The Bible reveals that God desperately desires people who will pray intercessory prayers. He is looking hard for them. Ezekiel 22 makes that clear. There, we see Israel in a mess. They have really provoked God.

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken.

The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
(Ezek. 22:26-29)

These people have cried out to God for judgment. Their sin provoked God day and night. So, what was God's response? Did He rush out at the first opportunity to kill them? We find His response in verse 30: And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

God's response to their atrocities was to actively look for someone to use their righteousness to stand in the gap. He didn't just say, "It would be nice if someone showed up to plead on these people's behalf." No, God went looking. "I sought for a man...."

Have you ever sought for something? Like your wallet, or your car keys? You go through every cupboard. You look under every sofa cushion. Then you start your search all over again.

That's the way God looked for someone to stand in the gap for these people. He looked far and wide. But the sad truth was, "I found none." What happened as a result?

Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God (v.31).

God never said, "Wow, wasn't that fun?" Consuming those people wasn't what He wanted to do. It only happened because no one cared enough to intercede.

Look at what He said in Ezekiel 33:11: Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

God doesn't enjoy destroying His creation. That's not the nature of our Father. He is love and He delights in mercy. (Micah 7:18.)

Characteristics of Intercession
In Isaiah 43:25-26, we are given two important characteristics of intercession.

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
(Isa. 43:25-26)

The first characteristic of intercession is that the intercessor puts God in remembrance of His Word. The second characteristic is that the intercessor pleads with God. This kind of pleading isn't an unworthy begging. It's the plea before a judge and jury, made by an attorney who represents a person charged with a crime.

If you'll study the intercession of Moses, you'll see how he pled his case before God. His plea is recorded in Exodus 32:11-13:

And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
(Ex. 32:11-13)

Look again at verse 13. What is Moses asking God to do there? He's asking Him to remember. He is putting the Lord in remembrance of His Word. You can't put God in remembrance of something if you don't know what He said. That's why it's crucial for an intercessor to know the Word of God.

Obviously, Moses made a very strong case, because after his closing arguments, the Bible says, The Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people (v. 14).

Moses made another strong case in Numbers. Look at how he pled with the Lord there.

And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word.
(Num. 14:17-20)

The Lord pardoned the Israelites' sin in this instance because Moses reminded Him of the covenant He'd made with them. He based his plea on God's blood-sworn oath to His people. That's what we do, too. We build our case on the blood of Jesus and the Word of the living God.

But I want you to notice, even though the Lord had given His Word and Moses reminded Him of it, God did not say to Moses, "I have pardoned according to My Word." No, He said, "Moses, I have pardoned according to thy word." It was the word of a man who dared to stand in the gap for his nation that saved the day.

Like Moses, you and I are living in days of judgment. The only reason that cities, peoples and tribes of all the nations of the world would see heaven instead of hell is because God is still looking for men and women who will stand in the gap.

We're going to see some ugly things in the world in days to come. We've already seen some. During the war with Iraq, I noticed bumper stickers that said, "Nuke them." That wasn't the cry of God's heart.

He was looking for men and women who would cry, "O God, in Your judgment upon that nation, remember mercy. Remember the innocent people there."

God is searching throughout the earth for the faith-filled cry of love.

Let Him hear your voice.

Source: Secrets to Powerful Prayer by Lynne Hammond and Patsy Camenti.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers