Possible Prayer Team ideas for next season

1.  Advertise baptisms after shows to people who buy tickets (especially groups).  Put baptism as part of nightly schedule on calender, web site, etc.  

2. Hand out Lord's Supper elements sooner before dark (after preshow about 7:45pm or earlier) and again at intermission, the way we did it the last 2 shows this season. 

3. Have table at front of prayer tent with signs reading "free Book of John" and "Free Prayer Resources", like we did the last 2 shows this season.  

4.  Add Spanish signs for most or all existing signs. 

5.  Add texting of prayer requests and praises.  Advertise text phone number on play biils, prayer request cards, and new signs. 

6. Larger redesigned prayer request cards.  Remove email address and put texting phone number. 

Nov 2-3 show results - premature end to season

Crowds were good Friday and Saturday. Weather seamed good until it started raining hard 20 mins into the Saturday show. It was sad having the last show cancelled, but it was a great response by Promise cast and crew to sing worship songs from stage with visitors and Prayer Team volunteers led large group in prayer in tent.  

Oct 19/20 show results

Fri Oct 19

It rained all day but show was dry.  Floor was wet so we kept rugs off of floor.  Lots of people rescheduled their tickets and the crowd was perhaps the smallest of the season (about 150 people).  Only Prayer Tent volunteers because of sickness were Rudy and Gary.  Lots of cast members were out due to faily events and sickness.  Lots of cast members played different parts including my 12 yr old son Matthew who played a lead part of Caleb the crippled boy on the main Jewish family; he memorized 28 lines in 2 days to play the part.  The other Jewish boy (Caleb's brother) was also played by a different cast member.  We received no visitors to the prayer tent. 



Sat Oct 20

If was dry and we had a large show.  We had 3 Prayer Tent volunteers: Rudy, Dena, and Gary.  Rudy did LOTS of greeting of visitors at gate.  Dena and Gary stuffed donation envelopes in 6 boxes of playbills before and during the entire show.  We had 2 visitors to prayer tent before the show, but none at intermission.  There were only about 5 ushers present so Lord's Supper distribution was challenging - we got it done by using 2 from prayer team, all ushers and 4 people from Answer International helping us.  

Show scheule for Oct 20/21 - Nov 2/3

There are no special events planed for the last 3 weekends, so it is just normal shows with large attendance and likely colder temperatures.  Gates open at 6:30pm each night.   We need to only stuff donation envelopes into playbills.  Our plan is to go up to people before show and at intermission to pass out Books of John to people and also invite them to Prayer Tent. 

Especially pray this:  Pray for Promise cast and crew unity and endurance as we complete the final 3 weeks of  show. Pray also for good weather.

Oct 12/13 show results

Friday show was cancelled due to rain, but we had a good crowd for Sat night show.  It was cold (in 40s) so crowd stayed bundled up and not very mobile, which made for low prayer tent attendance.   We had lots of volunteers from Cornerstone Church and they really helped us at Lord's Supper and they also passed out some Books of John at intermission.    

Because of earlier darkness before show, we also handed out Lord's Supper elements during intermission for people who did not get them before show.  I emaled Chuck asking if we can pass out Lord's Supper earlier such as 7:45pm, plus have baskets at intermissions for people who came is late. 

Parker (Satan) again drew a crowd at the end.  We volunteers had good group prayer in tent, we talked about plans for handing our "Book of Johns" in next 3 weeks, and we made a lot of progress stuffing donation envelopes in play bills.  The Books of John present the gospel in the first few pages of each book. 

Oct 12/13 show schedule

Fri. Oct 12:

Gates open 6:30pm
Currently 18% chance of rain at 8pm

Sat. Oct 13 - Golden Agers:

$10 off for Senior Citizens
Coupon for FREE hot drink

Gates open 6:30pm

Currently 49% chance of rain at 8pm

Should we open the gates at 4:30pm so the old people can get to bed by 8pm? 

(just kidding)

Oct 5/6 show results

Weather behaved and we had great shows. Good attendance. Teen night Sat. was great with really good concert by Citizen Way and lots of youth groups.  Parker (Satan) met and prayed with lots of visitors in the Prayer Tent. 

Oct 5/6 show schedule - Youth Night #2 (pray for no rainout)

Fri. Oct 5:

Current change of rain: 12%

Gates open at 6:30pm

___________________________


Sat. Oct 6 Youth Night:

Current change of rain: 56%
2 for 1 (Invite a friend). Musical guest: Citizen Way.  Gates open at 5:30 PM, Citizen Way Meet & Greet at 6:00 PM, Citizen Way concert begins at 6:30 PM.  Stonewater Church is sponsoring church

TOP 10 HIT 8 SONGS

Bulletproof
Peaked at #9 on 7.8.2017

How Sweet The Sound
Peaked at #11 on 5.17.2014

Nothing Ever (Could Separate Us)
Peaked at #13 on 7.6.2013

Should've Been Me
Peaked at #14 on 10.6.2012

When I'm With You
Peaked at #18 on 8.13.2016

Sept 28/29 show results - no rain!!!!

No rain!! That's different.  

Great shows and lots of prayer tent activity.  Triple Cross Cowboy Church helped us Sat night and did great job at Country music preshow including using a bull whip as an instrument on their last song, helping with communion and greeting visitors.  Some people came out on horses before joining the band, and 2 people on horses held the US and Texas flags for the national anthem. I grew up in rural "near West" Texas in Jacksboro and went to lots of rodeos, and I really identify with and appreciate rural cowboy culture Texans.  Thanks to all for contributing!  Next time I will wear boots and cowboy hat and maybe a belt with a REEEEEEALY big buckle (FYI - I did not win it in a rodeo riding a bull, I bought it, I was a geek in high school).  

Thanks to the 100+ members of Trinity Marthoma Church in Houston for visting the Primise.   Most were from southern India, they had never seen the Promise, and they sat on the front rows and probably got wet from the fake rain. They showed so much appreciation and exitement.  They drove all the way from Houston and back in 1 day on busses, just to see the Promise. Their church denomination originates from Syria and was founded by St. Thomas.  Their primary prayer request is the following:  "Pray for the people in the state of Kerala in south India. Many from our church are from there. 500-600 people have died due to severe flooding which is 100 times worse than Hurricane Harvey flooding in Houston".

Pray for Answer International Ministry which is promoting their child trafficing ministry each show.  Their primary reoccuring prayer request is similar to the following: "Pray that we can get the message of our ministry out to more people, and that it can become more effective".  Maybe give one of their brochures to your pastor.

We gave thanks to Rudy and wife Vicki who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.  I told Rudy that since I went to his celebration he needs to come to mine in 18 years when we celebrate our 50th anniversary.  

Sept 28/29 show schedule

Friday Sept 28

Normal Friday show, gates open 6:30pm, currently 20% chance of rain

Saturday Sept 29 - Cowboy Night:

$5 off with code COWBOY18
Country Band Pre-Show, I assume gates open 6:30pm, currently 20% chance of rain

Sept 21/22 show results - Rainy

Rainy weekend.  Friday night show was rained out early.  Sat. night show thankfully happened but it was misty, wet, and cool all night.  Sat. we only had 2 Prayer Tent volunteers: Rudy and Gary.  We had a good-sized crowd even though Youth Night was rescheduled until Oct. 6.  We passed out communion elements using some ushers and Stonewater Church volunteers.  Many ushers spent their time wiping down wet seats.  We had no visitors to the prayer tent -  likely because people were pre-occupied with staying dry and warm.  Gift shop sold lots of ponchos and  concession stand sold out of hot chocolate.  I have a few prayer requests from volunteers. 
   

Sept 21/22 show schedule

Fri. Sept 21

Normal Friday show, gates likely open 6:30pm. About 400 tickets sold so far.

We have numerous Prayer Tent volunteers not present.

Sat. Sept 22

Youth Night:

2 for 1 (Invite a friend). Musical guest: Citizen Way. 

Gates open at 5:30 PM, Citizen Way Meet & Greet at 6:00 PM, Citizen Way concert begins at 6:30 PM

Stonewater Church is sponsoring church

We may have a couple of Prayer Tent volunteers not present.

TOP 10 HIT 8 SONGS

Bulletproof
Peaked at #9 on 7.8.2017

How Sweet The Sound
Peaked at #11 on 5.17.2014

Nothing Ever (Could Separate Us)
Peaked at #13 on 7.6.2013

Should've Been Me
Peaked at #14 on 10.6.2012

When I'm With You
Peaked at #18 on 8.13.2016

Results of Sept 14/15 shows

Friday Sept 14 was Hispanic night, and we had a big crowd and a great preshow.  But unfortunately the show was cancelled at the end of intermission due to lots of rain.  We had perhaps 40-50 people in the prayer tent escaping the rain and we had lots of conversations, prayer and prayer requests.  

Saturday night was good in that we had no real chance of rain, and we did the entire show.  The attendance was small but we still had a few great visitors to the tent that wanted prayer.  

Lessons learned and notes from this weekend:
- Thanks to our regular Sat volunteers from the Hispanic church in Granbury!  They are real purposeful: they put a prayer card and Spanish tract in Spanish Book of Johns and give some to each of their volunteers. They go to each of the 2 areas: in front of Jewish Market and in front of the Gift Shop.  They engage people in conversation and offer to receive prayer request and witness with the evangelistic materials (the first few pages of the Book of Johns are evangelistic). They are bilingual so they can communicate with both English and Spanish speakers.  They have gotten us numerous Spanish prayer requests. 
- One of us needs to stay close enough to the prayer tent entrance during shows so we can watch people entering (I plan to do this).  We have had a few people requesting prayer during shows.  
- I try to engage anyone outside around the prayer tent in conversation.  I have a clip board with prayer request cards on it.
- We need to do the following to prep playbills: Put "Granbury" label on back, and stuff with prayer request card and  donation envelope. I assume it will take about 35 mins per case of 150 playbills per person to prep.  
-  I hauled the extra cases of tracts to my home, so let me know if we are running low of something so I can bring it on the next Friday. 
-  We have fewer volunteers on Fridays so try to come if you are able. 

Sept. 14/15 show schedule

Friday Sept 14 Hispanic Night

$5 off admission with code HISPANIC18. Musical guest Jaci Velasquez will go on at 6:30 PM. Simultaneous headset translation to Spanish offered.

Gates may open about 6:00pm because of preshow starting at 6:30pm.

Sat. Sept 15

Gates likely open at the default time of 6:30pm.

We have Spanish tracts and a few of the Books of John.  Lets try to hand those out to Spanish-speaking people. Also perhaps try to hand out the English camouflage and flag Books of John to men.  I will continue ordering 30 of these Book of John booklets each month.  I currently have camouflage books on order. 

Weather forecast for Glen Rose:

Results of the Sept. 7/8 shows

RAIN!!!  Lots of it.  Friday show happened miraculously with rain before and immediately after show, but not 1 drop of rain during show.  God controlled weather on Friday and kept the Promise completely dry during the show. My wife Charlotte and other cast members were watching the weather radar and the storms would wrap around Glen Rose then come back together after passing Glen Rose. Cool huh?

The Saturday show was cancelled due to rain.  On Saturday afternoon I with help from Glenda stuffed prayer requests into playbills and put labels on playbills.  So we have enough playbills for this next weekend.  It takes 1 person about 30 minutes to prep 1 case of 150 playbills.  Each family gets 1 playbill, and if there are 2000 people in attendance for a show, we need about 1000 play bills for the show (7 cases, 3.5 hours of work per person).  I will mostly work on the playbills before and during shows, and I need some help from you, perhaps 30 mins before each show.  When we get volunteers from a partner church I will try to use some of them before show for 30 minutes prepping playbills.  

Prepping playbills is the "feet washing" part of the Prayer Team ministry: not fun but we have to do it.

The next few Promise shows without rain should be bigger attendance because people get tickets for future shows when show is cancelled. So rest and get ready.

The default gate open time is now 6:30pm instead of 6:00pm.  See below:

SCHEDULE EACH SHOW NIGHT

Click here for all events with actual schedule for each show

Before gates open - setup prayer tent, pray, train and organize partner church volunteers, prep playbills.

6:30pm – Gates normally open at 6:30pm, but check event schedule on web link above

6:30-8:00pm – Greet visitors, finish setting up tent, prayer, do same activities as at intermission for fewer people, prep playbills.

8:00pm Show starts - during show do prayer, and prep playbills if needed.

Try to thank and praise God more than you ask Him for requests.  Lets fill up our praise posters with praises; I am including these praises in the weekly prayer request emails.  Also if you hear of answered prayers when doing follow up, please let me know so I can add them to the weekly email. Know that each of you are very welcome to write up prayer requests for people you know.  Thank you all for your service and especially your prayers!

Sept 7/8 show schedule

Heroes Weekend:

Special guest speaker Taya Kyle begins at 7 PM. Free admission to veterans, active duty, first responders, etc. 50% off for accompanying family members.  

I assume gates open at 6pm.

Are single evangelism events effective? Such as the Promise

Are single evangelism events effective? Yes and No

.Extracts from BGCT Evangelism Newsletter, April 2008, article by John Randles, “An Open Letter on Event Evangelism”


Events are not effective unless believers have already been cultivating healthy trust relationships with seekers and un-churched persons. In the past, many events have been failures because no relationship building took place in advance of the event. Make friends first, then invite them to events and to a relationship with Jesus.

Events must have effective follow up. Do not do once per year VBS-type events UNLESS you have permanent follow up. Use the event to meet the people then establish and build friendships.

There is a large percentage of the population that must be reached through a post-modern intellectual and cultural paradigm. Be flexible and willing to change, listen to people, plan less and respond more to where God is working. It is not about getting the job done, but about reaching people for Christ.

Events are also beneficial to the believers. The revivals and bring a spirit of camaraderie and encouragement to the church or organization involved. We would not have enough youth pastors, pastors and missionaries if it were not for youth camps. Build up and inspire each other.

Celtic Way of Evangelism - ministry of hospitality

From Dr. George G. Hunter III, “Celtic Way of Evangelism”

I would recommend adopting the four-fold Celtic approach to preparing people for ministry. It appears to me to be vastly more sophisticated and effective than anything now being attempted in most churches.

First, every person in a monastic community spent some time in solitude, out in nature. They had a saying, "Go and sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything." Patrick himself discovered the presence of God, that he had learned about in the catechism, in the midst of nature. The Celts believed that time alone in nature is indispensable for triggering a God-consciousness.

Second, everyone had a soul friend. This is not a superior such as a spiritual director, but more like a peer with whom one could be totally vulnerable.

Third, most Celtic Christians were members of a small group who met weekly. Ten or fewer people were led by a person who was most chosen for his or her transparent devoutness.

Fourth, everyone was involved in the life of the monastic community's worship, and Scripture memorization, etc. A great many illiterate Celtic Christians knew all 150 psalms by heart because they rehearsed 30 psalms a day; as a community, every five days, they rehearsed all the psalms.

Everyone, in the community, was involved in ministry with seekers. At some point in their development they would be a seeker's soul friend, or they would observe and help a seeker in their small group who was discovering faith.

That fourfold approach, solitude, soul friends, small group, and ministry of the community, including ministry with seekers, appears to be a potent synergizing combination to produce contagious saints than any of the "improvements" in the last 12 centuries. What kind of ministry did the Celts have to seekers? It was, essentially, the "ministry of hospitality." The monastic community would simply admit into its ranks people who had not yet discovered the gift of faith. The community seems to have believed Christianity was more caught than taught. The people were more likely to catch it in the community of faith rather than by being left to their own devices in the world.

BE A DISCIPLE. REALLY KNOW JESUS.

How? Follow Jesus, become fishers of men, leave old life.  True discipleship should challenge our consumerism lifestyle.  A true local church is one in which you regularly meet God, and only He is glorified.

Jesus does not need us, we need Him!  Jesus is worthy of total abandonment and surrender.  There can be no casual response.  Either turn and run, or bow and worship.  When people get to really know Jesus they look really different.  Be totally satisfied in Jesus; Jesus is better than pleasure and comfort.  Entrust my financial security to Jesus. Entrust all of myself to Jesus. How to get to this point?  Continually sit at the feet of Jesus being taught by Him.

Live with radical abandonment, which is anti-social.  Leave comfort and security and pleasure.  You don’t know where you are going but you know who you are with.  Deny yourself.  Our love for Jesus should be greater than our love for anyone or anything else.  Live with joyful dependence on the grace of God.  Follow Jesus in relationship; he is our path, our life.

A private faith + a resurrected Christ is impossible.  The cost of discipleship is great but the cost of not being a disciple is greater.  The consequence of casual Christianity is Hell.

People become disciples by seeing Christ more and more.   Don’t let people become overly dependent on a teacher or preacher; keep pushing them toward Jesus. 

Verge Network Conference 2014

Results of Aug 31/Sept 1 shows

Thanks to the Prayer Team for your hard work and prayers, and enduring the heat!  Thanks for Rudy for leading us in group prayers.   Thanks to Glenda for handling follow up of prayer requests.

Attendance was reduced especially Friday because of HS football and Labor Day holiday weekend.   But we still received 11 prayer requests and had some great group prayer.   We can look ahead now to cooler temperatures and larger crowds.

Summary of Intercessory Prayer Posts

5 Basic Principles for Effective Prayer for Intercession

1. Initiated by God
2. Intercede for God's people who have left the straight and narrow path
3. Intimate conversation with God
4. According to God's righteous way
5. God speaking in our speaking


How to Intercede in Prayer

• From heart
• Regularly
• In detail
• With faith
• With love
• Fervently
• With desire to help where we can
• Occasionally with fasting

Principles for Effective Intercession (steps to follow)

1. Praise God for who He is

2. Clean my heart with confession

3. Invite the Holy Spirit

4. Bin Satan

5. Die to self

6. Praise God for conversation we will have

7. Wait and listen

8. Utter what God gives

9. If possible confirm with Bible

10. Praise God

Aug 31/Sept 1 show schedule

This weekend, the gates should open at 6pm. Sat night is Family Night.  Kids 12 and under get in free. Coupon for free popcorn for kids. I expect low attendance this weekend because it is hot (near 100 degrees). 

Evangelism quotes from Charles Spurgeon

"If sinners be damned at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. Let them go with our arms around their knees. Let no one go there unwarned or unprayed for."

"God save us from living in comfort while sinners are sinking into hell!”

"Brethren, if God intends to give us souls he will prepare us for the honour by causing us to feel the deep ruin of our fellow-creatures, and the fearful doom which that ruin will involve unless they shall escape from it. We should hear praying of a mighty sort if believers sympathised with men in their ruin; then groans and tears would not be so scarce; then the soul pouring out itself in groanings which cannot be uttered would be but an ordinary thing."

"Brethren, do something; do something, do something! While societies and unions make constitutions, let us win souls. I pray you, be men of action all of you. Get to work and quit yourselves like men. Old Suvarov's idea of war is mine: `Forward and strike! No theory! Attack! Form a column! Charge bayonets! Plunge into the center of the enemy! Our one aim is to win souls; and this we are not to talk about, but do in the power of God!'"

"Reckon then that to acquire soul-winning power, you will have to go through mental torment and soul distress. You must go into the fire if you are going to pull others out of it, and you will have to dive into the floods if you are going to draw others out of the water. You cannot work a fire escape without feeling the scorch of the conflagration, nor man a lifeboat without being covered with the waves."

"It is of no use for any of you to try to be soul-winners if you are not bearing fruit in your own lives. How can you serve the Lord with your lips if you do not serve Him with your lives.? How can you preach His gospel with your tongues, when with hands, feet, and heart you are preaching the devil’s gospel, and setting up an antichrist by your practical unholiness?"

Intercession PDF files

Principles For Effective Intercession

Basic Intercessory Prayer Guide

How to intercede in prayer

https://lifehopeandtruth.com/god/prayer-fasting-and-meditation/how-to-pray/intercessory-prayer/

Prayer is a vital part of our communication with our loving Father in heaven. In the Bible He tells us how we can pray most effectively—in a way that pleases Him. Here are a few biblical principles for effective intercessory prayer. We should pray:

• From the heart. (See our article “Prayer From the Heart” for more about this.)
• Regularly. In what is often called the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus told us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11; see “The Lord’s Prayer”). We should pray for our needs and the needs of others every day.
• In detail. God knows everything; but He wants us to come to Him with all our specific requests because He likes to hear from us and to know what is important to us. The Bible compares our prayers to incense, and God loves prayers that are like “sweet incense beaten fine” (Leviticus 16:12).
• With faith, knowing that God has all power and loves the people we are praying for. (For more about faith, see “What Is Faith?”)
• With love. Godly love is totally unselfish and is the essence of God’s character (see “God Is Love”).
• Fervently. James 5:16 tells us “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
• With a desire to help where we can. This might include physical help and encouragement. Cards, calls and visits might be helpful. It is not wrong to tell a person you are praying for him or her if it will help encourage the person.
• Occasionally with fasting. When a situation is very serious or hits close to home for you, you may decide to fast and pray to draw close to God to present your supplication to Him. (Read more about fasting in our article “What Is Fasting?”)

5 Principles for Effective Prayers of Intercession

http://holdingtotruth.com/2014/01/05/principles-prayers-of-intercession/

by Tom Smith 

I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men–1 Tim. 2:2.

Are you a believer in Christ seeking a more effective prayer life?  If so, then it’s  important for you to  learn God’s principles for prayer so that your  prayers of intercession may receive His response.

These divine principles for effective prayers of intercession are revealed in God’s Word, They’re awaiting our discovery and application.

So in this post, we’ll consider five of these divine principles from Genesis 18 to see how Abraham practiced  effective prayers of intercession so that we also can apply them in our prayer life.

Five basic principles for effective prayers of intercession

Intercession refers to an act of interceding, an interposing or pleading on behalf of someone in difficulty or trouble. In the Bible it refers to our prayer to God on behalf others.

In Genesis 18, we can see Abraham’s intercession to God on behalf of Lot, his nephew. This case reveals at least five basic principles for our effective prayers of intercession.

Effective prayers of intercession are:

1. Initiated by God’s revelation—Gen. 18:17-21

God was seeking an intercessor and He found one in Abraham. After receiving the meal prepared by Abraham, God made His heart known to him in Genesis 18:17-21 where God begins by saying, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?…”

Part of the footnote on this verse in the Holy Bible Recovery Version says,

“…God revealed His heart’s desire. The proper intercession is not initiated by man but by God’s revelation. Thus it expresses God’s desire and paves the way for the accomplishing of His will.”

Today, we can receive God’s revelation by reading His Word and proper ministry books that open up the Word. In Ephesians 3:3-4, Paul said,

“That by revelation the mystery was made know to me, as I have written previously in brief, by which in reading it, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ.”

2. For God’s people—Gen. 18:23

Both God and Abraham were concerned for Lot—one of God’s people who drifted into the world.

Although God had determined to judge that corrupted world, His heart was concerned for Lot, particularly as it relates to Lot’s relationship with Christ. Ruth, who would become a great grandmother of Jesus was a Moabitess, a descendant of Lot and God was concerned for Lot in order to protect Christ’s genealogy through her.

True prayers of intercession focus on God’s interest in His people. They are related to God’s gaining people in order to bring  forth Christ in them  and through them (Gal. 4:19). God needs us to intercede for His people, including the backslidden ones like Lot so that Christ can be brought forth in them and through them.

May our prayers be turned from our private interests to care for God’s interest in people according to the desire of His heart.

3. An intimate conversation with God according to God’s heart—Gen. 18:22-33

“…Abraham remained standing before Jehovah” (v. 22). There God and Abraham had an intimate conversation as between two friends (Isa. 41:8).

It’s amazing to see how God opened His heart to Abraham and how Abraham conversed with God—even challenging God—on a human level, in such an intimate way.

To learn this lesson, we first need to learn to fellowship with the Lord. Then we need to learn to linger in His presence—to have an intimate conversation with Him.

This hymn: “Pray to fellowship Jesus, in the spirit seek His face” really develops this point. I encourage you to pray over the lyrics to learn to have such an intimate conversation with the Lord.

4. According to God’s righteous way—Gen. 18:23-32

Abraham learned another lesson regarding intercession, that is, how to appeal to God according to His righteousness (Gen. 18:23-32). Whether God expresses His love and grace toward a person may fluctuate according to His feeling. But God’s righteousness is absolute.

Righteousness is the foundation of God’s throne (Psa. 89:14).  So we need to learn how to challenge God according to His righteousness.

However, holding God to His righteousness is difficult to do without an adequate knowledge of God’s Word. For example, if God has given us His word of promise in the Scriptures, He would be unrighteous if He does not do according to His Word.

May we learn to intercede by praying, “Lord, You said in Your Word…now do as You have spoken and fulfill Your promise.”

C. H. Spurgeon in The Secret of Power in Prayer said,

You put your finger down upon the very lines, and say, “Do as thou hast said.” This is the best praying in all the world. O beloved, be filled with God’s Word. (p. 21)

5. God speaking in our speaking—Gen. 18:33

Finally, we can see that Abraham’s intercession ended not with Abraham, but with God. Genesis 18:33 says,

“And Jehovah went away as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham…”

This Word gives us two practical points to remember. First, genuine intercession is God’s speaking in our speaking. Second, our prayers of intercession should  end when God has finished His speaking.  So we need to learn to remain with the Lord until He has finished His speaking.

Often, we look at the time and say, “My prayer time is over.” But, has God really finished His speaking? We may actually walk away from Him leaving the Lord with  no channel through which to finish His  intercession.  May we learn to let the Lord speak in our speaking and let Him finish His speaking.

Concluding thoughts…

As earnest believers in Christ, the Lord will surely lay many people on our heart.  He may give us the burden to pray for our family, friends, relatives, colleagues, classmates and neighbors. They all need our prayer, whether it is for their salvation, growth in Christ, or restoration from a backslidden ore dormant condition.

But,  it is not only they who need God and His salvation. Even more, God needs them for the accomplishment of His purpose for Christ and the church, His Body.

To this end may we be one with God to pray prayers of intercession that are:

1) Initiated by His revelation,

2) For His people,

3) In an intimate conversation with Him,

4) According to His righteous way and

5) With Him speaking in our speaking.

In this way God, can carry out His desire and accomplish His will on this earth.

If you’ve been helped by this post to see the divine principles for prayers of intercession, please share your appreciation in a comment.

References and Further Resources:

• This post was inspired by Message Seven of the Crystallization-Study of Genesis.
• The points of this post are also embodied in the footnotes of the Holy Bible Recovery Version and the companion study, Life-study of Genesis by Witness Lee, Message 51 on “A Glorious Intercession.” You can read it freely online at: ministrybooks.org.
• For a further presentation of these 5 principles of intercession, you may also want to read a related post at “A Normal Believer in Christ” blog.
• Here are three hymns that strengthen the points of this post:
  • Pray to fellowship Jesus and  view lyrics
  • Praying to express the Lord and view lyrics
  • Pray to labor with the Lord and view lyrics
• All the ministry publications listed above are copyrighted publications of Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. You can find them online at: lsm.org
• Photo credit: Clark Russell