Wilson was counselling mini-stry in Word Service. He is 50 years old and has received many charisms and anointing. He is instrumental in guiding people in various crises and bring them closer to salvation. It was quite unexpectedly that he was diagnosed with cancer. There was quick deterioration and he reached a critical state. Wilson himself, his family and all those who knew him were seriously distressed. For specialized and expert treatment he was taken to the prestigious Velloor Christian Medical College. A series of chemotherapies was done. As a result, the handsome Wilson lost his hair. His eyes were sunken. He lost his vitality and his fair complexion. But he, his family and many of those who have been counseled by him prayed for his healing. The fervent and insistent prayers shot into heaven. A miracle did happen. Wilson was healed. He got back all that he had lost his hair, his vigour, his vitality and his good looks. He has returned to his counselling services with greater zeal. The famous Victorian poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, in one of his world famous poems, says: More things are wrought by prayer than the world dreams of, especially when we pray for others. Since intercessory prayers are not vitiated by the shadow of selfishness, they are more powerful and they produce better results. God always looks for the cooperation of man. So prayer can be defined thus: Prayer is the process by which God brings about through men things which are impossible by men all by themselves. Prayer is the relation and the making of relation with God. God has sought men who have, and who seek, relations with him right from the beginning of human history. Through them, God works miracles. It was through the advent of the charismatic renewal that the society realized the necessity and power of intercessory prayers. Before and during the retreats and proclamations of the word, it is usual for a group of people to pray for the congregation as well as those who lead the services to pray for Gods anointing grace on them. At the Potta Ashram and the Divine Retreat Centre there are prayer groups that are constantly engaged in intercessory prayers and these prayers form the power behind the services. Wherever there are transformations, anointing, signs and miracles, there is the miraculous power of the intercessory prayers. In the Bible the first reference to such prayers is found in the description of the time of Seth, who was born to Adam and Eve after Abel was murdered. At that time people began to invoke the name of the Lord (Gen 4:26). The first man of prayer seen in the Bible is Abraham. From there he moved to the hill country and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked on the name of the Lord (Gen 12:8; 13:4). Abraham, who was called the friend of God (Jas 2:23) was the first pioneer of intercessory prayers. Without consulting the intermediary, God would not do anything in that land. When God revealed to Abraham that he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of their heinous crimes, Abraham made intercessory prayers. Later when Abraham reached Gerar with his wife Sarah, Abimelech, the king of Gerar, tried to take away Sarah. Then God told Abimelech, Return the mans wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live (Gen 20:7). Then Abraham prayed to the Lord. God healed Abimelech, his wife and the female slaves (Gen 20:17). Another role model for intercessory prayers is Moses, who developed intimate relations with God and became his friend (Exo 33:11). Moses, who was in the presence of God for forty days and forty nights on the Mount Sinai was filled with anointing. Even his face shone like the sun. The pharaoh of Egypt requests Moses four times to pray to God on his behalf to save Egypt from the plagues afflicting it because of the recalcitrant behaviour of the people invoking Gods anger. The power of the intercessory prayers of Moses is most vividly seen when the anger of God is blazing against the people worshipping the golden calf (Exo 32:9-14). 1. Intercessory Prayers Work Wonders Things that are thought to be impossible become possible through intercessory prayers. Under the leadership of Joshua, when priests and the people blew the trumpets in front of the ark of the covenant, praying and praising God, the wall of the enemy town Jericho crumbled (Joshua 6:1-21). With the power of prayers, Joshua made the sun and the moon stand still (Joshua 10:12-15). Wasnt the powerful intercession of Mary that caused the first miracle of Jesus during the wedding at Cana? Those who request for it, prosperity comes. When Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, forgave his adversaries and prayed for them, the heaven opened and he was able to see the glory of God (Acts 7:54-60). 2. Pray for others constantly We should do intercessory prayers with greater frequency. The Word says, Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite! Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! (Lam 2:18-19). When the hen hatches the eggs, she does not take leave even for a day. Only when she sits over the eggs for 21 consecutive days, the eggs hatch and the chicken come out. Prophet Daniel fasted for 21 consecutive days and prayed humbly for the kingdom of Persia. As a result, archangel Michael himself came to help him in his fight against the powers of evil (Dan 10). 3. Pray with remorse and repentance When we pray after listening to, and reading, the Word, miracles will happen. Nehemiah, the governor, tried to rebuild Israel through confession, prayers and reading the book of the law of God. They read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretationAll the people wept when they heard the words of the law (Neh 8:8-9). Moreover, They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth part of the day, and for another fourth they made confession and worshipped the Lord their God (Neh 9:3). 4. Pray with purity When we pray in a state of grace, after repenting, confessing and receiving the Holy Eucharist, our prayers will have greater power. Apostle James says, The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective (Jas 5:16). God has made it very clear through prophet Isaiah that the prayers of people immersed in sin are not acceptable to him. When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourself; make yourself clean (Is 1:15-16). God revealed through Joshua, Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you (Joshua 3:5). Judith who prayed with purity and fasting saved the Israelites from the clutches of the Philistines (Judith 9:11-14). 5. Pray with faith The basis of all prayers is faith. Jesus himself has revealed: All things can be done for the one who believes (Mk 9:23). Apostle James says that the deeper the faith, the greater will be the result of the prayers (Jas 5:15). Jesus heals the paralytic by seeing the faith of those who brought the paralyzed man before him, carrying him in a bed (Mt 9:2). The man with faith will wholly rely on God. Daniel who was thrown into the den of the hungry lions cried to the Lord. No kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God (Dan 6:23). 6. Pray with anointing It is when we pray with the anointing from the Holy Spirit that our prayers become fruitful. When Prophet Elijah, who boldly declared I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts (1 Kings 19:10), prayed fire descended from heaven and consumed the offerings (1 Kings 18:36-38). When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices (2 Chr 7:1). The counsel of Paul is, Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord (Rom 12:11). It is the Holy Spirit himself that teaches us to pray in the right manner: We do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words (Rom 8:26). When we seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit in prayers, he will reveal to us the ways we have to follow. 7. Intercessory Prayer a salient feature of the Church By its very nature, the Church is a prayer community. Whenever there were problems or crises of any sort, the early Church turned to prayers to seek solutions. When the Church leadership faced objections and threats, the believers prayed for courage and perseverance. Then even the place where they had assembled shook and all were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:23-31). The decision of the apostles was that they would constantly endeavour to spend their time in prayers and services. Peter was imprisoned because he was preaching the word of God. But then, the church did not, primarily, embark upon protests and rallies, but prayed fervently and earnestly. The Word says, While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently for him (Acts 12:5). The praying man is a strong man and the non-praying man a weakling. To the apostles who could not heal the boy afflicted with an evil spirit, Jesus said, This kind can come out only through prayer (Mk 9:29). Now, when the Church is passing through times of trials and tribulations, what the Church must use most is the spiritual weapon of intercessory prayers.