INTERCESSORS

12-Day Devotions: Day 1, 3 May 2021 | Ps. Paul Magno

“For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”
Revelation 5:9-10 NKJV

Derek Prince said in his book entitled “Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting”:

“We play our part in [this] double ministry of Christ. As kings, we rule with Him. As priests, we share His ministry of prayer and intercession. We must never seek to separate these two functions from each other. If we would rule as kings, we must serve as priests. The practice of our priestly ministry is the key to the exercise of our kingly authority. It is through prayer and intercession that we administer the authority that is ours in the name of Jesus.”

I highly value prayer because I highly value Revival. I was saved in a church with a strong Revival atmosphere - where miracles happened abundantly and the Holy Spirit was tangibly evident in gatherings and among His people. When you get saved in a Revival environment, it gets into your spiritual DNA — nothing else satisfies your relationship with God and service to Him like Revival. I was saved in 1999, and after over 21 years of being a Christian, my convictions on prayer and the sense of urgency for Revival has not changed. Revival and nationwide, spiritual awakening has always been the heart-pursuit of my prayers.

Let me share what I’ve learned in the ministry of intercession: our effectiveness in intercession is not in the volume, intensity, frequency, or eloquence of our prayers; it is in our identity in Christ Jesus, knowing that by His blood He purchased us to be kings and priests before Him. Volume, intensity, and frequency (and probably not so much eloquence) all play a crucial role in prayer and intercession, but these are not foundational. It’s not what you do that determines who you are, but who you are that determines what you do.

God’s design in creation was to share His dominion with humanity. Though we know that this sharing of dominion was lost in and forfeited by the first Adam, we also know that it has been restored by and in the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam. Ephesians 2:6 declares that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. To be seated with Christ means so much more than merely being in the company of Christ; it’s a picture of reigning, of ruling with Christ in the heavenly realms. Dominion that was lost in the Adam has now been restored to us in Jesus. And if this is true (which, of course, I wholeheartedly believe it is), the question is, How do we do that? How do we rule with God’s authority?

We rule or reign by prayer. We exercise the dominion God shares with us in Christ through prayer. The practice of our priestly ministry — prayer, worship, intercession, and even prophesying — is the key to the effective exercise of our kingly authority, our being seated with Christ. It is through prayer and intercession that we extend, apply, and release the dominion, power, and authority that is ours in Jesus’ name.

PRAY THIS: Heavenly Father, I align my understanding of my position and identity in Christ according to your Word — that I am and that I stand and serve as a king and priest before you. Teach me how to pray in a way that Your Kingdom, rule and reign are increased and multiplied through my priestly ministry of prayer and worship. Instruct me on how to exercise your authority and dominion effectively. Anoint me to be a faithful priest in your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptural references: Revelation 5:9-10; Romans 5:17; Exodus 19:6 & 1 Peter 2:5; Ephesians 2:4-6; Psalm 110:1-4