INTERCESSION

Romans 8:26 -28 – In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

This passage is very descriptive about personal prayer and also the prayer of intercession. In these verses Paul gives a look inside the supernatural nature of prayer. I often talk about how the Holy Spirit helps us when we pray and this help is connected to groaning and praying in the Spirit. Sometimes the Lord will switch you over from personal prayer to intercession, praying for others that are hurting. The amazing thing about this is that often we have no idea about what is going on in the person’s life that we are praying for, obviously the Lord knows and directs our prayers accordingly.
I can remember experiencing this phenomenon years ago as a young Christian. I was part of a tree planting team in Oregon and was riding back to camp in the back of a pickup truck late one night. I started to pray and found myself praying for my mom. While I was praying, the Holy Spirit came on me in a way I had never known before and I began to groan, cry, and pray in tongues over my mom. I prayed for quite a while until that anointing lifted as if something had been settled.
We were staying in the mountains in our tent camp doing reforestation work so communication in those days was basically non-existent. Several weeks after that prayer episode an urgent message was delivered to me. My mom had experienced a massive stroke and was not expected to live. I made arrangements to return to New Orleans to say my goodbyes to my mom and found myself going into her intensive care unit at Baptist Hospital early in the morning several days after I got the message. I was warned that she was in a coma and would not come out of it. That’s when something amazing happened, I went it by myself and grabbed my mom by her hand and she immediately opened her eyes and began to come out of her coma. I was a young Christian and really didn’t know much but I did know something had happened that night in the truck that was connected to my mom’s life being spared. My mom lived for another ten years after this. Intercession is supernatural and comes from the Holy Spirit. Jesus is praying in heaven over those who belong to Him, these prayers are released on earth by the Holy Spirit. He is always looking for yielded vessels to pray through.