I believe that I mentioned at the beginning of this year that one of my desires for this year is to learn more about how I can hear God’s voice more clearly. In fact, the devotional book I’m using for my daily readings is titled Hearing His Voice by Chris Tiegreen. I’ve learned a lot of ways that we can hear His voice as I’ve read these daily messages – some of the ways I already knew, some of them I should’ve already known and some I had never really considered.
Today’s devotional dealt with praying for others and falls into that group of “I had never really considered.” The scripture passage for the day was: “Epaphras…always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God.” (Colossians 4:12 TLB)
The premise of the devotional was how God will sometimes give us a prompting in our spirit that we need to pray for someone else. Sometimes a specific thing will be revealed and other times it will just be a strong leading to pray for the person – reason unknown.
An example he gave was that a woman was actually at a dinner party when she suddenly had a strong impression that she needed to pray for her husband who was away on a business trip in Germany. It wasn’t a sense of dread, just a need to pray. So she excused herself and went to pray for him until she felt at peace.
When she later talked with her husband she discovered that while praying for her husband, he and his traveling companions were being pressed by their German hosts to visit the red-light district for a night of entertainment. They were resisting and their hosts were insisting. Eventually they backed off from their insistence. “The Spirit provided strength in a time of need.” *
“God often impresses us to intercede for people in danger or distress…Many crises, temptations, and evil threats have been averted at the precise moment when someone prayed without knowing exactly why.” * (I know that I have heard stories – and you likely have as well – about how someone sensed they were supposed to pray for a friend or family member, only to discover later they had been in a place where they desperately needed an act of God to save them from danger.) So any impression that we get to pray for someone should be taken seriously and acted on promptly.
“Don’t resist sudden urges to pray for someone. If these urges are motivated by fear or panic , they almost certainly aren’t the Holy Spirit’s prompting; but if motivated by an awareness of intense need, they almost certainly are.” *
So the idea that God’s promptings to pray for someone else, even when the reason is unknown, is a wonderful way that He speaks to us. That then, with our obedience to intercede, can be a blessing to someone else, giving them strength to handle the circumstance they find themselves in.
Here are a couple of other scripture passages that I believe fit well into this scenario:
“Do all this in prayer, asking for God’s help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God’s people.” (Ephesians 6:18 GNT)
Paul wrote a letter to the followers in Colossae praising them for the strength of their faith and love. In Colossians 1:9 (ERV) he says this: “‘Since the day we heard these things about you, we have continued praying for you. This is what we pray: that God will make you completely sure of what he wants by giving you all the wisdom and spiritual understanding you need.’”
I recognize that I am not nearly sensitive enough to the Spirit to sense when He may be prompting me to pray for someone. So, I really liked the prayer Mr. Tiegreen had at the end of the devotional and adopt this for myself: “Holy Spirit, I would love to be a reliable intercessor in moments of need. Sensitize me to the impressions and burdens You give. I don’t need to understand why; I need only to know when You want me to pray and I will respond with zeal.” *
May we all take this need and responsibility seriously and turn our ears to hear when the Spirit speaks to us about intercession for others. It’s a very important way God speaks to us that will yield positive results.
Written by Karran Martin – May 26, 2025
*Quotes from Chris Tiegreen
[All bold emphasis is mine]
Karran's Korner 