Intercessory Prayer: Ezekiel 22: 30-31
Intercessory Prayer
Ezekiel 22:30–31
New King James Version
You know you can’t send anything to heaven, but your prayers.
30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
31 Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.
To me, the modern church has missed the boat when it comes to prayer. Many have “no real prayer life,” “no intercessory life,” “no tear life.”
What happens when we don’t intercede cannot be expressed in words—it is too great to me.
In the text, God is simply saying: I’m a Holy God, a God of love, a God of justice. His heart is to redeem and restore.
The passage is clearly saying:
“While My justice demanded judgment, My love wanted forgiveness. Had I been able to find a human to ask Me to spare this people, I could have. It would have allowed Me to show mercy. Because I found no one, however, I had to destroy them.”
“The Longest Night”
Genesis 18–19 is where the whole story takes place.
Genesis 19:27–29 (NKJV)
27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord.
28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.
29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.
When the Lord told Abraham what He was about to do, He initiated—invited—Abraham to intercede on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. God didn’t want to destroy them.
Lot, his wife, and his children would be the only ones who would be saved. Lot’s wife never left Sodom—her body did, but her heart was still there. She turned into a pillar of salt.
One may ask, by reading the text, not that Abraham went too far, but did he go far enough?
What is too far? The rhema word plays into this setting of Scripture. Abraham had a living word, and it was about to happen. Lot and his whole family would perish if they weren’t brought out of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Notice: Abraham was asked and prayed and interceded for Lot. God didn’t send Abraham—but God brought them out.
It was one of the longest nights of Abraham’s life.
NOTICE
God initiated the conversation with Abraham.
Abraham is the middleman.
And God uses humans—problematic as we are—He uses us.
Without Jesus, we cannot approach God because we have no legal standing or right to approach the throne of God.
Because Jesus lives, He makes His intercession for us. It’s not that He’s praying for us this second, but He gives Mike Richardson the right to come to the throne of God boldly.
The Accuser and the Advocate
In Zechariah chapter 3, we read that Joshua the high priest was standing before the Lord, and Satan stood there to accuse him.
Satan is always seeking to accuse and harm leaders. He targets them, their wives, and their children.
Don’t be harsh in judging a leader, because a leader is a large target. His wife and children are targets.
Satan stood there to accuse Joshua to the Lord. But the Lord replied, saying:
“I, the Lord, reject your accusations.”
Zechariah 3:1–2 (NKJV)
Vision of the High Priest
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.
2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Sometimes we are so taken up with the accuser that we forget all about our Advocate who is interceding on our behalf.
There are two ministries going on in heaven right now. One is Satan’s—accusing. He accused Job and Joshua.
At the same time, there is another ministry going on in heaven:
“Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us.”
Hebrews 7:25 (NKJV)
Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
The two ministries are a ministry of accusation and a ministry of intercession.
Those who are in fellowship with Satan will accuse other believers. Every time you gossip or speak evil against another believer, whether you know it or not, you are holding hands with Satan saying:
“I agree with you, Satan.”
And every time you pray for a brother who is weaker, you are holding hands with Jesus and saying:
“Lord, I agree with You. We have to pray for that brother and deliver him from that problem.”
The fact that God wants and has chosen to use man means we have a responsibility to pray. Because of who and whom we belong to, we have access to God’s throne.
To pray the right prayers, you have to come into unity with heaven. Knowing the will of God will require a prayer life. Getting a rhema word from God will help you know how to pray.
Logos and Rhema
Logos — Longer definition: The Greek word logos (traditionally meaning word, thought, principle, or speech).
Rhema literally means an utterance or thing said in Greek. It is a word that signifies the action of utterance.
When you hear God’s voice, you know what direction to go.
John 10:27 (NKJV)
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
As God chose Abraham, so has God chosen us. Is there an anointing upon your prayer life? Do you have a favorite place beside the throne?
I do. I will never allow anyone to mess with my place. God gave it to me. And I will indulge His presence to come into unity with His will.
I can’t overexpress how much we need to learn to pray. Going further in your calling means learning to hear the voice of God.
There is no confidence without a life of prayer in which you hear God. Imagine your tongue being used to wage war against the devil—not a gun, not a knife, but a tongue.
1 Corinthians 14:15b (NKJV)
I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding.
This is not taking it out of context.
If God has chosen to use humankind to do His will, prophesying is most important.
Psalm 78:41 (NKJV)
Yes, again and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.
Limiting God—wow. Is there such a thing? How can I limit the God who made the heavens and the earth?
God, in His divine plan, chose to use the human being to do His will on earth. God does nothing aside from a man of prayer.
So how is not praying sin, or prophesying not sin?
1 Samuel 12:23 (NKJV)
Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.
We must have leaders who are proven and tried, who are apt to teach. You can’t lead where you won’t go yourself.
My congregation will not go any deeper than I will go myself.
Did you know that God can do nothing without your prayer?
This might sound really blunt and even blasphemous, but please allow me to explain. When I say that, I mean that God cannot—or maybe more accurately, will not—do anything on the earth without humans, in effect, “allowing” it.
I realize this might sound wrong. This is, however, one of the most important things to understand while we live in this world. The lack of understanding of this principle is one of the most prominent reasons for our frustration, disappointment, and overall lack of faith.
Dominion Given to Man
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion…’”
— Genesis 1:26
“Let them” clearly indicates that God gave us the responsibility of dominion.
“The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth He has given to the children of men.”
— Psalm 115:16
“But God is absolutely sovereign and can do whatever He likes,” you might argue. Yes, God is certainly able to do absolutely anything, but the one thing He will never do is violate His own Word.
“You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!”
— Psalm 138:2
God set His Word above His name. Even God obeys His own Word.
He declared at the beginning of creation that men would have dominion over earth. Not even when things went haywire through Adam’s disobedience did God violate His Word and take rulership back.
Humans gave their dominion to the devil, and because of His adherence to His own Word, Jesus had to come in the flesh. He had to enter in legally as a human being to take back the dominion humans gave away.
That means that every single thing that God will ever do in the earth will be done through a human being. He will never do anything without a man or a woman’s participation.
You’ll see that right throughout the Bible.
Prayer is the way that we invite—and in effect “allow”—Him to work on the earth.