Praying God's Word Over Others

If you are praying on behalf of someone else—you are interceding on their behalf—you need to focus your prayers on the WORD of God as it relates to both you; and as it relates to the one you are praying for.

God’s Word as it relates to you, the intercessor: 

• God will give you a word to cling on to. This word will speak to your heart and address your doubt. It will answer, “Lord, what are you going to do in response to my prayers?” 

Of course you need to be in the Word in order for God to get His Word in to you! So read your Bible daily. Chances are that God will pull a verse or a few verses out of His Word and say in His ever gentle but certain voice, "This, this right here is Who I am and what I'm going to do." 

God’s Word will reassure you of His answer. Hold tightly to that word.

• Ask God to reveal any stronghold in you that keeps you from believing His Word.

Peter Wagner said this in regards to strongholds in the minds of intercessors,

“A spiritual stronghold is a mind-set impregnated with hopelessness that causes us to accept as unchangeable, situations that we know are contrary to the will of God. The presence of a spiritual stronghold must be suspected when a Christian finds himself powerless to change a situation that he clearly knows goes against the will of God.”

Wait.

Go read that again. It's powerful.

"a mind-set impregnated with hopelessness that causes us to accept as unchangeable, situations that we know are contrary to the will of God."

That right there is the stronghold that nearly choked the life out of me. I looked at my heart's cry and considered the impossibility of the miracle and allowed hopelessness to eat away at my mind and my heart because I forgot that God is SUPREME and we are VICTORIOUS!

In order for strongholds to become strong-holds, they need an entry into your spirit. They gain entry by finding chinks in your spiritual armor. Instead of having your full armor on and activated, you might be showing up on the battlefield with parts of your spirit exposed. Some chinks in your armor are created by: unforgiveness, indignation, the need to control, idolatry (making your loved one into a “high place”), and pride (perhaps demonstrated by a sense of self-sufficiency). Here is how to get rid of the chinks on your armor so that you can demolish strongholds.

• Confess whatever stronghold God reveals to you, and turn away from it. Do this as often as you must in order to keep hold of God’s TRUTH. Your prayer might be something like this.

Lord, I admit I've been depending on me and not You. I confess that I've allowed my love for my (son, daughter, spouse, friend) to become an idol--I've chosen fear for them over confidence and faith in You. I allowed my confidence in You to be swept away by their words and actions. I choose this minute to trust You more.  

• Continue to hold God to His Word. Like a hammer beating against a concrete wall, keep on swinging that hammer. If God’s given you His Word on a situation that involves someone else, TRUST HIM TO KEEP HIS WORD! 

"'Is not my word like fire', declares the LORD, 'and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?'" Jeremiah 23:29 ESV

 God’s Word as it relates to the person you are interceding for:

Some people believe that you have to ask God to choose to work on behalf of the person you are praying for. I don’t believe you have to pray this. Just the fact that you are burdened for them tells me that God has chosen them to receive the answer to your prayers.

What they do need is for God to:

• Bless them with His undivided attention. 

When you pray, imagine drawing a circle around them--giving God the bullseye for His targeted actions. Realize that when you pray for them, you are using the power and privilege of prayer to designate them for God's special attention. 

• Convict them of sin.

The Holy Spirit comes to convict people of sin, pray John 16:8-11 over them,

When he [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ about sin, because people do not believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹ and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

Realize that this is a prayer for the Holy Spirit to convict them of sin, not sins. You are asking God to convict them of the sin of unbelief--the one sin the devil wants to hide from them.

• Illuminate their mind to truth.

Ask God to open their minds and hearts so that they are ready to receive Him. Don't forget that what the Lord opens, no one can shut and what the Lord shuts no one can open. 

"This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia: I am the one who is holy and true, and I have the keys that belonged to David. When I open a door, no one can close it. And when I close a door, no one can open it. Listen to what I say." Revelation 3:7 CEV

• Do whatever it takes.

When God does “whatever it takes” He will divinely adjust the circumstances of their life to best prepare their heart and mind to receive Him. This is a scary prayer EXCEPT that God is a loving, kind, tender-hearted and compassionate God and you can trust Him. 

Pray that God’s Word will be:

• Unhindered.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it was also with you;" I Thessalonians 3:1 NASB

• Glorified (2 Thessalonians 3:1)
• Effective

"so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11 NIV

Be encouraged as you pray God's Word for other people! God's Word will not return void! This verse is on every one of our Prayer Clinic Scripture prayer cards and is a good one to close out this post, 

"You have seen well, for I [the LORD] am watching over My word to perform it." Jeremiah 1:12 NASB 

Let it be so to the glory of God! 

If you would like a 21-day quiet time companion to take you on a powerful journey of praying for those who are lost, consider my course Praying for the Lost that I created with my friend, Jennifer Kennedy Dean. You will NOT be disappointed!