The Prayer of the End

Paul Cozza

A Place in the Wilderness

The Prayer of the End

© 2025 Paul Cozza

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Paul Cozza
A Place in the Wilderness

Email: paul@aplaceinthewilderness.com
Website: aplaceinthewilderness.com

Scripture quotations are from the
American Standard Version of the Bible (1901)
unless otherwise noted.

Cover design: Nuggitz Creative Services (Nuggitz.com)

Cover photo: JacobH | iStock

Note: An asterisk before a reference number indicates a text footnote (as opposed to a verse reference).

In a previous booklet we saw that, like Melchizedek, our high Priest—Christ—needs an order of priests to open the way for Him to end this age. Like laying the tracks for a locomotive, these lay the tracks for Christ’s return. They pray to bring about God's will for the Lord's second coming. For all of God's great moves over the centuries, there have been those praying behind the scenes to pave the way for God to accomplish what was on His heart.

Abraham

When God turned from the created race to call out Abraham, behind the scenes Melchizedek and his order of priests were praying. No doubt, they prayed for every step of Abraham's journey from Mesopotamia to the good land and for every significant event in Abraham’s life.

The Second Temple

And, when the temple and Jerusalem were in ruins from the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar's army and God needed to rebuild the temple, behind the scenes the prophet Daniel was praying.1

Christ’s Incarnation

When it was the time for Christ to appear in His first coming, Simeon,2 Anna,3 and only God knows how many others were praying for the Messiah's advent. In so many instances, the Bible records God's move accompanied by man's prayer. I dare say that without man’s prayer, God's hands are tied with respect to His move upon the Earth.

Christ’s Second Coming

Now, as we near the end of this age, Christ needs an order of priests to pave the way for his return. But for what in particular should we pray?

We pray for the gospel, for our family, for our relatives, for our friends, for those in need, for the suffering. There are so many matters to pray for. These prayers are a necessity and should not be given up. However, it is not about these that we speak.

Specific Prayer

For the Lord to return, certain situations must occur, because they are prophesied in the Bible. It is toward these that our prayer of the end should be directed. Without these situations in existence, the Lord cannot return. Indeed, knowing this, Satan is doing all he can to frustrate these crucial conditions from coming into being. It is for this reason that we must pray—and pray desperately.

When it comes to the Lord's second coming, general prayer is useful. To pray, "Lord, come," is general and useful. However, specific prayer is needed. From the time of the apostles until now, there has been a great deal of general prayer. Recall in Revelation, the apostle John uttered such a prayer, saying, Amen, come, Lord Jesus.4 This is indeed useful, yet the situations necessary for the Lord’s return have still not occurred.

As this age comes to an end, the Lord needs something particular and specific. There must be prayer to allow the Lord to bring about the situation on Earth that must be. This requires specific prayer. God needs a people willing to bear this burden.

I believe the Lord has spent much time preparing such a people—a people with softened hearts and flexible wills, those who would hear God's call and are willing to give themselves to such prayer. At the end of this age, there will be some. Indeed, the Lord may have prepared many.

The Harvest

The first and most important matter for which we must pray, is the growth and maturity of the believers in Christ. When we talk about growth and maturity, about what are we speaking? We mean the growth of Christ within the believers. Christ sowed Himself in us as the seed of life,5 expecting that seed to grow and eventually reach maturity.

In Matthew 13, the Lord told us the harvest is the consummation of the age.6 That is, the end of this age will not occur until the believers are “ripened” for harvest. The Lord is very clear concerning the need for the believers' growth—or more accurately, the need for the growth of Himself within the believers.

He says the seed of life within the believers must grow until the time of harvest.7 This thought is foreign to many Christians. Many believe that at some preordained time the Lord will come back and take them to be with Himself. They will be miraculously changed into something perfect and live forever in a kind of heavenly utopia. This, however, is not what the Bible teaches. Rather, we must grow until we mature. This matter is largely overlooked today. However, it is crucial and vital. Without God's people maturing in His divine life, the Lord will not and cannot return.

Let us look carefully at the Christians today. Look with a clear and genuine eye, without regard to preconceived notions of what will happen at the Lord’s return. What do we see?

Because the matter of the growth of the divine life within the believers is generally overlooked, many of the saints go about their lives without regard to the Christ within them. Many Christians think it is enough to go to their church on Sunday mornings, and then live the rest of their week apart from Christ, doing as they see fit.

Some may attend huge rallies for God, and yet still take no care for the divine life within them. Some feel they can do whatever they want, since everything will be wonderful when the Lord comes back. Still others endeavor to do great works for the Lord or accumulate multitudes as their followers. Others seek miracles or signs of some sort.

The attitudes found among our Christian brothers and sisters with regard to their standing8 before the Lord in that coming day are often greatly deficient. Who cares for the growth of the divine life within? The Lord will return not for immature Christians who are awaiting some magical change, nor will He come back because of great works done in His name.9 He will come back when the harvest is ripe.

As with any field of wheat, some portion ripens first. It is then followed by the majority of the crop. And so it is with the end of this age. Some among the believers will ripen first. These will be the forerunners for the rest of the harvest. They will be firstfruits to God.10 These forsake the world and give themselves to God. These leave behind the self with all its own endeavors. They do not seek for self-glory or prominence in any way. Rather, they give themselves to the Lord, forsaking everything, to be one with the One they love.

These Christians seek to gain Christ above all. They have seen the pattern of the apostle Paul who counted everything loss that he might gain Christ.11 He was not speaking about some future event, but rather about the appropriating of Christ in his daily life. Paul saw that he did not have enough Christ, that the Christ in him was not yet fully mature. So, he sought to gain more of Christ, to have Christ grow yet further within him. In a word, he was seeking for the Christ in him to grow to the fullest extent.

The firstfruits follow in Paul’s path and forsake all, counting it but refuse. The excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus their Lord is everything to them.12 And so, by their constant appropriation of Christ, the divine seed within them grows unto maturity.13 These will eventually be followed by the rest of God's harvest.

This is an extremely serious matter, one which requires much prayer. The one most basic and critical prayer is for God's crop—the believers—to ripen, and especially for the firstfruits to be brought to full maturity.

Philadelphia

The second crucial matter for prayer centers around the church in Philadelphia. In the book of Revelation, the Lord speaks epistles to seven of the churches which were in Asia. The Lord declares an amazingly high word of praise to the church in Philadelphia, singling her out from among all the other churches.

In this epistle, He states that He will keep her out of the time of trial coming upon the whole inhabited Earth. That hour of trial has not yet come. By this word, the Lord indicates that near the end, when He is about to return, the church in Philadelphia will be in existence on the Earth. This is not to say there will be a Christian group named “the church in Philadelphia”; rather, it indicates there will be some Christians meeting on the Earth with the same spirit and heart as the Philadelphian believers had nearly two thousand years ago.

As with every crucial matter for prayer described in this booklet, a prophetic word in the Bible must come to pass. There must be a church in Philadelphia whom the Lord will keep from the time of trial. There must be some who have a little strength, keep the Lord’s word, and do not deny His name.14 Furthermore, recall what the word Philadelphia means: brotherly love. There must be some meeting in a state of intense brotherly love among them. We must pray much for this. There must be much prayer for the Lord to raise up such gatherings.

The Place in the Wilderness

The third matter of concern for the endtime is what the Bible calls a place in the wilderness.15 Near the end of this age, a great persecution will arise in Europe and in the Far East. Many Christians will be martyred, while others will flee to a place that has been prepared for them.

While this reference in Revelation may be controversial, I do not doubt that it refers to a place*16 set apart from the world for those Christians who remain on the Earth during the last few years of this age. There they will be purged of all worldly content and influence, to grow to maturity in Christ.

According to the Bible, this place is said to have been prepared by God for those who are fleeing the face of the serpent.17 While it is true that God will prepare this place, it is also true that prayer must accompany this move by God to allow Him to work in this way. Without prayer, God cannot prepare this place in the wilderness.

Through our prayer, God will be enabled to prepare a place of sustenance for the huge number of Christians fleeing persecution. There they will be nourished for the last three and a half years of this age. Everything of the world—the satanic world18—will be purged away during that time. They will, in a real sense, have the water of the world dried19 out of their system.

Europe

A fourth crucial item for the Lord's return is the situation in Europe. Currently, the European Union reigns over most of the continent. However, the Word of God is clear: by the time the end comes, there will be a ten-nation empire around the Mediterranean Sea, ruled by the Antichrist. Currently, the European Union is preventing that empire from arising. Therefore, as long as the European Union remains as it is, the Lord cannot return. Prophecy must be fulfilled!

Consequently, the European Union must give way, allowing the ten nations of Antichrist’s Empire to arise and unite. These will be the ten toes of the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream,20 the ten horns of the fourth beast in Daniel’s vision,21 and the ten horns of the beast in Revelation.22 Each of these nations will be ruled by a king who will eventually give their allegiance to the Antichrist.23

As with all these matters, prayer is required. Satan has installed the European Union on that continent to frustrate the Lord's return. The Lord must intervene to overturn that union and allow the ten horns of the beast to arise. Some must pray for this situation.

Israel

A fifth matter of great importance is the situation in the Middle East. The countries there, in particular Israel, must be properly prepared for the endtime. There is some indication in Scripture that Israel and the surrounding nations will be in a state of peace as the end nears.24 Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis must be eliminated as a threat to Israel. Iran—the source of so much worldwide trouble and violence, particularly in the Middle East—must be neutered. A rich and flourishing economy, in Israel and the surrounding nations, will come into being. All these need to be prayed over thoroughly and repeatedly, until the Lord arranges the Middle East situation to match Scripture.

144,000

A sixth matter concerns the hearts of the Israeli people. Revelation 7 reveals that 144,000 Jews will be sealed immediately before God’s great endtime judgments.25 Who would dream that a large number of Jews—given their current state of hatred towards Christ—would be willing to accept Him as their Messiah? When we consider the multitude that will be sealed—144,000—this seems even more implausible. Nevertheless, it will occur.

Here, the matter needing prayer is the condition of the hearts of so many Jews. We must pray for the Lord to soften the hardened Jewish hearts. We must pray for the Lord’s intervention in the lives of so many of Israel. We should ask the Lord to send the dreams and visions prophesied by Joel.26 We must call into being by our prayer the tenderheartedness and strength that will be required for these 144,000 not only to accept the seal of God, but also to carry out the great work for Israel’s salvation, to which they will be called.

The gospel requires much prayer, and the sealing of 144,000 is not an exception—it is the gospel on the grandest scale. How much prayer is required for the salvation of a single person's soul? Consider then the prerequisite for the salvation of 144,000. It is the task of those with a willing heart to pour out prayer upon prayer until the hearts of these Jews are fully prepared for that coming moment.

The Temple Mount

Another—and perhaps the last—crucial situation requiring our prayer concerns the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The third Jewish temple must exist on the Temple Mount before the Lord returns.27

Currently, the Temple Mount is occupied by the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.*28 However, the temple must be built on the particular site on the Temple Mount that God designated to David.29 It cannot be built elsewhere.

Satan, through his minions, has constructed these two abominations on the Temple Mount to try to frustrate the Lord’s return. If these two structures remain, the temple cannot be rebuilt, and consequently, the Lord cannot come back.

We must pray much for the removal of those structures on the site of the coming temple and the clearing of the Temple Mount.

Critical Prayer

However, for all this to happen, there must be prayer. Prayer is critical. It is the portion and the assignment from the Lord to us. Those who pick up this mantle of prayer must persevere through difficult times and many adversities to continue until the end comes.

If you are moved to participate in our High Priest's order for the prayer of the end, then spend some time before Him, praying to see how He would lead you. Go point by point over these seven matters—seven great matters—to see if He would touch you and burden you for one or more of these. If He does, take upon yourself this burden in prayer, praying daily to bring about that which is necessary for the Lord's return.

You may be touched by the Lord to pray for one or more of these matters. However He would yoke you, accept what He gives and pray it back to Him. He may give you one, two, or even more of these matters as your burden. Accept it and rejoice in it. Thank the Lord for it.

Our Lord’s coming is ever closer. Through the prayer of the many, may His return be hastened. Amen, Lord Jesus. Come!

SEVEN MATTERS NEEDING OUR PRAYER

The harvest  The believers, and in particular the firstfruits, must mature in Christ.

Philadelphia  The church in Philadelphia—the place of brotherly love in Christ—must be raised up again by the Lord.

The place in the wilderness   God  must   prepare someplace in the “wilderness” where so many believers can be nourished and sustained during the great endtime troubles.

Europe  The European Union must give way, so the ten nations that will become the constituents of Antichrist’s empire can arise.

Israel  The troubling ones in the Middle East must be eliminated so that a peaceful situation will exist between Israel and its neighbors.

The 144,000  The hearts of many in Israel must be softened and opened so that they will be prepared to receive the seal of the living God near the end of the age.

The Temple Mount  The Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock must be cleared from the Temple Mount in preparation for the rebuilding of the Temple.

Daniel 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Luke 2:25–26 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Luke 2:36–37 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, and she had been a widow even unto fourscore and four years), who departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day.

Revelation 22:20 He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus.

Matthew 13:3 And he spake to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went forth to sow;

Matthew 13:24 Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field:

Matthew 13:39 and the enemy that sowed them is the devil: and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels.

Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Romans 14:10 But thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? or thou again, why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God.

Matthew 7:22–23 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Exodus 23:19 The first of the first-fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

Revelation 14:1–5 And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and the voice which I heard was as the voice of harpers harping with their harps: and they sing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders: and no man could learn the song save the hundred and forty and four thousand, even they that had been purchased out of the earth. These are they that were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, to be the firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no lie: they are without blemish.

Philippians 3:8 Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ,

Philippians 3:8 Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ,

Colossians 1:28 whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ;

Revelation 3:8 I know thy works (behold, I have set before thee a door opened, which none can shut), that thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name.

Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Revelation 12:14 And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Where that place will be, only God can say for sure. I have reason to believe, based upon Scripture, that it will be in the southern United States from the Rocky Mountains eastward.

Revelation 12:14 And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the evil one.

Rev. 14:15 Greek (Darby) And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Send thy sickle and reap; for the hour of reaping is come, for the harvest of the earth is dried.

Daniel 2:33 its legs of iron, its feet part of iron, and part of clay.

Daniel 2:41–42 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

Daniel 7:7 After this I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, a fourth beast, terrible and powerful, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

Revelation 13:1 and he stood upon the sand of the sea.And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of blasphemy.

Revelation 17:12 And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.

Revelation 17:13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast.

Ezekiel 38:10–11 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall come to pass in that day, that things shall come into thy mind, and thou shalt devise an evil device: and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;

Revelation 7:1–4 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree. And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a great voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of them that were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:

Revelation 8:1–12 And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels that stand before God; and there were given unto them seven trumpets.And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel taketh the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake.And the seven angels that had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; and there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, even they that had life; and the third part of the ships was destroyed.And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner.

Joel 2:28–29 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.

Matthew 24:15 When therefore ye see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him that readeth understand),

These are ancient Islamic structures dating to the seventh or eighth century.

2 Samuel 24:15–19 So Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed; and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men. And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Jehovah repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. And David spake unto Jehovah when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. And David went up according to the saying of Gad, as Jehovah commanded.