37 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them: I will increase their men like a flock. 38 Like a flock offered as holy sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem on its feast days, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.”‘

This passage is from Ezekiel Chapter 36 in the New King James version of the Bible.

This particular passage is a reminder of the leeway that might be involved in prayer where the Lord gives some leverage on a situation or an allowance for a request to be put forth effectively.

Effective prayer can stretch in many directions in ways maybe known and mostly unknown.

This section of Ezekiel is a reminder to look yonder to the horizons of prayer that might be stretched further in ways that are unfathomable.

What exactly are the open doorways of prayer?

You can’t know or get the preciseness of what the Lord is doing in a situation as this is just beyond your personal scope. Yet you can still within the prayer go into the major input of what the Lord might be doing.

How exactly the Red Sea parted was beyond the scope of any individual at the scene but the major input of what was happening there and then was readily apparent.

If someone has been running and training for a marathon all afternoon, they may have been thinking and imaging about other things while doing this but it could be said that a major input on the afternoon was a large amount of running.

The Lord is giving major input onto what His action might be in this passage although all the particulars as to how this might come about are not available and may never be fully available to the person or persons who are praying

Someone might pray in a given area and get spectacular results.  Some big reversal involving healing for many people might be one example.

But really what is revealed here in Ezekiel is that there are particular matters that the Lord wishes for us to inquire about.

These matters might be relatively small or they might be relatively large or even unbelievable.  But either way the Lord will let the request go through and address it and follow through with an answer that represents a new horizon

In this case, the cities were ruined, but the Lord was offering a new horizon where good things and good people would fill in that new horizon

But this happened was still to be a matter of inquiry and a matter of prayer.

For a given person today, in trying to figure out what to pray for or inquire for in prayer, these verses still serve as a model of seeking the lead of the Holy Spirit as to what to inquire for and to follow the lead into prayers in that possibly new and unexpected horizon.

This new found horizon within the realms of prayer may also be extensive, far reaching and much greater than you might have previously thought or imagined.

If you as the praying person, do get some wondrous answers in certain areas of you’re your prayer walk, look at that an indication to search through that horizon or area of prayer more extensively and go further into the invitation to prayer in new and fresh ways about this prayer horizon.

Another point from this passage is that these injuries and prayers are from the perspective of a ruined landscape or some sort of desolations.

It could be interpreted for example in psalm 23 that David is speaking of an unseen and unknown horizon when He is talking of the table before Him and the cup overflowing, even while from the gloomy valley of trouble and desolation.

This shows that prayer doesn’t always have to take place in the best of conditions to have better leverage and it is a matter of the Lord giving that leeway and revealing and bringing forth that wondrous horizon right from where you are at and praying from.

Not the best of circumstances doesn’t let you off the hook prayer wise as far as praying for and believing for big things, whether it is involving yourself or matters of intercessions.

Due diligence is still required to see what is the business of the Lord and what He might be open for discussion on at this point.

Flying to Jupiter isn’t on the table for discussion but many wondrous things might be.

There is a duty to at least test the waters of prayer, see where the Lord is going and to bring the prayer time and focus further into those horizons that are being highlighted as important and as a pertinent area of further prayer discussion and destination.

For example, if you are interceding for some international city and there is witness from the Holy Spirit that this is pleasing as per the prayer, then maybe continue to intercede for that city and add in others on the international scene as this is an area of prayer that is coming into view as important,

If you care getting clear answers on a personal matter, see that as a horizon that you can keep in view prayer wise and hold with.

Some matters may be fixed and prayer isn’t going to change anything.

But that doesn’t preclude vast horizons of uncharted territory in prayer that should be traversed and looked for.

This passage from Ezekiel highlights the openness of the Lord to receiving acting on the prayers and inquiries of the faithful, something he doesn’t have to do but indeed may do.

Part of the journey of prayer is being sensitive to the presence of the Holy Spirit and being better able to discern and discover better courses of prayer and there might be a highlighting of certain areas of prayer in particular as in this case in Ezekiel.