James Goll. The Lost Art of Intercession. Shippensburg PA: Destiny Image, 2016. E-book.

I am familiar with the author because the leader of a men’s fellowship I have attended for about 20 years used to have us listen to tapes or read articles by Mr. Goll on occasion. When Amazon offered the e-book at a reduced price, I thought it would be worth reading. Goll wrote The Lost Art of Intercession in the 1990s and updated it about two years ago.

The reason he calls intercession a lost art is simply that he believes it has become a lost art at least in the Western church. Much of the book reviews the missionary and intercessory success of the Moravians who in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries had a core of 24-hour intercessors who together prayed continuously around the clock for over 100 years.

Goll notes some current groups that are attempting something similar, and, of course, bases his teaching on the Bible. He notes that prayer goes two ways. Not only did the Moravians intercede, but they let God change them. They were not necessarily in agreement over every doctrinal detail, but they agreed to pray.

They also had a motto that “No one works unless someone prays.” (25, 181) That is, no one does any kind of ministry without prayer backing. Goll does not mention it, but I recall that Charles Finney, the famous nineteenth-century evangelist, did not preach anywhere without people going ahead of him to pray.

Goll also encourages people not to be afraid. This applies not only to the spiritual warfare that prayer encounters, but even not to be afraid of what God might do. As one speaker put it, “…we are so afraid of wildfire that we have no fire.” (31) We must let the Lord do what He needs to do in us so He can use us. “The only way to spread fire is to catch fire!” (207)

Isaiah 43:26 (Goll quotes several translations) reminds us that God is not afraid of hard questions and that He is willing to listen to us even when we question what is going on. That in itself indicates that we still have confidence in Him.

As with many other teachers, Goll encourages people to pray the Word. The Scriptures tell us God’s promises and God’s will generally. Many times we can apply what the Bible says to specific instances. Of course, praying with others increases the effects of prayer as well.

Quoting many others, including highly esteemed leaders who have now gone ahead like Bill Bright and Billy Graham, The Lost Art of Intercession anticipates revivals and movements of God yet to come. The book notes places in the world where such things are happening. The common thread is a willingness to intercede. With an emphasis on the history of the Moravians, this can be a truly encouraging book to read. Maybe it needs to start with me—and you, too.