How To Use This Booklet This booklet is designed to be a guide to intercessory prayer. It isa training tool. Use it on a regular basis to develop skills as aBiblical intercessor. Your intercessory prayer time is to be divided into two parts:Intimacy and Intercession. Begin by taking 3 minutes for each category. It will take 36 minutes - 18 minutes of personal preparation and 18minutes of intercession. INTIMACY It is extremely important to spend adequate time in intimacy since that is the discipline most often neglected ormissing altogether in our times of intercession. It is importantbecause God says it is. Each step presented here is a Biblical principle ofintercessory prayer. This is an orderly prayer time focusing on one topic onlyduring each segement of prayer. It takes work. Your mind is not used to focusing on one item. Your spirit is notdisciplined and will want to hurry. Do not hurry! Spend time withGod. That is what intercession is all about. It is not about askingmany things from God. Spend time with God getting to know Him inunhurried preparation. Bathe yourself in prayer INTERCESSION The intercessory part of your prayer time follows Biblical basedpraying as well. It covers the world of needs in just six steps. Focuson talking to God about one or two items in each category, not listingmyriads of requests. Let God lead you as the Holy Spirit burdens yourheart to pray for something in each step. Do not bring a list to theLord. Carry the burden. Feel the need. Don't just say the need.Bathe the thing in prayer. Pray all over, under, and around thematter as you bring it to God. How To Use This Prayer Strategy One Hour Daily Prayer - Begin the day quietly before God with the time of preparation. Do not be in a hurry. You should annex a one hour period (either morning, afternoon, or evening)to be quiet, undistrubed and unhurried before God. When your heart is quiet and prepared then the Six Steps of Intercession. Top-of-the Hour, Day-Long Prayer - Begin the morning with 18 minutes in prayer preparation.Then at the top of every hour, all trough the day, spend three minutes on each consecutive step of intercession.This can be 12 hours of intercesson spread through the day, or you may choose to do the preparatory steps in the morning,and the 6 Steps of Intercession in six hours. You will find it rewarding. Set yourwatch or timer, or an alarm clock for the top of every hour. Weekly Cycle of Prayer - Begin every day with the six steps of preparation. Then ONE STEP of intercession for each day of the week.For example: Monday - Souls, Tuesday - Saints, Wednesday - Sick, Thursday - Ministries, Friday - Missionaries, Saturday - Magistrates Weekly Half-Day of Prayer - Each week I try to spend a half-day of fasting prayer with God each Thrusday.Begin at 6 am and running through 12 noon. Use the Steps spending a half hour on each. You can mix them up rather than doingthem in the consecutive order.Give yourself a 10 minute break each hour, or a 5 minute break each half hour. Monthly Personal Retreat - Every month my goal is to spend a day and a half in intercessory prayer. This is usually the first or lastMonday evening and Tuesday of the month. I go to a local retreat center for an overnight with God so as to have no distractions. Then I use theSteps of Prayer for 12 hours of intercession - one hour each. I give myself a 10 minute break each hour, and begin each hour with the first three steps. Prayer Groups/Partners - With your prayer partner or a small group of people you can walk through the Steps of Prayer together.Each one offers to God a sentence or two on each Step as the Spirit leads them. It is refreshing. Whole Church Prayer Concerts - A concert of prayer is a partial day dedicated to prayer in the church.See our lessons on Prayer Concerts for a schedule ofAM Concerts or or PM Concerts using the Steps of Prayer. Extended Prayer Retreats - An extended prayer retreat is anywhere from a day and a half to three days in intensive prayer.See our lessons on Prayer Retreats for a variety of scheduling options.