Burdened Desperate Prayer — E.A. Johnston

I used to live in a forest and I had to build a fence around my property to keep out wild animals that could be harmful to my dog and my little daughter that played in the backyard. So I built that fence as a safety feature to keep out bobcats and coyotes and the occasional wolf.

But we'd get some bad storms and the force of wind and water would bust a hole in part of that fence and then I'd have to load up a wheelbarrow with some heavy stones down to the fence line and repair that hole or gap with those big heavy stones to keep the danger out.

In Ezekiel 22, we read in God's Word,. 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. Here's a picture, friends, of a broken down hedge with imminent danger lurking near it, ready to break in upon at any time with ruin and destruction.

It's a picture of an angry God fed up with his sinful, rebellious people. But he wants to extend mercy to them and not destroy them. But he's missing something. He's missing someone, a man, an intercessor.

If only an intercessor would make up the hedge and stand in the gap through desperate prayer, then God may relent and not destroy, in this case, standing in the gap, not for a person, but for a nation.

So, here in our text, God is looking for a man. Is he looking for a prince? Is he looking for a statesman? Is he seeking a powerful military general? No. Our text says a man. But not just any man will do, but a man suitable to the task, a special man with a certain specialty in prayer, an intercessor.

He is the only one who can stand in the gap and be effective and get the job done. So the man God is looking for is a man of prayer. We have a more detailed description of him over in the book of James.

The Righteous Man and Fervent Prayer

Let's turn over there now to James chapter 5 and verses 15 through 17 to learn more about this man. In the middle of the verse 16 we read, The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

So first and foremost, a righteous man is needed. This means one who is born again and in a right relationship with God, a man of God who walks with God. Amos 3 .3 declares, Can two walk together except they be agreed.

So we see what kind of man is needed for the task at hand of standing in the gap. But what kind of prayer is needed? Well, let's take a look, friends. Our text in James says, The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man.

Effectual denotes one who is active and energetic. Fervent prayer is burdened, broken, sacrificial prayer, a prayer that costs something. There's a sacrifice involved, a sacrifice of time in wrestling, in agonizing prayer.

What counts costs and what costs counts. The word fervent in the Greek signifies prayer that is inspired by the Holy Ghost. It's the inspired prayer of a righteous man brought by the operation of the Holy Ghost.

Praying in the Holy Ghost

We see a matching of this kind of praying over in Jude 1 .20. But be, but ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. For to pray in the Holy Ghost means you first must be anointed by the Holy Ghost and filled with the Holy Ghost.

For to pray in the power of the Spirit means unobstructed access to the Almighty, influence to gain His attention, and power to attain answers to our pleading petitions. For praying in the Holy Ghost storms the portals of heaven with a holy violence and makes fire fall upon the drenched altar of sacrifice.

It makes kings tremble and kingdoms shake. For a man praying in the power of the Holy Ghost can startle the very angels in heaven and rattle the red hot gates of hell. For a man full of the Spirit and anointed with the Spirit and praying in the Spirit knows no resistance, has no opposition, fears no earthly mortal, and conquers all unearthly enemies.

Elijah's Earnest Prayer and Its Power

Additionally, we read in James in the next two verses, Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months, and he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

But the expression, friends, prayed earnestly infers supplication to God for a particular benefit, either the supplication or intercession on the behalf of an individual, perhaps who needs salvation or perhaps who is sick, and the prayer may be for healing, or it may be intercession on the behalf of a nation so that it might not be destroyed, a sinful nation that has turned its back on God and deserves judgment, like Moses stood in the gap for the Israelites who had sinned against God grievously with the golden calf in an out-and-out orgy.

Moses' Intercession for a Sinful Nation

In Exodus 32 and verses 11 -14, we have a pattern for intercessory prayer in how Moses pleaded with the Almighty on behalf of the people. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hard against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swearest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.

And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. I will stop there. So Moses here prayed fervently and earnestly, making supplication on the behalf of a people in intercessory prayer.

We should do the same. Is not our nation evil? Is not our nation turned its back on God? Is not our nation called evil good, and good evil, and promotes evil? Well, why doesn't God destroy it? There are those who can make up the hedge and stand in the gap.

That person can be you, friend. God's not looking for a superhero, but a man, a man, the right man for the job. James says that Elijah was a man subject to like passions, as we are. Elijah was an imperfect man who believed in a perfect God, and leaned on that God in prayer by faith, and he got the job done as an intercessor.

The Cost of a Burdened Prayer Life

God's looking for this kind of man today, friends, a man of prayer. Not casual prayer or occasional prayer, but desperate, boldened, burdened, and fervent prayer. But there's a cost involved in being an intercessor.

For a prayer life that grips the attention of the heavenly throne room is not built beneath calm, sunny skies, but shaped during dark, sorrow-filled nights. A serious prayer life is hammered out on the anvil of pain, and affliction, desperation, and despair.

When hope hangs on a tattered thread, and all human resources are gone, there and only there does the answer come to the request. Here is where the vital prayer life commences, which gains the cup dear of the Almighty as he leans over to listen more intently to the pathetic sobs and anguished heart cries, which in desperation reach up and out for his robe of righteousness to grab hold of and hang on to, and not let go like Jacob wrestling with the angel until the blessing is attained.

To become a person of prayer is to be a shrill holy note, which continually rings the ears of angels and rattles the gates of glory. A true prayer life is born out of necessity. In your leanness, you will learn to lean on him.

Through your rolling on stormy seas, you will be enabled to roll it all onto him. When friends fail, disappoint, and desert you, you will seek and find favor with your faithful friend Jesus. And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it.

A Call to Intercede for the Nation

Will God find you standing there friend? Let us pray. Oh great God, you are holy in the ancient of days. Forgive us Lord for our multiplied sins as a people. We have forsaken thee and turned our backs on thee and sinned grievously against thee.

We have banned you from our schoolhouse, legislated you out of the courthouse, kicked you out of the White House, and locked you locked you out of the church house. We are a self-satisfied, self-dependent people who are sinful.

We are a spiritually bankrupt people who deserve judgment from on high. I pray in your wrath, remember mercy. In your wrath, remember mercy. Oh Lord, send us a mighty revival and a spiritual awakening to our land that will grip this generation of young people and shake this nation from coast to coast.

I pray these things in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.