Prophetic Intercession

Have you ever wondered about what is on God's heart? I have, especially when I pray about something. When we use the phrase to "pray God's heart," we mean that we are praying in agreement with Him. That is a sure way to see God answer our prayers -- by praying in agreement with what He wants to do in that situation. Praying God's heart is praying God's will. Prophetic intercession is about discerning and praying God's heart.

In this lesson we will discuss several scriptures that can help us to pray in accord with God's heart for His church and for the world. It is important that prophetic intercessors know God's will about specific situations. It is also important that we know the key issues on God's heart.

When we are in a close relationship with a person we get to know that person well by spending time with Him. We learn to identify that person's voice and we learn about what that person likes and dislikes. In fact the closer we get to that person, the more we will learn about him. The same applies to our relationship with God. The extend of how close we are to Him depends pretty much on us. The closer we are, the better we get to know Him and the better we learn to recognize His voice. God loves to share things with us. He wants us to know things so we can pray more effectively.

Look at Abraham. God told Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. God shared this with Him because He didn't want to keep this from His friend. The story of Moses is another example. When God was angry at Israel because of their stubbornness, God told Moses about it. He also told him everything He wanted to do regarding Israel. Moses then had a chance to intercede for Israel so God would not destroy them.

God is always looking for people who will pray for others. He also wants us to pray for nations. It may be difficult for us to believe that our prayers could change what happens to a country but we can see in Ezekiel that our prayers for countries do make a difference. Ezekiel 22:30 puts it this way: "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none".

What God is saying here is that He was actually looking if there was somebody who would intercede for Israel. Israel is a nation. God is also looking today to see if there is somebody who would intercede for other countries. God didn't want to see Israel destroyed. So He looked for somebody who cared and would intercede for her but He couldn't find one person. God doesn't just lash out. He will tell His people what will happen before He has to take action. Amos 3:7 also talks about this. It says: "Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets."

The bible also shows us God's heart regarding salvation. 2 Peter 3:9 shows us that God wants everybody to be saved. "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance."

We can safely conclude that when we intercede regarding a situation, one of God's top priorities is the salvation of the people involved in it. We always need to keep in mind that God loves the person, even if it happens to be a person who has hurt us deeply. And it is God's heart and desire for that person to be saved. Only God can judge. Only He knows what is fair and what is justice.

Jesus directs us in Matthew 9:39 to pray for the harvest of men. He told us to ask God to send workers into the harvest field. From this we can also conclude that there aren't enough workers in the field. More workers are needed. Matthew 9:38 states: "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field".

We will always pray in agreement with God's heart when we pray for people's salvation.

Israel is on God's heart as well, especially Jerusalem. Every intercessor should intercede for Israel. Psalm 122:6 tells us to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem."

We should also pray for our government and the people who are leading the government. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 states: "I urge, then first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness."

Paul's prayers show us God's heart as well. When we pray these prayers we are praying the will of God. These prayers are like guidelines that give us a glimpse into God's plan for the church. In Ephesians 1:17-20, Paul prays that the Father would "...give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better." This tells us very clearly that God wants us to know Him better.

Again, we get to know Him better by having a relationship with Him. It also tells us that true knowledge will come through the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. The scripture continues.. (beginning with verse 18) "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and His incomparably great power for us who believe."

When we want to know His will, then we want something God is already willing to give us. God wants us to be able to understand so that we have hope. This is the hope that reassures us that God has a purpose for our lives and also an inheritance in His kingdom. Nothing that we do in His name is lost.

Ephesians 3:16-18 states: "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

When we understand God's love for us we will pray with the understanding that God loves those we are praying for just as much as He loves us. It is important to understand this so that we will not pray out of selfishness or with wrong motives. God wants us to walk in His fullness. He wants us to partake of everything in His kingdom that He has for us. The more we understand this the more He can use us and the more effective we are in His kingdom.

Philippians 1:9-11 states: "And this is my prayer; that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10. so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God."

God wants us to be motivated by His love. He wants us to be able to make the right decisions based on the discernment He has given us. He doesn't want us to take detours. God is straight to the point. One of the reasons why we make detours is because we try to make things happen ourselves. God wants us to understand things in His righteousness.

The bible is full of revelations regarding God's will. The more we study God's word the more we find out about Him. We can pray God's will by praying scripture. God won't go against His word. When the scripture tells us something, it is set in stone. God is not wishy-washy. He means what He says.

Of course, this doesn't mean that we can pray scripture like a magic formula and then expect it to happen for us. God will have to tell us to pray that scripture. This is where our relationship with God comes in and our ability to hear Him.

God's word shows us what kingdom priorities are. For instance, we may pray for a situation and say:" Well I really don't know what to pray in this situation". Is that person we are praying for saved? If not, let's pray for that person's salvation. It is amazing what spiritual baggage falls off of a person when that person is saved. That person's salvation may just be the perfect answer to your prayer. If that person is saved, let's pray for the fullness of God in his life.

Does that make sense? It is really not as difficult as we try to make it sometimes. With God things are easy. God doesn't make things complicated. We make things complicated. Jesus said that when we accept the kingdom, we should accept it a child does. Children don't over-analyze things. They take things at face value. Think about this. When parents tell their children that they are going to get a Christmas present for them, the children believe them. They don't sit there wondering: "hum, I wonder if Mom and Dad really meant what they were saying?" The children know that when the parents say something, they mean it. God is the same way. God means what He is saying. He is not double-minded.

Jesus tells us in Mark 10:15, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

When we are in relationship with God, He will also reveal to us what is on His heart that is not clearly outlined in the bible. This is why we have received the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:10-12 says, "But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of this world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us."

God has sent His Spirit so that He can help us understand what God has given us. He has also send the Spirit so that we will know what is on God's heart. Only the Spirit knows what is on God's mind.

In other words, we have two really useful tools to understand and discern God's heart for a given situation. The first is the Word of God. We need to be familiar with scripture to understand what God's priorities are in a give situation, because He has already shared His heart and His priorities with us in the Bible. And we also have the indwelling Holy Spirit, who gives us revelation of God's heart and will in a given situation when we ask Him, as per James 1:5.

So our goal, when we pray, is to understand how God feels about any given situation. We need to know what His priorities are in it. What are His desires for the people involved? We need to go before Him and talk to Him about the situation and ask Him to show us how He feels about it and how He wants us to pray regarding the situation. We sit in His presence to listen for Him to speak to us about this, and we also remain mindful of what He has already said about it in Scripture. Once we understand God's heart on the situation, then we pray in accordance with that. And our prayers become highly effective when we are praying in agreement with what God wants to do.