The Power of Intercessory Prayer

Rev. Tony Campbell, who will speak at the Christian Reformed Church's Prayer Summit 2015, recalls how his brother, Erik, got severely burned when he reached up to the stove in their Gary, Ind., home and tipped over a pan of boiling water.

The water poured all over Erik, and Campbell’s father yelled for him to get to the family car so they could rush Erik to the hospital.

As he ran for the car, Campbell called out to God, pleading for him to intercede and spare the life of his brother.

“I remember praying with all I had that Erik would be OK,” says Campbell, director of missional engagement and global mission for the Reformed Church in America.

For the next several days, as his brother was treated in the hospital and his parents stayed close to Erik, Tony Campbell kept praying--at school, at the hospital, at home at night.

When doctors finally told his parents that Erik would survive, and Tony was given a thumbs-up sign from his father, he was not only relieved, but he was convinced about the power of intercessory prayer.

“I also learned about the need for prayers of thanksgiving, which I prayed when I knew Erik was going to get better,” says Campbell, for whom prayer has remained constant throughout the years.

“Prayer has been such an important part of my life. It is a conversation with God that keeps me grounded and helps to shape my life on a day-to-day basis.”

Besides Campbell, several people will speak about the power of prayer, about approaches to prayer, and about other topics related to prayer at the Prayer Summit 2015 scheduled for April 13-15 near Los Angeles, Calif.

“We will have a number of authors and scholars speaking. Each will bring their own message, and we will especially gather together to pray,” says Charles Kim, who is coordinating the summit.

Kim is also shooting video stories that can be shown during the event and used as prayer resources afterward.

Building on the first summit in 2012, followed by the next one in 2013, and by many additional regional prayer gatherings since then, this binational event will include pastors, church and ministry leaders, prayer leaders, and intercessors from across the United States and Canada.

As was the case with the previous summits, the event will take place at All Nations CRC in Lakeview Terrace outside Los Angeles. Home Missions, various denominational ministries, and Korean ministries will sponsor the summit.

The theme of this year’s summit is 1 Timothy 2:1-3: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. . . . This is good, and pleases God our Savior.”

Specifically, says Kim, they will set aside time to pray for Coptic Christians, a group whose members were recently murdered by members of ISIS in Libya, and for reconciliation among groups across the Middle East.

They will also offer prayers to ease racial tensions in the U.S., said Kim.

“We will pray for families facing injustice and police officers living in fear,” he said.

“Above all, we will pray not only for the church and its own needs, but we will pray in all ways for everyone,” says Kim.

Registration remains open for the summit. In addition, money is available for scholarships for persons who may need funding assistance, says Kim.

Among the other presenters will be Barbara Schutt, a registered nurse and author of the book Your Journey to a Prayerful Life, a workbook designed to help people develop lives of prayer.

She says the message on prayer that she hopes to share at the summit is that it is possible to move from "having a prayer life" to "living a praying life."

“I will share some prayer practices and tools that have influenced my journey. Living a praying life is the key to personal transformation.

“When I began to take God seriously about this calling to move deeper into relationship with him through prayer, I experienced many significant changes.”

The other message she hopes to share is that churches that take specific steps toward becoming "houses of prayer" also experience transformation and deeper levels of spirituality.

In a workshop, she says, she’ll set aside time for participants “to dialogue and pray together about where they are and where they sense the Holy Spirit is leading them as a church regarding prayer.”

Dawn Michelson, who works as a missionary with her husband, Gene, in West Africa, is another presenter at the summit.

“My husband and I have lived and worked for more than 25 years in Muslim evangelism, a field where realists have low expectations.

“We have seen the Holy Spirit draw some of our neighbors to Jesus. Of course, we and our supporters have prayed and prayed some more over each personal relationship we have and over each book or audio message that we distribute.

“It's an encouragement to know that the Holy Spirit is already at work in those who seek Jesus.

“Frankly, talking with the Lord and knowing that others are interceding for us with him is what keeps us going.”

Kari Kristina Reeves, founder of ATLAS Spiritual Design, Inc., is yet another presenter. She says she will likely speak about what prayer is to her.

In her book, Canyon Road: A Book of Prayer, she defines prayer as “a mysterious act of creativity. It is spirit-to-spirit communication that occurs within a relationship between people and God. People pray to exchange ideas, thoughts, and feelings with someone they can’t see. Through the supernatural work of God’s Spirit, this two-way dialogue involves people baring their hearts and God baring his. Prayer involves intimacy between creatures and the one who created them. Like art-making, it is interior, creative, and deeply personal. . . .”