Prayers That Strike The MarkSample

 The Faces of Prayer

Various believers have identified a wealth of valid variations in intercessory prayer. Like everything else in our experience of living in the Spirit, these prayer categories can overlap and color each other. Yet highlighting them individually can be very useful as we explore our options.

Elizabeth (Beth) Alves, who is sometimes called “the grandma of the prayer shield,” is one of those believers who has identified varieties of prayer anointing. I must give her credit for the twelve intercessor “specialties” that follow:

1. General Intercessors love to use prayer lists. Throughout the categories of intercessors that follow, you will always find general intercessors faithfully praying by this method.

2. Personal Intercessors do not pray as much for projects, crises, or groups of people as they do for specific people.

3. Financial Intercessors have been given a gift of faith specifically for finances—for individuals, ministries, cities, and regions.

4. Crisis Intercessors pray for short-term, emergency situations, such as natural catastrophes, serious sicknesses, or wars.

5. Spiritual Warfare Intercessors pray to thwart the devil’s works of darkness in Jesus’s great name.

6. Worship Intercessors engage in concerted praise and worship, creating a holy flow that causes inspired intercession to pour forth.

7. Governmental Intercessors feel called to pray consistently, persistently, and enthusiastically for state, national, and international leaders, by name. 

8. People Group and Missions Intercessors have an unquenchable passion to pray for those who have never heard the gospel message.

9. Salvation and Revival Intercessors pray fervently for people to come to Christ, obey Him, and make a sustained commitment to Him.

10. Israel Intercessors are “watchmen” who pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for the Middle East, and for God’s purposes among the Jewish people worldwide.

11. Church and Leadership Intercessors pray for the unity and revival of the church and for a hedge of protection around the leaders of the community of believers with whom they are connected.

12. Prophetic Intercessors pray with whatever particular focus the Holy Spirit gives them. They are the ones who listen and hear, look and see, and feel the burden of the Lord.

I am amazed when I see how prayers that strike the mark take on many different faces, expressions, and anointings of the Holy Spirit depending on the circumstances. Even if you start to feel you have it all figured out, your prayer expression will change from one season of your life to another. None of us can pray in every way for everything. But together, we can do it. 

Let’s get on board with it! It is always time to pray, all the time and in all different ways—all for the sake of God’s great name. May His kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven!