An Intercessors Story

As a working mum with three children, and a fairly active church life, I was a little surprised when God asked me to spend more of my time in prayer. However, God's timing is perfect, and He waited until my youngest daughter began full-time school before calling me fully into intercessory prayer.

As far as I can tell, it began with a commitment one Lent to increase my prayer for specific people,
including John, as one of the leaders of my church. Following Easter, my prayers for most people reverted to their pre-Lent level, but I felt God encouraging me to gradually increase my support and prayer for John. I didn't initially perceive that my ministry was that of an intercessor, or have any idea where it would take me - I simply felt it was important to be obedient to God's call, step by step.
As I responded to this call I found that I was spending more and more time in prayer. It became apparent to me that I needed to tell John that I believed God was calling me to intercede for him. It was not easy to bring the subject up, as I was not sure how my church leader would take a member of the congregation telling him that God was calling her to pray for him.

Once I'd broached the subject, I felt that John accepted this well, and encouraged me by giving me a list of issues to pray about. My prayer life dried up immediately and only flowed again when I was obedient to God's instruction to follow His agenda rather than mine, or John's.

This has been a valuable lesson in being aware of the distinction between our agenda and God's prompting. I now have an understanding of John's diary and priorities, and use this as a framework for prayer, asking God to direct me and seeking to include items or concerns that He impresses upon me, even if they do not figure on the list of John's priorities. I don't share everything that I pray about. Mostly this is due to it not being necessary to share it, although occasionally I feel God gives me things to pray which are not meant to be shared. The main purpose of my prayer time is to pray to the Father the concerns He has given me to pray for. Sometimes I receive words or pictures I believe are from God, and I share these with John, asking him to test them.

The rewards of this ministry are great, and I am going to fail miserably in my description of them! Even though there have been difficult times, it has never been hard work. It has been wonderful to see John grow in his ministry and I know that my prayer support is appreciated by him. The depth of my relationship with the Lord has developed enormously by spending more time with Him. My experience is that God does answer prayer, and this has had a remarkable effect on my faith in general.

My priorities have changed, and I now want to spend more time in prayer, praying on the issues that God gives me, which at this time seem to be mostly to pray for John.

I feel I am where God wants me to be, which is not a feeling I've had before, I feel that I'm doing what He wants me to do, and I simply would rather be doing nothing else!