See also: “Intercession and Prophetic Intercession“ (Part 2)

 

The Earmarks of an Intercessor (Part 1)

Our Call and Ultimate Purpose Always is to Advance The Kingdom! It is urgent to stand and move on as we advance The Kingdom!

In the context of where we are today, the need for Intercession has never been more URGENT.

We must separate our fleshly mindset of what we are seeing and allow our spirit to arise and see through The Father’s eyes and carry His heart to recover all.

We must first lay our emotions down (we must not be led by our feelings). But we must allow The Holy Spirit to move through us to bring light in the darkness.

As an Intercessor, my first entrance into the presence of The LORD was through the Heart of Worship. We must, as prayer warriors, join our hearts together and return to the Heart of Worship daily.

It is all about HIM. Shall we Worship our way back? The LORD has said, “Worship Me in Spirit and in Truth” (John 4:23–24) for that is the place to begin afresh.

He inhabits the praises of His people. (Psalm 95:5).

Come, let us Worship and Bow down. Let us kneel before The LORD, our maker. As we yield to His testing of our hearts, may He find our hearts totally sold out to His Purpose.

May we enter into His Gates with Thanksgiving in our hearts, and into His courts with praise. May we accept and live in our true identity.

We must know and accept our true identity, in order to fully accept the first law of Intercession — which is Identification.

The Earmarks of an Effective Intercessor

What are some principles we must learn?

It has been said of Intercessors that they are much like private investigators or detectives, because they must always ask questions of The Spirit, before they begin, and they must sniff out all the evidence and gather many clues about the project The LORD is setting before them.

For instance, “Where are the walls broken down?” We somehow, are always thinking about rebuilding the wall. So Just as Nehemiah restored the walls, we build up the wall.

We find ourselves in this hour in a certain season of seeing restoration by The LORD in our own lives. We are at the first Chapter of a new now.

God so delights in delegating His Power to men, when He can find willing, believing and obedient servants ready to accept and exercise that delegated Power.

His Word says in Psalm 24:3-5,

“Who may ascend onto the hill of The LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? One who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to deceit and has not sworn deceitfully. He will receive a blessing from The LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

Simply put, it is those whose hearts are totally dedicated to His Will for them. These are those!

They live with His discovered purposes as best they can, and have turned away from self-centeredness and set their hearts to prefer others above themselves.

This should be our commitment. It is one thing to run in and out (like one who has no focus and has become double-minded) but it is another to STAND in The HOLY PLACE.

It is one thing to say a little prayer and go about your business and another thing to commit to intercede and stand in the gap until the gap is closed and the prayer is answered totally being led by The LORD.

The manifest presence of His Glory distinguishes us. That is a stamp of His approval.

I often pray, “LORD, let The Fear of The LORD clothe me as I enter into your Presence.” Unconfessed sin in our heart holds back HIS loving hand.

We must guard our hearts with all diligence. Our first work is to connect with God. Our obedience out of fellowship with God is powerful. Are we both willing and obedient?

One of the dangerous pitfalls of bearing other’s burdens is self-focus. The enemy tries to not only distract us, but tries to get us to look inward.

Intercession moves by the route of repentance. Many experience remorse which has its roots in self-pity and is totally self- centered.

But Godly Repentance is a gift from The LORD’s Love and the only route to a changed heart — death to self.

The Call of Intercession

Taking a look at the call to Intercession, it is being ‘in the gap‘, a place between where things are and the way they should be!

As we take God’s stand and stand in that place, we come against the accuser of the brethren and intercede to bring the change.

It is at this juncture, we must ask The LORD to show us our own hearts lest the enemy finds a place in us for he is the accuser of the brethren.

We must take care not to lose hope, or focus on the problem instead of the answer, which causes us to get out of the gap and lose the ground that we have taken.

The birth pains shall come as we press into birthing the Truth, and bringing total Freedom and Victory.

If that happens, we must realize that decision was a result of a divided heart. We must not lose our victory between the Glory and the Crisis.

Our eyes must remain on The Glory in front of us and we must never lose our focus in the battle. When we find we have faltered, we must stop, look and listen to the only one who can Refresh and Recharge us.

At all costs, we must endeavor to have a single eye, i.e. single focus.

Identification

The first law of Intercession is identification.

We do identify in The Spirit with the person or issue we are or have been praying for, but if we take that identification into our emotions and get caught up in our feelings, we become self-focused and lose the whole purpose of the prayer assignment.

Jesus carried our sin to The Cross. We are never to take that the problem and carry it. We are to apply the finished work of The Cross to bring Freedom and Deliverance and Victory each and every time.

Now again, this is a checkpoint! This is where we must not allow our human reasoning to get in the way. We must not jump into the flesh and try to accomplish what God ordained the spirit to do!

The LORD’s Death will work in us and His Life will work in the one for whom we are interceding, (2 Corinthians 9:11-12). We can’t fake dying in the flesh. We cannot fake weeping.

Weeping and wailing and travailing is a work of The Spirit only, but many have attempted to fake it and have gotten over into the flesh. We cannot fake the deep sorrow and travail of The Holy Spirit.

I have witnessed many who have made a pretty good “show” of it at times. We must cooperate with Him, fulfilling The Law of Christ. Yielding total to The Holy Spirit as He moves in us.

Galatians 6:2 states that The Law of Christ is LOVE — laying down our life for our friends is a good description for this, as found in John 15:13.

Remembering always, we have no life to lay down until we receive the Life of Christ. This is the life He calls us to lay down.

We must make sure not to leave our minds open to the enemy in the process. We must have the gift of Discernment to know and recognize the thoughts that come from the evil one.

We must ask with all our heart, “LORD, make me recognize every word, thought, and every suggestion that comes into my mind from evil spirits.” Then, shut the door quickly.

Weapons of War and The Armor of God

Now is the time to put on The Armor of God.

Take the Helmet of Salvation and the Sword. First remember, we must let His Mind be in us.

The mind is protected by the Helmet and we must take the Sword of The Spirit and cut through every spirit of oppression in the air.

As you take up the Shield, you envision the quenching of every fiery dart. You must address the mind first because you cannot put the Helmet on if there are already fiery darts in the mind from the enemy.

Beloved, we experience a sense of suffocation or loss of breath when our spirit is pressed down by the fierce forces of darkness.

That suffocation will travel through the whole body, if left unaddressed. Stop and remove it. It has to go. This is a burden in Prayer.

Once you recognize the pressure on your spirit man, your discernment is showing you the oppression all around you.

Then apply The Blood of Jesus and fight all the way to Peace and Victory!

First, the Helmet is for the mind, the Shield quenches the darts, and the Sword cut through the air. Take a firm stand on Ephesians 6.

You have the Armor of Light, put on the Breastplate of Righteousness, gird your mind with Truth and make certain your feet are shod with the preparation of Peace.

These are your Weapons of Warfare.

• Practice these things as your learn to deal with the accusations and injustices that come to us from the evil one.
• We must be slow to anger. Begin daily to encourage yourselves in The LORD.
• Read Proverbs 16:22,“Understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it. But the correction of fools is folly.”
• We must guard our mind and never allow a mindset of darkness. Never forget, Jesus’ last words on The Cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is our weapon against INJUSTICE.

Forgiveness begins as an act of the will, to obey The Word. Then, as you walk it out, you will receive a softened heart whose healing only comes from allowing the love of God into the anger and wounds.

Then as we leave the judgment to The Father, we embrace His Love.

It is an act of yielding and a total surrender to the one whose we are. My mother used to say to me when I said “Why?” she said, “Because I said so!”

He is our Father, and He has not given us a passport to the land of “Why?”

Offenses will come, but we are to be ready and prepared with the girdle of Truth. We are dressed for complete Victory as we march forward in Calvary Love!

”We must ‘keep o our love on…‘” as taught in Danny Silk’s book. “Keep Your Love On”. God’s servant must keep a single eye, “If the eye is single, the whole body is full of light,” (Matthew 6:22)

As we focus on truth and light, rather than darkness, we are the LIGHT. LIGHT DISPELS DARKNESS. The Greater One, the one who is the Light of the World lives in us.

We must walk in the light as He is in the light and we will have fellowship, one with another. True love must take responsibility to reveal our true identity to the world.

When we honor others, we honor Him. He had given up The Keys to the Kingdom. Whatsoever we bind on earth is bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth is loosed in heaven.

We cannot bind an evil power if he finds a place in us. We must guard our heart with all diligence.

Spiritual Warfare

There are three kinds of Spiritual Warfare: Defensive, Offensive, and Internal.

The Offensive Warfare as we know it was described in Matthew 16:18 as the Church being on the offense: “And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Gates protect and they defend, but they do not attack. So he pictured the Church (indirectly) as attacking the gates.

The Defensive Warfare is more commonly communicated by the believer.

Every believer must take a stand against the enemy. The enemy is out to kill, steal and destroy our lives. We must resist, and having done all, stand. We must apply the victory won at Calvary to every battle.

And last of all is the Internal Warfare, when God contends with His enemies that are still residing in us. Let’s stop right here and hear what The LORD is saying. What does that mean?

Never forget, The LORD is ever interceding for us. He is the convicting power of God drawing us into His Presence.

You know when you know, that you know that you know, He has your attention! That moment of Truth, as He beckons us to come to HIM.

He is allowing us to turn — from our sin. It is a moment of grateful Grace and Goodness. There is never any condemnation.

It is a drawing to Repentance that is motivating us to let go and be changed and grow up into HIM. He is releasing His Grace of Conviction that is bringing Freedom.

He is protecting us with His love as He draws us into greater joy. Condemnation pushes, but His Love draws us into His heart — full of Love — that never fails. He is purifying us.

The Spirit of Truth is calling to us today to walk as did the true Zadok priests. Yes, to be holy as He is Holy.

We must come to the end of all denial and deception for that is the path of destruction that leads only to self-gain.

“Many do not recognize that they have departed from the path of righteousness as they stepped onto the path of destruction,” says The LORD.

“Holiness is the distinction that separates the Godly and the ungodly. I AM calling out to <y Own to return to joy of their first love filled with a desire to please Me,” says the Savior.

Intercession moves by the route of repentance. Many experience remorse which has its roots in self-pity and is totally self centered.

But Godly Repentance is a gift from The LORD’s Love and the only route to a changed heart: death to self. May we see ourselves as true overcomers as we overcome evil with good.

May we Travail to Prevail unto birth as we bring forth The Father’s heart.

See also: “Intercession and Prophetic Intercession“ (Part 2)

First published: February 10, 2022.

~ Sandi Holman

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Sandi Holman was called to the nations as an End-Time Handmaiden in 1984 with Gwen Shaw and served with YWAM Singapore and YWAM Charlotte in missions. Sword of the Lord Ministries came from a divine encounter with the Lord when He came into her prayer room and said, “I have come to put a sword in your hand and was given special instructions on how and when to use it.” She is an author, Prophetic Intercessor and Seer, Chaplain, Teacher, Speaker and Equipper, and Blogger who has also served as a Pastor Online with Beyond the Veil Ministries.

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