By Jacqui – One of God’s Intercessors
Intercession begins with deep, active listening skills. I really cannot stress this enough. I’ve often heard people say, “I just don’t know what to pray.” Today, I challenge you that when you really listen to someone; listen to what they say with their words, their voice inflection, their body language and then, listen to God, and you will know what to pray.
The Lord will guide your words. Sometimes, he even gives me the words when I’m listening for him as I listen to them! But I must listen and friend, if you’re going to truly intercede for someone else in prayer, you, too, will need to listen.
Let me explain why this is so important. Have you ever shared something with someone and then they offered to pray for you? You may have felt a sense of relief that someone cared enough to take your concerns directly to God. And then, it happened. Shortly after they began to pray you started wondering if they actually heard what you just said. Then a few moments later you may have even thought, “Hey, wait a minute! Why are you praying that?”
The person praying for you may even walk away feeling confident that they did the right thing in praying for you. Except that, they didn’t really listen. They didn’t hear what was in your heart. They possibly even ‘zoned out’ while you were talking and couldn’t quite recall what you said.
Our world needs Intercessors. All through Scripture we find passages that tell us to intercede for others in prayer. Perhaps you, yourself, feel called to pray for others. If God is calling you to intercession, begin by listening; really, truly listen to others when they share their concerns. Then, listen to what God is urging you to hear as they speak.
Then…pray.