Intercessors are the type A administrative assistants of God, right? They have lists upon lists and pray day and night without a breath of silence, right?

Actually, the best intercessory times I’ve personally seen, never had a list at all. They weren’t conducted like a business meeting with a clear cut agenda and a very fastidious timekeeper. That kind of prayer meeting is long, even when it’s short, and boring and wearying.

The best intercessory prayer meetings I’ve attended begin with a deep breath and a sense of expectation!

Seven or eight years ago, I began going away once a year on a sabbatical. I go alone for 3-5 days and I try to go with no preconceived notions about what I will do, or a list of things I will accomplish. I go to simply wait on the Lord and see what He does.  And we have the best time! The deepest conversations, the most restful and restorative times of prayer, and we pray for everybody! We cover it all, eventually.

Have you ever had a dinner party where you and several friends sit for hours and talk about everything, and the conversation and sense of community goes someplace you never would have imagined because everyone is so relaxed and enjoying each other so much!

Good intercessory prayer leaves you feeling like you spent the evening in a hot tub with great friends and a pitcher of margaritas. It is relaxed effortless and purposeless, but relational bonds form there that don’t form anywhere else. Bonds that cannot be unformed, not by war, disease, or even death.

Intercessory prayer begins and ends with God, the topics shift by the Spirit like a conversation with a good friend. Yet there is one big difference. When God gets out of the hot tub, He changes the world. Every word, every dream, every heartbeat remembered and answered! And when I get out of the hot tub, I am wiser and more at peace.