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What is intercession? And what are the trophies of intercession?
Those are the questions I am answering in this article. For decades the topic of prayer and intercession has been discussed but not fully understood. And surprisingly, the answer isn’t a mystery and is not reserved for those who have attended Bible college or seminary.
Before we dive into this week’s teaching, would you pray with me?
Prayer: Dear Father, let a changed mind take place within us so that we would be like Jesus. Let us be men and women of prayer that battle on our knees. Let us win a generation for Christ. I ask you this in Christ’s name, Amen.
Trophies of intercession are significant.
Trophies are essential possessions that families often use to adorn their mantles or fireplaces. They show off what someone in their family has done. Some stories will become your trophies because of what God has done for you through your time of intercession.
The word intercession means prayer on behalf of yourself or another. It means to urge, come between and ask God for help.
Can you envision yourself being powerful on your bended knees?
It’s doable, but you must adopt a mindset that intercessors are God’s special forces. God drops off intercessors into areas, and those areas become a demonstration of the power of the Spirit.
“One of the terrible marks of the diseased state of Christian life in these days is that there are so many who rest content without specific answers to prayer.” —Andrew Murray (Pastor & Author)
Andrew Murray says that diseased Christianity is when we pray and don’t expect answers. It’s when we pray and walk away, forgetting our prayers, not knowing that our prayers are eternal. If we look at Jesus’ prayer as an example, He said, “I pray that my Father’s house will be a house of prayer for all nations.”
This prayer is still living, and we’re still chasing it. I pray that you will not only learn about intercessory prayer but will also not become content unless your prayers are answered.
What will you intercede for?
We come from a lineage of men and women that showcase their trophies of intercession. Look at Hannah in the Old Testament. She was barren, and Peninnah teased her for it, especially when they went to the temple of God to pray at the annual feast. One day, Hannah got so fed up that she stood in the temple of God and would not leave until she had a breakthrough in prayer. She was so frustrated that she removed the word “quit” from her vocabulary. She went to intercede one day in the temple, which was not a pretty intercession. It was so ugly that Eli rebuked her. He thought that she was drunk.
She responded to him by saying that she was not drunk but just bitter of heart. She told him that she was weeping before the Lord. She went home, and a short time later, she got pregnant. She told the Lord that if He gave her a child, she would give him back to God. When she gave birth, she gave her trophy of intercession back to Him.
Hannah said to him, “Excuse me, sir. Do you remember me? I am the woman you saw standing here, praying to the Lord. I asked Him for this child, and He gave me what I asked for. So I am dedicating him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he will belong to the Lord.” Then they worshipped the Lord there. 1 Samuel 1:26-28 (Good News Translation)
She dropped off her son, Samuel, and he became a mighty prophet. He was a kingmaker who laid hands on Saul and David. He also established the school of prophets. How did this man come to the face of the earth? He was a trophy of Hannah’s intercession.
What will you present as a trophy of your intercession?
King David also had trophies of intercession. Samuel prophesied over him as a teenager that he would be king one day. The only problem was that Saul, king at the time, didn’t want to vacate his office. Saul recognized God’s calling and anointing on David’s life, and so he tried to kill David.
He put a hit out on him for 10 years. Scholars say that Saul pursued David on mountains, down mountains, in caves, and out of caves. The pursuit was so bad that David went and gathered 600 men as his soldiers. He went and lived in Philistine territory for 16 months.
During this time, the Amalekites came in, unbeknownst to David, and they kidnapped all of the wives and children of the soldiers and stole their stuff. Now confronted with the reality that the enemy had stolen from him, David had one option. He had to pray before God, “What should I do?”
Then David said to Abiathar, the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” He answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.” 1 Samuel 30:7-8 (NIV)
David and his men got up out of the prayer time and chased after the Amalekites. They fought them from day to night and defeated them. They got back their women, children, and stuff. They also took the Amalekite’s possessions. These were their trophies of intercession.
What will be your trophies of intercession?
David prayed a military prayer, “Should I pursue them?” Most of us never see God as a military God, but He is. He loves to fight! God is not a wimp. We don’t serve a God that just sits there. We serve a God that is a General of an army. He told David to go, pursue
them, defeat them for MY glory.
We need to stop praying simple little “kumbaya” prayers. Our Father wants to step into the ring. He wants you to drag your enemy into your prayer closet. He wants you to drag your crisis into the prayer closet. When you drag these things into the prayer closet, that’s when you’re going to win battles. As you fight and intercede, God will show up. You WILL get your breakthrough. I want to see your trophies of intercession.
One of the apostle Paul’s trophies of intercession wasn’t stuff or people. It was a solution to a problem that he couldn’t shake.
Scripture says that there was a thorn of Satan that bothered him. We don’t know what this was, but we know it was an annoying thing that pestered Paul. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (NIV)
Paul tells us that his trophy of intercession was learning to be content when everything wasn’t perfect, and that is how he won. Many of us go through a lot of crises, and that brings on panic attacks as well as anxiety attacks. We must learn that if you live in the lion’s den, you can tame the lion and still live there. If you have to be in a fiery furnace, learn how to stay in the furnace until the fourth man meets you there.
That is why Paul was able to testify about it.
A trophy of intercession is contentment.
If you can just learn to be satisfied, God can use you. What if your wife never changes? What if your husband never gets healed? Can you be at peace? Can you get the victory? That’s the trophy of intercession. You won’t get that trophy if you don’t know how to handle yourself in the valley.
Some Christians can only live on the mountain.
God can’t take them to the valley because they will die there. You meet giants in the valley. That is where David met Goliath and got the victory. I am looking for believers who can gain victory in the valley. I want to see Christians who can win when they’re weak. I am looking for people who don’t call it a failure, even when everything goes wrong. I am looking for believers of intercession.
There are many types of trophies, but they all come from intercession.
I know that God cares for you, and He is interested in helping us establish trophies of intercessions.
Pray this with me: Dear Lord, I pray that people will discover their purpose. Let them see what you have created them to be. May they run in a zealous way and be filled with enthusiasm after you, Lord. I pray for the power of the Spirit to come on them. Thank you for breakthrough and healing. Lord, surprise us with your opportunities. God, I thank you for all the other stuff you’ll give us that we’ve not even asked from you so that you can use those things to advance your kingdom in Christ’s name, Amen.
