1. Intercessory Prayer A personal and corporate journey

2. Why Intercessory Prayer ‘ Call to me and I will answer and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know’ (Jer. 33:3)

3. The Journey of Intercessory Prayer Hearing God’s voice is the privilege of every child of God We are all called to intercede – not for the favoured few Intercessors require no special giftings Jesus is our role model There is a link between intercession and developing a deep understanding of people’s needs

4. Jesus at Prayer He always intercedes for them (Heb 7:25b) Because of this He fully understands us (Job 36:5)

5. How to Pray Know the one to whom we pray – a vague ‘God’ or ‘Our Father in Heaven’? Know why we pray – to see God’s Kingdom ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ Know God’s plan for achieving this – pray intelligently about the physical and spiritual dimensions of the issues

6. Be specific – not a vague ‘bless…’ but ‘give us our daily bread’… ‘forgiveness’… protection and delivery in times of trial Reaffirm why we are praying – it’s not about us or our wants but the furtherance of the Kingdom, Power and Glory of our Heavenly Father

7. Our confidence in Intercessory Prayer Is grounded in Scripture Role models throughout OT and NT: Moses; Daniel; Anna; Cornelius; Peter; Paul – look at how they prayed We have confidence in our God: Jesus, the same yesterday, today and forever

8. Effective Intercessory prayer Deepens our relationship with and understanding of: the Father each other the needs of individuals, our local community, our nation, the world ourselves as a church of ‘Christ Followers’ in Corsham and the type of church God wants us to be.

9. Therefore draw near to God Approaching God’s throne in Confidence: Heb 4: 4-16 Approaching the Father in Confidence: 1 John 5 : 13-21 Know that God hears our prayers and sees our heart: 1 Pet 3:8-13 (cf Ps 34) Prayer Rises: Rev 8: 1-5 Jesus’ prayer for us: John 17 :20-26