I Looked For A Man Series

I Looked for a Man

JCC 10.01.10 pm Prayer Session 4

Ezekiel 22:23-31

Quote: In the words of Augustine. "Without God, we cannot; but without us, God will not."

In His sovereignty, God has voluntarily linked Himself to our human cooperation

He has bound Himself to the prayer of faith of His children

He merges His work with mans praying

It is a deep mystery

It is clearly revealed in the Word and throughout history how God uses people in his plans through prayer

Joshua’s day in battle would have gone badly without Moses’ prayer Exodus 17

Jacob’s place in Israel’s history would not have been the same without Penuel Genesis 32

The cross would have been unbearable without Gethsemane Luke 22

John Wesley and the members of the "Holy Club" held their prayer meetings and God ignited a revival that was felt around the world

Evan Roberts and his friends prostrating themselves before the Lord night after night resulting in the Welsh Revival

Then the Prayer Mountain in Seoul, Korea added to the growth of several of the largest churches in the world

The revival that swept Brazil was evidenced by extra police being put on duty to control traffic in several major cities on prayer meeting night!

Revelation 5:9 The twenty-four elders singing this new song will be holding golden vials full of incense which are the prayers of saints

God showed Ezekiel what the state of the nation was like in ‘His eyes’

We can read out this list and see for ourselves that we are in the same state here and so are many other countries around the world

What have we done?

Or rather, what have we not done?

Paul in Eph 6 speaking on spiritual warfare not only clearly highlights the armour for our protection in war, but also identifies two of the major weapons of our warfare: the Sword of the Spirit and prayer

In spite of all of her weaknesses, failures and shortcomings, the Church is the mightiest, and the only force God is using, that is contesting Satan’s rule in human affairs

Quote: Spurgeon said, “It is God that writes intercession upon men’s hearts. All true prayer comes from Him, but especially that least selfish and most Christ-like form of prayer called intercession—when the suppliant forgets all about himself and his own needs—and all his pleading, his tears and his arguments are on behalf of others. I repeat that such men are a most precious gift from Heaven and I feel certain that before the Reformation, there must have been hundreds of godly men and women who were, day and night, interceding with the Lord and giving Him no rest until He answered their supplications—and Luther and the rest of the Reformers were sent by God in answer to the many prayers which history has never recorded, but which are written in the Lord’s Book of Remembrance. The Church on her knees is the only purifying and preserving influence that can keep the world from decay and despair.”

Quote: Samuel Chadwick said, ’The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray!"

Prayer is not us begging God to do something

It is not overcoming God’s unwillingness to act

It is enforcing Christ’s victory over the power of sin and Satan

It is the effective, fervent communication with the Creator of the Universe

What can I do Lord? Here I am

It is praying in line with God’s will which then controls the balance of power in our lives, our community, the Church and world affairs

Prayer moves us out of the dimensions of time and space and brings us into the very throne room of God, worshiping, petitioning and interceding

We are in the spiritual realm of the eternal now

The past has gone, the future hasn’t arrived, so we are always in the eternal now of time when we pray

Prayer is sometimes an alleluia of praise Psalm 150

It is sometimes telling God the details of our needs Philippians 4:6

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God

It is sometimes labouring in groans and words that cannot be uttered; true intercession Romans 8:26

But notice we do not face intercession alone

The Spirit Himself helps

Prayer is also spiritual warfare

Those who enter, are in touch with a world in need

Those who enter warfare regularly know the scars, but also the victories of the battles

Prayer is where the real action is

The front line of war

And yes you will be hurt first and more badly than if you were at the back of the troops