“Bible prayers: Ezekiel prays”
Ezekiel 11:13-16
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
They call it Room 219. You can find it near the Capitol Rotunda, just off the House floor.
But before you get any bright ideas, I’m sorry to say that you can’t go there. You’re not allowed. The only ones who are allowed are members of Congress--the Senate or the House of Representatives.
So what is it? It’s the Congressional Prayer Room!
It all started not quite seventy years ago, back in May of 1954, when members of the Senate and the House of Representatives authorized the Capitol’s architect to, and I quote, “Make available a room, with facilities for prayer and meditation, for individual use rather than assemblies, and shall provide appropriate symbols of religious unity and freedom of worship.”
And it’s a good thing they did! After all, it was one of our nation’s founders, Benjamin Franklin, who said, “I have lived a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”
And though it’s a simple room, it’s also quite beautiful. There’s an altar with two vases constantly filled with fresh flowers that tell the beauty of God’s world, and a Bible that’s always open to the words of Psalm 23. At the right and left are two candelabra, each with the traditional seven lights. There’s an American flag, two prayer benches, ten chairs, a deep blue rug and, on the ceiling, paintings of clouds trimmed in gold.
There’s a window, donated by the people of California, with the words, in Latin, “God has favored our undertakings,” and “A new order of the ages is born.” And at the center, the focal point, there are the words of Psalm 16:1, “Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust,” as our nation’s first president, George Washington, kneels in prayer.
As one author wrote: “Just as prayer was offered at the constitutional convention and is still offered today at the beginning of each session of Congress; just as the ministry of chaplains of all faiths serve our men and women in the military; just as our coinage, the Pledge of Allegiance, and our postage stamps witness our faith in Divine Providence so, too, does the Prayer Room give the men and women who have the gravest decisions to make for America and the world an opportunity to be alone with God.”
Did you know that, just as our nation has a prayer room, some of our fellow Christians have a prayer room too? Though sometimes elaborate, they can be as simple as a set of prayer cards to remind you to pray for specific things like your husband or wife, your children, your marriage, your business, or your home, an “answered prayer board,” a prayer jar, prayer incense that smells like the Sea of Galilee, a pottery or an alabaster candle holder, and even a plaque that says, “Don’t panic. Just pray,” or “Give it to God and go to sleep.”
And it’s good that we do that, for as Jesus said: “When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).
In the words of pastor and teacher R. A. Torrey, “Prayer is the key that unlocks all the storehouses of God’s infinite grace and power. All that God is, and all that God has, is at the disposal of prayer. But we must use the key. Prayer can do anything that God can do, and since God can do anything, prayer is omnipotent.”
Over these past few months, we’ve spent quite a lot of time talking about prayer as well as the people who prayed. Abraham prayed for Sodom, Eliezer prayed for Rebekah, Jacob prayed for Esau, Gideon prayed before battle, Elisha prayed that the Lord would open his servant’s eyes, David prayed for forgiveness, and a king named Hezekiah prayed for healing. And today, a prophet named Ezekiel prays for the people of Israel.
As it says in chapter 11: “And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You make a full end of the remnant of Israel?” (Ezekiel 11:13).
It’s easy to say that Ezekiel is not on the list of history’s best-known figures. Ask most anyone and they’ll tell you about Adam and Eve, David and Goliath, or Daniel in the lion’s den. That’s easy. But Ezekiel? They’re not so sure.
In fact, if anyone knows anything about him, it’s that song, “Dry bones! Dry bones! Now hear the Word of the Lord!”
But there’s more. Lots more!
So who was he and what do we know about him?
Ezekiel lived right about six hundred years before Christ, and his world at the time, much like today, was an absolute mess. You see, (if you don’t mind a little history lesson), his king, a man named Jehoiakim, was corrupt. He taxed his people heavily and thought he was far greater than he ever could be--a world emperor. And if all that wasn’t bad enough, since he cared nothing for the one, true God, he and his people worshiped false gods instead.
And so God sent another kingdom, the kingdom of Babylon, to humble him and to crush him. And as they surrounded his capital city of Jerusalem, he died, leaving his eighteen-year-old son, Jehoiachin, to take the throne. And forced to choose between resisting or surrender, he chose to surrender. So in March of 597 B.C., he, together with all the members of his palace, his servants and the queen mother, the leading craftsmen, citizens, and men of valor were all captured and carried seven hundred miles away to the kingdom of Babylon.
And among those thousands of people was a twenty-five-year-old priest named Ezekiel.
But even though the people had given up on God, God had not given up on them. So as the Bible says in Ezekiel chapter 1: “In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there” (Ezekiel 1:1-3).
And what would come then was a series of visions to make it clear that, even though everything seemed against them, God was still in control.
Let me say that again because it’s important--even though everything seemed against them, God was in control.
And that’s when, as it says in our text, Ezekiel fell face down on the ground and prayed, “Ah, Lord God! Will You make a full end of the remnant of Israel?” (Ezekiel 11:13). Or as another translation puts it, “Before I finished speaking, Pelatiah dropped dead. So I bowed down and cried out, ‘Please, Lord God, don’t kill everyone left in Israel’” (Ezekiel 11:13).
So what’s going on? As far as we can tell, Pelatiah was a leader, a prince among the people. And for reasons known only to God, suddenly he died, dropped right there on the spot. And Ezekiel thought, “If God took him so quickly and so suddenly, what would keep Him from taking any one of us?!”
And that’s why Ezekiel dropped to his knees, with his face to the ground and prayed, “Please, Lord, don’t kill us! Save the people You love!”
And what did the Lord say? He said in verse 16: “Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them…I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My rules and obey them. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:16, 19-20).
A little over forty years ago, back in 1979, Woody Allen published an article in the New York Times. He called it My Speech to the Graduates.
This is what he said: “More than at any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.” And he said, “We are a people who lack defined goals. We have never learned to love. We lack leaders and coherent programs. We have no spiritual center. We are adrift alone in the cosmos, wreaking monstrous violence on one another out of frustration and pain.”
And he was right, for though our world is, in many ways, better off than at any point in human history, at the same time it’s far worse than it’s ever been before.
For example, back in the fifties and sixties, the biggest problems in school were chewing gum, failure to put scrap paper in the trash, and too much noise in the halls. But those are not the problems of today.
Today, an avalanche of depression, teen pregnancy, drugs, and other R-rated issues fill the principal’s inbox on a daily basis. And on television, Ozzie and Harriet, Father Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver, and The Andy Griffith Show all had one thing in common--children who respected their parents and parents who cared for their children.
But today, technology makes it possible for children to watch endless hours of shows that paint the parents as buffoons and children as the real authorities in charge.
Why? Because sin has led this world down a road of darkness and decay. And no matter how hard we try, no amount of education, medicine, or technological advancement can cure the wickedness of the human heart.
As Paul once wrote to the Ephesians, “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:3-5).
As another author wrote, “When you know that life is war, you’ll know what prayer is for. There will be an urgency in prayer, a vigilance in prayer, and a perseverance in prayer. And we will abandon ourselves in prayer.”
And what do we hear when we pray? As Ezekiel once heard, “I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. And they shall be My people, and I shall be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19-20).
It was Memorial Day back in 1993, as two brothers, Lee and Dennis Horton, offered a ride to their friend, Robert Leaf. What they didn’t know is that Leaf had just murdered a man during an armed robbery.
So when the police who had been following Leaf pulled over their car, they arrested the Hortons too, charging them with second degree murder, which in Pennsylvania carried an automatic life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Finally, after more than a dozen motions and appeals, twenty-eight years later(!), Lee and Dennis were released.
So what’s it like to be locked up that long and finally released? In the words of Lee, “I was in awe of everything around me. Just to be able to look out of a window, just to walk down a street and inhale the fresh air…it woke something up in me, something I don’t know if it died or if it went to sleep.” And he said, “I’ve been reborn into a better day, into a new day. Like, the person I was no longer exists.”
In Christ, we too are set free--free from the bondage to this world, free from the bondage to sin.
As Jesus said in the book of John chapter 8: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
It is with humble and heartfelt gratitude that we come before You, dear Father, to thank You for the grace You’ve given and the mercy You’ve shown. Spare us, redeem us, and make us Your own, for Jesus’ sake. Amen