Intercessors certainly understand the necessity for prayer. And we often find ourselves praying the direct opposite of what the world around us is doing, because we are of a different spirit.

Who is praying on the wall?

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It was during a time of prayer that I felt the gentle promptings of Holy Spirit asking me what I would actually do about what I’m praying. The time of praying for change is over, I remember thinking; it’s time for believers to be the change. While reading the Scriptures I was reminded of the power of intercessory prayer. The topic is vast, of course, and there are innumerable resources we can study to learn more. In my own study, though, three traits of effective intercessors stood out, and I believe these are crucial in this hour.

1. Intercessors Change the Narrative 

Amos the prophet was shown a vision of the LORD’s impending judgment twice, after which he interceded for his nation, each time:

This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign LORD, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!” So the LORD relented. “This will not happen,” the LORD said. This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: The Sovereign LORD was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. Then I cried out, “Sovereign LORD, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!” So the LORD relented. “This will not happen either,” the Sovereign LORD said (Amos 7:1–6 NIV).

Moses’ intercession spared God’s people from judgment (see Exodus 32:7–14). In fact, Moses pleaded with God on several occasions and thus changed the narrative.

Even the warnings of a bitter, reluctant prophet alarmed the king and the people of Nineveh so much that the entire city turned immediately to Jonah’s God in a frantic repentance — which spared them from God’s judgment:

Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened (Jonah 3:4–10 NIV).

Do you believe that there’s a narrative being played out in this nation now? While much of what we’re seeing is indeed the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, a lot is but conspiracy theories and messages meant to sow division among the people. Sadly, even the Church is divided.

Intercessors pray believing in the sovereignty of God. We pray that His will will be done. And if God’s character is fixed and does not change, then His mind does not change either. Since we know that God desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (see 1 Timothy 2:4), then our prayers and His choice to relent remain correspondingly in line with His Sovereign will for humankind. He uses our prayers to bring about the change He desires. Amen.

2. Intercessors Shift the Atmosphere 

It’s true, intercessor: You probably pick up on the spiritual tone in a room before others do. So, you can shift that atmosphere. Your praying, your proclamation of the word, and your worship and praise of God — all these bring the power to transform the atmosphere in your city, this nation, or any place you happen to go.

Never underestimate the transformational power of worship and praise.

In 2 Kings 3:14–19, the prophet Elisha calls for a harpist. The Spirit of the LORD then comes upon him, and He receives and dispenses prophetic counsel on how to defeat Israel’s enemies who are lying in wait.

Whenever King Saul was tormented by evil spirits, David would come and play the lyre before him, the spirits would leave, and the king would feel much better (see 1 Samuel 16:21–23).

When King Jehoshaphat sought the Lord’s rescue from the menacing advance of a huge enemy army, God heard, and He answered: Jehoshaphat appointed a praise team that he then sent into battle, and as they sang “Give thanks to the LORD,” the LORD made Judah’s enemies turn on and massacre each other (see 2 Chronicles 20:21–23).

His presence truly changes everything.

Never underestimate the transformational power of prayer and proclaiming the word.

Jesus said: “… The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63).

The words of God are powerful on their own, but when we speak forth those words, their power is magnified. That’s because His word is living and has a divine purpose (Isaiah 55:11).

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

The words of the Lord brought a valley of dry bones to life in Ezekiel 37. Similarly, in John 11 Jesus cried out: “Lazarus, come forth!” — and a dead man returned to life and walked out of the tomb.

The days following Christ’s resurrection must have been frightening for the disciples. They were under watchful eyes. But instead of trembling, they went about preaching God’s word, and the Lord fulfilled that word with signs, wonders, and miracles: Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it (Mark 16:20 NIV).

If you want to see the power of God, that power is in His word: Read it, study it, meditate on it, preach it, pray it, and declare it.

3. Intercessors Exert an Influence

Our call as intercessors involves, among other things, being a people of influence. Now, when we see prominent individuals in our culture who are considered to “influencers,” we may tend to think this is only a contemporary trend. But in fact, it is a reality that has been around since biblical times.

Before the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah fell under judgment, the Lord Himself came down to observe the people’s conduct up close and personal. When Abraham learned this was happening, he interceded persistently for any righteous people who might be living in those cities. And his intercession did help save some of his own relatives living there from the divine wrath. Abraham’s prayers found favor with God; that’s influence.

Daniel, a captive in a foreign land, was able to influence four kings because of his wisdom. Daniel was also a powerful intercessor. His prayers paved the way for him.

Intercessor, please note: Not only can your prayers wield influence, but God can use you as mightily as He did Daniel and Joseph by bringing you before people in authority. What if a leader in your city were willing to seek you out specifically because of your reputation as a person of prayer? We must become the influencers, and not remain the influenced (see Jeremiah 15:19 NLT).

Moreover, let us understand the power of effectual, fervent praying, as the Scripture says.

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working] (James 5:16b AMPC).

This is intercession 101. Prayer is mighty. Effectual, passionate prayer is dynamite. I have always been moved by the stories of Rees Howells, David Brainerd, Daniel Nash, and other intercessors who stormed the gates of hell through prayer. My favorite quote is one that is alleged to have come from Mary, Queen of Scots: “I fear John Knox’s prayers more than all the assembled armies of Europe.”

I don’t know about you, but that’s what I want my prayer life to look like. This is a most unpredictable time in America. We are seeing evil emboldened right now; we are unstable financially; we are seeing catastrophic events unfold. But I know it was the continued prayers of His people that allowed us to see an outpouring of His love.

I conclude by saying that if you don’t like what you’re seeing in your family, your city, or the nation, what are you going to do about that? Go and shift the atmosphere. Let your prayers bring the Lord into the situation and influence those around you. Go and make history with your prayers by changing the narrative. You are an answer to someone’s prayer.

Matters of the Heart

Earlier I mentioned two prophets, Amos and Jonah.

When Amos was shown visions of judgment on the nation, his first response was to ask the Lord to forgive the people. They repeatedly ignored the warnings of the prophets, even killing some. They forsook the Lord and followed the customs and traditions of other gods. By all means they deserved the righteous judgment of God, yet Amos interceded. Some translations say he begged God. 

It was Jonah who wanted to see judgment poured out on Nineveh. Jonah was a prophet to Israel. Yet he was asked by the Lord to go into a new territory and preach repentance to the Assyrians. They were known to be cruel, extremely wicked, not to mention, the enemies of God’s people. So Jonah ran away from God to avoid preaching his message. After a turbulent ship ride and a detour in the belly of a whale, Jonah had a change of heart. 

So he prayed to the LORD, and said, “Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm (Jonah 4:2).

Both prophets knew the Lord’s character. Righteous and holy, also merciful and gracious. 

Why does this matter today? When you see the surmounting wickedness and evil in our nation, whose heart resonates more? Do you stand in the gap like Amos, asking for mercy so that people may be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth? Are you stiff-lipped refusing to pray because you feel that a certain group of people certainly deserve God’s judgment? 

We may have our reservations about people, but God in his mercy is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance (see 2 Peter 3:9). Even the most wicked sinner is no match for Jesus Christ. 

The Power of Effectual, Fervent Praying

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working] (James 5:16b AMPC).

This is Intercession 101. Prayer is mighty. Effectual, passionate prayer is dynamite. Notice earnest also means continued prayer, meaning it shouldn’t stop.

 I have always been moved by the stories of Rees Howells, David Brainerd, Daniel Nash, and other intercessors who stormed the gates of hell through prayer. My favorite quote is alleged to have come from Mary, Queen of Scots: “I fear John Knox’s prayers more than all the assembled armies of Europe.”

I don’t know about you, but that’s what I want my prayer life to look like. This is the most unpredictable time in America. We are seeing evil emboldened right now; we are unstable financially; we are seeing catastrophic events unfold. But I know the continued prayers of His people will allow us to see an outpouring of His love.

I conclude by saying that if you don’t like what you’re seeing in your family, your city, or the nation, what are you going to do about that? Go and shift the atmosphere. Let your prayers bring the Lord into the situation and influence those around you. Go and make history with your prayers by changing the narrative. What if you are an answer to someone’s prayer?

Let’s pray together now:

Father, we praise You for who You are. There is none like You. Thank You for Your goodness that endures forever. Thank You for the privilege of prayer — it’s our connection to You — and for the dynamic power You make available to us. Change our hearts as we continue to stand in the gap for leaders we have trouble interceding for — not our will, but Your’s be done. Amen. Use our prayers to bring about the change You desire. We want to be a part of what You are doing right now. We lay down our opinions and thoughts about how things ought to be, and we trade them for Your thoughts, which are higher than ours. Give us strength to continue in prayer, even when it looks like we’re praying against all odds. You have said that though we may find things to be impossible, with You all things are possible. We know there is nothing impossible or too hard for You. We want our prayers to shake the gates of hell. We lay down any estimations we may have of ourselves. We want only to be known as those whose prayers brought fear into the Enemy’s camp because of our faith in You. We love Your presence. 

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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IFA contributing writer Gloria Robles is a passionate intercessor with a prophetic voice for today. For more from Gloria, go to Spotify or Anchor and listen to her podcast, Something To Share. Photo Credit: Megs Harrison on Unsplash.