My Dear Friend,

Prayer is a primary Christian discipline and teaching topic. All believers have taken in countless sermons, articles, and testimonies on the subject. Does it all end there?

With too many believers, yes! They nod in agreement when their pastor or fellow congregants pray, but that's all. The only way the Good Shepherd can get such sheep to draw near and fellowship with Him in prayer is to visit them with His rod of trouble. Then they come, they pray, they believe, they hold fast. But, sadly, as soon as the trouble subsides, they go their own independent, prayerless way again.

But with other believers, no! They take Paul's apostolic injunction to "Pray without ceasing" very seriously (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Aroused, they take hold of the subject of prayer and make it a growing part of their lives. They pray in church with others who make their needs known to the congregation. They pray with their spouse. They pray with or over their children and grandchildren. They join with other believers - two, five, twenty, fifty - in scheduled prayer meetings. They pray on telephone calls and in text messages. They pray in zoom meetings. They request prayer over social media. They pray over emails presenting the needs of believers and unbelievers. But there's more.

While all their petitions flow upward to the Father in the name of the Son by the agency of the Spirit and the work of God's couriers, the angels, something else is present in their minds. Something very important. What is it?

They realize that whoever gives himself (or herself) to prayer is first giving himself to the One who hears all prayers and presents them to the Father, our High Priest, Jesus! So, above all else, they are coming to Him to: be with Him; quietly sit and soak in His powerful Presence; raise their hands and sing sweet praises with their petitions; thoughtfully thank the Lord for His salvation, its benefits, and His gracious answers to prayer just the last few days, week, or month; adoringly declare His awesome attributes; humbly confess they need His presence and refillings of His mighty Spirit regularly; seek more of His fear (awe); tell Him they cannot live without His Spirit's guidance; or simply say, "I love you, Lord!"

Thus, they demonstrate knowledge of not only the practice of prayer but also the essence of prayer: deep, sustained, sweet, reviving, life-giving fellowship with the Prince of life. But it doesn't end there.

Remembering their sacred commission to take Christ to the world, they commit themselves to become itinerant incessant intercessors - Christians who intercede constantly for whomever they meet wherever they meet. Why?

They believe the wide scope of Jesus' promises proves He wants this. He promised, "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it" (John 14:14). And, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask whatever ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7). He further taught our prayers are a key method of bearing eternal kingdom fruit: "In this [relationship of abiding and praying] is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit [through prayer]" (John 15:8).

Jesus' commission to the "other seventy" further confirms this. When He sent them "before his face" to the cities in which He would later minister (Luke 10:1), the first duty with which He charged them was not preaching or healing but intercession: "Pray ye, therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest" (Luke 10:2). It was the prayers of these interceding forerunners that made possible not only Jesus' subsequent successful ministry in these cities but also that of the other gospel laborers who would later sow His gospel in the ripe human "fields" of Israel. They foreshadow today's itinerant incessant intercessors.

Today Christian intercessors have more spiritual knowledge than the seventy, who were still spiritual novices when Christ sent them. Well-taught intercessors today realize that, by their secret prayers, the Holy Spirit begins, or accelerates, His work of "drawing" them to Christ. Christ promised: "I, if I be lifted up . . . [I] will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32).

Jesus was initially "lifted up" physically on the cross. When we ask the Father to begin "drawing" lost or backslidden individuals, the Holy Spirit begins "lifting up" Jesus again, this time psychologically. He elevates their awareness of Christ in their minds. Formerly, they lived day and night without even one thought of Jesus. Now, as we intercede daily, the Spirit guides them into circumstances in which they hear something about Jesus often. They learn of friends who have been born again. They hear about needy people who have received deliverances, healings, or other blessings from Christ. They come across articles, books, and video content that speak of Jesus positively or with devoted faith. They listen to radio, TV, or Internet reports that boast of lives He has dramatically changed. Soon everywhere they turn, it's Jesus, Jesus, and more about Jesus!

The more they think about Jesus, the more the Spirit supernaturally convicts and convinces them. Their hard, disbelieving hearts begin to soften toward Christ, Christianity, and the Bible. Whereas they used to sin freely without a trace of guilt, they now feel guilty about their sins and for the first time wish to be free of them. Friends or relatives die, which prompts them to think about death and worry where they will spend the afterlife. Soon they realize they need help, a deliverer, a savior! They see for the first time how faulty their human wisdom is and begin desiring a faultless divine Guide. As time passes, and we continue our intercessions, this "drawing" intensifies, until it becomes unbearable. Suddenly, one day, they repent of their sins, receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, and are born again - and ready to begin living as a Christian.

As we continue praying, the drawing process continues. Yes, even after conversion. The Spirit stirs their will and stokes their devotion until they choose to be Christ's disciple, or utterly devoted, lifelong learner. They are thankful to be saved, but realize there is more, so much more, that Christ has for them in this life. They thirst for spiritual growth, hunger for the deeper things of God, yearn to bear maximum kingdom fruit, and determine to fulfill their eternal destiny to know, enjoy, serve, and glorify Christ.

Understanding their ability to launch or increase this vital "drawing" process through prayer, intercessors faithfully pray for everyone they meet. They have times of prayer and pray at all times. They pray for those they meet in hotels, restaurants, and on the street. They pray for waiters, clerks, and hotel managers. They pray for people with whom they travel, dine, or chat. They pray for people with whom they do business. They pray for social media contacts. They pray for strangers who call over the phone - even scammers and harassing salesmen; they, too, are souls for whom Christ died.

They pray for public figures and ordinary folks appearing in news reports, favorably and scandalously. They pray for people they meet at the beach, in the mountains, or walking through their neighborhoods. They pray for the young, old, healthy, and infirm. They pray for people who have nothing and those having everything; for those in great trouble and those living in prosperity. They pray with their understanding and they pray "in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18).

Every day, in every place, whoever they meet, they lift them to the Father in Jesus Name so the Spirit may begin drawing them to Jesus - to be saved; or, if already Christians, to grow and mature in Christ; or, if backsliders, to return to the Lord and life they foolishly abandoned. These are itinerant incessant intercessors.

They are itinerant, or not stationary but moving about. They are incessant, or unceasing in their prayers. And they are intercessors, or those who stand in the gap between God and souls seeking reconciliation, help, or blessings. They are walking, talking prayer meetings; mobile prayer towers; or traveling, never-ending, one-person prayer conferences.

By persistently pursuing this practice, they greatly expand their prayer reach beyond the scope of typical Christian prayer, which too often is limited to our family, friends, and church members. Oswald Chambers believed that God would sweep the earth by the prayers of His strategically located saints. This is so true! It's certain you are in Christ today in part due to the spontaneous prayers of some itinerant incessant intercessor who crossed your path B.C. (before receiving Christ).

Some may ask, "But shouldn't we witness to these people?" Of course, the crucial duties of intercession and evangelism are not in competition. Rather, they complement each other. Often it is to committed intercessors that the Spirit opens "door[s] of utterance" (Colossians 4:3), or the most opportune moments to share Christ with prayer-prepped, Spirit-drawn souls.

Then, in God's time, we sow God's Word in the full, supernatural flow of the Holy Spirit - to hungry hearts crying out for God's help, to thirsty souls eager to drink Jesus' living waters, to elect individuals God foreknew would receive His Son, to Saul of Tarsus types destined to honor God, help His people, and build His kingdom in these last days.

So, why pray only at set times when you can pray at all times? The Savior, the lost, and the backslidden are eagerly waiting for you and me to get serious about Paul's charge, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Will you commit to itinerant incessant intercession today?

Serious, committed, praying,

Dr. Greg Hinnant

GREG HINNANT MINISTRIES