The Gift of Intercession

 I recently took a Spiritual Gifts Test just for fun. I was curious what the results would be, because I often have a challenging time discerning what my gifts are and how to best use those gifts that God has given me. The test result said my #1 gift was Intercession, which is the gift to pray for extended periods of time on a regular basis and see frequent and specific answers to prayers, to a greater degree than that which is expected of the average Christian. Yikes! That sounds like a tall order to fill! If this is one of my gifts, this is definitely a new discovery for me. Don't get me wrong, God has answered many of my specific prayers in the past, prayers for others and for myself, but I am not always the best at praying for extended periods of time. I am often in "Go Go Go" mode. I will say that if someone is asking for prayer and I commit to praying for them, I will do that. I never want to respond to someone's request for prayer with "I'm praying for you" if I don't truly mean it. I don't want to say things just to sound nice. I believe in speaking truth and being real. In these cases I will often put my phone down after responding that I will pray and just start praying on the spot. I don't know if this is a true gift of mine, but I will say that I am now curious to explore it a little further. When I first started going to church, I was terrified to pray out loud. I don't think I really did until 3 or 4 years ago, and even then it was a slow progression. This past year I prayed out loud at our House Group quite a bit. Once and awhile I still get nervous about it, so silly, but it has definitely become more natural to me. I also believe strongly in the power of laying hands on others and praying for them. We have done this a few times in our House Group as well this past year and it has always felt so powerful and I can see God moving during these moments.

 Ephesians 6:18 says, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people."

 Colossians 4:2 says, "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."

 If you have something that you want want me to be praying over you for, please let me know. Feel free to give me as much or as little detail as you wish and I will pray for you as best as I can. I am even willing to lay hands on you and pray with you, if that is something that you would like. I cannot make any promises, but I know that God cares about our prayers and I know there is a lot of power in prayer. God is not a magic genie ready to answer our every whim, but if it is His will, He will do it and He loves for us to take our requests to Him.

 Phillipians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

 I am praying over this message, that it will reach those who need to hear it and those who need extra prayers.

 If you want to take the Spiritual Gifts test that I took, the link is: http://www.northpointministries.org/dreamjob/gifts/


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