Intercessory Prayer: Love On Its Knees
Sharing over 25 years of practical wisdom and godly
insight on the necessity of prayer and intimacy with God
By Pastor Nathaniel Jones
Published by New Life Publishing at Smashwords
New Life Publishing
PO Box 381965
Duncanville, TX 75138
866-602-2672
http://www.newlifepublishing.biz
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.
Copyright 2012 Nathaniel Jones
Edited by Patricia Rachal
Cover design by Beverly Cotton
Forward by Kenneth M. Jones
Smashwords Edition License Notes
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One–Intercessory Prayer: Love on Its Knees
Qualifications for an Intercessor
Chapter Two–Intercession and Travail
Chapter Three–Intercession as a Soul Winner
Chapter Four–What About Supplication?
Chapter Five–Rules of Engagement
Chapter Six–What to Pray for and How
Chapter Seven–Practical Guidelines for an Intercessory Prayer Group
Chapter Eight–End-Time Praying
Chapter Nine–Prayer and Praying in the Spirit
Divers Kind of Tongues Different Than Speaking in Tongues
Chapter Ten–Examples of Prayer
Prayer for Those in Natural Authority
Prayer for Those in Spiritual Authority
Prayer is one of the most valuable assets we have as Christians that allows us to communicate and partner with God to fulfill His purposes on the earth, to enable us in our daily walk with Him, and create a private channel of blessings from His hand to ours. Prayer involves the dialogue between God and people, especially those who have a covenant relationship with Him.
Pastor Nathaniel Jones understands the efficacy and power of prayer. For over thirty years, he has proven himself wisely to be a man of prayer. Prayer relates to relationship and reliance. Through communication with God, man establishes a mutual association with Him. Man is also affected by prayer as he begins to assume the character and essence of the One he is praying to. The author of this book understands this greatly. Pastor Jones has stated that when we pray, we can’t help but be changed into the person of Jesus Christ. He adds that prayer brings us into right relationship with God in order that we might reflect His being in our lives.
Prayer is a product of man's undeniable desire to express himself to God. The Psalmist, David, states, “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). Prayer gives voice to our desires as petitions are made to the Lord in earnest expectation.
There are many prayers outlined within the pages of the Bible; however we see selflessness in prayer in the acts of the intercessor. Moses contended with God on behalf of selfish and disobedient people. Intercessory Prayer: Love on its Knees provides us a timely message regarding the blessedness of being an intercessor, laying down one’s life for others. The author states that prayer should take us out of the realm of selfishness into the realm of selflessness.
Jones believes that intercessory prayer builds our faith, alters our lives, blesses others and heightens our position of intimacy with the Father. He also believes that it is the will of God that all believers enter into a time of intercessory prayer. Jones explains in vivid detail the heart and actions of the intercessor in such a way that you can feel his commitment and heartfelt concern for the highest level of worship that one can perform. As you search the Scriptures through the messages contained in this book, search your heart for a re-kindling of desire that only God can provide.
Kenneth W. Jones
Founder Practical Living Ministries
I dedicate this writing and work to my parents, John L. and Almeda Jones. Though they have both gone home to be with Jesus, they were responsible for releasing me as a seed in the earth and gave me the opportunity to grow and develop. When I was a young boy at the age of nine years old and the threat of death was on me in a hospital room, my mother gave me back to the Lord. Without my parents contribution there would be no Nathaniel Jones.
And to my sister, Loletta Wynder, who after the death of our parents, continued to carry the torch of leadership for our family and held us together. I love you, Lo.
I want to thank my lovely wife, Patricia Ann Jones, for her contribution to this work. Her commitment and dedication as a wife helped me stay the course and finish what I started. She never complained all the nights and days I worked on this project, rather she prayed for me. My wife Patricia also joins me in prayer about 4 or 5 a.m. in the mornings interceding on behalf of others.
Thanks to my sons Jonathan: A. Jones, Bradley Jerome Nash, and Nathaniel Jones, Jr. Having three strong-willed sons will teach any father about prayer. Thank you, boys.
I want to thank the Students of Christ Ministry at Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA. It was a Bible study group that existed when I went to college during 1976 through 1980. We were a bunch of baby Christians that learned how to serve God through many trials and persecutions.
Thanks to my teachers and mentors: Charles Allen, Harold Alexander, Ricky Andrews, Wesley Crawford, Bill Moody, Leonard Royal, Dorothy Washington, and Tony Wesley. There were brothers and sisters such as these that helped me in my beginning years of ministry to develop character and gifts. I will always be grateful to my humble beginnings.
Special thanks to my brother, Kenneth Wayne Jones. Over the years we’ve been closer than Jonathan and David. He has encouraged my heart and stood by me through difficult times. It is love and companionship like that which I greatly value. Thank you, Ken.
I’m thankful to my local church, Sooner Park Wesleyan Church of Bartlesville, OK. Pastor Greg McNall and his staff have welcomed this gift of an apostle in his church without intimidation or fear. He has freely allowed Patricia and me to operate and help strengthen the church.
Thank you, Jesus, for saving this little Catholic boy in 1976 and bringing him into the Kingdom of God for such a time as this, and for the ability to preach, teach and expound.
Scripture comes from the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Without the call of God on my life, I could do nothing, nor would I be anything. Thank You, Jesus.
Prayer has been the essence and foundation of the Church and Christian faith since its very existence. The New Testament Church as we know it was founded on the knees of 120 believers praying in the Upper Room for days until the Day of Pentecost was fully come (Acts 2:1–4).
The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Jesus established a manner of prayer for believers called the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:1). Jesus was our ultimate example of prayer as some of His greatest miracles and acts were performed after a time of prayer and communion with the Father.
The Scriptures say Jesus rose up a great while before day to pray (Mark 1:35). He spent all night in prayer before choosing the twelve disciples (Luke 6:12). He spent time in prayer before he walked on the water to deliver the disciples out of the storm (Matthew 14:22–23). He prayed in agony over the Church all night before going to the Cross (Matthew 26:36–46).
Prayer gives God legal access into the earth. God is limited in what He can do for humanity when we don’t pray. Lives and situations can be eternally altered when we fail to pray. Prayer gives God permission to interfere in Earth’s affairs.
Ezekiel 22:30 and II Chronicles 7:14 are just two examples expressed in the Word that shows God’s desire to be involved in the salvation and deliverance of human kind. He is always seeking for just one obedient man or woman. He only needed one Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt’s bondage and into the Promised Land. He only needed one Abraham to establish His covenant with His people. He only needed one Esther to be called to the kingdom for "such a time as this." He needed only one Jesus to die for the sins of man and provide salvation for all. He only needs one you to stand in the gap and intercede to make a difference in the lives of others. When God gets ready to move, He only looks for one man or one woman to get the job done.
H. B. Bollinger says that prayer is a being (you) expressing relationship with Being (God). The Bible says that Moses spoke with God as a friend, face to face with Him (Ex. 33:11). It was during that time that the Being (Creator of the Universe) conversed with the being (Moses) and shared with him His most intimate concerns about the affairs of His people. Surely Moses aired his inabilities and human frailties and God listened. However, during those face to face encounters (prayer), God encouraged Moses by expressing His Almightiness and omnipotent ability to run the universe and all He needed was for Moses to ask Him to intervene. God told Moses that He needed a man that would stand in the gap and make up the hedge in order that He could intervene.
Prayer affords us the opportunity to make our petitions known to God and watch His faithfulness unfold. It is impossible to spend time in prayer and not be changed yourself. The Bible says that when Moses came out of the presence of God his countenance shone so bright that the people could not stand to look on his face (II Cor. 3:12–17). If you spend time in the presence of God your life will be changed.
E. M. Bounds, in The Complete Work of E. M. Bounds on Prayer said that prayer is the umbilical cord of God in which Christians receive their nourishment for a healthy spiritual life in God. The love of God will touch our hearts and create a hunger and desire for Him. As we spend time in prayer and watch God move miraculously it should motivate us to pray more. Your intercessions will increase your time in prayer. People that you criticized and fought against will become a thing of the past because it is impossible to walk in strife with someone that you are praying for fervently.