Dear Friend, Are you aware that someone may be praying for you? If asked, could you name two or three people who interceded for you throughout your life—or are praying for you even now? Those who are lifting your name before the throne of God are most likely friends or relatives. But it could also be someone you’re not aware of—a person who is carrying a spiritual burden for you and your family. It’s a wonderful thought, isn’t it? Here is the best news of all. Those petitions are heard by the Lord—and they make a tremendous impact upon the course of your life. The direction and circumstances of your present and future will be vastly improved by this one fact: someone is praying for you.
A Palpable Sense
One morning recently as I was preparing to go to the office, a thought entered my mind so clearly that it might as well have been spoken out loud: “Somebody’s praying for me.” I began to run through the list of who it might be, starting with family members. However, my immediate sense was that it was an elderly friend of DPM, an intercessor I had visited in Alto, New Mexico. Here is why I suspected she might be the one praying for me. Every so often, the Lord prompts me to call Mary Jane—just to let her know she is in our thoughts. Once when I phoned, she said, “Well, the timing of your call is interesting. I was just thinking this would be a good day for me to go home to be with the Lord.” Mary Jane went on to say she really didn’t know why the Lord was keeping her around. My answer to her was simple—maybe even a little selfish. “Mary Jane, I know you are praying for me, and I need your intercession. That’s one good reason for you to stick around.” She laughed on the other end of the line—but I was completely serious. I know her intercession for me and for the work here at DPM makes a tremendous difference.
The Power of Prayer
Let me share another personal example—one from the early days of my engagement to Cindi Basham, the woman who has been my wife for over 47 years. It took the form of this amazing statement made to me by her mother, Alice: From the time Cindi was born, she and Don had been praying daily for the man who would be her husband. When Alice told me this, I stood before her dumbfounded and grateful. I was 20 at the time, and quickly did the math. With me being about two years older than Cindi, that meant their prayers for me had been continuing steadily for 18 years, from the time I was less than two years old. I thought back upon incidents in my childhood when I had been kept from catastrophe—including a perilous tumble down a 40-foot rock face at the age of 12 which could have taken me out. Instead, the friend and I who fell suffered only minor scratches and bruises. (Apparently, my friend Jerry benefitted as well from the overflow of my future parents-in-law’s intercession.) Thankfully, Alice’s prayers for me continue to this day. The steady intercessory prayer of those who love you—or maybe even those who are only remotely connected with you—can make a huge difference in your life.
Favor Bestowed
The Apostle Paul notes the impact of such petitions in 2 Corinthians 1:8–11. He began his second letter to Corinth by stating that he and the members of his ministry team had been severely burdened by afflictions during their time in Asia. Indeed, they had constantly faced life-threatening circumstances—what Paul described as “the sentence of death.” What was the key to the protection they experienced? Here is Paul’s answer: “You also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many” (v. 11, NAS). Paul credited the prayers of fellow Christians as a vital component in their well-being. Another testimony of prevailing prayer comes from the life of St. Augustine, whose mother, Monica, kept interceding for her reprobate son—even when such prayers seemed futile. Augustine was a boy of special promise, but he chose a life of rebellion and debauchery in defiance of his mother’s Christian faith. Even so, Monica’s prayers continued, and before her death in 387 A.D. at the age of 56, she saw Augustine come to faith in Christ. The gratitude Augustine felt was cited by Diane Severance, PhD, in her article entitled “Augustine Couldn’t Outrun Mother’s Prayers.” She writes, “In his Confessions, Augustine spoke of his grief and weeping for the mother ‘now gone from my sight, who for years had wept over me, that I might live in Your [God’s] sight.’ In later years Augustine could look back on his life and recognize the importance of his mother’s perseverance in prayer to his own salvation and ministry.”
Supportive Prayer
Similar to Augustine, Derek Prince spoke of the loving prayers of his grandmother. As a young child, he discovered her one evening kneeling in her room with an open Bible before her, praying out loud as was her custom. Derek’s sense was that he was the subject of her supplications—and he credited those prayers with sustaining him in life and ministry. In the final message from his Hebrews series, entitled “Spiritual Stability (Hebrews 13:7-25),” Derek commented on his gratitude for the prayers Christians have offered for his ministry.
Being a minister of the gospel, I’m aware of how much prayer we need. When I was a younger minister and more conceited in those days, if I was successful I used to think, “Now I’m really getting there!” When I have success now I think, “I wonder who’s praying for me.” I have come to learn that our success is very directly in proportion to the prayer that supports it. So, for those of you not in “full-time ministry,” I want to suggest a very good prayer investment. It is to pray for ministers leading upright, honorable lives, who are channels of prayer who can receive all the prayer you pour into them. That channel will direct the prayer where it brings forth fruit in the kingdom of God. Just taking the example of Paul, he almost always asked the people to whom he wrote to pray for him. I am happy to say in our newsletters, Ruth and I almost always do the same. Sometimes I think, “Am I overdoing it?” Then I think, “No, it’s what needs to be said.” We see a similar principle in Ephesians 6:18: “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints . . .” We are to pray for all the saints. No saint has to be left out.
Our Prayer for You
Back to our question at the beginning of this letter. Are you aware that someone is interceding for you in the way described for St. Augustine and Derek? Chances are good that your name is placed high on the prayer list of many who care for you. However, there is the possibility you may be lacking someone to offer this kind of concerned prayer for you. If you have any doubt that someone is specifically interceding for you, here is my offer. Feel free to use our online prayer request form and ask us to intercede for you (click here to access). The members of our DPM–USA staff are faithful, praying people. Truthfully, we would count it one of our greatest privileges to intercede for you. So please get in touch—and we will make sure to place your name on our prayer list. In fact, let me pray for you right now. Usually, in response to what I have written here, I include an opportunity for you and me to pray together in line with the theme of the letter. This time, you can just listen in. All you have to do is read through the following prayer, absorb it, and realize that it is offered in love and concern for you and your situation.
Lord, I pray for my dear friend who is reading these words right now. I ask You to pour out Your grace and mercy, accompanied by an immediate, palpable awareness of how much You love them. With this prayer, Father, I lift up every aspect of my friend’s life to You. Bless them, help them, and strengthen them today. Intervene in the situations that are troubling them or hampering them, and bring solution, resolution, and provision. I declare on their behalf the wonderful promise You express in Jeremiah 29:11 —that You know Your plans for each of us—plans for good and not for evil, to provide us with a future and a hope. I ask You to bring that into reality for my friend as I pray now, letting him or her know that the future You have prepared is a positive one, filled with hope and blessing. I pray these words from Ephesians 1:18: that the eyes of my friend’s heart will be enlightened to know the hope of Your calling, and the riches of the glory of the inheritance You have reserved for them. Please make this a reality for them today. In the name of Jesus, I intercede for this dear one, and I speak Your blessing, favor, and hope for every aspect of my friend’s life—now and in the future. Amen.
Spreading the Blessing
I hope you were lifted by this prayer. Please take it to heart, knowing that the Lord intends to make it a reality in your life. If it has encouraged you, why not spread the blessing? Take a minute to think of someone you know and pray those same words for them. We hope you will also take us up on our offer to continue our intercession for you. Please feel free to get in touch with us. You may have some specific details to add to your request, and we welcome that information as well. We will be honored to follow through on every opportunity to pray with you and for you. This offer to intercede for you is simply an extension of our sincere desire to stand with you in your growing relationship with Jesus. A primary way we help is through supplying the solid biblical teaching of Derek Prince. You may want to request the message from which we took Derek’s excerpt, “Spiritual Stability.” Because this is a comprehensive teaching on Hebrews 13:7-25, it contains a wealth of additional instruction beyond the point Derek made about the prayers of the saints. We know it will encourage you, and it is free for the asking. Your involvement with us—your interaction and financial support—speak volumes about your devotion to this ministry. Thank you for being a vital part of DPM–USA and our worldwide outreaches. We are grateful for you.
A New Season
I hope the Lord has used this letter to encourage you. If nothing else, you know you have been prayed for by someone who cares for you—all of us here at DPM. If you prayed for another person as well, you have spread the blessing. Maybe the theme shared in this letter has served to initiate a new season of intercession in your life. We trust that in the days ahead, you will see the positive impact of your prayers. By putting them into action, you are affirming this priceless truth: someone is praying for you.