Do you believe that God has called you to be a prophetic intercessor?
Intercessory prayer is simply praying on behalf of others.
And when this is teamed up with a prophetic gift it can be powerful.
Prophetic prayer occurs when we pray with insights (prophetic revelation) received from the Holy Spirit. We may receive these insights during prayer, or pray about the revelation that has already been received.
We can all pray prophetically. However, a prophetic intercessor is not only equipped with insight from the Spirit. The prophetic intercessor becomes the vessel through whom the Spirit Himself prays.
‘In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.’ (Rom 8:26-27)
The Ministry of the Prophetic Intercessor
“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” (Ezek 22:30)
Anna is a Biblical example of a prophetic intercessor. She poured years into her God-given assignment of praying in the temple, leading up to Jesus the Messiah’s birth. (Luke 2:36-38)
It has often been said, that not all intercessors are prophets; but all prophets are called to intercede. And in the Bible, we see specific examples of those in a prophetic office. They took time to pray and intercede for those people and situations they ministered into. [1]
So if you have a prophetic calling, I encourage you to read and be inspired by the list in this article. Even if you do not see yourself as a prophetic intercessor.
17 Signs You May Be a Prophetic Intercessor
Following are some of the signs that I have observed (and personally experienced) in those who have a calling to the ministry of prophetic intercession. The first three signs are common to all of those who have a calling to the ministry of prayer:
- You believe that God has called you to pray and you love to pray more than most people do
- You place a high value on prayer and sometimes wonder why (or get frustrated when) others do not share it
- You have seen significant answers to your prayers
Specific Signs Related to a Prophetic Intercessory Prayer Gift
If you are called to the ministry of a prophetic intercessor, you will relate to some of the following traits:
- You tend to pray more at times when you feel urged by the Holy Spirit. You may know this as a ‘burden’ of prayer.
- Prayer is easy for you when you sense that the Holy Spirit has given you a specific burden or assignment. However, you find it harder to pray when people assign prayer to you as a task or give you lists and times to pray. (Unless you feel drawn by the Spirit to these).
In the past, you may have been intimidated by those who are ‘task intercessors’. These happily spend hours praying over lists! [2] However, God is calling you to embrace your particular gift and calling and see it as He does—highly valued and influential.
- You receive revelation from the Holy Spirit concerning what to pray and how to pray. You may receive prophetic insights concerning the situation you are praying about, to pass on, or to pray further into.
- You may be more spontaneous in the expression of your prayer gift than others who are gifted in prayer.
- You have a strong sense of intimacy with the Holy Spirit when you pray—and this fuels your prayer life.
- Travail is familiar to you—a sense of birthing the purposes of God—and you may have experienced wordless groans or weeping in your prayer times. In this, you can identify with Hannah (1 Samuel 1:10-13) and Elijah—who prayed for rain in the birthing position (1 Kings 18:41-44).
- You do not always need to have specific knowledge about what you are praying for. Sometimes you pray in the realm of ‘mystery’. (1 Cor 14:2) It is enough for you to know that the Spirit has called you to prayer.
- When you have a prayer assignment, it may feel as though you are personally involved and invested in the situation. You may have a sense of identification in the Spirit with those you are praying for. Perhaps, you feel what they are feeling, or sense God’s heart towards them, such as compassion, grief, or mercy.
- You know the ‘secret place’ of prayer. Your prayer life is often hidden, and sometimes not understood or appreciated by people. However, your reward is found in the Presence of God.
(As with all prophetic gifts and ministries, the ministry of prophetic intercession flourishes in the local church community and benefits from oversight. It is a temptation for those with a prophetic prayer ministry to isolate themselves, especially if they feel misunderstood.)
- You experience a deep sense of satisfaction in prayer—especially in being at the right place and time for your God-given assignment to pray on behalf of a person, group, region, or situation.
- You may be sent by God to be in certain places at particular times to intercede on behalf of a situation, person, or region, especially if you are a prophet-intercessor operating in a ‘prophetic office’ ministry.
- Your journey has been lonely at times. Even those around you who love prayer do not always understand the dynamics of prophetic intercessory prayer. You may have experienced some unusual manifestations of the Holy Spirit whilst praying (Rom 8:26-27), that others do not understand. (Note: It is very important that we focus on the fruit and message of the prayer, rather than the manifestations when communicating to others).
- One of your challenges has been to learn to fully release the burden of the Spirit in prayer—not to hold onto it. You have also had to learn not to personalize or hold onto the emotion that identification (point 11) can sometimes bring with it.
- You prefer prayer meetings that have some room for listening to and being led by the Holy Spirit in prayer.
(Note: This does not mean that other types of prayer meetings are wrong. Let’s always honor others who lead prayer meetings, regardless of their culture, methods, or emphasis. They are not wrong—just different from us)
The Prophet-Intercessor
The ‘Prophet-Intercessor’ is someone who has a five-fold ministry office of a prophet (Eph 4:11-13), and who also has a primary calling and gifting of intercessory prayer. As mentioned in point 14, above, a prophet-intercessor may be stationed or sent by God to specific places to pray and make prophetic declarations.
A prophet who is an intercessor will have a greater authority in prayer and prophetic ministry, than a prophetic intercessor. He or she may be used by God to minister through prophecy and intercessory prayer in significant arenas. These may include nations or regions, governments, education, business, and church movements.
Is Intercessory Prayer a Spiritual Gift?
Is prophetic intercession, or intercessory prayer, a spiritual gift? I personally believe so. The prophetic intercessor is graced and anointed to pray. One way of looking at this is to see prophetic intercessory prayer as an expression of the prophetic gift.
Our God who created the snowflake and fingerprints gifts His people in many unique ways. Those of us who are prophetic intercessors know when we find others who have a like calling, that we have found one of our own ‘tribe.’
Intercessory prayer is a significant ministry—and eternity will reveal the fruit and power of the hidden work of prophetic intercession.
Notes:
[1] Some examples: Moses intercedes for Israel (Exodus 34:8-9), Daniel for the Jews (Dan 9:3-19), Jeremiah for Jerusalem (Jer 14:20-21) and Elijah prayed for the drought he prophesied to begin and end (James 5:17-18)
[2] For insights about different prayer gifts, I highly recommend Intercessors Discover Your Prayer Power, by FEMRITE, T; ALVES, E; KAUFMAN, K. 2000. Ventura : Regal.
Prayer Warriors! The School of Intimacy and Prayer is Open
When I began to experience a significant anointing of the Holy Spirit for prophetic prayer 20 years ago, I did not know how to navigate many of the encounters with God I was having.
I saw miracles and breakthroughs in answer to prayer, but I also made mistakes and had a lot of “growth pains” as a prophetic intercessor.
Since then I have been a prayer leader, have been a minister on a prophetic team, and by God’s grace have developed in ministry as a prophetic writer and teacher.
Now I’m passionate about helping others on the same journey I’ve been on. And this week, a long-held dream has come to reality.
I’ve just launched the Enliven School of Intimacy and Prayer with the first series of topics, and I extend you a warm welcome to join me!
Currently on the Prayer School are self-paced video lessons on:
- Intimacy with the Holy Spirit
- Introducing Prophetic Prayer
- Praying the Mysteries of Heaven
- The Gift and Ministry of Prophetic Intercession
- Angels and Encounters
- Bonus mini-eBook on Prophetic Dreams
You can find out more or enroll in the School of Intimacy and Prayer here. Alternatively, you can view all online courses, including the Prophetic School, here.
More help for prophetic intercessors:
Prophetic Intercession, its Power and Pitfalls
8 Signs You May Have a Gift of Prophecy
8 tips For Personal Intercessors
© 2016 Helen Calder – Enliven Ministries: Prophetic ministry for a revival generation
Helen Calder is a prophetic minister and writer, and founder of Enliven Ministries. Helen has a unique gift of equipping in prophetic ministry and prayer. She is known for Enliven Blog (est. 2009), an online resource that reaches thousands of people globally.
Thank you for this article, Helen. I relate to all of these signs – especially being sent to a specific place to pray for people. They are always at a crossroads or crisis point in their lives.
3 years ago, my former pastor’s wife told me that I am a prophetic intercessor during a women’s meeting. I had never heard that term before so I Googled it. There wasn’t much information on it. What little information was available sounded like I would literally have to die for people. I said, “No thanks!” Then I ditched classes taught by the head of my former church’s intercession team.
A year later, I was “forced” to stay with the head of our intercession team in her house for a month. By this time, I had been in some crisis situations where I know I was the only one called to pray for people. I read books in her library. She also sat me down to watch a video of a renowned “prophet of the nations”. I could relate to what she said.
And then God graduated me super fast into a prayer ministry that I started as a child…but stopped for many reasons.
I thank God for your blog because now I can just link to a post for prophetic people who do not yet know that they are called to some form of prophetic ministry – instead of scaring them with too much info. too fast. lol
Hello J., sounds like you have been in a season of ‘Divine Acceleration’. May you continue to grow in wisdom and faith and favour in your ministry of prayer. Thanks for sharing :-)
Hi Helen,
Thank you for sharing your insight, the 17 points, and your wisdom regarding intercessory prayer. I can relate to all of what you shared, and have also read all of the comments below. For the first time, I feel like there is a community of intercessors I can relate to, and it’s such a blessing! I’ve been walking around my apartment these last couple of days just musing to myself that God answers my prayers, because of prophetic intercession, and to Him be the glory! This is because miracles happen when I pray, simply put, when the Holy Spirit prayers through me. This seems so simple, but I keep growing in it and never cease to be amazed when God manifests His answers to prayer.
The Lord has opened up an opportunity to pray a couple of different times for two women at this Bible study I had been attending at my church. This was in a group setting of prayer time at the conclusion of our study time. When I heard a big problem, I stepped in and prayed (in a proper and respectful manner) and I prayed with tremendous authority, as a seer and one who proclaimed from a position of being seated in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Two major answers to prayer came through. One lady’s daughter was scheduled to go in for brain surgery 3 weeks after we prayed. It was her daughter’s second time of having cancer. We prayed as a group and it turns out her daughter did not need surgery. The doctor wants to monitor her. Glory to God!! The other lady we prayed for in our group, well it was also a miraculous answer to prayer. This is the first time I had ever prayed in a group setting. I just felt the Holy Spirit welling up inside of me and just had to open my mouth. This is very new, as I’ve only ever prayed one-on-one with someone on the phone or in person. When praying in a one-on-one situation, I see in the spirit a word or a picture and pray into that. I feel this immense intensity and authority that rises up inside of me, in the spirit realm, and the spiritual reality becomes more visible and because even more powerful than what the my natural eye can see.
There have been phenomenal miracles each time, but it’s not like it happens every month. I am in isolation and need to get out more (one of the points listed above). The Lord has said it’s time, so it’s a new step of faith for me. I’m new to the church I’ve been attending, so don’t quite know how to fit in, and feel like I’m standing on chicken legs, so to speak. However, God knows this, and I have to open and attend.
This is what I know about prophet intercession: it is unusual, and God sure would like to have many more prophetic intercessors. The is much ground to be taken in the spirit, where the real battles lie. I know this and am comfortable taking territory, so to speak, when praying one-on-one, but God wants to stretch me to be out in the open because there are more victories to be won — and all for His glory. I know He must have touched others when I have prayed. I’ve been told this is what has happened at a home Bible study I attended, and that the way people pray at the conclusion of the study has prayed as a result of how I pray. The Lord is just looking for us, and everyone we can reach directly or indirectly, to step out in faith more and more. And in a safe and loving environment like being connected to a local church community.
His kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. The expressions of what prophetic intercession looks like seem to be as varied as the colors of the rainbow, so to speak. But, on this page we can find like-minded, and prophetically gifted intercessors and friends.
Once again, thank you Helen, for opening up this opportunity for everyone to learn more, and to express themselves.
Blessings,
Antoinette
Hello Antoinette, thank you for taking the time to share your encouraging and faith building testimonies, and your insights. I know the Holy Spirit is calling many into this ministry of intercession in this season, and I feel that as I read your words.
Hi Helen, God bless you for this blog, infact,I am grasping and learning alot about who I really am and what I am called to be and do.Yes I do relate in all the above signs and worth noting about my gift is the number 9, I once held our ministry in position and all the intercessors at the alter for 4 hours in serious groanings in the Spirit and wailing.Then, I wasn’t yet a member of the church’s intercessory group but I had a quiet prayer life.when they noticed I had been on the alter for long during praise and worship hours, they all joined me and started weeping and wailing and some where asking God to please respond to my groaning.After this experience, the church authorities asked me to join the intercessors because they said I had given birth to a new way of talking to God.Points 11,12,13,15,17 are just exactly who I am, infact most of my life after acepting Jesus,I have been a loner.I beleive I have the gift of a Prophet-intercessor, I am also a preacher of the word with dotted manefestations of word of knowledge and a good sense of Discernment of Spirit by the grace of God ,but my strongest gift is preaching the word of God with power and Rhema. After having an encounter of fire baptism by the Holy Spirit in one of my retreats with him, I have hardly preached a normal message. I sometimes want to minister normally, but before I realise , it usually is a power packed fire session full of authority. I seriously desire more intimacy with the Holy Spirit and This Blog is a great tool for me. All of who I am today, the Gifts of God and it’s manefestation in my life have all been imparted upon me by the Spirit of God and not by the laying of hands. I have recieved deliverance of afflictions and illnesses on my prayer alter. Please, there is so much I desire to know that I don’t yet know and I really love what I am grasping on this blog. MAY GOD BLESS YOU BIG TIME FOR THIS. Anpace
Hello Anpace, it sounds as though God is moving powerfully in your life! Thank you for connecting with us.
I have that gift of prophetic intercessory …I feel different pains and burdens from people I know and don’t know…God wakes me up all times a night to pray for people … Also I have dreams about things and it would come true…I feel things in the spirit about people if they’re bad…And etc
A very precious gift, Brittney
I often wondered about this calling but wasn’t sure if what I was going thru was also part of the prophetic or prophets. Numbers 3-4 certainly describes me, esp., lonely times. There are times when I’m sitting, watching TV, and will begin to cry about something the Holy Spirit laid on my heart or shows me. And I will begin to pray about it. One Sunday morning, I woke up with someone at my church on my heart. I began to pray for her and asked the Lord what I was supposed to do with what He’d spoke to me. When I got to church, He had me share what He had me pray on her behalf lay hands on the couple. A month later, what they’d been seeking came to past. But I thought this was the prophetic. I’ve been wrestling with my calling possibly being a Prophet. Your article helped me to know that Intercesion is very important and should be embraced.
God is so faithful. My prayer time daily with Him is becoming deeper and more intimate daily. He is answering my prayers as I pray the scriptures and remind Him as He asks us to….. Jer 29 : 12, James 5 : 16 and many more. Hallelujah!!!