All across the land, God’s army of intercessors are laying parts of their lives down to stand between the forces of good and evil. They are not doing it for themselves, but for someone else who is in hell and can’t get out alone. They exist in varying degrees of spiritual maturity, but they are an asset to the Kingdom of God in whatever level they function on. All are called of God to do this and all are aware--in some degree--that they are laboring for their heavenly Father. Because Jesus beat death and has the keys to death and hell, His enlivened army, his “front line” people–like the Marines, if you will--go back into hell, enabled to conquer victoriously every mission they are sent on. Because all forces at work in our world were ordained by the Creator with purpose (evil being our "opponent" to work strength into our fabric), he has provided the means for the opponents to be overtaken. And while true spiritual intercession is not fun and games, it is always successful.
Those called have been given divine passion and chosen to do this great work. No one would knowingly volunteer for some of these assignments, not only because there is no glory in them (outwardly), but they bring on duress and grief, and produce physical manifestations of the intercession. Appetite is affected, sleep is disturbed and even dreams continue the battle as we are given a visual in symbols of what is happening. Who is being rescued? Any number of persons existing on the planet who are oppressed by this dark realm of death that covers everyone not broken free of it. The individual intercessors have been empowered to perform this very real function in the spiritual priesthood (without robes) of Jesus Christ.
Intercessors are a vibrant part of the administrative structure of God’s working order, the Body of Christ. The term “the Body of Christ” has been thrown around and abused to a great degree. It is a living organism of called out people–the ecclesia, the true Church. Those out-called are special servants of the living God, under his direction to aid mankind. There are varying degrees of responsibility as in a large corporation. There is rank, order and divisions just like any smooth running business would have. I use these terms to paint a valid picture of a very real and secure operation ran by the Creator. Everything we see demonstrated in our world today is a manifest reality of what existed in the invisible, spiritual world first. Nothing would be available in this realm if it didn’t come out of the mind of God first, and our application of it came because of His approval of our usage of it!
Beginning levels of intercession include all kinds of prayer groups and prayer warriors. They are doing battle to whatever level of understanding they have. This includes those who intercede in another language (tongues)--in the spirit. God bless them all! They approach the throne of God with requests and heartfelt crying of another person’s pain. Most do not know the will of God for each situation and pray accordingly. God will hear each request, and somewhere in some of the requests will be His will. These precious people in their zeal for deliverance of others will in this way be SPEAKING God’s word into this realm where it will not return void. (Isaiah 55:11) This is OUR realm, and we speak for Him. It pleases him to use us as we give of ourselves to help others, but there are other purposes (and benefits) as well.
Higher levels of intercession involve a laying down of our own understanding to seek Father’s heart in a matter. We experience the heart and mind of God as we draw near with one hand in heaven and one hand in the earth. Being drawn into the anguish of a person’s pain to the extent that it causes us agony and grief, we become one with it, standing in their stead! With true passion, we turn to God in our own pain for the situation or person, and those heart-rending requests move the hand of God every time! He wants us to care for others as much as (and more than) we care about our own needs. Compassion oozed from Jesus and is a very powerful weapon. We can also gain a better understanding of the Creator in his view of mankind and our experience with him–in this time we take; it helps us to understand his will more than if we hadn’t drawn near to him. Prayers don’t always get a “yes”, but he can give us peace about the direction of the situation and an assurance that he is in control and has the final word.
Advanced intercessions (my wording) involve our life being affected (as I stated above) in waking and sleeping time. Our hope and faith is affected, our joy for life is overshadowed and we become one with oppression when we step into someone’s hell. If you haven’t already learned this, hell is not literal fire, but translated from sheol or hades (Hebrew, Greek) and means “the unseen” or “hidden”. We live in death and hell until liberated by Jesus Christ to view this realm as it really is. Some of us need more help than others out of the pit of darkness, and God sends his army of deliverers for that purpose. It shouldn’t be hard for us to imagine these scenarios. Many brutalized and oppressed inhabitants on the planet live in a daily existence that most of us could not conceive of. But God has not forgotten them; neither has he lost sight of them for there is purpose (and reward) in their trial. He is always near to those who are afraid.
When an intercessor is assigned, they are spiritually placed with the oppressed to not only bear the pain, but absorb it into themselves, and set the person free to move forward and higher into the light. The ability to absorb comes from the intercessor’s own spiritual prowess and attainments as Christ has descended into them and stood up in victory. Divine energy overtakes the darkness. Intercessory prayer and intercession is a working reality in the Kingdom of God. We are to be open to it, partake of it, and embrace it if we are called to serve Christ Jesus in this way.
“I exhort, then, first of all, there be made supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, for all men:” (1 Tim 2:1, Young’s)
There is also another kind of intercession or deliverance going beyond oppression.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph 6:12, NIV)
Deliverance ministries major in demon possession, and too often the emphasis is on those dark forces and God becomes a minor. While exorcists are on the right track, they are not usually spiritually equipped to handle what is truly manifesting in front of them. This, like many aspects of the Christian ministry, has counterfeits and fakes. While all demons are under the control of God—as Jesus demonstrated, they exist in our society far more than people would like to know about. Christian denominations have opinions about the reality of demons. It swings from the right where there is no belief, to the far left where demons are everywhere. To this group, the whole deliverance ministry thing becomes exciting and like a parlor game. Even if demonic activity is not the problem, they will try to make it so. I’ve seen it and partook of it myself. But since those many years have past, I have not heard an accurate explanation of what a demon really is from any of the “experts”. Those not having to deal with this sort of ministry just do their best to try to understand it. Therefore, before establishing what demons are, I will explain what they are not.
Demons are not disembodied souls or spirits. Souls are personalities, unique persons of a specific mind, will, emotions, and memories. Souls are precious to God and is the territory where Christ does his healing and renovating work in each of us (in our time). Jesus did not go around casting souls out of men–even disembodied ones. A soul would have belonged to a person (past or present), and the thought of him sending “souls” into a herd of swine to go crashing down into death is illogical (Matt 8:32). God’s care of souls would be of loving safe-keeping and not destruction. That is not our God! But what about other “spirits” that may be attached–disembodied ones?
Spiritual wickedness in high places is not about rebellion in God’s domain. All is in order in his part of the camp. But our realm does have disorder and that is what the scripture is speaking to. We are little creators, little gods. Our minds are very powerful and touch the spirit realm. This is where the spirit of religion (Satan, to some) exists. This is where man in his old Adamic nature of death and darkness does all his damage. Here is where demons are conceived. Demons are not expressions of God’s original creation, but are of man’s creation. They are entities made alive by belief from the power of the human soul.
The human soul, its energy, and its supreme intelligence--second only to God--can produce and create life forms that are illusions–in the sense that they are not flesh and blood creatures to others, but they are--just the same--very real to the one tormented. Concepts believed in are given power by the person’s acknowledgment of their existence. They can be seen, heard, and felt by the captive. Like a projector inside the mind, sending out the visual (hologram) that the person themselves can see (in their minds), the entities become real, controlling, and take up residence in the soul. The conception of the demon may have been forced from terror, pain, torture, or brainwashing techniques. Intense terror produces hallucinations that give place to the delusion of an entity--a demon. This also can be the fallout of dabbling in the occult, or partaking of anything (drugs, hypnosis, trance-producing meditations) that opens the subconscious mind to a power plant that should have remained inaccessible.
The reality is that the person themselves created the demon (regardless of the circumstance), and they have the power to destroy it upon enlightenment, empowerment from Jesus, and a denial of its existence beyond their own mind. In other words, it wasn't something operating outside of themselves. I’ve known persons who were delivered once they learned that the tormentor ran his kingdom from inside of them. It's a sobering reality, but the victory is attainable. Of course, other persons can also be influenced by a demonic presence IF they, too, put belief in it, and cults can have group possession. Satanic cults believe in an entity that they have given more power to than God has.
Satan is an adversary between the ears, and has never been a tangible being--except to cultists (and some religionists). Some of these kinds of entities can be terrifying, and for those too tormented or frightened by their inward resident(s), true deliverance can still be achieved tenderly through the brethren. Jesus could, indeed, cast out the warped created monsters of the human mind, and so can we!
All these things speak of real needs in ministry to aid the oppressed and possessed. Jesus conquered the darkness here so we can establish His Kingdom of light. We are to take back the land, and he has given us the tools to rescue and deliver captives. To be called to intercession is an honor and a privilege, but it is also challenging and draining. Much is required to them to whom much is given. To descend into hell and back out again is no game!
