Habits Of A Highly Effective Intercessor

There are several successful habits of highly effective Intercessors of which demonstrating dominion is one.

Biblical dominion is defined as the authority and ability that God gave to man for him to effectively reign and rule over the earth. Through Adam’s sin, we lost our dominion and through Jesus’ righteousness, we have regained it. But even though we have regained dominion, which is the authority and the ability to rule, we still need to demonstrate that authority and that ability in a very real and practical way daily!

The following are some topics that are related to demonstrating dominion!

a) The Difference Between Exousia and Dunamis – Lu 10:19 Behold, I give unto you the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

In the verse above the word “power” is used twice but it’s two entirely different Greek words that are being translated. In the first instance, the word is “Exousia” and means “Authority, Mastery, Jurisdiction” in the second instance the word is “Dunamis” and means “Ability, Force, Strength”! So Jesus is saying that He has given us authority over all the ability of the devil!

I always hear preachers make a big boast about how we have dunamis and they make a point of stressing that this means dynamite, explosive power. And every time I hear it I say, “So what???” The devil has the same” dunamis” (dynamite, explosive ability), you see that’s our problem right there! We keep focusing on dunamis and not on exousia, we’re focusing on the ability we have, which the devil also has, instead of the authority we have, of which the devil has NONE!

If we have the ability and the devil and his demons have the ability then we are evenly matched, right? But if we have the right to control the devil’s ability then who has the upper hand? Yes! We Do!!! We have the authority – the devil has NONE!

Now when we’re praying especially as intercessors this is the position from which we pray. The position of absolute authority under God! God said, “What you bind (forbid) on earth He will also forbid and what you loose (allow) on earth He will also allow! That is delegated authority! Under God, we are the lords of the earth, not the devil and his agents! But we have got to consistently rise and declare this to be so. This is the work that we must do to walk in dominion upon the earth!

b) Exercising Your Faith Muscle – I’m sure you’ve heard it said a million times before that faith is like a muscle and you’ve got to exercise it to make it grow, well it’s true!

In a practical sense what you can do to exercise your faith is to make a conscious effort to believe God for something that you have not believed Him for in the past and as you see victory in this area you make the effort to believe Him for something that requires more faith than the last thing you believed for, thereby putting more strain on your faith and forcing it to grow to meet the increasing demands!

The principle is the same for those of you who are involved in bodybuilding, your muscles will not grow until you place a demand on them that is greater than what they’re accustomed to!

As an example let me ask you this, “How do expect to believe God to cure you of Cancer if every time you get a headache you use Tylenol or Advil or whatever? Practice using your faith to get rid of the headaches and colds so that if something bigger does come you’re more equipped!

c) Overcoming Fear – In the body of Christ, fear seems to be one of the biggest problems that exist! Christians appear to be some of the most fearful creatures on the planet! This subject alone deserves a whole book but let’s see if I can briefly deal with the essential aspects of the matter.

First of all, what is fear? In one context, fear is a legitimate emotion that you feel when faced with the unknown or any potentially dangerous situation. It is part of an elaborate and complex system, which incorporates the Autonomic nervous system of the human body. In this context, fear is a very real and necessary part of our lives and acts as a vital component in the process of self-preservation!

In another context, fear is the term used to refer to the reverential respect that God demands from us and that we offer to Him as our duty.

Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

But there’s a third context in which fear is used, you see unknown to most people fear is also a spirit, a demonic spirit with a mission to cripple and confuse the efforts of God’s people. He is a living entity and his name is Fear!

God Himself said that He has not given to us the spirit of fear but the spirit of power, of love, and a sound mind. (2 Tim 1:7).

To conquer your enemy, you must first understand your enemy! When the spirit of fear attacks you he (by definition) brings with him the emotion of fear! The difference is that this emotion he brings is not natural but manufactured by that spirit and used as a weapon against you.

In the verse above God said He gave us the spirit of a sound mind, the original word that is translated as “sound mind” means, “discipline and self-control.” Discipline is doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason. So when this demon attacks, his purpose is to use fear to disorient and confuse you so that you are not in control of your thoughts and emotions.

But know this, whenever you are not in control of your thoughts and emotions someone else is! And this is exactly where the devil wants you, you see, demons never attack alone they always come in pairs or groups, so that while you are distracted by the spirit of fear and not in control of your thoughts and emotions the other spirits that came with him now have free course to mentally and emotionally manipulate you and deliver the fatal blow! The one they hope will put you down for the count.

So, your defense is simply to identify the spirit of fear, bind him then willfully overcome the emotion of fear that you feel remembering that it was never real in the first place! It is a manufactured emotion whose job was to cripple you mentally and emotionally!

As an effective Intercessor, demonstrating dominion means praying from a position of victory and power, from a position of authority over the devil’s ability, and getting the job done.