Joy Dawson - Intercession, thrilling and fulfilling

Dedication

I am deeply grateful to my dear, committed intercessor friends for the significant role they play. Without them, the effectiveness of my ministry would be substantially lessened. They are among my most treasured gifts from God. It is a joy to honor them and dedicate this book to them. Their prayers helped to birth it.

Acknowledgments

As at all times, and especially while writing this book, I was vividly aware of my desperate need of the inspiration, direction, and energizing of the Holy Spirit. I also never felt so dependent on the prayers of others during a writing project as I did while working on this one.

I am greatly indebted to my precious husband Jim, without whose willing and able help in numerous areas, this project would not have been accomplished.

My sincerest thanks to my excellent, former secretary Kay Matta for her invaluable assistance in typing the manuscript. I also appreciate the editorial suggestions given me by my dear friend Len LeSourd before his death. And I'm very grateful for the staff at YWAM Publishing who have been wonderfully cooperative. My special thanks to Jim Drake, the editor, who was a delight to work with.

Note to the Reader

Any reader in the United States or Canada who feels the need to find someone to partner with in prayer for serious, personal needs can contact an organization called Breakthrough , which has 3,500 intercessors whose sole function is to pray for the personal needs of people who seek help. Each prayer request goes out to five intercessors for a period of twenty-one days for prayer. This wonderful ministry is supported solely by the freewill offerings of God's people.

There are also Christian television and radio networks, plus churches with telephone counseling ministries, that hurting people are encouraged to call for help. The reader will understand that the author is unable to personally meet such needs.

Foreword

"He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. "

Psalms 18:33-34

I saw a hot air balloon take off yesterday, and something in me leaped upward again.

Whenever I see the surreal sight of one of those magnificently colored, medieval-like objects becoming airborne, whether against the backdrop of a radiant dawn, or hanging like a tree-ornament on the face of a verdant hillside, I'm transfixed caught with a sense of timelessness.

I am drawn to that scene just now, because in inviting you to plunge into the wealth and beauty contained in this book, that imagery seems to provide striking parallels.

First, you are on the brink of a magnificent and mighty, uplifting experience. Just as the balloon rises with the heat surging into its billowing frame, there is a buoyancy awaiting you. And believe me, this isn't "hot air." Rather, these pages provide a fire-filled atmosphere, warmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit! I believe that as you readjust as with balloon travelyou'll find yourself lifted to a broader perspective and enlarged with a new vision.

Second, you're also about to be brought to new boundaries of possibility, because elevation isn't all a balloon gainsthe winds surrounding it bring transportation, too. There is movement that unveils ever-increasing and expanding horizons. That's exactly what I have witnessed taking place in recent years regarding the precious and powerful truths of intercessory prayer.

As winds of spiritual renewal continually spread, the Church our Jesus has birthed in this generation is being borne upward and forward by a sweeping spirit of prayer. The balloon, so to speak, has been advancing with the Spirit's gentle power (the wind) just as it has been ignited by His mighty presence (the fire). Get ready for both! You're about to tap into rich resources that will waft you higher; that will deepen your grasp of those prayer-secrets that have made God's people powerful throughout earlier eras. Here are timeless truths, but brought alive today with new splendor and power suited to today's challenges and opportunities.

Finally, the balloon is beautifulbrilliant in its color, creative in its designand so is this book! This isn't surprising at all, considering the loveliness and steadfastness of God's grace which has been displayed through the life and ministry of the writer.

Joy Dawson is a teacher who makes both the beauty and the truth of God's word live with color and creativity. However, as quick as this dear woman's mind is, the brilliance in her writing is more than the product of human intellect alone. You are stepping into the pages of a book that is born of long travail as well as the fruitful experience of years.

For years now, I have been privileged to be called "Pastor" by Joy and Jim Dawson. Most recently, all their friendsand certainly, a host within our congregationhave been touched by the grace, patience and faith that they have both shown during the season of physical trial Joy has endured. If loving prayers could provide an instant answer, her pain would have been absent long ago. But this has not been a short battle.

It may seem paradoxical to some, that a book on prayer's power and the truth of the promise that "all things are possible to him who believes," would be written by a person living through the pain and struggle of a not-yet-completely-answered prayer. However, in truth, that fact only increases the credibility of the writer's grasp of the subject matter here, because Joy and Jim illustrate that consummate, biblical faith in God's absolute faithfulness which, ultimately, is the only real certainty that any of us have when we pray.

So, it is my pleasure to introduce you to a book which deserves to be a text for every Bible student and a tool in the hands of every Christiana means for us all to leverage our spiritual insight and power to new heights. Now, please, take it in handand prepare for a mighty "sky-ride." I predict a new "high" for you, and best of all this is the kind from which you never have a post-trip let down!

As the horizons of intercessory possibilities expand before you, you will first be captivated by the vision. But as you continue, I assure youyou'll become imprinted with the grandeur of this truth: It's the people who "ride the high places with God who, in partnership with Him, determine the affairs of humankind living in the valleys and plains below!

Jack W. Hayford , Senior pastor The Church On The Way

Van Nuys, California May 1997

Table of Contents

Preface

The purpose for writing this book is to inspire, encourage, and motivate readers to put into personal practice the biblical principles contained within this book's pages. I have tried to balance inspirational writing with simple, biblical instruction. Many of the chapters are how-to oriented; designed so that each chapter can stand alone and be used as a guide for an exhilarating, fulfilling time of intercession in each area. Consequently, a certain amount of overlapping has been necessary.

I trust you'll be forever ruined for the ordinary as you discover or rediscover the wonders of cooperating with God in shaping the course of history through intercession. It happened to me. It can happen to you.

I'm so thankful that we have a record of some of the prayers of Jesus, along with those of the Old and New Testament prophets, and the apostle Paul. And aren't we glad that we got to listen in on David's prayer of repentance and Hannah's cry for spiritual ambition and fulfillment? What a wealth of learning we would have missed had we never heard their heart cries to God.

I am aware of Jesus' words of admonition in Matthew 6:6 to go into our rooms and pray to God in secret. A reward is subsequently promised. Obviously God in His wisdom uses this as a test of our motives. We will all be tested at varying times regarding our response to His words. However, I find in the Bible both in Jesus' life on earth and in the lives of others that this is not an absolute. Otherwise, we would never know when, where, or what these people prayed.