PROPHETIC INTERCESSION (3)

“And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” – Genesis 18:23b

Abraham is the Exemplar of PROPHETIC INTERCESSION: “And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” (Gen.18:23). Here, Abraham bargained with God over Sodom and Gomorrah. He began at 50 and shifted down to 45, 40, 30, 20, and stopped at 10, and so did God. Prophetic Intercession works on trust. We share our secrets with the person we trust, who then keep them confidential. God is the same way: "Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). Instead of glibly saying what God reveals, we pray it, and pray for mercy over it: "Mercy triumphs over judgment" (Jam.2:13b).

Prophetic Intercession begins with receiving a Burden: "In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem" (Dan. 9:2). Here, Daniel was referring to Jeremiah 29:10. He looked for the conditions that had to be met so that the promises could be fulfilled, entered into confession and intercession on behalf of his people as though their sins were his. Burden comes by Revelation!

Habakkuk received the burden in a place of revelation: "The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw...I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected” (Hab.1:1; 2:1). Then the Lord replied: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it” (Hab.2:2). Habakkuk went to a quiet place to be alone and become still, and he received. To be effective prophetic intercessors, we have to get into the Mary mode and out of the Martha mode (Lk.10: 41-42). Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God...” (Psa. 46:10). We must come into communion and an intimate knowing place.

When the Lord sees a need, He touches someone to intercede, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, prays through that person in order that His Will be done on earth, as it is in heaven (Mt.6:10). He practiced this in His earth-walk: "Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, he went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed” (Mk 1:35). We don’t quit until the burden lifts. God quits when man quits. To intercede effectively, we must remove all external distractions, be divested of our own burdens, casting our cares on the Lord (1 Pet.5:7). In the Old Testament the priest pleaded the needs of the people to the Lord. The prophet pleaded the interests of God before the people. The priest was responsible for "the sending word" and the prophet for "the descending word" – speaking God's burden.