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Living Hope SDA Church

The Power of Prayer

Christian Martin

01 The Power of Prayer: Making a Difference in the Gap

02 The Power of Prayer: When Jesus Prays Me Through

My message today is entitled, The Power of Prayer.

This is going to be part 1 of a two-part series.

We're coming right out of our 1 agenda meeting this last Wednesday and we're putting into practice what we agreed to do next weekend during our 24-hour prayer and fast celebration, our feast of prayer.

And as we focus on prayer, let's be reminded that the same teacher that walked with the disciples, the same teacher that was asked, Lord, teach us to pray, that same teacher is with us here right now.

And as we ask him the same question, he's sure, he is sure to teach us and speak to us.

So as we prepare to hear a word from God, Let's bow our heads once more.

Father, great teacher, how good it is to be in your presence.

We're worshiping you, Lord, because you are great.

You are the God who wants to fill us with who you are.

You want to be an intimate God who walks with us and talks with us.

And now Lord, we long to know something more about the power of prayer, teach us to pray, Lord.

And we pray that the Holy Spirit would now come into our hearts and speak to us, Lord, through your word.

A prophet has to do what a prophet has to do.

And in this instance the prophets name is Ezekiel, which means strengthened by God.

And you would have to be, when you're called by God, as was Ezekiel, to bring awareness to the sins of the people.

You're going to need all the strength you can have from God when you're called to do such thing.

And to be a watchman requires self-control, it requires focus, it requires commitment, and it requires a strong spiritual foundation and a reliance on prayer.

And Ezekiel therefore knew something about prayer.

He accepted the call to be a prophet, a watchman.

He understood that he must know how to pray.

And after all, he was among the Jews who were in exile in Babylon.

And so as a priest as well, Ezekiel was expected to be a man of prayer.

After all, a priest was 1 who interceded for the people.

Ezekiel, a priest, knew something about intercessory prayer and the need for it.

And I invite you this day to come with me to the book of Ezekiel.

Would you open your Bibles with me to Ezekiel?

And Ezekiel, we're going to go to chapter 22.

Just how bad was the need for intercessory prayer during Ezekiel's life?

In fact, he records it all in chapter 22.

Ezekiel chapter 22, Just notice the need for prayer.

Verse 25, the princesses conspire together to devour people, mercy, Take treasures and precious things and make many of the women widows.

Verse 26, the priest violate God's law and profane His holy things.

Verse 27, the officials are like wolves tearing their prey.

They shed blood and kill people to get dishonest gain.

Verse 28, the prophets have false visions saying, Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord had not spoken.

And verse 29, The people have used oppressions, committed robbery, mistreated the poor and the needy, and have wrongly oppressed the stranger.

And that is the context of darkness that Ezekiel finds himself in.

And listen to what God says next in verse 30.

I searched, is God speaking, I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before me for the land, so that I would not destroy it.

You know that expression, stand in the gap.

And did you know that it originates from this very ancient text?

And in this particular use, it has a double meaning.

You see, in ancient times, in ancient civilizations, massive walls were built around the cities.

Well, you can, you can logically understand why.

Because it was the best means to protect the inhabitants of the city from unwanted intruders.

It's going to keep unwanted robbers away.

The size of the walls were mind boggling.

Such as the ones that surrounded Jerusalem.

And the length, the thick of the wall was no less than 8 feet or more.

And it's interestingly enough, a friend of mine recently returned from China.

And while in China, he went to an ancient, the ancient ruins of ancient civilizations.

And what's interesting, he showed me some pictures, is that the old ruins that he went to see dated back to 600 BC, around the same time as Ezekiel.

And so evidently, evidently this was the standard to protect the people, the residents of the city.

So any breach in the wall could have allowed the enemy to enter.

Devastation would occur if there was any breach or gap in the wall that would get access to the enemy.

If a breach or gap was left unattended or unprepared, the results would be disastrous.

And The only way to secure it was for people to risk their lives.

To not love their lives unto death by literally standing in the gap.

In the gap of the wall and fighting the enemy.

But now in the book of Ezekiel, the word picture of a gap on the wall speaks of a breach, you got it, in the spiritual sense.

There's a gap in the spiritual wall that surrounds Our world, our country, our families, our church, our marriages, and our children.

There's a spiritual wall by the grace of God.

And there is an enemy that is relentless.

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Series

The Power of Prayer

01 The Power of Prayer: Making a Difference in the Gap

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Prayer and Revival

Revival

49m

Christianity 24-7

2. The Long and Winding Road

1h 9m

Reuben and the Birthright

25m

Forgiveness and the Time of Jacob’s Trouble

44m

SWYC 2009 Breakout Sessions

How to Study the Bible, Part 2

45m

Spirit of Prophecy or Spiritual Exercises?

43m

Plenary

No Longer Enslaved

56m

Plenary

The Ancient Etiquette of Foot Washing

1h 38m

Come Unto Me

31m

Callie Williams Weekend

How to Actually Know God’s Will for Your Life

33m

Sherlock Holmes and the 3 Angel’s Messages

53m

Plenary

No Lost Opportunity

33m

Sound Doctrine