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SPIRIT-LED INTERCESSION
by Daniel Dela Dunoo Intercession basically connotes the idea of praying for or on behalf of another person. S. Y. Kwami, in his book titled, "Prayer in the life of the Believer" observes that "the Greek word enteuxis has been rendered intercession or petition or prayer". He states that intercession is seeking the presence and hearing of God on behalf of others. Praying for the healing of a sibling for instance is essentially interceding (offering a prayer of intercession) for that sibling. Scripture records several instances where individuals interceded for others in prayer. This is evident in both the Old and New Testaments. Cases in point includes Moses` intercession for Israel (Numbers 14:11-20), Nehemiah`s intercession for Israel (Nehemiah 1:2-6), Abraham`s intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:16-33), the church`s intercession for Peter (Acts 12:1-19). Over the years I have read several stories of God`s miraculous interventions in the lives of individuals as a direct result of others interceding on their behalf. Some of those that have been simply phenomenal in my view have been instances persons where led by the Holy Spirit to intercede for others regarding specific circumstances they had no natural knowledge of. This amongst others is what I term Spirit-led intercession. It is my firm conviction that some bitter and disastrous happenings in the lives of people and nations, especially that of born again believers could have been averted only if the persons moved and burdened by the Holy Spirit to intercede at specific time periods had yielded to his leading. Have you had occasions when you suddenly remembered certain individuals and felt something bad was either happening to them or about to happen to them? Have you ever been awakened from sleep and felt a burden to pray for someone or about a specific situation? Have you ever felt a burden or heaviness in the cause of your daily routine without any external circumstances triggering it? Have you ever heard a still small voice instruct you to pray for someone else? Well, these are some of the ways the Holy Spirit leads the believer in his/her priestly ministry of intercession. Church history is littered with stories of numerous instances individuals and groups were led by the Holy Spirit into deep intercession some of which lasted for several hours such as that which was the norm in the prayer life Charles Finney, the revivalist and John Wesley, the fire-brand evangelist. This article seeks to bring to the fore the nature and relevance of Spirit-led intercession demonstrating its operation in the lives of real people. This is intended to assist the believer learn how to recognize and yield to the influence of the Holy Spirit as it relates to prayer and more specifically intercession. I shudder to think how many instances we believers have been unresponsive to the Spirit`s leading and what such regrettable omissions might have allowed to happen (deaths, sicknesses, accidents, failures and the likes) which could have been avoided if only we had prayed. I will do a summary of real life stories and it is my hope that these stories will prove to be enlightening and will provoke us to yield continually to the Holy Spirit`s leading to intercede for others and circumstances. In the book, "Plundering Hell", the story is told of how one Mrs. Eliese Kohler was burdened to pray for almost a whole day for the renowned evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke. Apparently Reinhard Bonnke, then a young missionary in some part of Africa was on a death bed battling for his dear life. He had been bed-ridden for days due to a severe and advanced case of fever. On this particular day, as he lay in bed, he saw a vision of a black blanket about to cover his body. Interestingly he saw and heard amongst other things the voice of a woman she knew back in Germany interceding in prayer for his life. Shortly after, the black blanket disappeared and Reinhard fell into a deep sleep. This began a steady progress in his health; he fully recovered in a matter of a few weeks. Through correspondence with his dad who resided in Germany, he received confirmation that Mrs. Eliese was led in prayer just about the same time Reinhard saw the vision of the black blanket. Can you imagine what would have happened if Mrs. Eliese had not yielded to the Spirit`s leading? Well, the obvious would have occurred; the untimely demise of a man through whom millions would be brought to Christ and through whom thousands will be healed of diverse ailments. I trust that the article thus far has been quite informative and instructive. Written by Daniel Dela Dunoo [email protected] I am a writer, editor, blogger & published author. I write from a Judeo-Christian worldview. Email: [email protected]. Blog: http://danieldeladunoo.blogspot.com / http:theroyalwordsmithgh.wordpress.com Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |