Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty Psalm 91:1
What is the difference between prayer, intersession, and spiritual warfare? Some similarities between the three are that all come from the heart, they are all verbal communication with God, and they are all acts of faith and they feed our spiritual trust and belief in God. When we get down to specifics though, you will see that they are different types of interchangeable communication, they have different purposes.
a) Prayer is doxology, meaning a communication with God that includes giving thanks, confessing and supplication. When we have direct contact with God we talk about our necessities, what we are thankful for, and provisions. Scripture advises us to pray in any moment, to not cease praying. (Colossians 4:2, Ephesians 6:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:17)
The purpose of praying is to have intimacy with God our Heavenly Father and grow our trust in Him. Through prayer we equip ourselves to resist temptation, trials, and receive wisdom. When we pray we have communication directly with The Creator! During our conversation in prayer with God we can also pray for others and that is called intersession.
b) An intercessor is defined as a person who defends the interests of another person. As parents we intercede or defend the interests of our children. Intersession is different from praying because although we can defend the interests of that person, we cannot confess their sins nor receive Jesus for them. Jesus is the original intercessor for us, described in (Isaiah 53:12)
... For He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
He interceded on our behalf before God, the Judge himself. That is, He paid the price of our sin so that we could enjoy intimacy with our Heavenly Father.
And due to our weakness as humans, our Creator gave us another intercessor, The Holy Spirit who prays for our interests according to the will of the Father. (Romans 8:26-27)
c) Spiritual Warfare applies prayer as much as intercession, but it is more aggressive spiritually because it applies a supernatural encounter in which the believer receives the power of God through faith. Different from prayer and intercession, spiritual warfare uses weapons to demolish strongholds, arguments and whatever else comes against us (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). It also implements putting on the armor of God. (Ephesians 6:10-18)
So be encouraged! Prepare your spiritual life like it says in John 4:23
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
Blessings! Pastor Vicky Saucedo