Luke 22:32
“But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”

It’s easy to pray for friends and those in our good books, but Jesus said if your righteousness does not exceed that of the Pharisee, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. 

Matthew. 5:20
“For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew. 5:44.
“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”

Luke 6:28.
“Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”

As an intercessor, how do we respond to this Command from our Master when the person you are interceding for is your archenemy, keeps causing you pain, spitefully uses you, or cannot tolerate you? 

Your heart is burdened, but your knee is bleeding. Jesus has also been in this situation before. How was He able to pray for the man who doubted his competency, Thomas, or the closest friend who openly denied him, Apostle Peter? He said I have prayed for you, or Judas that betrayed Him and still called Him friend, or even the humanity He came to save, and they keep shouting, ‘Crucify Him! 

The answer is LOVE.

Matt 5:44.

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” 

You can’t be an effective intercessor if you don’t love unconditionally.  

As a matter of fact, most times, people you pray for might not love you; it’s the tactics of the devil to keep you offended and stop praying for them. You will take a step further, that despite their hateful heart or behaviour, you will love unconditionally. I have interceded several times with a bleeding knee, but later found out at the end of the tunnel that the devil is the culprit; he wants me to stop interceding for them to finalize his plan.

Intercession as a calling is not for a hateful, but a hardened lover because the truth is, your permanent and constant enemy is the devil and not your subject, and so you are going to be wiser than the enemy.  We are not ignorant of his tactics. So, as an intercessor, determine to love unconditionally. If you are finding it difficult to do this, ask for grace.

What does Love do?

I Cor. 13:4
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”

I pray for grace to love to be poured upon you as you stand in the gap for the kingdom.

GOD IS YOUR REWARD & REWARDER

Hebrews 11:6
“…for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

When an intercessor sets his heart to receive his reward from men, it determines the extent we can go, but when we fix our eyes on Jesus, the great rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, you will care less about any offense from whomever you are interceding for. 

BROKENESS

I Cor. 9:16.
“For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
17. For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.”

As a trained intercessor, you need to go through the process of brokenness, death to the flesh. Carnality is enmity against God; it can’t do God’s will. Flesh wants to do good to those who do good and bad to those who do bad. 

God told the children of Israel to stop at Gilgal and deal with the foreskin (Take time to read Joshua 5). The Old man will make you old. Intercessors need to consistently visit the cross for daily death to the Old Man and quickening to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. 

If an intercessor does not have a daily communion with God, he/ she can’t effectively carry out his/her divine assignment. We heal in God’s presence, no matter the hurt and pain. God shows us areas to change so we can change situations around us, and in His presence, we get the truth about the situation of life because things don’t appear the way they are.

Don’t just raise intercession for people, learn to appear before Him who sent you for personal fellowship. 

Selah!

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God bless you.