Jesus emphasizes in Luke 18:1 that we “ought always to pray and not lose heart.” Yet, how many believers develop the discipline of daily entering into the very presence of God embarking on the journey of an intercessor?
The Beginning of My Journey
My earliest memory of intercession is as a child, seven years old. I recall, being in my bed in the dark of night as a drunken domestic brawl ensued between my parents. With voices raised, objects thrown, tears streaming down my face, I clung to my doll and cried out for help from God!
My soul is still overwhelmed as I recall my fear-filled pleas to a Holy, Powerful, Loving Heavenly Father and the tremendous sense of protection, peace, comfort, and Presence that blanketed me in response to those pleas. This experience fostered within my soul a tenderness toward God and an assurance that He is!
Later, as a young woman, I came to saving faith in the Lord Christ Jesus. Salvation ignited a passion for intimacy and communion with my Lord. As a new believer, I thought every born-again believer shared in my enthusiasm for intercession and sensed a burden to pray. As I began to grow in my walk with Christ, I embraced a “call” to intercede and began the journey of an intercessor.
The Journey as a Mother
My journey as an intercessor grew as a new mother. Pioneering new trails of motherhood, (inexperienced and lacking confidence), I drew strength from Psalm 32:8: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eyes upon you.” Through prayer, I looked to the Lord to learn important things about mothering. As our family grew, many, if not all my days were busy, chaotic, filled with chores, demands and many unexpected surprises. With small children, my times of intercession were very erratic, sporadic, more like popcorn in a hot kettle, a phrase here, a praise there!
Most often my intercession was during the night as I nursed a newborn or rocked a sick child. The stillness and solace of the night invited me to enter into sweet communion with the Lord and cast my care upon Him, knowing He cared for me (1 Peter 5:7). My journey as an intercessor continued each day as I bathed my children, praying God would in His mercy save them by the washing and regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5); as I dressed them, praying they would yield their members servants to righteousness unto holiness (Romans 6:19), praying while buckling their shoes that their feet would walk in the paths of godliness (Psalm 1).
As erratic as my prayer life was, it was through these journeys that I learned just how indispensable intercession is in the life of a believer! Today, my children are adults and my husband and I continue to bathe them in prayer! I draw great peace (as do they!) from knowing they, their spouses, and our grandchildren are upheld daily. What comfort others possess knowing I’m praying for them. What confidence and peace I have as I commit my requests to the Sovereign God, assured through His Word that He alone can bring order from what appears to be confusion and chaos. He alone can shine light into darkness, or bring beauty from ashes. Only He can remove the scales from blind eyes. He alone is mighty to save and can deliver a soul from the snares of the Enemy bringing the prodigal home!
Later Journeys
My journey as an intercessor does not only limit my travels to the confines of our family. I’m privileged daily to travel around the world and on various paths. Through intercession, I am an invisible participant in the lives and ministry of others. I have the awesome honor and ministry of entering deeply into the needs of others, drawing me not only closer to the Father, but as well uniting my heart with those I’m praying for.
I can travel to an orphanage in Uganda, a classroom in Cuba or China, or a pastor’s conference in India. I can journey to sensitive regions of this world, inhabited by thick spiritual darkness, blinded by false teaching and doctrines, and pray for missionaries and workers who are not ashamed of the gospel, knowing it is the power of God that brings salvation (Romans 1:16)!
My journey of intercession takes me to the pulpits of local churches where men of God stand courageously in the power of the anointing of God’s Holy Spirit to preach the Word without compromise and allows me the joy of witnessing a church being planted!
Through intercession, my journey has found me in a waiting room at Vancouver General Hospital during a successful kidney transplant, to praying the prayer of salvation with a man dying of cancer, or holding a baby in my arms born to a couple who for years had struggled with infertility! My intercession has been used by the Lord to comfort a mother who experienced the passing of her only three children; and I have travelled with parents through the filthy alleys of Vancouver’s downtown Eastside as they agonize over their child’s drug addiction, or walked beside children experiencing the slow death and grief of caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s.
The Journey into the Throne Room of God
Best of all, the journeys of an intercessor will usher me into the very throne room of God, the most sacred place of all. I enter not because I am worthy, but, because through Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, the veil into the Holy of Holies has been torn. Only through the blood of Jesus am I forgiven and cleansed from sin (1 John 1:9) and then invited to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith without wavering (Hebrews 10:19-23). Before the Throne, I have a Great High Priest who ever lives to make intercession for me (Hebrews 7:25) and who was in all points tempted like as I am, yet unlike me, without sin (Hebrews 4:15). The journey of an intercessor leads boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and to find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16).
It is there, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, that I can let my requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding floods and guards my heart and mind (Phil. 4:6–7). It is before this throne I ask God to clothe me with the whole armor of God so that I can confront enemy opposition, recognizing that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:10-18). It is here that I pray that others may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that they will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and bearing fruit for His glory and to the praise of His great name (Col. 1:9–10).
When it comes to the journeys of an intercessor, my experiences pale in comparison to others. I am challenged in my travels by great men and women of God, like George Mueller, Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael, and Rosalind Goforth to name a few. Yet, until Christ returns, or I am called home, the journey of this intercessor progresses and has the promise of growing richer, deeper, wider and fuller. “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20–21).
