I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the LORD,
give yourselves no rest....
—Isaiah 62:6
Remember David Wells’ arresting essay in the Perspectives Reader about prayer as rebellion?
What is the nature of petitionary prayer? lt is, in essence, rebellion —rebellion against the world in its fallenness, the absolute and undying refusal to accept as normal what is pervasively abnormal. It is, in this its negative aspect, the refusal of every agenda, every scheme, every interpretation that is at odds with the norm as originally established by God.
This is not the way life is supposed to be. It makes me angry, but I personally can do something about it: pray!
If your passion has focused on intercession—serving the Body of Christ as a watchman on the walls, you know there are a ton of very good prayer resources out there. We don’t need to run through yet another Bible review of all the reasons and keys to powerful prayer.
Whether it’s straight from the Book or in the thousands of great pamphlets, articles, messages or books on prayer, we know prayer isn’t so much about exhortation, information or technique. It’s about the supernatural.
So settle back for a good global story about the power of intercession. A good, true story. Then we’ll suggest a few iron-sharpening exercises, mention some key resources and let you get on with your intercessory role in the Kingdom...for now.
A Story
Somewhere in Western Sahara. Okay, so you feel a little vertigo: You have no idea where you are. You casually ask Robert, the Brit who organized this trip and is driving your big Toyota Land Cruiser. He sticks out his lip, looks at the flat dirt—sand to the horizon—and says, “Haven’t a clue.” (Click here for the rest of the story....)
Lord, Teach Us to Pray
Even prayerless Christians know we should pray for our missionaries. Paul set an early example of missionaries pleading for prayer:
I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. —Romans 15:30
You can Google over three million references on the Web with the query “How to pray for a missionary/missionaries.” Many of the citations have surprisingly good and even creative ideas. So the quandary in global intercession isn’t about how to pray for missionaries. It’s more complicated than that—as in: how to pray for the whole world. It’s praying for the nations and against the enemy Satan—whose hordes steal and kill and destroy these captives who are without God and without hope.
For your priestly, global intercession, you’ll need prayer friends and prayer fuel.
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