Intercessory Prayer—How to Pray & Watch God Move
Daniel described the invisible realm he saw in a vision when he exclaimed: I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated… (Daniel 7:9 NKJV).
There cannot be two ruling authorities over one geographical region. There will either be ruling powers of God or ruling powers of satan. There is an ongoing battle for authority over a region that won’t be finally settled until we intercede or Jesus returns and casts satan and his minions into the lake of fire. We need to pray that God’s Kingdom authority will be established over our nations. Of course, regions will not be free once and for all from satan’s attacks until Jesus returns. Each generation needs to watch and pray over their own generation.
You might be thinking, That sounds like a huge endeavor! How can I, one person, do such a thing? Isn’t that scary or dangerous? No, it isn’t, but it does require courage and the knowledge of how to proceed in a biblical, non-presumptive manner.
Every Pray-er Matters
This is my reply to those people who are feeling overwhelmed at this and wonder where they fit into the scheme of things. You are important and strategic in some sector of society and culture. Each person who prays—each “pray-er”—is critically important to this task. There is a sphere of authority that you have that no one can touch like you can. You simply need to determine what that is and do the part that pertains to you. God will raise up thousands of others who will do their part, and the overall job will be done. This reminds me of the old adage: “How do you eat an elephant?” Answer: “One bite at a time.”
You ask, “Well, why does it have to be me? Why doesn’t God just take care of it? After all, isn’t that His role, not mine, to take authority over wickedness?”
Again, going back to our role as enforcers, the answer is that the Lord has given into our hands the job of legislating His will on earth. He has given us the authority and weapons to do this through what we call binding and loosing:
Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven (Matthew 18:18-19 NKJV).
Binding (or deo in the Greek, “to tie”) and loosing (or luo) were used in legal terminology at the time of Christ. When the courts of His day would decide a case, they would either say, “We bind (or forbid)” or “We loose (or permit as legal) this in Israel.” They would decide what was lawful or illegal, forbidden or allowed, in their nation using this same terminology.
Note that Jesus did not say, “Ask Me to bind or loose.” He said, “Whatever you bind or loose (“in My name” is a given here) on earth will be done.” He said we are to do it in His name. Therefore, it stands to reason that if we do not take our place of authority in intercessory prayer, then wicked laws have every legal right to be put into place.
We need to pray and do. By this I mean we need to bind the powers of darkness that are blinding the eyes of those who make laws in our nations as well as become voices who speak out against sin in every sector of society.
Literally, Jesus told us that whatever we loose in prayer—or permit—will be legal in our nation, and whatever we bind—or declare illegal—in intercession will be illegal. This is the basis upon which we can “convene the court of Heaven” through our intercessory prayers and legislate in the heavens certain laws of our nations. Dutch Sheets sums it up nicely in his book Intercessory Prayer:
Although Jesus fully accomplished the task of breaking the authority of Satan and voiding his legal hold upon the human race, someone on earth must represent Him in that victory and enforce it.
