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The judgment of God seems to be a popular topic among some Christians these days. It's not uncommon to find a group of religious folks raising their eyebrows and shaking their heads about the sin in this country.

"Let me tell you, Sister," they'll say, "God is just going to burn this place up if people don't repent."

Although there is an element of truth to what they say, there is one piece of information they seem to overlook. If God does burn this country up, it will be the fault of the Christians—not the sinners. Judgment doesn't fall just because the heathen sin, it comes because the saints fail to pray.

When you and I stand before the throne of God, we'll be held responsible for what we did on earth where prayer is concerned. We won't be able to shift that responsibility to others either. We won't be able to tell God that we just weren't called to a ministry of prayer. Every one of us is called to pray.

That's because prayer is what changes things. Not strife, not division—prayer! It won't help this nation one bit for us to stand around complaining about how terrible things are. It won't help for us to criticize the President. It won't help for us to argue with people about what's right and wrong.

But if we will take the time we've spent complaining, criticizing, and arguing and spend it on our knees before God, He will pour out His mercy and turn this nation around.

The sad fact is there are some Christians who would be disappointed if that happened. They actually want God to put sinners in their place by pouring out His wrath on them. But that's not what He wants to do. He doesn't want to send judgment on this nation. He doesn't want to destroy it. The Bible says, "He delights in mercy" (Mic. 7:18 AMP).

In fact, if you'll read Ezekiel 22, you'll find that when the nation of Israel had become so wicked that God could no longer allow them to continue in their ways, He didn't just pour out fire and burn them up. No, in spite of their terrible sin, He looked for a way to preserve them. He says:
And I sought a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore have I poured out My indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their own way have I repaid (by bringing it) upon their own heads, says the Lord God.
(Ezek. 22:30-31 AMP)
One Person
When God sees judgment coming upon a nation, the first thing He does is search for one man to pray. Not a multitude of people. Not a small crowd of people. One person!

That means one person is capable of holding back the judgment of God if he will be obedient and yield to God in prayer. Think about that. One person can change the course of a nation!

The sad thing is, in the situation we just read about, God couldn't even find one person to pray for mercy. He couldn't find anyone to cry out to Him and ask Him for the mercy He wanted to give. As a result, great destruction came upon Israel.

Who Will Ask?
God hasn't changed since the book of Ezekial. He still wants to save nations. But sin hasn't changed either. Just as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is still sending up a cry to God—a cry for judgment. If God is to withhold that judgment, he must find someone to stand in the gap before Him—someone to cry out in faith for mercy.

That's why He has been warning us in recent years about the judgment that will come against this country if we don't do something. Not so we can go around talking about doom and gloom and the wrath of God, but so we can stop that judgment through prayer.

That's what God intended Abraham to do when He came and told him of the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He wanted Abraham to use his covenant relationship with God to ask for mercy for those cities. And that is exactly what Abraham did.

When God revealed to Abraham the judgment He was about to bring on Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham stood before the Lord and said:
Will you destroy the righteous...together with the wicked? Suppose there are in the city fifty righteous; will You destroy the place and not spare it for (the sake of) the fifty righteous in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as do the wicked! Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth execute judgment and do righteously?
(Gen. 18:23-25 AMP)
Notice Abraham didn't stand on the side of wrath. He didn't say, "Yes, Lord. Those are terrible cities. I think You should just burn them to the ground." Abraham stood on the side of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and cried out in their behalf.

What was God's response? Did He say, "Forget it, Abraham. I'm going to wipe those people out no matter what you say"? No. He said, "If I find in the city of Sodom 50 righteous... I will spare the whole place for their sakes."

God listened to Abraham. He granted his requests for mercy. Not just one time but five different times. When Abraham said, "Will you spare the city for the sake of 45 righteous?" God said, "Yes."

When Abraham said, "Will you spare it for the sake of 40... or 30... or 20... or 10?" Each time God answered, "Yes."

The people of Sodom didn't deserve mercy. They weren't on their knees asking God for forgiveness. But Abraham was asking for them. That's what intercession is. It is standing in the gap, asking God to give someone else something they're not even asking for. It is asking Him to give them more mercy than they deserve.

A Higher Law
"But wait a minute," you may say, "the city of Sodom was destroyed!"

Yes, but not because God refused to save it. He granted every request Abraham made on behalf of that city. When God agreed to save the city for the sake of 10 righteous people, Abraham stopped asking. The problem was, there were not 10 righteous people living there.

What would have happened if Abraham had asked God for even more mercy? What would have happened if He had simply said, "Lord, will you save this city for my sake alone?" I believe Abraham had such leverage and such a strong, covenant relationship with God that God's answer would have been yes.

Many people say, "Well, God is God and He is going to have His way." No! He isn't going to have His way unless we pray. Unless we, God's people, do what He has called us to do, He won't have His way.

You see, even though God has judgment, He is love. Love is His nature. Love is His way. That's why the Bible says mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13). Mercy is God's higher law.

In Exodus 32, if Moses had let God alone concerning the people of Israel, they would have been destroyed. Moses could have said, "Great! Go for it, God! Just let them burn and You and I will start all over again." But he didn't. Instead, He invoked the higher law of mercy and said:
...Lord, why does Your wrath blaze hot against Your people, whom You have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, For evil He brought them forth, to slay them in the mountains and consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and change Your mind concerning this evil against Your people.

(Earnestly) remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Your own self and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. Then the Lord turned from the evil which He had thought to do to His people.
(Ex. 32:11-14 AMP)
Read that last sentence again. God didn't say He would pardon according to His word, He said He would pardon according to Moses' word. God listened and changed the course of history because one man dared to speak.

New Covenant Influence
What's more, that man's relationship with God was based on the Old Covenant. The Bible says the New Covenant that we have with God is better than the old one! How much more influence do we have with God, seeing we have access to the throne of grace that Jesus won for us? How much greater heed will He give to our words when they are based on the covenant blood of God's own Son?

If we will just get on our knees and use the divine leverage God has given us, we can change not just our own lives, and those of the people around us—we can change the destiny of this nation.

Just like Moses, we can come as covenant people and intercede for the United States. We can do it boldly because this nation was founded on the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and that Gospel has been launched forth from here into other nations of the world.

We can come boldly before the throne of grace and say, "Lord God, this country is the work of Your own hands. Surely, You will not let it fall into disgrace and judgment now! Surely, instead of sending the destroying fire of judgment, You will in Your great mercy send the Holy Spirit's fire of revival!"

If we'll pray it, He'll do it. For He delights in mercy. He delights in revival. He wants to hold back judgment because, as James 5:7 says, He is the "husbandman (who) waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it...."

That Heavenly Husbandman is longing even now to gather in His precious end-time harvest. He wants to pour out the former and latter rain of the Spirit that will bring it forth. But before He can do it, someone must pray.

Someone must go beyond taking care of their everyday affairs—getting up in the morning, eating breakfast, going to work, coming home, eating supper, and going to bed. Someone must get on their knees and cry out so that people, nations, kindred and tribes can spend eternity in heaven instead of hell.

God wants them in heaven. He shed His own blood so they could join Him there. He has done all He can do. Now He is looking for covenant people who will stand in the gap before Him and cry for mercy.

You can decide right now to be one of them. Will you?

Copyright © Mac Hammond Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Author Biography

Lynne Hammond
Web site: Lynne Hammond Ministries
 
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”
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