Thoughts for Life: #50 Discovering Intercession

C. Peter Wagner continues to share with us, "I began to discover the power of personal intercession soon after I started teaching my Sunday School class, the 120 Fellowship of Lake Avenue Congregational Church in 1982.

This was not premeditated, but rather the spiritual chemistry of the situation.

I had never doubted the authority of Scripture, therefore I never really doubted the power of prayer.

Only after the first months of the new class had turned into years did I begin to understand what was happening.

For the first time I could recall, I was in the midst of a group of people who were supporting me and my ministry through powerful intercessory prayer.

Not that others who had supported us on the mission field and elsewhere were not praying Christians. But some of those I was now associated with had a contact with the invisible world I knew little about.

I began to get clues when a new pattern formed. On an infrequent but fairly regular basis, people would approach me in pastors' seminars I was doing across the country and say words to this effect:

'I heard you x number of years ago, and I'm now hearing you again. Your ministry has an obvious depth and quality that it didn't have before. What is it?'

At first I shrugged off the comments as frivolous. But I began hearing it enough to make me do some evaluation.

Sure enough, I was finding an increased spiritual power in my teaching.

I had logged enough experience with audiences to realize that what I was saying was moving people in a more profound way. And, strangely enough, much of the content itself was not that different from a few years ago.

I did not realize it was intercession at first, but then I fell into a pattern of reporting the results of my previous weeks' ministry to the class on Sunday morning and asking them to pray for the following week.

Many in the class were so touched by what God had done through me during the week, I realized they were considering my ministry as their ministry also.

They were laughing when I laughed and crying when I cried because through their faithful intercession on my behalf, they were doing the ministry with me.

Soon I learned how to answer the question when people asked me why my ministry had improved.

'I attribute it to the power of prayer through those who are interceding for me.' I would reply.

This was the beginning of experiencing the power and effects of personal intercession, which later led me into full-scale research of the biblical, theological and practical theories that would explain why it is true."

Today’s post -#50 Discovering Intercession, in the series taken from C. Peter Wagner’s book, PRAYER SHIELD, How to intercede for pastors, Christian leaders and others on the spiritual frontlines.(pgs. 100, 101)

(Google images used)

Let’s pray:

Father, it is true, that when others pray for us as we minister, or are in a particular difficult situation, we do notice a big difference.

Remind us that our leaders actually need our prayer support to be effective, as they serve in their ministry.

We are thankful for Peter Wagner's advice today, and we commit ourselves to being more supportive of our own leaders.

We ask for Your help in this most important ministry of ours, in Jesus' Name. Amen

Mary Southerland: "Father, I come to You by faith, laying every fear and worry at Your feet. I am not sure what this year (2014) holds for me, but I do know You are with me every step of the way. When I am tempted to worry, please remind me to trust You. When fear attacks, help me choose to pray instead of panic, knowing You are my Lord and my Shepherd. I praise You for Your faithfulness in my life, even when I don’t understand and can’t see the next step. I praise You, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Today’s Bible verse: Ps. 51:15 "O LORD, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise."

Today’s quote: David McCasland – “When we choose to follow Christ as our Lord, He begins the process of making us more like Him each day. It is not a matter of pretending to be what we aren’t but of becoming more and more what we are in Christ.”

Some thoughts today: In the moving of the Holy Spirit, He uses people. He chooses to partner with people who are humble, and willing to let Him be involved with what's taking place. He is waiting to use us!

- Are you active in what God is doing?

- When we physically touch someone in prayer, it can become God's touch for healing and encouragement.

Our prayers really DO help others.

4th- Saturday’s post: Big Plans/Can God Direct This? Christi M. Estes

5th- Sunday's post: There's Power in His Name Dave Hathaway

5th (evening) Special post: Judgmental Opinions Jean Oathout

7th- Tuesday's post: #51 Personal Intercession is Biblical C. Peter Wagner

9th- Thursday's post: #52 Personal Intercession is Underutilized C. Peter Wagner

A popular post: A Most Amazing Prayer Meeting: Prayer Note #100 Dutch Sheets -"I didn’t factor in the combined years of intercession represented by the group – Lew alone had been interceding for England nearly 30 years. This small, insignificant detail meant simply that anything could happen."

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