I simply love training God’s prophets! They are one of God’s premier officers within the ranks of Kingdom and Church government. Because intercession is the chisel that God uses to form, shape and incubate the prophet, they are wired with powerful intercessory hardware! After all, much of what prophets do on a daily basis is intercessory in nature.
In my prophetic training classes (Shamar Prophets Training Camp), one of the definitions I give for intercession is “to cause a meeting between two opposing sides for the purpose of bringing resolution”. Prophets position themselves as ‘the resolvers’ of Yeshua’s problems and the enforcers of God’s decisions for both His church and the earth. Prophetic Intercession confronts rebellious and bewildered generations with God's unchanging desires through the weapon of intercession.
Priest & Prophet Unite
Old Testament scriptures verify that one of the roles of the priests was to represented the needs of the people to God, whereas the prophets represented the interests of God to the people. In prophetic intercession the burden of prophet and priest unite at the highest level. Look at the picture of prophetic intercession found in Old Testament scripture, that clearly reveals Moses’ intercessory skill, as he is found pleading to be 'blotted out' of God's book rather than for God to write off his people! (Exodus 32:32).
Similarly, we see the heart of a prophetic intercessor in the New Testament demonstrated in apostle Paul who said, 'I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could pray that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites' (Romans 9:2-4). Paul was not feigning exaggerated grief in his letter to the church in Rome. This was one of the many cries he carried at all times in his spirit; as he prayed without ceasing.
It is intercession that paves the way for the fulfilment of these prophetic assurances:
'For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning. And the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; and you will be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will designate.' (Isaiah 62:1-2).
This is not wishful daydreaming by Prophet Isaiah. This is the purpose of God revealed in Isaiah's soul and expressed in his prophesying. He is speaking of the prophetic intercessors of his generation becoming persistent and passionate in prayer for God's purpose and plans to be accomplished.
'On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. And you who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves; and give him no rest until he establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.' (Isaiah 62:6-7).
Through prophetic intercession, the Spirit of God reveals the will and intent of the Sovereign God, reminding Him of the covenantal agreements made with His people throughout history (Isaiah 55:11). Every unfulfilled promise is still in force and will remain so until fulfilled. Meanwhile they are being pleaded by the Spirit before God's throne.
A Prophetess Comes Forward
One of the most significant yet under recognized prophetic intercessors in the New Testament is the prophetess Anna. After seven years of married life, she had been suddenly widowed and thereafter devoted herself in the Temple to fasting and prayer. Now, at 84 years of age, we find her still ministering in her.
There was a prophetess, Anna… a widow to the age of eighty four. And she never left the temple, serving night and day with fasting and prayers. And at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:36-38).
In what way can she be considered a prophetess? Unlike John the Baptist, she was not the herald of the Messiah. Unlike Elijah, she was not challenging the prophets of Baal or calling down fire. Anna was a prophetess of the secret place, interceding in keeping with the purposes of God for her generation. Her intercession was her prophetic ministry.
Undoubtedly Anna's intercessory burden for years had been for a fulfilling of God's Covenant promises to the patriarchs. She was looking for the Deliverer, the Messiah, the Hope of Israel. She was one of the prophetic intercessors God had ordained to pray through those promises of a coming Messiah. God's entry into every generation has been through a line of faith such as is seen in Anna.
A Covenant Basis
To engage in prophetic intercession is to commit to praying through God's prophetic purposes. It is a privilege of the highest order, that of entering into intercession with, and in, Christ. This total yielding to his purpose enables Christ to function in his High Priestly ministry, in its fullest sense, before the Father. In this ministry you become a laborer together with God, you enter into partnership with the Almighty. The burden of prophetic intercession is the result of a growing conviction of the purposes of God for our time. Whether it is preached, prayed, or prophesied, a thing is only prophetic if it brings us into a knowledge of the heart, mind and world of God in our time. It might be an increasing inner conviction of his will or a sudden revelation by His word. It may be hearing the condition of something that triggers ones prophetic spirit as was the case with Nehemiah. Nehemiah heard the condition of Jerusalem and the distress of the remaining Jews who had survived the captivity and was moved to fast and pray. He entered into a season of intense intercession. The basis of his plea is very important for us.
'I beseech thee O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant… let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open to hear the prayer of thy servant which I am praying before thee now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel thy servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against thee; I and my Father's house have sinned.' (Nehemiah 1:5-6).
Nehemiah's plea cannot find its root of hope in any merit on Israel's part, for he confesses their sin and treats it as his own. Neither is it based on sentiment, for his heart is scandalized by Israel's departure from God. Nehemiah's prophetic prayer base was the covenant of God with His Nation. All prophetic intercessory engagement is rooted in our unwillingness to break covenant with our Sovereign.
Nehemiah did not ignore the condition of Israel, the tragedy that had stripped her of her land, city, temple and glory. Nevertheless, he found his hope in his knowledge of God as a covenant-keeping God. Despite what the church today appears to be, the prophetic intercessor does not base his praying on either good or bad conditions, but rather on the covenants and future of God.
Coming to the birth
The spirit of the intercessor is the womb in which God's prophetic purposes are brought to their fullness. It is also through intercession that the church overcomes in the conflict that surrounds all prophetic fulfilments, the clash between new beliefs and old traditions, God’s desires and Satan’s agendas.
The prophetic intercessor conspires with God to bring forth his glory in the church. The word 'conspire' literally means 'to breathe together'. The Hebrew word here translated 'breathed' is literally 'to breathe violently'. This suggests the intensity of God's action in the fulfilling of his intention. It was experienced again at Pentecost when there was the sound of a violent wind filling the house as God sent his Spirit into the new corporate man of the church.
Prophetic intercession is our conspiring together with God, breathing violently into situations through prayer in order to bring life. When any community of God's prophets and intercessors has the spirit of prayer poured out upon them, they share a sense of divine opportunity and become excited with the prospect of what God will do. The old limits to their expectation are rapidly overrun. Their praying embraces new power. They are suddenly liberated from considering the condition of things from a human perspective, and see from the eyes of the Holy Spirit. Their intercession assumes a prophetic dimension. It gathers up the initiatives God has willed for their generation and boldly stakes claim to them. Such will be the prophetic intercessors of this era. Will you be among them? Anything less than such selfless, passionate, potent praying will simply be less than what is required for such a time as this.
'On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. And you who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves; and give him no rest until he establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth' (Isaiah 62:6-7).