Monday, June 11, 2007

Seeking Serious Prayer Partners

As I mentioned previously, my Dad was with us for a few days; he just went home today. Because of his age, situation and distance he doesn't get up to visit as often as he and Mom used to. It was awesome having him!

While he was here he pulled an old tattered piece of paper out of his Bible and held it out to me. It looked familiar and immediately I knew what it was.

Years ago Debbie & I had asked people to pray for us on a regular basis. Ministry is serious warfare, but not a lot of people realize that. So in an attempt to gather people to partner with us in our ministry, we created the Prayer Partner Daily Prayer Outline to the left. I gave Dad a new one and thought it would be a good thing to remind some people out there to keep praying for us. Especially since we're just moving on to another appointment in a couple of weeks.

There might also be a few new people out there reading this who would take up the challenge of praying for Debbie & I. If God is nudging you to do so, click on the picture to enlarge it and print it to put in your Bible or somewhere you'll see it often.

By the way, there are different categories of Prayer Partner. Peter Wagner calls them I1, I2 and I3 intercessors.

An I3 intercessor is one who will print this list then pray for us now and then. They are kind of casual pray-ers. Their prayers are always effective and helpful. There are often many such intercessors praying for specific people or ministries.

An I2 intercessor is one who takes their intercessory role very seriously. They receive a special calling (a "nudge") from God, make it a point to pray for us regularly and often take long periods of time to pray specifically. They will keep in touch now and then to learn what is going on in our lives so they can pray with pin-point direction. Their prayers are obviously even more effective and helpful. There are usually only a few of these intercessors praying for specific people or ministries at a time.

An I1 intercessor is one who also receives a special calling from God to pray for us. The difference is they keep in very close contact and regularly get updated on details of our life and ministry. The purpose is not only to pray specifically, but also to listen to God for us. These intercessors will often have special Words (of knowledge and prophecy) that God sends to us through them. Their prayers are extremely effective and helpful. There are usually only 1 or 2 such intercessors for specific people at a time and they cannot just take up this role on their own. They must get "permission" from the people or ministry to take on this special role. I don't remember ever having such a Prayer Partner . . . yet!

If you decide or receive a nudge to become one of our Prayer Partners, let us know by either commenting here or sending off an email (or snail-mail) note. We appreciate our prayer partners and welcome those who will be faithful!

No comments: