What is intercession? Is intercession a gift? Intercession or intercessory prayer is a gift! Though the gift of intercessory prayer may seem like a very passive charism, but, in fact, it is extremely important for your life and the life of the Church.
Understanding the Charism of Intercession
Intercession, or the gift of intercessory prayer, is often underrated and undervalued, not seen as the gift it is. What exactly is intercession? Some individuals struggle to recognize the importance of the gift of intercessory prayer, mistakenly believing that only action-oriented gifts hold significance. But intercession is a gift.
The Power of Intercessory Prayer
The gift of intercessory prayer is a special grace that empowers individuals to pray continuously for the intercessions of others. Intercession is a gift! It is through prayer that we bring our concerns and needs before God, believing that prayer is what brings about change. Those with the charism of intercession are called to undertake this sacred task, offering their steadfast prayers for the needs of others and the Church.
Dispelling Anxiety and Embracing Your Calling
Some individuals may feel anxious that their primary calling lies in the gift of intercessory prayer, leading them to question if they are doing enough for the Church. However, you should embrace your unique charism. Intercession is a gift, after all! You, too, have a vital role to play in building the Church through the power of prayer.
Managing Prayer Requests
For individuals who engage in intercessory prayer, managing prayer requests can be overwhelming. Instead of written lists, some find it helpful to maintain a vivid mental catalog or make voice notes to ensure all prayers are lifted up. Being intentional about receiving and praying for prayer requests is a clear indication of the intercessory prayer charism.
The Significance of Intercessors
People with the charism, gift of intercession or the gift of intercessory prayer are powerful examples of steadfastness and perseverance in prayer. Their faithful dedication demonstrates the importance of continually seeking God’s mercy and grace for the needs of others. Through their prayers, they become channels through which God’s love reaches those in need.
Finally, intercession plays a significant role in the life of the Church. Remember, embracing your charisms, including the gift of intercession, is essential for the growth and edification of both yourself and the Church. If you’d like to learn more about the different charisms and begin your own discernment journey, be sure to visit our website where you can access a free PDF guide and take our charism assessment.
Jill Simons [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to Charisms for Catholics. My name is Jill Simons and I’m the executive director at Many Parts Ministries where we equip the Body of Christ by helping people learn about and discern their charisms, which is really another word for spiritual gifts. When you discern your charisms, you’re able to see how the holy Spirit is already active in your life and where he is inviting you to further build the Church. Let’s dive in. We are going to dive into intercession now, which is such a cool charism. I have a lot of people that I have talked to and worked with that as we’ve shared so many times on the podcast, really struggle to value what it is that their charisms are. And this is not exclusive to any particular charism, but I do see it frequently in people with an intercessory charism. Where there’s this kind of idea that seeps in that just praying for people is somehow less than other more perceived action-filled charisms. So when we’re looking at intercessory prayer, intercession as a charism that’s going to be empowering an individual again through a special grace that they’ve been given to pray without ceasing for the intercessions of others with this really exceptional, great faith that prayer is what changes things.
Jill Simons [00:01:30]:
They are so often a means of God’s love reaching out to other people through the steadfastness of their prayer. But there is this very particular kind of flavor of, I’m not exactly sure what I want to call it because I don’t want to be pejorative towards the people that have very strong gifts of mercy and really strong desire to be active in their serving of both the Church and the larger world. But there can be an idea, even amongst Catholics and Christians, that just praying is somehow less than taking action. This is something Dan Burke made an amazing video about this topic and he called it the heresy of activism, which is actually this idea that just praying about something is not being active, is not taking responsibility, is not doing something that’s going to change anything, when that couldn’t be further from the truth. All of the great good in history, in the life of the Church has come primarily from this relationship with God, that the fruit of which, the expression of which is prayer. And so when we are praying, we are bringing things to God and having kind of that right-ordered mindset about what moves the universe. It’s God and it’s growing in relationship with him and bringing our intentions to him.
Jill Simons [00:03:09]:
That is what changes things. And there’s so many wonderful quotes from saints about this topic and things like that. And so this is a place that I think that the conversation about charisms really rubs up against a lot of the conversations that are happening politically and socially, especially in the United States right now, about what is the proper response when things are not going well. Whether that’s personally, whether that’s societally, whatever the situation is, a lot of people fall into kind of a we should all do this or we should all do that kind of camp. Charisms show us that that’s not correct, that some people are called to really grow in heroic virtue through lives of radical prayer, intercessory prayer. Some people are really called to be that active force of mercy and walking in their mercy charism is how they’ve been called to build the Church. Now, neither of these things exclude the other to the extent that the person with intercessory prayer never has to encounter Jesus in the poor or the person who has a mercy charism never has to pray. We want to have kind of the natural level of engagement across the board with all these tenets of our faith.
Jill Simons [00:04:28]:
But the real meat and potatoes of what you are personally supposed to do in response to whatever stimuli, whatever’s happening in the Church, comes from what your charisms are. And so a lot of times intercessory prayer people, not always, but sometimes will have a kind of anxiety about the fact that that is their go to, that that is quote unquote, all they feel called to do. This is something that we want to dispel, right. We want to identify the fact that the Holy Spirit has set you apart to really serve the Church in personal intercessory prayer. And we want to let that be your lane, be okay with that. We want to value the fact that that is what the Holy Spirit has called you to do so that you can then invest your time without fear, without worry, without anxiety in doing just that. And that is really empowering to a lot of people with intercessory prayer. I tell a story frequently about a young man who has intercessory prayer along with a couple of other very internal charisms. And he very rarely would interact interpersonally with his church, other members of the church, et cetera.
Jill Simons [00:05:52]:
And he had a lot of anxiety about that. There was a lot of feeling like he was not doing enough, he was not doing the correct things. But other things never felt great to him. He never really figured out how to fit in other places. And so in discerning his charisms, he got a lot of clarity about the fact that these are really the primary places he’s being called to invest his faith life. Now that’s where showing mercy and growing in these other interpersonal aspects of faith are part of then the journey that God wants to go on with him for his own spiritual growth. These are things that God wants to walk with him through to help him grow in virtue for his own sake and for the sake of his larger relationship with God. But that is something that’s going to be a very personal walk between him and the Lord. As opposed to his charisms, which are the things that you’re really called to do, regardless, if that makes sense.
Jill Simons [00:06:55]:
This is, again true of all the charisms, that this is really your lane and all the other things that could be your charisms that are other people’s charisms are potential pathways for personal spiritual growth for you. Growing in faith if faith is not your charism. Growing in prayer if intercessory prayer is not your charism. Growing in encouragement, if you are naturally very pessimistic. All these different paths that the Lord wants to take us on, kind of the natural road, if they are not our charism. As opposed to being given as a charism, we are already on a supernatural road with that. And we don’t have to do anything, we don’t have to be trained, we don’t have to have any additional stuff to be able to do that. The Holy Spirit has fully empowered us to do that. And really, the level to which we are able to simply corresponds with our level of surrender to him, how much control you give him? Does he have control of the pedals as well as the wheel? Is this something that you’re retaining a little bit control over that’s going to just limit how freely the Holy Spirit can move in and through you. So small tangent from intercessory prayer, but a great question that I always ask people when they’re discerning intercessory prayer is do you write down prayer intentions and do you take your list extremely seriously? If the answer is yes, highly, highly, highly likely that you have an intercessory prayer charism that is a common thread amongst many people.
Jill Simons [00:08:28]:
And if it’s not a written list, but maybe you have a very vivid mental catalog of that, or you make voice notes or you have just another method of managing those prayer requests that would fall into that same category. If you are really intentional about receiving prayer requests and then praying about them, that is a really really big sign of this intercessory prayer charism. And so when you have this charism, you’re also an example to the rest of us of this is what steadfastness in prayer looks like. This is what perseverance in prayer looks like. So that people that might not have that charism can really look to you for what they’re going for in growing in heroic virtue around growing in personal prayer and growing in that steadfast faith in God. Thanks so much for joining us on today’s episode of Charisms for Catholics. If you would like to learn more about your charisms or begin your own discernment journey, head to our website at manypartsministries.com where you can download our free PDF guide to all 24 charisms and also begin your own journey by taking our charism assessment.
