I. First, learn three things about prayer’s functions:
Ezekiel 22:30-31 30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. 31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.
1. Hedge Building
o A hedge is a protective wall that keeps out enemies.
Job 1:9-10 9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? 10 Hast not thou made an
hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
o When the hedge is broken down, it allows …
o Satanic harassment
Ecclesiastes 10:8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
o God’s vineyard to be trampled
Isaiah 5:5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
o Spiritual fruit to be ruined
Psalms 80:12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?
o Satan’s seat to be established
Revelation 2:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
o Like Nehemiah, we need to build the wall!
Nehemiah 4:6-9 6 So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work. 7 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, 8 And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. 9 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.
2. Gap Standing
o In battle, one soldier would sacrifice his life to stand in the breach the enemy had made in the wall.
Psalms 106:23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in
the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
o God repented (or, relented) more than 30 times in the Old Testament. He doesn’t change His character, but He alters His actions toward mankind as a GAP-STANDER carries out God’s purposes through intercessory prayer.
o If we do our part, then God will do His part!
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land.
3. Cup Filling
o We are in a "race" to fill up the cup of prayer before the cup of God’s wrath is filled up!
Psalms 75:8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Acts 10:4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy
prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
Proverbs 30:15-16 The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are
never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.
· The leech is the symbol of an insatiable appetite because it sucks blood through its two suckers (here
called its “two daughters” who cry “Give, give!”). It is found in stagnant waters everywhere.
· The author of Proverbs 30 is “Agur the son of Jakeh.” He gives several lists, including this in v.16:
II. Second, Learn about:
FOUR THINGS WHICH ARE NEVER SATISFIED:
1. THE GRAVE
· Proverbs 27:20 Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
· Hebrew word “Sheol” - translated “grave, hell, pit”
· Greek equivalents are “Hades” and “Gehenna” - translated “hell”
· HELL: Translated from the Greek “Gehenna” which meant “The Valley of Hinnom.” In this valley south of Jerusalem the ancient Canaanites once sacrificed their children to the fire-god Molech. Even Ahaz and Manasseh, kings of Judah, were guilty of this idolatrous practice. King Josiah later defiled
this valley, making it the city’s garbage dump so these sacrifices could never happen again. To consume the garbage, fires burned constantly. Maggots worked in the filth, and wild dogs howled and gnashed their teeth as the fought over the garbage every night. When the wind blew from that direction, the stench was unbearable. Jesus said hell was a place where the worm would not die and the fire would not be quenched. He said there would be weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth.
In effect, He was saying, “If you want to know what Hell is like, look at Gehenna!”
· NT has 27 books, 264 chapters. Hell mentioned 234 times. (27 miles, 234 danger signs!)
· "When you arrive at church next week there will be 1 million more lost people in the world than when you arrived last Sunday. About 200,000 people will die around the world in the next 24 hours. Most of them will be lost. About 200 per minute. A line made up of all the lost people in the world would circle the earth 30 times. This line grows a the rate of 20 miles per day.
2. THE BARREN WOMB
· Genesis 30:1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and
said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
· Barrenness in the East was looked upon as a sign of great reproach and divine punishment
· The reproach attached to barrenness was due to the constant expectation of the Messiah and the hope cherished by every woman that she might be the mother of the promised Seed.
· In order to avoid this disgrace, women even gave their handmaidens to their husbands, regarding the
children born as their own. But this still did not satisfy a mother’s heart!
· 1 Samuel 1:13 Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not
heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. (UNASHAMED DESIRE)
· Rachael’s cry is the cry of the church!
3. THE PARCHED EARTH
· Psalm 42:1-2 To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. As the hart panteth after the water
brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall
I come and appear before God?
· Psalm 63:1-2 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land,
where no water is; 2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
4. THE RAGING FIRE
· Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
· The Holy Ghost in us never says “IT IS ENOUGH!”
Conclusion:
Put these seven things ( 7 in Bible means "fulness") together to understand the real essence of prayer!
We need the understanding of "WHY" we pray as much as we need to know "HOW" to pray!
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