Standing In The Gap

Standing In The Gap

“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:30 (NIV)

Illustration: The time I had to deliver a transmission to a shop and I couldn’t help the mechanic lift it out of the truck because of my back. Mechanic then said, “Well, what good are you then?”

Have you ever felt like you weren’t capable of doing what God called you to do? I’m thinking you answered yes. Most of us have encountered a situation where somewhere told us we weren’t good enough, or asked us, “What good are you?”

Scenario: While you are mulling over the lies the devil was telling you about not being good enough, your cell phone rangs. It is you best friend,.

“I want you to know while I was studying my Bible, I read Romans chapter 15 and I felt to pray for you,” Your friend said. “Not only that, I wanted to call and tell you I was praying for you.”

Imagine your friend in the middle of a big project stopping what they are doing and calling to talk to you. Maybe they entertained the thought that it could wait until they were done. But Spirit of the Word spoke to you friend, and your friend obeyed the voice of God’s Word.

Surely God wants you to know you were not going into battle alone. His Word prompted your friend to stand in the gap for you— to struggle in prayer for you and strive together with you. In that one moment, you and your friend locked your shields of faith together through words and marched into battle together.

The prophet Ezekiel recorded these words from God: “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one” (Ezekiel 22:30).

God went looking for someone to pray or stand in the gap for sinful Jerusalem, but I believe we can apply these words to our lives as well. Did you notice God said, “I looked for someone”? It could be that you are that someone who could stand in the gap for another person.

Paul understood the power of standing in the gap. He implored his friends in Rome to pray for him: “I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me” (Romans 15:30, NIV).

And when he wrote to the church in Ephesus, he said, “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should” (Ephesians 6:19-20, NIV).

The Greek word Paul uses for “struggle” in Romans 15:30 is sunagonizomai, which means “to struggle in company of; i.e., to be a partner (assistant), strive together with.” The root word means “to endeavor to accomplish something: fight, labor fervently, strive.”

Agreeing to pray for someone isn’t simply a nice platitude letting them know we’re thinking of them or a pat on the back to cheer them on. When we tell someone we’ll pray for them, we agree to put on God’s armor and head to the front lines of battle on their behalf. Many ancient shields had brackets attached to the sides. These brackets were a type of latch that soldiers used to lock their shields together during battle. When locked together, the soldiers moved as one, forming a barricade against the enemy. Alone, the shield was a small defense. Hooked together, they were a human wall.

When we lock arms in prayer with our friends, we lock our shields together and form a strong wall of defense. That’s what we can do for each other.

God uses people all the time so that His purposes can be accomplished. Here are a few examples from the Bible:

God used Joseph to save his family from starvation by bringing them to Egypt (Genesis 50:20).

Moses begged God not to destroy the Hebrews when they had worshipped the golden calf (Psalm 106:23).

Esther stood in the gap with prayer and fasting for her people, saving them from Haman who wanted them destroyed (Esther 8).

After God created the earth, He said, “It was very good” (Genesis 1:31). There was no divide between God and anyone on the earth; however, after Adam and Eve disobeyed, sin created a gap between God and humanity, cutting all future generations off from God’s best for their lives. Fortunately, God Himself stood in the gap for us by sending His Son, Jesus, in human form, to live as a man, die for our sins, and rise from the dead so we could be restored into a personal relationship with Him.

Part of our responsibility as followers of Jesus is to pray for God’s intervention in the lives of others. The idea of “standing in the gap” comes from Ezekiel 22:30:

“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:40

Clearly, God’s heart is moved to act when people cry out on behalf of others. In fact, this verse indicates that God is searching and waiting for people to stand in the gap so He may respond mercifully.

The word “intercessor” is commonly used by Christians to describe someone who acts as a go-between, pleading to God on behalf of those in dire circumstances. We read in Galatians 6:2 that we are to “carry each other's burdens.” One way we do that is by lifting others’ concerns to God in prayer. When the circumstances or our brothers and sisters become overwhelming, we can be their voice, calling out to God for help.

We are also called to stand in the gap for those who have not yet found salvation in Christ. The Apostle Paul implied that praying for the salvation of others should be at the top of our list:

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people ... This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1; 3-4

Just as many characters in the Bible bridged the gap for others, we have the privilege to intercede proactively on behalf of our family, friends, and those who do not yet follow Jesus.

The Enemy is very active in the world today; he knows his time is short. Let’s urgently and intentionally pray for God’s will and protection so can we stand firm against Satan’s plans (Ephesians 6:10-18) and see the kingdom of God advance (Matthew 6:10).

During Ezekiel’s day, there were many things going on in society that were similar to our day (read Ezekiel 22:23-31):

• The priests made no difference between the holy and the profane. That is to say, they didn’t sanctify anything to God; all was common and unclean to them. They also turned their faces away from those breaking God’s law (perhaps to be crowd-pleasers?).

• The prophets took the treasures from the people (prophesied for money) and prophesied lies to the people (they spoke peace and prosperity when judgment was coming).

• The political leaders shed blood (abortion and unjust wars) and were after dishonest gain.

• The people of the land oppressed and robbed each other and afflicted the most vulnerable among them.

• God’s response: He sought for one man to stand in the gap.

Ezekiel 22:30-31

“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. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.”

I. God is searching for a person

• It doesn’t take much to move God. He was only looking for one person to change the course of history for Israel. (Politics does not change a nation; people sold out for a cause or purpose change a nation.)

• God is searching the whole world for a person with a heart after Him (2 Chron. 16:9; Job 2:2-3; Acts 13:22; John 4:23-24).

•Threre was a shoe salesmen in Chicago with a third grade education who once heard a Sunday school teacher say that the world has yet to see what God can do with a man who is fully devoted to Him. He said ‘I will be that man’ and within weeks he had hundreds of street kids attending Sunday school. He had to find a separate place for them to meet, and later became the most powerful evangelist of the 19th century.

Ask yourself the following questions to determine which category you are in:

• Indifferent to God’s voice when He is calling you. • Do you put off surrendering your life to Christ to another time or day?

• Do you only serve the Lord with all your heart when times are hard?

• Do you always serve the Lord with all your heart?

II. God desires a person to make up the breach in the wall

• There are many breaches or holes in the wall that leave a person, family, church, or nation vulnerable. (These holes are symbolic for sins or weaknesses that can cause something or someone to stumble and fall from their position.)

• We can either criticize or pray; we can either uncover or intercede.

• Any fool can take a sledge hammer and destroy a building, but only a few have to skill to design and build a beautiful structure.

• God is looking for people who are willing to lay down their lives to stand in the gap in both action and intercession.

III. The destiny of a city or nation depends on your response

Ezekiel 22:30-31: “I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them.”

• God is looking for people to stand between the living and the dead to stop the plague. Read Numbers 16:41-49, when Aaron stood between the dead and the living to stop the plague God sent because of His wrath.

• God tells the church to pray that we may have peace in the nations for the sake of the Gospel; read 1 Timothy 2:1-4.

• I recall stories of Christians spending hours in prayer over those who were making foolish decisions with their lives and they turned around toward the good path.

• I recall when a Tornado was heading toward the heart of Searcy, Arkansas (Harding College). Many good Christians were down on their knees praying for their safety. At the last moment the Tornado “steered around” Searcy and prevented the destruction of Harding College

• Will you be a gap filler or a breach maker?

• Will you help “fill in the gap,” or will you do nothing and add to the breach in the wall? • If you get provoked to action but die out in a few days, you are adding to the breach in the wall! • If you live by your feelings and emotions and not by the strength of God’s Word and the Power of Prayer you are a breach maker!

• Only if you make up your mind today to stand in the gap and make up the breach in the wall will you be a difference maker!