Pounding on Heaven's Gate

The greatest need in our land today is a prophet. A man sent from God. A God's man who will stand in the gap between heaven and earth.

Between mortal man and almighty God. A holy man who is so wholly sold out to God. So intoxicated with Christ and so consumed with eternity.

That his very footprints leave a smoky trail of the lingering fire of God. A man whose desperate life of prayer has left fingerprints on the horns of the altar in glory. A man whose emboldened faith like Enoch.

His Enoch-like walk with God will move mountains of resistance. And prove that the God of the Bible is alive and interested in the most minute requests of man. A God will always raise up an Elijah.

Whose prayers impact a sleeping nation. The church in each generation has had individuals who live upon their knees. Whose prayers reach heaven with a holy violence.

India had her pray and hide. China her Hudson Taylor. England her Puritans.

Scotland her Covenanters. America her fiery E.M. Bounds. Voices which gained the attention of the throne room.

Startled angels and shook the gates of hell. Making even the demons quake and tremble with their desperate prayers. I believe friends that there is power in prayer.

I believe there is a force in prayer that is employed when the spirit of God is enlisted in prayer. We see this in Jude where it states. But ye beloved building up yourselves on your most holy faith.

Praying in the Holy Ghost. Listen friends. To pray in the Holy Ghost means to be empowered by the Holy Ghost.

With a force that pounds on the very gates of heaven. Jesus said in Matthew 11 12. The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence.

And the violent take it by force. For to pray in the power of the spirit means unobstructed access to the almighty. With a prayer force that gains his attention.

With her desperate heart cries. Backed by faith. Listen friends.

We see a man mighty in prayer. As we look at the prophet Elijah. In James we read.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 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. Oh friends. How much force there is behind the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man.

For a man mighty in prayer knows no opposition. Fears no man. And conquers all enemies.

For praying in the power of the holy ghost gives prayer. Effectiveness and fervency. That has a heat that can melt the strongest obstacles.

And move mountains into the seas. The power of prayer shuts heaven from rain. Sends down the fire upon the sacrifice.

And makes even kings tremble and quake beneath that force. If the church would go to her knees in sackcloth and ashes. And turn our sanctuaries from houses of entertainment to houses of prayer.

And to pray with fervency and believe in faith. We could pound on heaven's gate with such a collective force. That we would take it by violence.

And believe that God would send down such a powerful spiritual awakening. That would grip the very heart of a nation. With his presence and the fear of the almighty.

Heaven sent revival would shake this nation from coast to coast. And save our young people today from the devil. And from the fires of hell.

Have you ever knocked on a door and no one answered. So you gave up and turned away. Has there been a time where you knew somebody was home.

And you pounded on their door with such importunity. That they had no choice but to answer it. I had a neighbor one time come pounding on my door at two o'clock in the morning.

At first I woke and ignored it. But the pounding kept getting more forceful and louder. Until I went down the hall and answered the door.

She was in trouble and needed help. And my family helped her. But it was her forceful pounding on my door that got my attention.

Jesus spoke of a man who pounded on his neighbor's door in the middle of the night. And he would not stop pounding until his friend rose out of bed and gave him bread. As the church in this hour we must ask ourselves an honest question friends.

Are we playing footsie with the world through compromise. Or are we living for God and his glory. And praying with such faith and power that we will ceaselessly pound on heaven's gate.

Until we get an answer. God is on the throne beyond that gate. And he will answer our desperate prayers when we live for him as we should.

And pray to him as we ought. And believe and trust him to be the covenant keeping God of the Bible. And we have an advocate with the Father.

Our Lord Jesus Christ. We have access to the Father by the blood of his son. Let us go to him in prayer and believe he will hear us and answer.

I want to end this message on prayer with a story that's always moved me. There's a painting in a Spanish art gallery. And in the painting is a man on his knees in a field.

He's in the position of prayer. Beside him is his straw hat and his farm implements which he's just laid down at the call to prayer. If you look in the distance you'll see in the painting a church depot and a bell tower.

Which has called the town to a time of prayer. And if you look closer still you will notice the form of an angel in the background. As it lifts the reins of the mule team and turns the plow.

As if making a fresh furrow in the ground while the man prays. And at the foot of the painting are three words on a brass plate that read, No time lost. Oh friends, all of heaven is enlisted on our behalf.

When we pray we get more done in prayer than out of prayer. If we would only believe God and take him at his word. That all things are possible to him that believes.

No time lost. Oh, I believe that friends. My God is able.

His arm is not too short to save. Whether you're praying for a loved one to come to Christ. Or laying hold of God in prayer in desperation like Jacob.

Who did not let him go until he got a blessing. Remember this. There is no expiration of a prayer.

For a prayer once made has wings. A life and a force that reaches far into the future and into eternity. All for the glory of God.

Let us pray.