Father God, teach me how to pray. Holy Spirit, make me an intercessor. Jesus, pour out Your Spirit of grace and supplication on me, and use me to stand in the gap in prayer. Thank You, Lord. I love You.

Would you like to experience incredible levels of intimacy with Jesus? Do you want God to reveal His secrets to you and use you to bring Heaven to earth? You can do all these things and more if you learn how to become an intercessor.

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The Lord will make you an intercessor if you want Him to. Be encouraged; no prior experience is required!

I gave my life to Jesus when I was 21 years old. Shortly after that time, someone I knew recommended that I read a book called Rees Howells, Intercessor. When I began reading the book, I got absolutely wrecked.

Rees Howells (1879-1950) was a Holy-Spirit-made intercessor. He didn’t just pray; he “put shoe leather” to his prayers by being willing to take part in the solution. He was willing to dedicate his life to see God’s will happen on the earth.

That kind of praying gripped me. Reading about someone who had that kind of influence with God through prayer gripped me.

I wanted to know God so well that I cared about everything He cares about. I wanted to love what God loves and hate what He hates. I wanted Holy Spirit to use me to pray on the earth–not just in weak prayers, but powerful prayers that shake the heavens and move the earth.

So I began asking God to help me. I asked Him to make me an intercessor.

I went to the intercessory prayer group at my church every week. On my way there and on my way back–and as often as I remembered during the week–I prayed these brief, heartfelt sentences:

• “Father, make me an intercessor.”
• “Father, use me at prayer meeting tonight.”
• “Lord, teach me how to pray and intercede.”

And most important of all, I prayed the words of Romans 8:26-27 back to God like this:

“Father, I don’t know what to pray for as I ought, or how to offer it worthily as I ought. Let Holy Spirit make intercession for me with moanings and groanings which cannot be uttered; and You who search the heart will know what the mind of the Spirit is, for He makes intercession for the saints according to Your will.”

I asked God for those things daily. And you know what? Every time I prayed for those things, God would use me in intercession immediately. He didn’t disqualify me because I was a new believer; He used me anyway. He didn’t disqualify me because I still had plenty of sin in my life; He used me anyway while I was still getting to know Him and learning to live holy. I was no model Christian, but God used me anyway.

And you know what? He’ll use you in intercession too.

He’ll use you if you love Him; He’ll use you if you’re surrendered to Him. He won’t disqualify you if you’re a brand-new believer. He won’t disqualify you if you’re still learning to live without sinning. He just wants to co-labor with you; He wants to share the burdens of His heart and yours between the two of you, in intimate relationship with you.

And that “sharing the burdens of the heart in prayer” is called intercession.

So do you want God to use you as an intercessor? Are you willing to obey Him when He tries?

Those two things were really all I had going for me, but the Lord took them and used them. And He’ll use you too if you are willing and obedient.

God Himself will teach you how to become an intercessor.

Intercession is like any other skill; you learn how to intercede through practice and repetition. It’s a spiritual discipline that requires practice. However, that “practice” is a joy. That “practice” is an exercise in intimacy with God; an exercise in looking deeply into His heart and caring about what He cares about.

So what should you do if you want to become an intercessor?

Start by praying these four short prayers every day:

• “Father, make me an intercessor.”
• “Father, use me at prayer meeting tonight.”
• “Lord, teach me how to pray and intercede.”
• “Father, I don’t know what to pray for as I ought, or how to offer it worthily as I ought. Let Holy Spirit make intercession for me with moanings and groanings which cannot be uttered; and You who search the heart will know what the mind of the Spirit is, for He makes intercession for the saints according to Your will” (from Romans 8:26-27).

Then, find yourself a prayer meeting where people are already interceding.

You could go to an in-person prayer meeting or even an IFA prayer call! But wherever you go, find a prayer meeting where you can listen to people pray out loud in cooperation and agreement with other people. (Not just a prayer meeting where people sit by themselves in silence in a room; find a prayer meeting where there is true teamwork going on.)

Then, listen to the other intercessors. Notice what kind of praying God seems to sit on and what kind He doesn’t. But most of all, ask Holy Spirit to help you intercede—and to teach you to pray.

The easiest way to pray in front of other people (or in cooperation with other people) when you’re first starting out is to pray the Scriptures back to God.

When a certain prayer or Scripture passage weighs on your heart, pray it back to God. Speak the words of that Scripture passage back to God, adapting them as you need to in order to turn the verse into a petition, a praise, etc.

For example, if you open your Bible to Isaiah 62:8, you might pray that verse back to God as follows:

“Father, surely You will no longer give our grain as food for Your enemies, and the sons of the foreigner shall not drink our new wine for which we have toiled. But let us who have gathered it eat it and praise You; let us who have brought it together drink it in the courts of our God” (from Isaiah 62).

To pray the Scriptures back to God, just take the words of a Bible verse and turn them into praises, petitions, and requests. Every time you do, your prayer will be powerful—because it was God’s prayer first. J

Friend, God is simply looking for people who are willing and obedient.

He will use anybody who is willing. If you’re willing to intercede, and you’re willing to follow the Lord as He teaches you, He’ll obey you.

And as you pray and intercede, you will grow spiritually.

This is a key you should know about prayer: Prayer is simply conversation with God.

When you talk with the Lord, you’re in His presence. You’re staring at Him. And as you stare, you grow and change on the inside; you just can’t help yourself. His presence changes you. Being with Him changes you.

So how do you become an intercessor?

It’s simple: Be willing and obedient. Then, ask Holy Spirit to use you.

And He will.

Are you willing to let God the Holy Spirit turn you into an intercessor? If so, leave a comment below!

Jamie Rohrbaugh equips people to walk in the manifest presence of God. She blogs for a global readership at FromHisPresence.com, where she writes about prayer, the prophetic word, living supernaturally, inner healing, and Kingdom wealth. Her writing is featured on YouVersion, Charisma Magazine, The Elijah List, Spirit Fuel, and various other ministry outlets. Her podcast, Take Your Territory with Jamie Rohrbaugh, can be found on iTunes and Spotify. Download her FREE ebook, Praying the Names of God: 555 Biblical Names of God and How To Use Them In Prayer and Worship, here.  (Photo by Unsplash.)