Bits and Pieces
Miscellaneous Teachings & Testimonies
On Subjects Relevant To Intercessors

God had called me to intercede at a Billy Graham crusade and He had already orchestrated many incredible divine appointments and prayer opportunities for me. I shared many of them in the previous lesson, but the Lord did not stop there. He had much more in store for me.

The crusade was in the Oakland Arena. The Lord called my attention to the top deck (5 stories up). This deck was only about 1/4 full. The Lord told me to go up onto that deck because He had some prayer assignments for me there. So I began to make my way over there. It was a long walk and took a long time. And God showed me other things to pray on my way over there. To get over to that section, you actually have to exit the stadium building and take this really long (many flights) outdoor ramp. As I was walking up that ramp, I ran into a few people who I knew, including an acquaintance who used to go to my Church but now went somewhere else.

As I continued to climb up this ramp, I found myself praying that God would start pouring out an anointing on the people at the highest level and work all the way down to the field. I also prayed that those who did not know Him would accept Him and those who did know Him would be set free of anything that held them back in their walk with Him. All of the sudden, that intensity to pray was on me and it seemed to carry me up that ramp... the long trek up that ramp became effortless.

When I finally reached the top, I went in the entrance. I found that I was standing in exactly the spot the Lord had pointed out to me when I had been standing near the choir. I was not blocking anyone's view, so I stood there for a second and silently asked, "OK, Lord. What next?"

I did not have long to wait. My prayer was interrupted by someone calling my name. I opened my eyes to see two friends from my church approaching me. They asked me what I was doing way up here. I answered that God had send me up here to pray for people's hearts to be open to receive Jesus.

"Oh, God must have sent you for me!" Amy said. "I brought my unsaved bother. He's sitting over there..." she pointed, but I had no idea which person she pointed at. "I was just hoping God would send someone to pray for him."

So I suggested that the three of us pray for him. The Lord's presence fell strongly as we prayed. Michael, who is also an intercessor, and myself each laid one of our hands on Amy's shoulder as we prayed for her brother. The next thing we knew, Amy was being slain in the spirit. We both hustled to try and catch her -- after all that cement floor looked very hard. We managed to keep Amy standing and after a couple of minutes she was able to stand on her own again. But it was clear that the Lord had entered into this prayer. We built on top of that and asked the Lord to save all of the unsaved relatives that believers had brought with them to the stadium, particularly brothers and sisters, husbands, wives and children. God's presence was very tangible as we prayed.

When we finished praying, I looked around to see what else He would have me do there. But He said, "I'm done with what I want you to do here. Go down to the third level." So I did.

It took a while to get down there, because it was a long way. On my way, I passed a security guard who I just knew was a Christian. (Many of the security guards were coliseum employees rather than part of Billy Graham's organization. But this guy looked like he was part of Dr Graham's team because he had on one of those maroon T-shirts.) I felt led to go up to him. He smiled and greeted me. I don't know why I did this, but I gave him a summary of some of the neat things God had been doing on this "prayer tour". The man broke out into a grin from ear to ear. "Hallelujah!" He said. "That is exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you for coming and telling me."

I grinned at him and then asked if I could pray a quick blessing on him. He said "Absolutely." I just prayed for a couple of minutes, but the Holy Spirit showed up and touched him in a powerful way. He was one very happy security guard when we finished praying.

I got to the third level. There was a walkway across the center of it, with aisles going up into seats above the walkway and other aisles going down into seats below that walkway.

"Now what, Lord?"

"Just walk across, and I will show you what to do."

So I started across the longish walkway. By this time, Dr Graham had come onto the platform and had begun to speak. I did not want to distract anyone or block their view, so I tried to walk quickly and to pray silently. I did remain silent, but there was this deep yearning crying out within me for the blinders to fall off of the lost, for every bit of resistance to melt off of people and for them to be open and yielded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I also found myself inviting the Holy Spirit to fall on people with a strong anointing for salvation.

"Teresa! Teresa!" I looked to my left where the voice was coming from. Three rows down from the walkway and near the aisle, a friend was motioning to me. There was an empty seat on the aisle of the row behind her. I went over and sat down in it. She asked me what I was doing here. I told her I was walking around the stadium, praying for people's hearts to be open to receive Jesus.

"Oh Good!" she said. "Please pray for my brother. He's here, but he's sitting in a different section."

So we joined hands, bowed our heads and prayed together for her brother. Again the Lord seemed to fall powerfully. There was such a strong anointing for prayer. This was another one of those divine prayer appointments.

I walked away from that saying, "Lord, I could really get to like this. It is fun when you lead me like this!"

By the time I got to the end of the walkway, I was not just full of joy, I was full of boldness and confidence. The Lord pointed out another security guard who was standing on the ramp by the end of the walkway. As I looked at him, all of the sudden I knew some things about him, including the fact that he was not saved and that God was yearning for this man to come to Him. He smiled and nodded at me as I passed him. So I struck up a brief conversation with him, asking him if he was listening to Dr Graham's message. "No", he said, "not really." So I asked him if he had ever had a personal experience with God. His reply was "I have heard Billy Graham preach more times than you can imagine."

I smiled sweetly and said, "Yes, but that was not the question I asked you. I asked if you had ever entered into a personal relationship with God."

He chuckled. "Sorry, I'm a confirmed atheist. If Billy Graham could not convert me, you won't be able to either."

"Oh that's ok", I said, "I'm not trying to convert you. That's God's job. It's just that He pointed you out to me and told me that He wants to bring you to know him."

"Oh Really??"

About then, I noticed an older woman who was leaning against the wall just behind us and sort of groaning and rubbing her foot. A frustrated looking man was standing next to her. I excused myself for a moment and went over to them, wondering if she needed some healing prayer for her foot. Before I could open my mouth to say a word, she looked at me and began to complain. Neither she nor her husband was a Christian. They came to hear Billy Graham, but they got here late and had to take terrible seats where they could not hear well enough to tell what he was saying. They were desperate to hear the words of his message, so they walked down a couple of sections to get close enough to hear. After standing a few minutes she was exhausted and realized it would be too hard for her to stand there through the whole message. She was definitely an older woman and probably hard of hearing. (I could hear just fine in the top section, but it certainly was louder down here in the 3rd section.) They were so frustrated that they were getting ready to leave.

Suddenly I just "knew" that there were two seats together down in the section below them. I offered to go find her some good seats. She said that would not be possible, as the section was totally full. But she agreed to wait while I went and checked. It did not take long to find those seats.. there were three empty seats four rows down from the walkway and they'd only have to climb over 5 people to get to them. So I went back to the couple and led them to the aisle with the empty seats. They were delighted. The woman smiled at me whispered her thanks. Just as they got seated, Dr Graham finished his opening remarks and started on his presentation of the gospel. Boy, does the Lord have a sense of timing! He is awesome.

As I passed the security guard, he stopped me and said, "That was very nice of you to help them."

I asked him if I could pray for him for a blessing. He said he does not pray. I said that's ok, I'd do the praying and he could just stand there and listen. He said that would be fine. Then I asked if it would be ok if I asked God to come and reveal Himself to him in a way where he knew God was real. He said that could not happen, because there is no God. I said that if it turns out that there is a God and if He reveals Himself to you in a way where you know it's really Him, will you give your life to Him? He said yes, he would. So, I asked, can I ask God to reveal Himself to you? He said that would be OK.

Oh, could I pray with confidence. I had just been given permission to ask God to reveal Himself to him and I knew God was going to answer that prayer! And of course, I prayed some blessings as well... whatever God showed me to pray. God had told me to keep my eyes open when I prayed for this man. He kept his eyes glued to mine throughout the prayer. I smiled at him and kept praying. Pretty soon he was smiling too, especially when the Lord started giving me words of knowledge about what blessings to pray for him. At the end of the prayer he said, "Wow, that was nice! Thank you."

After the prayer was over, the Lord told me I could return to my seat. "But don't be in a hurry, as I am going to use you to serve people on your way back."

As I walked back to my seat, several people asked me for help with this or that. I did not realize it at the time, but I guess they must have thought I was an usher since I had on one of those maroon T-shirts. Oddly, I seemed to know the answers to most of their questions. Since I'd been all over the stadium praying, I sort of got a feel for where most things were.

When I got back to my seat (a front row seat on the level nearest the field), I realized it was really a very nice seat. I don't know why I ever thought it was a bad seat. Maybe the enemy really had been playing tricks on my mind. I did not get to stay in it very long, because pretty soon it was time for the altar call.

The altar call was, of course, my favorite part of this incredible day. I got to counsel with another first time convert, a 29 year old professional woman who had known about Jesus for years but now came to know Him personally. There is just something so awesome about when a large group of people first give lives to Jesus. It was so neat to be in the midst of this. I know the angels were rejoicing over this scene. And I was certainly rejoicing over the woman that the Lord allowed me to counsel. She was so genuine and so sincere and she was moved to tears as she repented before Him. Those tears turned into joy and smiles as she learned that her sins had been forgiven and that she had been given eternal life and was now a daughter of God!

You guys, this is what it's all about. This is why the Lord calls us to be intercessors. It is awesome stuff! I don't think I've ever had this much fun being an intercessor before. It sure is fun to pray when God leads so clearly and gives you so many divine appointments and assignments. I wish He'd do this with me every day!