In the prophet Ezechiel, God speaks as if he could not act without this intercession--as if it were really a necessary condition for the bestowal of His graces. "_I sought among them for a man_," he says, "_that might stand in the gap before me, in favor of the land, that I might not destroy it, and I found none_." [Footnote 133] St. James even seems to make salvation depend on intercessory prayer. "_Pray for one another_," is his language, "_that ye may be saved_." [Footnote 134] [Footnote 133: Ezechiel xxii. 30.] [Footnote 134: St. James v. 16.] These are but a sample of the many Scriptural proofs that might be brought to show that intercessory prayer is an ordinance of God. It is one of the forms in which the goodness of God and the merits of Christ flow over upon us. By it we obtain graces from God much more easily than we could without it. And we obtain by it special graces, which we would not be likely to obtain at all without it. In this sense, perhaps, St. James meant to imply that it was necessary to our salvation. Not that it was a matter of precept to ask the prayers of this or that particular person, but that their intercession might be the condition of our obtaining graces without which our salvation would be a work of great difficulty. {394} But this is not all that the Scriptures tell us about intercessory prayer. They not only declare its wonderful power, but they make known to us that the efficacy of intercessory prayer depends on the goodness and merit before God of the one who offers it. I do not mean that no one should pray for another unless he is very holy. By no means. No matter how great a sinner a man may be, it is a good thing for him to pray for others, and the mercy and compassion of God, I am sure, never turn away from such a petition. But then, in such a case, it is mercy and compassion which moves God to hear the prayer. In the case of a good man praying for another, there is a sort of claim that he should be heard. Not an absolute claim, by which he can demand any thing for another, as of right, but a claim of fitness, a claim as if between friend and friend, a claim on God's bounty and generosity, which will not allow Him to turn a deaf ear to one who is faithfully striving to serve Him. The passages of inspiration which express this are very clear and very strong. "_The continual prayer of a just man availeth much_." [Footnote 135] There it is the prayer of a righteous man that has this efficacy. And to this agree the words of our Lord: "_If ye remain in me, and my words remain in you, ye shall ask whatever ye will, and it shall be done unto you_." [Footnote 136] Could words express more clearly that the power of intercessory prayer is in direct proportion to the closeness of the union which we maintain with God? And St. John reiterates the same principle when he says: "_Whatsoever we shall ask we shall receive of Him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that