Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” —1 Timothy 2:1-4 NKJV

“Intercessors for” networks began when European Youth for Christ leader, Rev. Denis Clark, and a few others felt prompted to set aside some hours on New Year’s day in 1969 to wait upon the Lord. They earnestly sought God concerning the state of their nation and the world. Out of that time together, it was felt that they should seek Christians who might volunteer to cover every hour during each week to pray for their nation of Britain. Doing so would require 168 people. Actually 200 volunteered to pray for an hour each week, although there were some gaps during night hours.

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Thus, Intercessors for Britain (IFB) was birthed. As Denis Clark evangelized and taught throughout Europe and the British Empire, he called for intercessory prayer and fasting for all nations. Denis and IFB became the impetus and a pattern for many similar works. Some 16 IF networks were established between 1971 and Denis Clark’s death in 1981. These initial IF networks included Intercessors for America (IFA), founded in 1973.

As noted, the start of IFB was marked by 24/7 prayer. Calling Christians to commit to pray for up to an hour or more for the nation and “all in authority” was also a strategic part of IFA’s launch. This 24/7 call and mobilization continues. Believers from across the U.S. and around the world can easily sign-up and be part of IFA’s GAP 24/7 Prayer Wall at www.GetAmericaPraying.org.

Eventually, IF leadership from the United States, Europe, Israel, Africa, and in other nations helped establish more than 40 IF networks worldwide. Intercessors for Britain, Intercessors for America, Intercessors for Israel, Intercessors for New Zealand, and Intercessors for Nigeria continue to function. Others, as in Canada and Mexico, have merged into newer National Prayer Networks. Some now partner in various ways within the ever-growing global prayer movement.

As IF networks were established, Denis Clark and Derek Prince from Britain, Lance Lambert of Jerusalem, John Beckett from America, Johannes Facius of Germany, Noel Bell of Australia, and others IF leaders sensed to convene full weeks of IF prayer every two years. They and other IF leaders mentored leadership, offered biblical teaching, presented briefings on world affairs, and helped guide intercession.

Delegates from the U.S. to these International Intercessors’ weeks were always humbled, and sometimes moved to tears, as they listened to the passionate intercession and heart cries for America offered by Christians from Africa, the Philippines, India, Nepal, Mexico, the Middle East, and other nations. Recognizing themselves as part of the global body of Christ, these often impoverished sisters and brothers discerned that the condition and destiny of the American church and of the United States was linked to their own.

Anyone privileged to sit under Denis Clark’s teaching learned to appreciate his “no-nonsense” style. Getting “right with God,” and “right with one another,” was the first order of business. Denis often stressed: “One thing is certain, the one who is going to approach God in prayer is going to have to pour out his heart, be sincere, be clean, and believe that God hears him. So much depends on the state of the person who is engaging in prayer.”

As Christians from diverse backgrounds would gather around Denis, humble themselves, heed his careful instruction, seek the mind of Christ, and harmonize in intercessory prayer under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, there were always answers and developments related the God-appointed themes. Participants could return home and read about or listen to these via news reports. Denis Clark was a pioneering model and mentor of authentic, effective intercession for the nations and for the fulfillment of God’s redemptive purposes in the earth.

The same was true of Rev. Ern Baxter (1914-1993) and Rev. Derek Prince (1915-2003), both friends and ministry associates of Denis Clark, and both instrumentally used of God to call Intercessors for America into being. During the 1973 conference from which IFA emerged, these two Bible teachers imparted the foundational core that is still at the heart of the ministry today.

An atmosphere of crisis blanketed America at this time. The nation, still recovering from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, was stunned by the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy in 1968. The Nixon Administration struggled to end the Vietnam War. The Watergate scandal erupted. Trials began which triggered impeachment hearings. These eventually forced President Richard Nixon’s resignation. The Supreme Court had legalized abortion in January, 1973.

October, 1973 saw a surprise attack upon Israel by Egypt and Syria on Yom Kippur.
A retaliatory oil embargo by the OPEC Arab cartel was underway as the meetings from which IFA emerged convened Thanksgiving week in November. Conference participants in this pre-TV-Internet-in-every-room era anxiously gathered around a single TV set in the Miami Beach hotel lobby for news updates. Conference leaders took these urgent matters up in prayer and dialog.

We learned that U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon would introduce a Joint Resolution into Congress in early December, calling for April 30, 1974 to be observed as a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer. As this was announced, there was an immediate and unanimous response in support of the measure, patterned after President Abraham Lincoln’s April 30, 1863 Proclamation. A telegram was drafted, approved by the assembly, and transmitted to Sen. Hatfield. It stated: “Two thousand Christians gathered in Miami Beach heartily endorse your proposal for a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer, and assure you of their prayers and support.”

This corporate action, by believers from across the spectrum of Christianity in America at that time, galvanized the teachings that Rev. Baxter and Rev. Prince had been presenting – calling the Church to repentance from 2 Chronicles 7:14, and to intercessory prayer for “all in authority” from 1 Timothy 2:1-4. It also became the launching pad for the trans-denominational ministry of Intercessors for America.

By the close of the conference, an IFA Founding Board was established. John Talcott (1908–2013) agreed to serve as IFA National Coordinator. Regional coordinators were selected and volunteers were called forth. These agreed to return home and help trumpet the call for ongoing intercession for the United States, and for the proposed National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer on April 30, 1974.

In early 1974, Tyndale House Publishers’ monthly bulletin carried Evangelist Billy Zeoli’s account of how Vice President Gerald Ford had committed his life to Christ during an NFL pre-game chapel service. It also carried the report of former Presidential advisor and alleged “father” of the Watergate bugging, Charles Colson, stating that he had come to know Christ after taking time for reflection and prayer with “other committed people.”

Conditioned by years of turmoil, crises, and “shakings,” these positive reports stirred the hearts of God’s people to heed the call to repentance and prayer on April 30, 1974. Multitudes of pastors and ministries, and millions of U.S. Christians responded and participated. God honored this corporate act of repentance, and heard the prayers of His people.

The United States was granted a Christian President on August 9, 1974 when Richard Nixon resigned. President Gerald R. Ford helped stabilize and heal the nation in the wake of Watergate. Gerald Ford also made this statement in 1974 which was carried in some of the first IFA regional communications:

“There could be some talk that ‘America is dying,’ rumors reminiscent of those ‘God is dead’ reports a few years ago. It is easy to refute those ugly rumors. God is alive. He is living within each of us. He offers the greatest hope and the greatest help if we play on His team.”

By Gary Bergel