A Guide To Intercessory Prayer
by Rev. Richard W. LaFountain

Prayer Strategies
"Unique Prayer Ministries"
Throughout the Bible we find men and women of God with special prayer 
assignments from God. Anna and Simeon in the temple were just two examples. 
Men and women of God were intercessors in the roles that God assigned to 
them.  Find your place as God’s intercessor and stand on your holy ground.

1.)  Prayer Partners - 
Matthew 18:18-20 Almost every man of God had at least one close partner in 
prayer. Jesus had three, Peter, James, and John. Elijah had Elisha, Moses 
had Aaron and Hur, David had Jonathan and so on. Find at least one other 
person who has a "kindred spirit" of prayer like your own and team up for 
intercession. Covenant together that once a week you will meet faithfully 
at the same time and place for specific kind of prayer. (See Ecclesiastes 
4:9-12)learn more

2.)  "Heaven’s Gate" Around the Throne - 
Revelation 8:3-4 depicts a scene around the throne of God where the angel 
of the Lord has a golden censer and much incense which are the "prayers of 
the saints upon the golden altar" before the throne. The angel then filled 
the censer with fire and cast it to earth in response to the prayers of the 
saints. This corresponds to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church 
as in Acts 2:1 when the church in obedience to Christ was "in one accord in 
one place" when the Spirit of God was poured out on the church. Heaven’s 
Gate is an intercessory prayer effort "to prepare the way of the Lord" for 
the services each Sunday by agreeing together to meet together "around the 
throne" at the same hour (Saturday at 10:00 p.m.) for at least a half hour 
of intercession for the outpouring of God’s Spirit on the services of the 
Lord’s day. There is no need to leave your home just kneel where you are 
together with an army of saints before the throne.

3.)  "Watchmen" Over the House of God - 
God reveals to us in Ezekiel 22:30 that he is "looking for men among men 
that would make up the hedge and stand in the gap for the land." Then again 
in Ezekiel 33:7-8 God told Ezekiel that "I have made you a watchman over 
the House of Israel." Each week two or three people dedicate themselves to 
intercessory prayer during the worship service. With enough people involved 
volunteering once a month to "stand in the gap" for the preaching of the 
Word would be sufficient.  D.L. Moody had 200 intercessory in the basement 
directly under his pulpit every week praying for God’s anointing on his 
preaching and for the people.  You can easily use the time to walk through 
the first six steps of intercession and then prevail in prayer for the 
service upstairs.

4.)  Cleansing the Temple - 
There were times in the Old Testament that the Temple of God had been 
defiled by some sin. At such time great care was exercised to "sanctify" 
the temple for God’s intended use. Such was the case as well with 
households that had a case of leprosy. In order cleanse the house prayer 
and anointing needed to be exercised to "sanctify" the house.  Many 
churches today have prayer teams that meet early every Sunday morning 
(usually 6:30-7:30 a.m.) to quietly move through the sanctuary and each 
room of the church to pray over the place, people and events that will take 
place there that day. Often such prayer warriors are led to anoint the 
lintels and doorposts as well as the pulpit and instruments of worship as a 
sign of sanctifying those things wholly unto God. (Exodus 12:22 and 
Deuteronomy 11:20)

5.)  The Lord’s Watch - 
This is a 24 hour prayer vigil in which churches volunteer to be intercessors 
around the clock for a 24 hour period. The Alliance has perhaps hundreds of 
churches that have volunteered to have someone in their church interceding 
for Alliance churches, missions, and people. Each church sets up a 24 hour 
clock in half hour increments for church people to sign up to intercede. 
learn more

6.)  Prayer Shield - 
Every pastor needs a prayer shield. A prayer shield is a protective 
covering of prayer by dedicated men and women who understand the 
difficulties of being on the front lines. Moses understood this when in the 
battle against the Amalekites he assigned Aaron and Hur to be his "right 
hand" and "left hand" intercessors while the battle raged. (Exodus 17:8-16) 
There is not need for  formal volunteers for this ministry. Only men and 
women who feel particularly called of God  should embark on such and effort 
for they too will be part of the battle and targets fo the "fiery darts of 
the wicked one."  Perhaps God will lead to you be a shield for others who 
minister in the congregation. learn more

7.)  Prayer Walking - 
Prayer walking is not new. It is a biblical concept that has been lost in 
our mobile society. Prayer walking was first done by Adam and Eve in the 
cool of the day. Prayer walking is simply walking with God and talking to 
him about the ground and surroundings that you are covering. Joshua 14:9  
"Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance." 
It is praying with your eyes open as you walk asking God to give you his 
eyes to see the world as He sees it. Like walking around the walls of 
Jericho it can be a faith walk for the strongholds of the enemy to be 
broken. It can be a walk around the church property, around you 
neighborhood, or your entire city. It is a great way to pray for you 
neighborhood, or your community.  It is often evangelistic praying.
learn more

8.)  Personal Prayer Retreat - 
Jesus invited his disciples to "come apart and rest awhile." Jesus himself 
often spent quality time away from the crowds alone with God. We should 
too. Not everyone can be a daily intercessor but all of us can set apart 
special times (at least twice a year) for special days of prayer where we 
are alone with God to bathe yourself with prayer. It is a time to "draw 
near to God" and him to you. (James 4:8) A prayer retreat can be as short 
as a half day, or as long as two or three days, even a week. It can be 
alone in the woods, in a cabin, on a boat, or at home alone. Wesley 
Duewel’s book Touch the World Through Prayer has an excellent chapter on 
how to do your own personal prayer retreat. Try starting with a half-day 
Saturday, or half-day on Sunday afternoon and evening. Husbands help your 
wives in this matter since it is easier for you to escape the home routine 
than for her.learn more

9.)  Personal Prayer and Fasting - 
We have already seen that fasting and prayer is the only way to gain the 
victory over Satan’s stubborn strongholds. Fasting can be an enjoyable and 
refreshing experience if you make it a regular part of your life. Bill 
Bright, founder of Campus Crusade, was 72 years old before he did his first 
fasting and prayer and found it wonderful. Today he has done four 40 day 
fasts and is training and encouraging others to rediscover this lost 
spiritual discipline. You can look up his web site for further instructions 
at  or check out Fasting and Prayer ’99 to 
learn more about fasting at .  Agreeing with 
prayer partners to fast together is a great way to start and keep 
encouraged.

10.)  Prayer Summits/ Prayer College - 
The Christian and Missionary Alliance has an ongoing College of Prayer and 
Prayer Events where you can go for a few days to soak up teaching and 
experience a deeper prayer life. We will be announcing these prayer events 
as the information becomes available.learn more