The Responsibility of Prayer

The Responsibility of Prayer

“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.” Ezek. 22:30.

The floodgates of wickedness and judgment are open wherever a strong wall of prayer has not been raised. But who has the love and endurance to stand in the gap before the Lord’s face, sending up a wall of prayer for land and people, for the church of the living God, for his home and his personal life? This is where we need the love that endures all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and bears all things for the salvation of souls. Usually people draw back from this responsibility of prayer, believing that others will take care of this work. The consequence of this attitude is that they pray only a short prayer once in a while for themselves and their immediate family.

Many people say that they have committed their children, other people’s needs and sufferings, and everything else into God’s hands, because they reckon that everything happens according to God’s predetermined plan that cannot be changed. By adopting this attitude, they have become almost completely unresponsive to the tremendous work of prayer. This attitude is not one of resting in God, but of indifference and laziness.

God has established laws for prayer, and He acts according to the prayers of the saints. God wants us to pray, and Jesus teaches us to pray—not the usual type of prayer, but urgent and persevering prayers of need and of the heart, for ourselves and for others. Read Jesus’ parables about prayer in Luke 11 and 18. If we stop praying God stops giving, and we are left standing poor, blind, and naked when it concerns all spiritual treasures. Our faith and attitude must be that prayer can change everything. We have sufficient examples of this in the Scriptures. If this were not so, we might as well stop praying and simply reckon that God will guide everything in His wisdom. When we pray, we become God’s co-workers and partakers of all the good that God works and creates through prayer.

We must always remain in the spirit of prayer if we are to keep our place on Mount Zion and overcome our opposer, the devil. Everything that is hard and rigid vanishes through prayer before God’s face. There is no room for bitter roots or thoughts of personal greatness. We are preserved in humility and poverty of spirit, and our need for everything that God can give constantly increases as we see people’s needs and sufferings and our own wretchedness. We receive a tender and forgiving heart that is able to forgive and forget and to love. If we slack off in the ministry of prayer, our heart will soon become cold and rigid, and it may not be long before we lay our hands on our brother, demanding our rights.

May none of us be a gateway for Satan through whom evil can enter the church, but may God’s wisdom and goodness come in through us and be a rich blessing.

How necessary it is for parents to maintain strong and high walls of prayer around their homes as a defense against the hosts of wickedness. It is not so easy for the spirit of worldliness to enter such a home. However, if we do not perform this work with zeal, we have already lost the battle and opened the door to the forces of darkness. Perhaps one of the older children is a gap in the wall through whom Satan has subtly begun to bring sin and worldliness into the home. Special prayers, exhortations, and battles are needed at the very beginning so that this gap can be closed as quickly as possible. If the least amount of worldliness is overlooked and accepted, it will gain a greater influence and will put its stamp on several of the other children and on the entire home. For example, one can enter the homes of believers where the oldest daughter has opened her heart to the spirit of the world. She has cut and curled her hair and has gone to the photographer’s, dressing very fashionably in imitation of this world, perhaps even copying some film star. Maybe the photograph has even been enlarged and is now displayed as the pride of the home with the believing parents’ approval. Thus the spirit of the world and vanity have been accepted in this home. The younger siblings look at this “nice” picture—which is ugly and disgusting in God’s eyes—and they absorb the same spirit. Many people also have a lot of pictures from when they were unsaved, and a lot of literature. All this is poison that can corrupt the home, and one should proceed radically against all such things just as King Josiah did. 2 Kings 23. Read also Acts 19:19. Perhaps the parents think it is sad when one of the sons lights his first cigarette in the home, but they let it pass, and soon one smokes and gossips just like in a pub.

The parents are responsible for the spirit that rules in the home. It must be shown in reality that the Spirit of Christ is stronger than the spirit of the world, and that the parents are the head and not the tail. Godliness and propriety must characterize everything that is in the home. If the Spirit of Christ rules in a home the children will have reverence for their home, and they will certainly not have the boldness to smoke in the home or to walk around nonchalantly with their hair full of curls. There is a proverb that says, “Like mother, like daughter,” and this most certainly applies in the majority of cases. If the mother (if ever so little) looks up to the things that are great in the world, it will leave its mark on the children, in spite of prayers and exhortations. They will receive the wrong idea of what is great and what is little, as seen in God’s light. The parents might think they are doing well by their children, but in reality they are offering them to idols on the heights, thus delivering them to evil spirit powers.

It is vital to press in to God with vehement cries in prayer so that we are permeated by the Spirit of Christ, praying until this Spirit permeates the entire home so it becomes a place of love, peace, and blessing in the midst of the darkness of this world. A church with many such homes will then be as it should be: a city on a mountain, illuminated by God’s glory.

Jerusalem’s collapse was awesome, and everything will collapse without the spirit of prayer; but through prayer both the home and the church are built up to be a glorious habitation of God in the Spirit on the day of Jesus Christ.

Let us be aware of our responsibility in prayer for the times in which we are living, because all kinds of great changes can occur through prayer.