Introduction to Intercession
Types of Intercessors
More than one way to enter the place of intercession.
Different teachers describe different kinds of intercessors, and I respect those teachings. Some classify intercessors by the way they receive a burden. That is a useful starting point, but it does not cover the whole gamut of intercession. What of the person who has no particular burden but faithfully takes up a prayer assignment? What of the person who learns what to pray because God has drawn them close and shared His counsel?
In Courts of Prayer, I find it helpful to describe three ways people come into intercession. These are not rigid ranks or a judgment on anyone else’s calling. A person may recognize more than one of these patterns in their life.
Moved by what they carry
Burden-triggered intercessors.
The first kind is stirred to intercede by a burden. That burden may come from hearing God, witnessing a situation in ordinary life, or receiving a vision or dream. The way the burden arrives may differ; what connects these intercessors is that carrying it moves them to prayer.
They often pray until the burden lifts. For many, intercession feels most natural and compelling when they are praying through something they have personally received and cannot easily set aside.
Jeremiah gives us a vivid picture of this kind of compassion. Confronted by the suffering of his people, he longed for his eyes to become a fountain of tears so that he could weep for them day and night. The passage portrays grief that will not let the needs of others remain distant; it does not say he was literally asking God to give him tears. That depth of feeling helps us understand what it means for a burden to draw someone into intercession.
Faithful to their post
Non-triggered intercessors.
The second kind does not need to feel a special burden before beginning to intercede. They can come to a prayer meeting, hear that people are suffering in Jerusalem or elsewhere, and take that matter before God. If the need calls for it, they will continue for hours, return to it over days, and even fast as they pray.
They see intercession as an entrusted responsibility. They do not need to wait for an inward trigger in order to be faithful to their post. In this sense they carry the work of a watchman: a watchman guards the city because it is the work assigned to them, not because they must feel a fresh burden for its safety every night.
Paul asked fellow believers to pray that he would speak the gospel boldly and that a door would open for the Word. They could hear the request and respond in prayer. Likewise, the watchmen described in Isaiah are called to give God no rest. These passages illuminate sustained, intentional intercession, though they do not establish a formal title for every person who prayed for Paul.
Read Ephesians 6:18–20; Colossians 4:2–4; Isaiah 62:6–7 (KJV) ↗
Near enough to hear
Friends of God who intercede.
The third kind comes into intercession through closeness with God. I call them friends of God, not because the first two kinds cannot be His friends, but because friendship with God is the particular doorway through which these intercessors discover what to pray about. God’s counsel becomes a reason to stand before Him on behalf of others.
Abraham illustrates this powerfully. When the Lord disclosed His intention concerning Sodom, Abraham stood before Him and pleaded for the righteous within the city. He did not set out that day carrying an assigned burden for Lot, his nephew, though Lot was among the people affected. In the conversation that came from God’s disclosure, Abraham became an intercessor.
Moses, too, drew close to God while leading Israel. When Israel’s sin brought the threat of destruction, he appealed to God’s covenant and interceded for the people. Daniel read what God had spoken about Jerusalem and turned to Him with prayer, fasting, and confession. Ezekiel, a prophet who received God’s word, was led into a vision of dry bones in which God asked whether they could live and told him to prophesy. Ezekiel 37 is not itself a narrated prayer of intercession; it illustrates how revelation can draw a servant of God into participation in His purposes.
This is the kind of intercessor Courts of Prayer especially aspires to become. We are not interested merely in having something to pray about. We seek friendship with God—nearness to Him that gives access to His heart—and from that relationship we respond in faithful intercession for people and nations.
Read Genesis 18:17–33; Exodus 32:11–14; Daniel 9:2–4; Ezekiel 37:3–10 (KJV) ↗
Which doorway do you recognize?
Whether a burden moved you, a prayer assignment called you to your post, or friendship with God opened His heart to you, grow in faithfulness to the One who hears.