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The concept of Intercessory Prayer has become a popular topic today in every denomination of Christianity. Many who call themselves "Prayer Warriors" have tried to storm heaven's gates with their prayers in hopes of pleading to God on behalf of others. As a result, a ground swell of claims to answered prayer has flooded the Christian book market. Books, full of great claims to answered prayer which no one can truly validate unless they were there to see the results, have generated more money in Christianity than any other book rage prior to this day. As long as someone in Sabbath School will praise God for the report you bring, you could probably pass anything off as an answer to intercessory prayer these days. If you question the validity of such a notion, try proving that someone else's claims to answered prayer are actually true the next time the testimonies in Sabbath School are given.
It is not that we should disbelieve that prayer is an important part of the Christian experience. But, we should be aware that miracle hype is as old as snake oil and many are vulnerable to what they cannot readily prove or disprove. Realizing this opens the door to one of the most important functions of prayer. Through prayer, we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us to discern truth from error. This was part of the Savior's example of prayer in Matthew, chapter 6, where he showed us to ask our Heavenly Father to "lead us not into temptation, but to deliver us from evil." Even so, we run to the bookstore to learn about prayer from other humans who have only a surface knowledge of how prayer works, and we forget that the Master Designer of the concept of prayer is really the only safe source to consult on this most critical issue. Anyone who thinks that they are a "prayer warrior" should know that many battles in history were lost because of problems with the communication link between the leaders and the troops.
As we will shortly see, the Seventh-day Adventist church has not been left without insight to the great prayer movement now going on. Ellen White, in a vision known as "The End of the 2300 Days," saw that there would be two groups of praying people prior to the Savior's coming. The smallest of these two groups were found to be praying to the Savior, while the largest group of praying people were found to be praying directly to Lucifer without knowing it. Since prayer has become such a critical issue in Christianity--and especially in the SDA church--maybe it would be in our best interest to review this vision with great care. If Mrs. White is correct in her vision, then Lucifer has full intentions of tampering with prayer on a global level.
Early Writings of Ellen G. White, pps. 54-56, Chapter Title: Experience and Views
END OF THE 2300 DAYS
I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son. I gazed on Jesus' countenance
and admired His lovely person. The Father's person I could not behold, for a
cloud of glorious light covered Him. I asked Jesus if His Father had a
form like Himself. He said He had, but I could not behold it, for said He, "If
you should once behold the glory of His person, you would cease to exist." Before
the throne I saw the Advent people--the church and the world. I
saw two companies, one bowed down before the
throne, deeply interested, while the
other stood uninterested and careless. Those
who were bowed before the throne would offer up their prayers and look to Jesus;
then He would look to His Father, and appear to be pleading with Him. A light
would come from the Father to the Son and from the Son to the praying company.
Then I saw an exceeding bright light come from the Father to the Son, and from
the Son it waved over the people before the throne. But few would receive this
great light. Many came out from under it and immediately resisted it; others
were careless and did not cherish the light, and it moved off from them. Some
cherished it, and went and bowed down with the little praying company. This
company all received the light and rejoiced in it, and their countenances shone
with its glory. I saw the Father rise from
the throne, and in a flaming chariot go into the holy of holies within the veil,
and sit down. Then Jesus rose up from the throne, and the most of those who
were bowed down arose with Him. I did not see
one ray of light pass from Jesus to the careless multitude after He arose, and
they were left in perfect darkness. Those
who arose when Jesus did, kept their eyes fixed on Him as He left the throne
and led them out a little way. Then He raised His right arm, and we heard His
lovely voice saying, "Wait here; I am going to My Father to receive the kingdom;
keep your garments spotless, and in a little while I will return from the wedding
and receive you to Myself." Then a cloudy chariot, with wheels like flaming
fire, surrounded by angels, came to where Jesus was. He stepped into the chariot
and was borne to the holiest, where the Father sat. There I beheld Jesus, a
great High Priest, standing before the Father. On the hem of His garment was
a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate. (Praying
Group # 1) Those who rose up with
Jesus would send up their faith to Him in the holiest, and pray, "My Father,
give us Thy Spirit." Then Jesus would breathe upon them the Holy Ghost. In that
breath was light, power, and much love, joy, and peace. (Praying
Group # 2) I turned to look at the company
who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left
it. Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God.
I saw them look up to the throne, and pray, "Father, give us Thy Spirit." Satan
would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was light and
much power, but no sweet love, joy, and peace. Satan's object was to keep them
deceived and to draw back and deceive God's children.
