Breathing New Life into Intercessors in Nigeria
“Please, help us to build this house again.”
An organization called Intercessors for Nigeria (IFN) was formed three decades ago to intercede for the churches, families, and nation of Nigeria. The fundamental idea behind this organization was to stand in a place of prayer until the will of God would be brought to pass throughout Nigeria. It now has branches in all 36 states of Nigeria, and has even established intercessor teams in Ghana, Congo, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa and other countries in the region. God has used this body to do great things, helping churches and Christians raise, train, and build their intercessors and prayer teams.
In recent years, however, it has gradually been losing its vibrancy and ability to fulfill its divine mandate. The leaders of IFN knew they had deep challenges to address so they asked our team in Nigeria to guide them in identifying and solving those issues. Our three-week intensive training with them revealed deeply-rooted tribal and ethnic divisions, a lack of true leader care, and loss of their original vision. These core issues were coming out in weak leadership and troubled interpersonal relationships. One leader summed it up well:
“God has brought you and your team to us at this critical time to help build this house for Him. Please, help us to build this house again.”
At the end of the training, everyone could clearly see the lapses in the ministry. In an effort to close these gaps, the top leadership of the body arranged a meeting to re-align everyone to the original vision so they could move forward as a team. During this meeting the Holy Spirit moved in everyone’s heart, prompting leaders to reveal deep hurts and brokenness. Another leader affirmed what everyone was thinking:
“We need to return to the way of the Lord. This training has exposed our nakedness. We have just been focusing on praying; we were not building the next generation. This is a call to re-tune the mold of our ministry, for it to be more effective.”
The leadership made resolutions moving forward. Everyone committed to meeting more frequently to strengthen their community life as a body. They set up structures to serve the life of the group: leader care, prayer partners, and mentors. They adopted our models for healthy leadership in their training of intercessors, with the intent of holistically building leader-intercessors. And they assigned certain leaders to be built specifically in our models, so they would be equipped to cascade the training out to each House of Prayer. Every leader is excited about this new day in the life of IFN.
“I see a new body emerging from this, where tribal rancor is swallowed up. This is the day we must put this new wine into a new wine skin. Everyone must look up to God and God alone.”
