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Session 2: "Profiles
of Intercession: Snapshots of Effective Prayer"
Introduction
A. We have a high calling to pray.
1. Prayer is the key to spiritual power. (Mt. 26:41;
Acts 4:31)
a. We are totally dependent on God as our source of
power.
b. Spiritual power is proportionate to effective
prayer.
2. Prayerlessness is a sin. (1 Sam. 12:23; 1 Thess.
5:17)
a. Illustration: Two presbyters challenged Dutch
Reformed clergy.
b. Many today view prayer as boring, escapist, and
ineffectual.
3. Our challenge is to establish an effective prayer
life.
a. Motivation: I believe in the power of prayer.
b. Decision: I will be faithful in prayer.
c. Commitment: I will move from desire to
discipline to delight. (Larry Lea)
B. Prayer is the key to life’s highest calling.
1. It invites us into partnership with God, placing
us on the cutting edge of action.
2. It solidifies our relationship with God, bringing
us into the crucible of change.
3. NOTE: The focus is partnership this teaching and
relationship in the next.
C. Our partnership with God in prayer is captured in
four snapshots.
1. Prayer makes you a mover and a shaker.
2. Prayer puts you on the high road to adventure.
3. Prayer turns you into a doorway of divine
visitation.
4. Prayer positions you as an advocate for others.
Body of Teaching
I. Prayer
makes you a mover and a shaker.
A. Merriam Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary (Tenth Edition) gives these definitions:
1. Mover: "One that moves or sets something in
motion."
2. Shaker: "One that incites, promotes, or
directs action."
3. Mover and Shaker: One who "is active or
influential in some field or endeavor."
B. Prayer is partnership with God in the making of
history.
1. John Wesley: "God does nothing but in answer
to prayer."
2. Walter Wink: "History belongs to the
intercessor."
3. These statements have a basis in Scripture.
a. Jehoshaphat prays, Jahaziel prophesies, and
Jehovah wins. (2 Chron. 20:1-29)
b. Moses intercedes and Joshua wins. (Exod.
17:8-16)
c. Prayer moves God to move the king. (Prov. 21:1)
C. Illustrations from History: Prayer brings military
and ideological victory!
1. Prayer assured British victory over the Nazi’s
in 1940.
-- Katherine Pollard Carter, Hand on the Helm
(Springdale, Pa.: Whitaker House, 1977), pp. 4-5.
a. The British Air Force was outnumbered by the
Nazi Luftwaffe by 200 plus to 26 bombers.
b. Unexplainably, the Nazi Lufwaffe retreated
before two British planes with 185 Nazi bombers downed in
flames.
c. Interogation of downed Luftwaffe pilots reveals
two clues.
(1) Two British planes were attacking, but
hundreds were seen.
(2) One Luftwaffe pilot stated: "With the
striking of your Big Ben clock each evening at nine, you
used a secred weapon which we did not understand. It was
very powerful, and we could find no counter- measure
against it."
(3) Nine o’clock was for the English
Commonwealth the daily Silent Moment of Prayer.
2. Prayer shakes Russia and produces Glastnost in
1986.
-- Dick Eastman, Love on Its Knees (Global Christian
Publishers, 1978), pp. 13-17.
a. Mark Geppart, a pastor from Pittsburgh, has a
prayer assignment.
(1) He was to visit and pray at several locations
in Russia.
(2) He was to ask God to shake Russia, open the
door for the gospel, and provide openness for freedom of
worship.
b. Mark experienced a prayer breakthrough.
(1) His last prayer point was in Kiev, at the
statue of Lenin, near the gigantic clock in town square.
(2) Assurance of victory came just before twelve on
April 25, 1986.
(3) He asked for a sign, and the clock struck
twelve with no gongs!
c. The world witnessed the beginning of victory the
next day.
(1) The Chernobyl meltdown took place on April 26.
(2) The first mistake facilitating the meltdown was
the previous day just minutes after twelve o’clock noon.
(3) This disaster led to glastnost, which brought
openness to other nations and to the gospel.
II. Prayer puts you in the high road
to adventure.
A. Merriam Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary (Tenth Edition) gives these definitions of
adventure:
1. "An undertaking usually involving danger and
unknown risks."
2. "An exciting or remarkable experience."
B. We might define adventure here as risk-taking with
God.
1. John Wimber says that faith is spelled R-I-S-K.
2. Jonathon and his armor-bearer took a faith risk
and won! (1 Sam. 13:23- 14:15)
a. Jonathon made a decision to attack the
Philistine outpost.
b. He made a faith/risk statement: "Perhaps
God will -- I know God can!"
c. He set a sign and asked for guidance.
d. He followed through and advanced to victory.
e. "The ground shook . . . a panic sent by
God." (vs. 15)
3. God desires that we take the faith/risk challenge.
a. Pray until you know His will, and then go and do
it!
b. Danette Crawford: "What if I fail? What if
you succeed?!!"
C. Prayer is an adventure that facilitates revival.
1. J. Edwin Orr: "Whenever God gets ready to do
a great work, He always sets His people a-prayin’."
-- C. Peter Wagner, The Rising Revival (Ventura,
California: Renew Books, 1998), p. 3.
a. Orr was a historian of revival.
b. The great work he meant was revival.
c. Revival brings shaking and social
transformation.
2. Illustration: A Risk-taking sustained prayer
adventure brought a shaking and lasting revival to Kiambu,
Kenya.
-- C. Peter Wagner, Praying With Power: How to Pray
Effectively and Hear Clearly From God (Ventura,
California: Regal Books, 1997), pp. 16-28.
a. Thomas Muthee was commissioned by God to plant a
church in Kiambu.
b. Thomas and his wife prepared with sustained
prayer and several months of varied fasts.
c. They advanced into Kiambu with initial
evangelistic success.
d. They experienced spiritual counter-attack from a
local witch, Mama Jane.
e. God directed them into corporate intercession to
assure the breakthrough.
f. They issued a challenge to Mama Jane for a power
encounter.
g. Victory is granted, and great social
transformation takes place.
III. Prayer turns you into a doorway
of divine visitation.
A. God awaits our invitation
to enter our lives and our world.
1. In creation, He delegated authority over the earth
to humankind. (Psalm 115:16)
2. In redemption, He restored authority in the earth
to the church. (Matt. 18:18,19)
3. He knocks at our door and awaits our invitation to
come in. (Rev. 3:20)
B. Prayer extends the invitation for God to enter our
lives and our world.
1. Worship rolls out the red carpet of invitation.
(Matt. 6:9-10)
2. Thanksgiving prepares the way for Him to minister
grace. (Psa. 50:23)
3. Petition and intercession invites Him to intervene
and act. (Ezek. 22:30)
C. God uses our prayers to provide Him with inroads
into the lives of others.
1. Some need our prayers because they
are spiritually unregenerate.
2. Some need our prayers because they
have a distorted view of God.
3. Some need our prayers because they
are helpless to pray for themselves.
4. Our prayers lift the veil so they CAN
encounter God.
D. Illustration: An adoptive mother’s prayers bring a
helpless child from death to his destiny in life.
-- www.prayerlinksministries.org/Testimonies.htm
1. Justin’s life hung in the balance.
2. Mary learns of Justin’s condition and is led by
God to adopt him.
3. Mary initiated prayer partnerships for God’s
plan to be fulfilled.
4. God entered the door opened through prayer and
provided a divine appointment with the person who would
facilitate the answer to prayer.
5. God answered prayer in healing Justin and bringing
him to his destiny.
IV. Prayer positions you as an
advocate for others.
A. Merriam Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary (Tenth Edition) gives these definitions:
1. Advocate: "One who pleads the
cause of another before a tribunal or judicial court."
2. Intercede: "To intervene
between parties with a view to reconciling differences."
3. NOTE: Advocacy implies defense, never
prosecution, and tempers justice with mercy.
B. Jesus is our advocate before the Father. (1 Jn. 2:1,
2)
1. Who He is: "propitiation . . ." (KJV) or
"atoning sacrifice . . ." (NIV) for our sins.
a. PROPITIATE: "To gain or regain the favor or
goodwill of"
b. ATONEMENT: "Reparation for an offense or
injury: SATISFACTION"
2. What He does: An "advocate" (KJV);
"speaks to the Father in our defense." (NIV)
a. Jesus is the source of "grace and
truth." (Jn. 1:17)
b. Jesus is not the prosecution but the defense.
(Rom. 8:33, 34)
C. We are advocates for those for whom we pray.
1. Stated theologically . . .
a. We are a "royal priesthood." (1 Pet.
2:9)
b. A priest . . . is an intercessor . . . is an
advocate.
c. We DECLARE His praises and WITNESS TO His saving
grace.
2. Stated practially . . .
a. We wear on our hearts the names of those
we pray for. (Exod. 28:29)
b. We prepare our case based on the covenant
of grace and mercy.
c. We defend the person we’re praying for
based on Christ’s atonement.
d. We mediate by turning God’s judgment
seat into a mercy seat.
Conclusion
A. Prayer is a key to life’s highest calling.
B. Prayer is not a dull activity but makes life
exciting.
C. Prayer enables us to partner with God is His
redemptive work.
D. Prayer is the means by which intercessors turn
judgment to mercy.
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