The Power of Intercessory Prayer | Breakthrough to Breakout Part 3

Any challenge you are facing today starts on your knees. The key is to take your mind off of your needs and start praying for others’ needs. Did you know that when you pray for others, which is called intercessory prayer, your life starts to come into alignment?  

Alignment happens when you seek the Lord and ask Him to burden you with what burdens Him. Then start praying about it. The act of intercessory prayer is sowing seeds. Those seeds bring healing and direction into your life.  

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”—James 5:16 

Intercessory Prayer Starts on Your Knees 

Feet represent authority. When you kneel, you are surrendering before the Lord. You are asking Him to order your steps. You are stepping away from your authority and asking Him to take over your life.  

Prayer changes things.  

The problem is that people do not believe it changes things. Perhaps you have believed this.  

Now is a time to confess, repent, and submit your feet to God. There is no need to feel guilty or condemned. Yeshua’s blood washes those lying emotions away.  

God wants to restore and rebuild something in you and through you. And He is calling you to intercessory prayer.  

Nehemiah and Intercessory Prayer  

Intercessory Prayer—Praying with a Heavy Heart…  

In Nehemiah 1, we read about the heaviness in Nehemiah’s heart. He is burdened as he learns about the condition of his city and people.  

• “…I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, ‘The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.’ So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”—Nehemiah 1:2-4 

As we read this passage in Nehemiah, we see how it speaks to the condition of the Church in America today. The Church has been shut down, and yes, praise God many are opening back up. But there are churches that are struggling.  

They are struggling financially. They are struggling with how to open and how to manage this new season. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to be praying for unity in the Church. We must understand that the Church is the backbone of this nation.  

This is the time for us, as individuals, to pray for the Church and the Church to rise up and pray for our nation. If we return to God, He will return to us.  

Action Steps:  

1. Take time to ask the Lord what burdens His heart. Start praying for someone else.  

2. Start praying for the Holy Spirit to be released within the Church and that she raises up a banner with fire.  

3. Pray that the Church takes her position and is resurrected in this season of breakthrough.  

Intercessory Prayer—Recognizing Who God Is…  

In Nehemiah 1, we read how the prophet opened his prayer recognizing God’s sovereignty. 

• “And I said: ‘I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant…’”—Nehemiah 1:5-6 

We see Nehemiah humble himself before the Lord, recognizing that He is a God of covenant promises.  

Action Steps: 

1. Humble yourself before the Lord. This is why kneeling is powerful for intercessory prayer.  

2. Recognize who God is. When you kneel, you are proclaiming that God is the One ordering your steps, not you.  

3. Ask that God’s ear be attentive. Pray His eyes are open to the situation and people in the Church. 

Intercessory Prayer—Repenting for the Sins of Others… 

Nehemiah then goes into confessing and repenting for the sins of his people.  

• “‘…I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.’”—Nehemiah 1:6-7 

As the Church, we need to repent of the condition of our nation. We cannot think, “Why did this happen to me?” There is a bigger picture to it.  

Nehemiah saw and recognized how the people had sinned against the Lord. He was burdened to pray for them. This is our calling. This is how to realign our nation.  

Action Steps: 

1. Recognize the need to confess and repent of our nation’s sins. We have not allowed God to order our steps according to His Word. We have taken it upon ourselves to stand in the place of authority without God.  

2. Decide this is a time of shaking and awakening, not a time to hide. The Lord isn’t or wasn’t sheltering you. He wants to transform you.  

3. Pray for the nation. America must realign, reset, and redeem her time. She must draw near to God, and He will draw near to her.  

Intercessory Prayer—Asking for What You Need… 

The first chapter of Nehemiah ends with the prophet petitioning for what the Lord laid on His heart.  

• “‘Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.’…”—Nehemiah 1:10-11 

We can boldly approach the throne of grace and put God into remembrance of His Word. When you pray His Word, it will not come back void.  

Action Steps:  

1. Believe God’s Word. Nehemiah understood God’s great power and depended on that power to order his next steps. He needed the favor of God, and so do you.  

2. Pray for favor. Through prayer, Nehemiah positioned himself as God’s servant, petitioning favor so that his assignment would prosper.  

3. Decide to head to the desert and be refreshed by open streams. You may be tempted to go to others and complain about the condition. This will only lead you into the wilderness. Instead, stay focused on the heavy burden to pray for others and allow the Spirit to guide you.  

Prayer is a powerful way to shift conditions in the atmosphere. In Psalm 91:4 it says that God covers us with His feathers, and under His wings we take refuge.  

A tallit is a physical representation of this promise. It helps to align your heart with God’s Word and the heavy burden He’s laid upon you.  

Get your tallit HERE and begin using it during your intercessory prayer time.