Roy Washam grew up in a great family, but threatening blindness rattled his young world at the age of seven. From that time until age thirteen, Roy was in and out of the hospital. During one particular hospital stay, Roy heard the Lord clearly say, “This too shall pass.” With childlike faith, he surrendered His eyes to the Lord, trusting His best plans and purposes for his life. In a miraculous turn of events, the Lord gave him back his eyesight AND gave him “eyes to see” spiritually. Thus began Roy’s season of hearing and preparation. He learned to dialogue with Holy Spirit, walk in obedience, and intercede as the Lord directed His thoughts.

Betsy Washam grew up in a liberal New York church, baptized and confirmed Lutheran. The pastor saw something in her, calling out qualities she didn’t yet see in herself. At age sixteen, another pastor asked her to pray over him to be filled with the Holy Spirit, which boosted her willingness to take risks in intercession. It began a journey to pray for others, one at a time, including many students throughout her thirty-year teaching career. It’s an ongoing joke between Betsy and Roy – he never knows when she will return from the store, for likely she will be caught up praying for someone she just met. Her love of praying for each “one” spurs her to pray for the nation.

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National Intercession

Roy and Betsy’s connection to national intercession began after attending a meeting with Lance Lambert (an associate of IFA founder Derek Prince), where Roy received an impartation to pray for our nation. This same meeting led directly to their connection with Intercessors for America. Roy and Betsy have been involved with IFA since the early 1980s.

After years of relational connection with IFA, Roy and Betsy finally met Dave Kubal in person in 2016 at an election prayer event. Overcome with the unified body in prayer, Roy recognized a true kairos movement. The couple really connected and invested at the national level from that point on.

At the same time, inspired by IFA, the Washams helped form a small weekly prayer group to pray for the nation. Still meeting, they love that they operate under the covering of IFA.

When Betsy’s former student ran for state legislator, the Washams invited him to their home to pray with him and over him. He won the local election, serving and leading with biblical principles. As he continues to stand strong, his prominence is rising.

The Lord uses Roy and Betsy to stand in the gap for state and national politicians who know they can trust them to handle their prayer requests with care and respect.

A year ago, the Washams started an additional prayer team with two other intercessors. They meet one morning a week to pray for their local and state officials by name, using intel from IFA to pray. In addition to praying for local government officials, they have also chosen to invest locally with pastors in their hometown – drawing the greater body together in unified prayer.

Roy and Betsy commit themselves to the Lord’s leading. The Lord directed them to contribute, support, and intercede locally and nationally, at an equipping level. They sow faithfully into IFA and some other ministries in order to scatter the seed where the Lord calls.

Words of Encouragement from Roy and Betsy

As God calls you to stand and fight, He will turn the tide in a situation. He allows you to tap into His power as we surrender to being used. Betsy encourages us to ask for a greater anointing and to STAND where He has called us to in obedience; leaving the results to the Lord.

She urges us not to forsake meeting together, “Praying with others builds camaraderie and deep relationships when you labor together. That sacrifice in prayer and intercession is really pleasing to the Lord. As we give up our time, He deepens our walk personally and corporately. The time and effort that you give is laying up treasures in heaven.” Betsy also admonishes us to remember the next generation; those coming behind us will pick up our mantle.

“Jesus is our breakthrough. Obeying Him is enough,” Roy shared. Roy lives his life by this simple, yet profound truth. He explained how there is an cumulative effect as we intercede and obey, “It matters less that we see the results and more about sowing, laboring, and investing, as we partner with Him and in His suffering.”

God meets each one of us exactly where we are. Betsy sees the nuances of the tapestry of God’s work in our lives, meeting needs one person at a time. God calls on her as she goes about her day-to-day responsibilities, giving her eyes to see and ears to hear. As a retired engineer, Roy tends to see the big picture, with God often calling on his attentiveness as a night watchman on the wall. He is grateful for retirement in order to fully embrace the Lord’s call during those night hours.

God calls each one of us. We each have a specific call as He equips us to bring His Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven. When He calls, He is also faithful to equip. How have you been called? Let’s pray for one another that we would each come into a greater understanding and fullness of what He speaks over us. Our families, our communities, and our nation are impacted as we choose to obey Him.

Suni Piper is a writer and passionate intercessor for the nation and for the Church. She is determined and surrendered to be a voice of truth and encouragement to the Body of believers. Follow Suni at her website ASurrenderedLife.com.