How prayer connects Earth and Heaven
2nd of a 5-part teaching series
by Barb Kugle
God’s sovereignty is the nucleus around which all His truths orbit. He is in control of every act conceived by every human being or by every heavenly being, good or bad – as well as the outcome.
He is limited only by His character. He is holy, righteous and just. He does not harbor evil intentions or tempt man with evil. Yet He obviously uses evil to accomplish a higher purpose.
Consider the wicked intentions of Joseph’s bothers in Genesis 37 and the outcome in chapters 45-50. What the brothers meant for evil, God used for Israel’s survival. The Bible is filled with such examples.
If God does not need your intercession to accomplish His will, then why did He institute prayer? And it is evident from Scripture that He did.
In the Gospels, Jesus Himself is often portrayed kneeling before His Father in Heaven.
- He taught His disciples how to pray…
- That there are right and wrong attitudes for doing so…
- And to pray His will, not theirs.
- Make no mistake – God can intervene without your prayers, but He doesn’t. That He chose prayer as a means for intervention is an inexplicable mystery…and a privilege for His people.
Breach Bridger
Sin created a gap between Heaven and Earth. “Therefore he said he would destroy them – had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach (or gap) before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.” (Psalm 106:23)
God created an eye-catching image to depict the existing gap between Heaven and Earth. Now picture a bridge between the two. Through prayer, Moses bridged the gap and God acted. Your prayers release God’s power to accomplish His will. “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16, NIV) He has purposely, willfully bound Himself through intercession to act on your behalf.
Lest you think you are indispensible, remember: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” (II Corinthians 4:7) How humbling it is that the Supreme God of the Universe is using your prayers to accomplish His preordained will!
Now take a look at the other side of the coin in this example from Ezekiel. “And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach (or gap) before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:30) It’s not that there was no one righteous enough to stand in the gap for Israel, since Jeremiah, Baruch and others were still in the region. But the Lord explicitly told Jeremiah not to. “Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.” (Jeremiah 11:14)
“It bodes ill to a people when judgments are breaking in upon them, and the spirit of prayer is restrained, so that not one is found that will either give them a good word or speak a good word for them.” (Matthew Henry’s Bible Commentary)
For further study:
1. Read Isaiah 59:16-21 with Romans 11:26-27
Who is the arm of salvation or the bridge spanning the gap for Israel?
2. In each of the following verses, circle in your Bible the cause phrase and then the effect phrase.
- Psalm 91:15
- Jeremiah 29:13
- Jeremiah 33:3
- Matthew 7:7
- John 14:13-14
Barb Kugle is a freelance writer and author who has a deep passion for prayer and for repentance and revival in the nation. A member of The Presidential Prayer Team’s devotional writing team, Barb lives in southern Colorado.