“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.” Ezekiel 22:30
Is there someone on your heart but his or her situation is out your hand? If we are honest, there are people all around us who seem to be out of our reach to do anything to remedy, resolve or rectify their situation. I want to let you know that there is something you can do and it's called intercessory prayer. Today as we participate in National Day of Prayer, we must remember that everyday there are a plethora of issues that require our petitions. As we look at the conditions of our communities, cities, country, and culture, it is imperative that the people of God stand in the gap on their behalf.
The text above shows that in many cases without human intercession there will be no heavenly intervention!
Do you really want to see the earthly problems that adversely affect us addressed?
Then we need heavenly power that can only come thru actively engaging in intercessory prayer! From the scriptures, I want to share three powerful principles on intercession.
1. There is power in pleading to the Lord on behalf of others Genesis 18:20-32
After the Lord had revealed his plan to destroy the sinful city of Sodom, Abraham stood before the Lord on their behalf. He began his classic countdown of asking God to spare the city on behalf of 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, and 10. Interestingly, only when Abraham stopped pleading did the Lord move forward with His plan.
Are you willing to plead on the behalf of people who are perishing?
2. Persistently praying in faith gets God’s attention. Matthew 15:21-28
This example comes from the unexpected, for the woman in this text was a Canaanite. She came to Jesus on the behalf of her demon-possessed daughter. Initially Jesus ignored her request. Parenthetically permit me to say that there are times when the Savior also seems to be silent about our situation. These are just the times that we must persist, and keep on praying! This woman was not too proud to beg, believing that even a crumb of blessing from Christ could change her situation. Because of her great faith, her daughter was healed!
Note- One generation got to Jesus and another generation got the blessing!
3. Partnering in prayer can help deliver people from imprisoning predicaments Acts 12:5-17
In this text, the apostle Peter found himself in prison, on death row guarded by sixteen soldiers. To make matters worse, he was chained between two of them. However in this somber situation, vs. 5 says, “Peter was in prison, but prayer was made by the church”. We can learn a lot from their example. They did not call a business meeting, they called a prayer meeting. Miraculously, Peter was set free when the church came together and prayed. Regardless of what has gone down in the sentence of your situation, just add “but prayer” to it and watch God work!
Of course the greatest example of intercession comes fom our Lord Jesus Christ. He bridged the gap allowing sinful man to get back to God. The Bible even says that today He lives to make intercession for us!
My prayer today is for you to stand in the gap for our nation because one person can make a difference!
