The heart of an intercessory prayer warrior
The mystery of prayer is that it is a labor of love which merges the heart of the creation with the heart of the Creator. As I begin each prayer time I say, “Father in Jesus name, I do not know how to pray, but Your Word says the Holy Spirit will guide me and I believe He will!"
Several intercessors stand out in the scriptures. The first is Moses, who prayed that God would not destroy the Jewish people but instead show mercy on them in spite of their constant complaining in the wilderness. Another noted intercessor was Abraham who interceded over Sodom and Gomorrah. Then there was the Apostle Paul, in Romans 9:3 (NIV) who even declared that he wished that he could be accursed in their place so that all of Israel could be saved. Could any of us say the same? Of the hundreds if not thousands of prayers found in scripture, Galatians 5:6b (KJV), states that faith worketh by love! It’s the true love of God flowing through the flawed love of man.
In this article, though it is a bit unconventional, I would like to ask the readers to join me in a prayer for the people around the world in this year of 2020. Much of this prayer I pray often because I believe the heart of God is in it, as taught to me by the Holy Spirit. However, please feel free to pray as you feel led, taking the time to insert thoughts and names and cities, and people groups as God leads you. Let’s believe thousands will join their hearts together and that it will generate a release of God’s power on the earth at a time when we need it so very desperately.
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Father God, in Jesus name, we first ask that You forgive us of our many sins. Wash us, we pray, with the precious blood of Jesus and begin a process of continual cleansing of our sins and a sanctifying of our lives, which will bring a fresh anointing to our walk and a bright glory to Your name.
We thank You Jesus for not only dying on the cross for the sins of mankind but also for enduring over thirty-three years of being tempted in Your man state. We praise You for overcoming those temptations through the power of the Holy Spirit. We thank You that you enable us to do the same, because You also died so that the Holy Spirit could be poured out on all flesh in fulfillment of Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17.
We thank You Father that this is Your plan for the church and that You never intended for any of us to be able to do this on our own. Not even Your disciples, who You hand picked from ordinary men or the many women who were Your followers could have served You without being empowered by Your Spirit.
Father, in this hour and time we ask You to pour out Your abundant mercy on the world. These past few generations have been mis-taught and mis-informed, about who You are. From the time they were children their minds have been polluted right in their own local school systems by the false teachings of secular humanism and atheism. Rapid growth within the technological world has made the realism of television and media production so vivid that their young minds could not possibly have had the ability to differentiate between good and evil.
Father God, we are asking you for a fresh outpouring of Your Holy Spirit. What the generations on the earth need now is a counterpunch of truth against the devil’s lies. They need something more than the words on a page or a proclamation from a charismatic orator. They need You! They need what you came to give them; Jesus two thousand years ago, God in the flesh. They need something more real than Hollywood can muster, something more than witchcraft can conjure, something more than a college professor can argue. They need miraculous answers to prayer in unprecedented volume. They need to experience your presence in worship which far more powerful than the “Force” of the Star Wars movies and something with more knock down power than the “dark side!”
Father, we know and read about great revivals which You have poured out throughout different time periods in history. We read about how You used great individuals like Oral Roberts, and Kathryn Kuhlman in huge crusades. We pray today, even as Elijah prayed on Mount Carmel in 1st Kings 18:37 (KJV), “Hear us oh Lord and pour out your Holy Spirit that ‘This people will know that thou art the Lord and that you have turned their heart back AGAIN!’ Father we need you to turn this generation back to you because of your mercy based on their ignorance and please do not hold back because of their rebellion. Have mercy oh God they are only doing what they know to do and as Jesus cried out from the cross “Forgive them Father, they know not what they do!”
I have heard it prayed Father, that You are holding back your outpouring because of their lack of gratefulness. People often quote the story of the ten lepers being healed and only one returning to give thanks. Lord you died for that one! Lord you care about that one. The other nine maybe were headed for Hell anyway! So nothing was really lost. If they chose not to be grateful then the loss is theirs.
Lord we pray for the “ones” that are out there not knowing where to turn. Being misinformed about who You are. Perhaps they are the homeless, or the loner teens of the schools, or the ones who just lost their job or their spouse just left them? Lord Jesus we pray you send your Holy Spirit to them right now.
Send us to them right now. Jesus here we are send us today!
Rev Nolan J Harkness is the President and CEO of Nolan Harkness Evangelistic Ministries Inc. since 1985. He spent most of his adult life working in youth ministry. He also felt the calling of Evangelist/Revivalist and traveled as the door was open holding evangelistic meetings in churches throughout the Northeast. His website is www.verticalsound.org.
