrace it? Refuse the enticements of prayerlessness, lethargy, and spiritual disengagement. Lay aside every hindrance and weight to run with perseverance, joining the ranks of those mighty intercessors who have gone before. Throw off any victim mentalities, realizing your status as a formidable force in Christ through prevailing prayer. Awaken from spiritual slumber through sustained nights of watching, waiting, and holy anticipation in the Lord’s presence. Sow yourself into the fertile soil of biblically-grounded, spirit-inspired prayer until the drought of prayerlessness ends and torrential downpours of intercession bring Heaven’s supernatural breakthrough and revival. The spiritual tides of this age will be turned, not by human resourcefulness, but by a remnant of uncompromising intercessors who abide in Christ’s unrelenting love and jealously contend for His Kingdom to be established across the earth. Will you join their consecrated ranks? Through persistent, fervent prayer all things are possible. No injustice can withstand the spiritual bombardment of such prevailing intercession. Receive Heaven’s summons and watch as your feeble, whispered petitions birth thunderous, triumphant answers that reshape nations and histories. Press in and persist until the praying is finished, Heaven’s purposes established and God’s Kingdom come!