CALLING ALL INTERCESSORS
By Joy F. Strang

The local weatherman warned us regularly in spring of 2006 about the dreadful hurricane season Florida residents were facing. The two previous years had been record breaking in our state and across the Gulf region for damage due to hurricanes. In Orlando, where I live, three storms hit within six weeks.

At a conference I attended in May 2006, several leaders discussed the dismal forecasts. As we talked, it became clear that the Holy Spirit was prodding us to do something. After all, Jesus has authority over the winds and the waves (see Mark 4:39), and He gave His authority to us. By the end of the discussion, three of us who had intercessory prayer networks totaling about 10,000 people committed to take a stand in prayer against the storms and their probable devastation.

During the next month I connected with several other leaders whom God was also directing to stand in prayer regarding the storm season. We began to ask the Holy Spirit for His strategy and were amazed at how specifically He directed us to pray. We decreed: "No storm of hurricane strength will hit American soil."

As the season progressed, God intervened again and again when storms appeared to be forming, baffling the meteorologists and causing them to wonder why their predictions were not becoming reality. By midsummer, they began lowering the number of storms expected and by late September it was obvious the hurricane season had been a mild one instead of the monster they had forecast. As we had decreed, no storm of hurricane strength hit our nation.

I asked God about the result. What I learned is that when believers come together in consistent prayer, even huge events beyond our control can be changed. During the six- month storm season we saw clearly the effect of our intercession. It built our faith to believe that even when we don't see results quickly, God is working in response to our prayers.

Changing weather pattern is only one example of what God will do when we pray. He is looking for intercessors who will stand in the gap for the nations of the world. He tells us in His Word, "I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none" (Ezek. 22:30, KJV).

Our nation desperately needs intercessors to stand in the gap for its future. On July 7, 2007, thousands of young people gathered in Nashville, Tennessee, as part of The Call movement to pray for revival.

We need to join with them and pray for our political future as candidates begin their campaigns in preparation for the elections next year. We need to pray for hearts to be turned back to God and for the moral decline in this country to be reversed.

If you have difficulty believing that your prayers can impact an entire nation, remember: Even more power is released if you band together with others. Matthew 18:19 tells us, "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." You can sign up to join our team of intercessors and receive a free weekly prayer alert at prayerinitiative.com.

Prayer will be powerless if we trust in ourselves. But if we trust in God, who has all power, we will see results. We simply have to follow the direction of the Holy Spirit.

God is calling for intercessors. Will you respond to His call?