The Call of an Intercessory Missionary

Throughout history, Holy Spirit has called men and women to a life of prayer and intercession. While the Word makes it evident that every believer has the call to pray, some receive a call to devote their lives to pray in the occupation of an Intercessory Missionary.

If you search the Scriptures right now, you will not find the term "Intercessory Missionary." Nor will you find "Youth Pastor," "Nursery Worker," "Secretary," or a host of other occupational titles that we use today. However, this does not discredit that God indeed calls men and women to operate in specific roles.

Before I define the occupation of an Intercessory Missionary, I would like to first make it clear that every believer has received the call to a life of prayer. Then, I will explore a few examples from Scripture of people who filled the role of an Intercessory Missionary. And, finally, I will explain the basics of an Intercessory Missionary.

Every Believer has Received the Call to a Life of Prayer

When Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount, his teaching on prayer goes out to all believers. He starts His section on prayer by saying, "When you pray..." (Matt. 6:5). Jesus did not teach that only a few should pray. Instead, Jesus taught,

"when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do...for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." -Matthew 6:6-8

All of His teaching on prayer centers upon the believer's position and relationship with God the Father. In fact, the model prayer that Jesus gives in Matthew 6:9-13 starts with Jesus saying, "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven...'" Jesus knew that prayer began with an intimate relationship with the Father, something that every believer has access to.

And we can know that we have this intimate access to the Father. Paul teaches, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom. 10:9). And John writes,

"See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God..." -1 John 3:1-2a

If we have believed in our heart, (a power resulting in righteousness), and have confessed with our mouth, (a declaration of allegiance resulting in salvation), then, indeed, we are children of God (John 1:12; Rom. 8:16-17, 10:10; Gal. 3:26; 1 John 2:28-3:10). According to Jesus's teaching on prayer, you then have all you need to engage in a life of prayer, which is a life of constant communion with the Father.

But some may still lack the knowledge of the call. I believe that Paul wrote to Timothy, "I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension" (1 Tim. 2:8), precisely because many still lacked in the knowledge of God's call on them to pray.

Again, Paul had to write to the church in Thessalonica, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thes. 5:16-18). He makes it clear: "This is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Paul explains that every believer has received the call to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything. The call to a life of prayer resides behind all three of those. "Always", "without ceasing", and "in everything" very obviously point to a continual lifestyle of prayer.

Paul does not mean that every believer should devote themselves to the occupation of an Intercessory Missionary when he instructs believers in this threefold lifestyle. Instead, Paul draws on the principles that Christ teaches on prayer by making prayer into a conversational, communion life with the Father. This involves maintaining a steady dialogue with heaven. Jesus teaches this to His disciples by saying,

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." -John 15:4-5

Abiding in God involves rejoicing always, praying without ceasing for what the Spirit brings to mind, giving thanks in everything, meditating on the Word, and keeping constant fellowship with God. The Word contains an enormous treasury of scriptures on this topic of abiding in Him. Only when we abide in Him can we accomplish victory and see fruits in our lives.

Paul writes, "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh" -Galatians 5:16

Peter writes, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" -1 Peter 5:8

And James writes, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you..." -James 4:7-8a

The Call to a Life of Prayer in Relation to Giving

In addition to maintaining constant communion with God, however, every believer has received the call to set aside specific time for ministering to the Lord. The call to partake in the Sabbath demonstrates this, along with Jesus's teaching on prayer that "when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret..." (Matt. 6:6).

But every individual's time looks different. God has given us each a unique calling and way to spend our time. While all believers are called to devote time to the ministry of the Kingdom and to prayer, God has called some believers to work in the marketplace, an occupation that would only leave an hour or two to the work of prayer daily. Similarly, God calls others to the work of an Intercessory Missionary, who spends four to ten hours a day, or even more, in the place of prayer.

Jesus demonstrates this principle through the story of the widow giving everything she had for the kingdom of God. It reads,

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. And He said, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on." -Luke 21:1-4

Jesus did not chastise the work of the wealthy because of their wealth. He spoke badly of the wealthy because they did not give their all to the kingdom's work while the widow gave her absolute all.

Time proportions out much like the giving of our resources. While a simple mite represented the all of the widow, thirty minutes may represent the all of a CEO. We must each decide between ourselves and God what the giving of our "all" looks like. For some, that means that God has called them to the full-time occupation of prayer.

Examples from Scripture: The Anna Calling

One example in particular of someone called to devote themselves to full-time prayer comes from the short story of Anna found in Luke surrounding the story of Jesus's birth. It reads,

And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. -Luke 2:36-38

Anna served in the temple "night and day" through a service of "fastings and prayers" for the bulk of her life. This story reveals that the calling to continual prayer indeed exists, and should surely be viewed as temple service, or an actual occupation. Anna represents the occupation of an Intercessory Missionary. She did the work of the kingdom of God from the place of prayer.

Notice, however, that she did the work of an evangelist from the place of prayer: "she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem." This marks the ministry of an Intercessory Missionary. While devoted first to the place of prayer and intercession, the time spent before the throne of God plunges an Intercessory Missionary into the place of declaration. They simply must speak of His glory and redemption.

Examples from Scripture: The Seraphim

Anna's declaration of God's goodness resembles the work that the Seraphim, or "the burning ones," do in the heavens. Take a look at how John describes the work of these creatures in the Revelation of Jesus:

...and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind...And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."  -Revelation 4:6, 8

How magnificent! These creatures, "full of eyes in front and behind," had the primary job of gazing up the LORD and declaring His worth. "Day and night they do not cease." For all of eternity, they have gazed and have never exhausted themselves on the beauty of God. Isaiah sees the same vision as John, but describes it this way:

In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory." And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filing with smoke. -Isaiah 6:1-4

Again, how magnificent! The foundations of thresholds of the heavenly temple of God trembled at the voice of these creatures! Image if one of these "burning ones," as their name means, came and gave the message in the pulpit of your church this upcoming Sunday morning. What a Word! May we so speak and so live from the power of the throne of God, the place of gazing upon the LORD and receiving divine revelation.

Because God has established these heavenly "Intercessory Missionaries," if you will, we know that God's heart has this position in mind. God desires for us to sit before Him ministering to Him before we go forward to proclaim.

Examples from Scripture: Mary at the Feet of Jesus

Perhaps my favorite story of one who gazed at the Lord, ministering before Him, comes from the story of Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. It reads,

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." -Luke 10:38-42

So often the Church believes that we can accomplish more through meetings, plans, programs, and budgets than through prayer. Mary, on the other hand, chose the good part, the one thing that Jesus said was necessary. Mary chose to gaze upon the Lord and listen for His word, and Jesus said that Mary's choice would not be taken away from her.

Image having a person such as Mary, Anna, or even a Seraphim or two on the Board of Directors at your church. Such a person who has spent a long amount of time listening and gazing, in prayer and intercession would be considered a highly valued member of the team. Such a call resembles the calling of an Intercessory Missionary.

Defining the Occupation of an Intercessory Missionary

As supplied through the examples above, an Intercessory Missionary does these basic things:

-Works in the place of prayer through fastings, prayers and intercession.

-Operates from the place of prayer to proclaim the kingdom of God.

-Gazes upon and ministers to the LORD, devoting themselves to the ministry of the Word.

In addition to these listed above, an Intercessory Missionary also...

-Combines intercession for social justice with acts of social justice

-Stands in the gap for the Church and the oppressed

Mike Bickle, Director of the International House of Prayer Mission Base of Kansas City, writes,

"The Lord is calling people to a full-time ministry occupation that I refer to as an intercessory missionary. I define an intercessory missionary as one who does the work of the kingdom from the place of prayer and worship, while embracing a missionary lifestyle and focus. Others may define this term a different way. At IHOPKC, as a rule, we ask those who embrace this full-time occupation of 'intercessory missionary' to commit to fifty hours per week, including being in the prayer room for at least four hours a day, six days a week." (This article can be found at the link provided HERE)

Additional Examples from Scripture:

Some additional examples from the Word include:

-The concept of setting watchmen on the wall (Isaiah 62:6-7; Ezekiel 3:16-21, 33:1-9).

-Paul's embrace of day-and-night prayer and call to widows to this ministry

(1 Thessalonians 3:10; 1 Timothy 2:1-8, 5:5; 2 Timothy 1:3).

-The establishment of full-time worshipers in the tabernacle of David (1 Chronicles 9:33, 16:37, 23:5, 25:7; 2 Chronicles 8:12-14, 31:4; Nehemiah 11:22-23, 12:44-47).

More support from scripture along with more details on Intercessory Missionaries can, again, be found at Mike Bickle's article, titled "The Call to be aFull-Time Intercessory Missionary".