I grew up in San Diego County in a relatively rural community with my seven brothers and sisters.  My mother and her siblings were raised in the Catholic faith and so there was never any question in our hearts about our faith.  It was settled when you were baptized as an infant and I doubt that any of us ever questioned the fact that we were “Catholic.”
 
I didn’t have any understanding of “Born Again Christians” or why they believed that everyone had to be born again to be saved.  I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know who Jesus was and I loved Him with all my heart.  I prayed the Lord would always keep me in the hollow of His hands and never let me go.
 
I left the Catholic Church when as a young divorcee I felt that I no longer belonged.  I quickly found a Christian Church that had a service much like the guitar mass I was so familiar with and settled into life at that church and attended for many years.I found myself involved in all sorts of positions of authority in the church and was very happy there.
 
Then one day while I was sitting in the pew during a Sunday morning service the pastor began to talk about a struggle he was having with people who prayed in tongues.  I didn’t know anything about the gift of tongues at that time.  I only knew the Pentecostals who rolled on the floor in their church services engaged in that kind of behavior and I never had a desire to explore their beliefs or attend one of their church services.
 
When the pastor said “Lord help this church if anyone here ever begins speaking in tongues.”  I heard the audible sound of what I can only describe as two trash can lids banging together like cymbals and I knew I was being told that it was time to leave the church.
 
I found myself at the Santee Wesleyan Church one evening where Pastor Noland approached me with a word of knowledge saying that the Lord was calling me to ministry.  I had already been sensing this calling of the Spirit but had no experience with the gifts of spirit and the Lord speaking through His servants in this way.  It was shortly thereafter that I began to function in the gifts of the Spirit and God began to use me in remarkable ways.  I never dreamed that He would open so many doors for me and He has truly held me in the palm of His hands.
 
This is where the Lord holds all of you.  He has inscribed you in the palm of His hands and He can never forget you or lose you.  “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb?  Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.  See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; Your walls are continually before Me.”  (Isaiah 49:15-16).  I was so afraid that I would slip out of the Lord’s hands and be lost when I prayed that prayer.  I called out from the depths of my heart and He reached out to me.  He is calling us to intimacy with Him and saying that He has every one of us inscribed in the palms of His hands.  He has a destiny and purpose for each and every one of us.  He formed us in our mother’s wombs and He knows our form.
 
We all wear many hats and do many things but one thing we are called to be is Prophetic Priests.  You may be asking, “What is a Prophetic Priest?”  Prophetic Priests are believers in Jesus who have been given a gift of revelation from the Holy Spirit.  They often have words of wisdom, a word of knowledge, discerning of spirits and the gift of prophecy.  As they move through their daily lives these gifts are active and a part of them.  They minister to the Lord and stand in the gap for those who are perishing.  They have been given the awesome privilege of changing the world through prayer.
 
These believers get their marching orders from the Holy Spirit and only do what the Lord has called them to do.  They are completely dependant upon Him and don’t move out alone on their own agenda but wait for the Lord to share His heart with them.  It is in this posture of complete dependency and brokenness before our God that He speaks to them.
 
Many in the Western church are too familiar with God.  They forget He is holy and to be revered.  They don’t show respect and honor to Him by even taking the time to worship Him before petitioning Him to take care of their needs.
 
Too many of us have been taught to war with the devil long before we’ve been taught to kneel before the Lord.  We get caught up in fighting the enemy and haven’t spent time with the Lord to hear His strategy for the battle.  The result is that many intercessors have fallen along the way and been picked off by the enemy.
 
The Lord is calling us to intimacy and authentic worship.  Worship where we give ourselves to the Lord without reservation.  We abandon ourselves to Him and He fills us with whatever we need.  It is in this posture of worship that we will truly know what the Lord is asking of us and we’ll know how to accomplish His will.
 
Intercession is where we have been given the awesome task of changing the world.  What an exciting calling.  We get to remind the Lord of promises He’s made and see them fulfilled.  How could anything be better than that?
 
In this position we stand in the gap before the Lord for the needs of others.  We ask for His justice, grace and mercy to come forth on their behalf.  An intercessor takes up the cause of injustice in the world and builds a wall of protection where there is a breach in the wall.

 
“O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins.  You have not gone up into the breaches (breaks in the wall, NIV), nor did you build the wall (hedge, KJV) around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the Lord.  (Eze. 13:4-5).
 
We get our strength to stand in the place battle during our time of worship and intimacy.  Without spending time with our Lord being refreshed and strengthened for the battle we might as well be naked warriors without weapons.  How can we expect to be victorious without the equipment needed to win the war?  Yet many are rushing out to battle the enemy from this posture.   
 
Next, as prophetic intercessor’s we’re being called to stand in the gap between God and His people.  God is looking for someone to call out to Him on behalf of those who deserve His indignation and ask Him for mercy.

 
“I looked for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.  Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought (poured) upon their heads,” declares the Lord God.”  (Eze. 22:30-31).
 
We have been given the privilege of asking God for His mercy on behalf of others.  He is looking for someone to ask Him to extend mercy to those who are perishing.  We can come before the Lord and cause Him to hold back His hand of wrath and righteous judgments that are due the people and ask Him for mercy.   
 
Exercise:   
Before you begin to petition the Lord in your prayer time come before Him in a posture of dependence and worship Him.  If He speaks or impresses you with something write it down and pray it back to Him.  Ask Him what He’s calling you to do with the message He’s given you.  Wait and see what He says and do exactly what He’s telling you to do.
 
In this posture of dependence and respect do the following:  
          Remind God of His word and pray the Scriptures
          Take up the cause of injustices
          Build up the walls of protection
          Petition for mercy