Prayer of Faith and Intercessory

Mathew 17:20-21
20. And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21. Howbeit this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting.

The devil does not want you to pray because he knows what prayer can do. So he will create oppositions when you start to pray.

Ask yourself today what propels you to start praying. Find out from the following groups, in which group you fall because you know yourself very well.

• Are you one that only prays when there is a crisis or a problem?. We are supposed to pray always (even before a crisis) in order to avert a crisis.
• Are you one that prays in order to just maintain yourself? If your prayers are always revolving around you,they are selfish prayers. These prayers go like... bless me, bless my children, bless my job, bless my business, bless my cows, bless my vegetables etc. This does not mean that you should not pray for yourself, but all it means is that your prayers should be balanced and well directed by the Holy Spirit. We know not what we should pray for, but the Holy Spirit teaches us.
• Do you sometimes pray for others, standing in the gap for others? Intercession should not be done occasionally but continually
• Do you continually travail in prayers for others in the Holy Spirits, crying, groaning in the spirit, standing in the gap for others?. Then you are an intercessor.

All of us need to graduate to being intercessors. This  will cause a revival and a revolution in the body of Christ today.

Qualities of an intercessor.

• Forgiving and pure
• A real intercessor is one committed before God and committed to pray
• A real intercessor don't gossip/slander about people and at the same time pray for them. You can't talk bad about your national leaders and at the same time pray for them. You either pray and not talk or talk and not pray. This is so because a clean well cannot give clean water and salty water at the same time.
• An intercessor prays using the WORD OF GOD in FAITH, declaring and prophesying  the Word of God aloud in prayer. Our prayers should be made in line with the word of God. When praying you should remind God of His promises. This kind of prayer is effective
• An intercessor understands that NOT praying to God is a Sin to God
• An intercessor don't pray God to be given faith, but prays in faith since everyone is given a measure of faith.
• Sets times for seeking God
• Learns to be be sensitive to the Holy Spirit
• Stands in the gap by interceding for others
• Truthful
• Not quick –tempered
• Zealous for God
• Has faith (Word of faith)
• Fully equipped by the Word of God
• Fasting is not an option to any intercessor or any Christian but it is a necessity. Prayer without fasting is like throwing stones to the devil. The devil knows the power of fasting and so he works very hard to ensure that we don’t do it. Christians are  are powerless against demons without the power of God. When we fast and pray, God breaks bondages and sets the captives free. Jesus told His disciple that some demons can only be casted out by prayer and fasting
• Makes up the hedge: An intercessor sees when destruction is coming because he/she is a watchman who stands watching. The intercessor intercedes for the people before God to avert a coming destruction.

Ezekiel 22:29-30
29. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
30. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

Ezekiel 13:4-5
4. Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
5. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.

Do you measure up to the above list?. If you are born again, you should know that God has called you into intercessory ministry. Sometimes we are mistaken to think that only pastors and ministers of God should intercede for others. All of us should intercede for each other.

The greatest Qualities of an Intercessor are love and worship

If you have desired God’s manifestation in you life – JUST BE BOLD. When you are in trouble, just WORSHIP GOD, look BEYOND your troubles, look at the LIGHT, look at God and your dreams will come to pass.

Determine to go back to work and labour more for the kingdom; even if people TALK ABOUT YOU, be encouraged because your work is appreciated by God. Be Intimate with God by spending time alone with God. During this time, prepare yourself to get revelations, have a pen, a notebook and a bible. This is because as God teaches you, you will be writing down what He is teaching you. Purpose to spend time silently before God and get intimate with him. Let him change you and mould you

God inhabits the praises of His people. When you worship and praise, you welcome the presence of God. You can worship God in your prayer closet and dance for Him even when alone to welcome His presence. This is not only done at the church. Remember charity begins at home. It should start at our personal time with God and then when we go to church, we worship Him as a group of worshipers. Praise and worship should be our daily lifestyle because in it you set a standard in the spiritual realm.

Worship will cost you – Genesis 22:2. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou loves, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

Worship is getting into the INNERCOURTS of God’s dwelling. When you go to God’s presence, no matter what Satan is trying to do, you will get instructions from God, you will get God’s presence, you will get your protection and God’s glory

When you are having a hard time in your work, don’t murmur, or complain, instead praise God and worship and you will see wonders happening.
It is important what you listen to because what you get in is what you get out (take care of programs you watch, and listen to). Your input determines your output.

Lastly, You cannot manage to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17  Pray without ceasing), if you are not propelled by love for the lost, for the hurting, for the homeless, for the prisoners, for the nation, for the family, for the church etc. the list is endless. All things will cease but love will never cease. If you LOVE, your prayers will NEVER CEASE.

1 Corinthians 13:8  Charity never fails: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.