PRAYING LIFE AND HOPE INTO YOUR WORLD
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Ezekiel, a prophet of the Most High God, is called to preach to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. He courageously proclaims the truth… confronting the people with the reason for their exile to an enemy nation. Israel has sinned against Jehovah… turning to idolatry instead of returning to Him. Their waywardness has caused them to become spiritually dead. God, in His absolute holiness, cannot allow sin to linger on in His chosen ones.
“The hand of the Lord was on me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.” – Ezekiel 37:1-2
Ezekiel experiences a dramatic vision where he is led by the Spirit into a valley. The prophet surveys the lifeless landscape, walking among the countless bones of the slain, dry and bleached from the sun. Any hope of life appears impossible.
“Son of man, can these bones live?” – v. 3
Ezekiel, acting as both priest and prophet to the exiles, is the devout intercessor for Israel. God brings this vivid revelation to unveil His future plan for His chosen nation. Yet the question posed challenges Ezekiel’s faith. Does he believe God can do the impossible? Does he see hope in this bleak vista of dry bones?
When we ponder this question, our faith is challenged. As Christians, we are called to be prayer intercessors. Yet our world can appear bleak, despairing, without hope… like a valley of dry bones. Do we believe God can bring life and hope to people and situations that appear lost and lifeless? Does our faith expect Him to work mightily to change what looks to be unchangeable?
“Sovereign Lord, You alone know.” – v. 3
Ezekiel responds by acknowledging God’s sovereignty. For Jehovah alone can make alive this nation dead in sin. The prophet’s close fellowship with the Omniscient One has humbled him. In our lives, we also humbly recognize God as sovereign. He alone can bring life to the lost and broken. He will act on our prayers in line with His providential will.
God commands Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones. Prophesy here means to speak the words of God…
“Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.” – v. 7-8
Ezekiel observes the miraculous. From the valley of dead bones comes the sound of rattling. Shapes of men form from the bones, appearing lifelike… yet without breath, without the Spirit of God.
As intercessors, our prayers are lifeless without the Creator of life Himself. His Spirit brings power to our prayers. When we are not in close communion with Him, we cannot speak life or hope into the “dry bones” of our prayer landscape.
“Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.” – v. 9-10
When Ezekiel speaks life to the lifeless, he witnesses God’s creative miracle. The breath of life enters the human shapes. The mighty army that lay slain on the valley floor arises. Hope hidden in the dry bones awakes.
At times, our prayers for those in our world, our sphere of influence, seem to go unanswered. We may wonder if circumstances will ever change. Our hope may be slipping away. Yet God can do the miraculous. His breath of life can transform people and situations. He can awaken hope.
“Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone.’ Prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.’” – v. 11-12
During their years of captivity, the people have lost hope. Yet God has a plan. He is purifying His chosen ones in this foreign land. To prove His faithfulness, He gives Ezekiel this prophetic vision to encourage the despairing people… a vision of a future restoration for the nation of Israel. The dedicated, heartfelt prayers of this man of God for the people of God are answered with promises of hope.
Through this vision, we learn that we can speak life and hope into the “dry bones” of our prayer landscape. For we have been raised from the grave to new life in Christ, indwelled with His Spirit. When we pray in faith to our God who is ever faithful… when we ask with Spirit-driven prayers and believe for answers, we will see breakthroughs.
The key is an active, devoted intercessory prayer life like Ezekiel. We can only pray life into the lost and broken in our world when we are in fellowship with God… when we are infilled with His life. For without His Spirit, our prayers have no power.
“I will put My Spirit in you and you will live.” – v. 14
God’s promise to Ezekiel is to restore life to the spiritually dead nation of Israel. Yet there is a deeper meaning for us. It is a foreshadowing of the New Covenant ushered in by Jesus. The prophet could not have fathomed the wondrous awakening to spiritual life that happens when the Holy Spirit comes to indwell believers.
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26
Jesus encourages us to see with eyes of faith. We are never to give up praying for the impossible to happen in the lives and circumstances of our world. We devotedly sow seeds of life with our Spirit-driven prayers. For our prayers are heard by the God of miracles who alone restores spiritual life and awakens hope.
† Eternal Takeaway – God can work the miraculous through our Spirit-driven prayers †
