Stand In The Gap

Does God look for anything? Is there anything he seeks? Whenever the bible speaks of God’s searching, it usually has something to do with prayer. Three examples will suffice: When Asa forsook prayer for a military alliance with Aram, God said, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him”( 2 Chronicles 16:9). He is on the hunt for people who will ask him for help. When Jesus discussed worship with the Samaritan woman, he said “his Father seeks those who will worship him in spirit and in truth “ (John 4:23). God is on a search looking for true worshipers. Worship and prayer are integral to each other.

Then there is Ezekiel 22:30-31. The picture is of a crumbling wall around a city, with an enemy army poised to rush in and destroy everything in its path. The army is savaged and heavily armed, shouting with their swords drawn and bows bent. The gap is small enough for one man to defend but big enough for an army to rush through. Only a brave man would step into that breach to fight. God is looking for that kind of a person. Moses was such a man; he stood in the breach for the Israelites (Psalm 106:23). So was Jesus who in his suffering and death made intercession for sinners (Isaiah 53:12).

The passage in Ezekiel is one of the most vivid and dramatic pictures of intercessory prayer. It says the stakes are high in intercession: between life and death, heaven and hell. It says it takes great faith and courage to pray. It says God’s call for us to intercede is a call to great dignity and responsibility and that prayer is a great mystery! We can only speculate as to why the sovereign God who needs no help from anyone, would choose to depend on our prayers. But the fact that he has is clearly noted in Scripture. If we don’t intercede until we understand why, we will never intercede and some will die Ezekiel 22:31). God is looking for people to stand in the gap.

Prayer: Here I am Lord, I will stand before you in the gap for the sake of your holy name, and the lives of those I pray for. In Jesus’ name I pray this day, Amen.