ICS Daily Devotions
Standing in the Gap
Ezekiel 22:30 NKJV So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
God seeks for those who are willing to intercede in prayer for others or situations that He wants to act in to save. Intercessory prayer is the act of standing in between God and a person or per-sons that the Holy Spirit stirs our hearts to pray for. It could be our children, spouse, pastor, na-tion or anyone that God has placed a burden in our hearts for.
When we are interceding, we will have a very clear objective to pray for the person to be deliv-ered out of the situation. We will be able to intercede with or without information about the person or situation when we pray in the Spirit as He leads us in prayer. We stand on the promises of God to pray for the person or situation and we pray persistently and boldly asking God to inter-vene in the situation through prayer.
We may not know when or who we need to pray for but the Holy Spirit already knows of their sit-uation and the timing needed for you to pray for them. It may not be possible or convenient for them to call you themselves to share but the Holy Spirit who is omniscient, knows their needs and will call upon us at anytime and anywhere to pray for them. It could be while we are at work, cooking, relaxing, resting or even on the plane. We then have to be sensitive to His calling at that particular time to yield to His Spirit to pray for that person or person’s situation.
Acts 12:5 NKJV Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.
The whole church was praying for Peter at that time when he was arrested and persecuted for his faith and subsequently, he was miraculously released from prison. This is how interceding for someone to stand strong in the Lord despite the challenges, trial or tribulation he is facing is so necessary and important.
Psalm 34:17, 19 NKJV The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles….
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
As believers, we have an imputed righteousness which allows us to pray in faith. Even though we are not perfect, we have been put in a spiritual position through faith in Christ where God sees us as righteous and so that we can pray in confidence and cry out to God as we partner with Him to pray for all those we love and whomever He wants us to intercede for. This is how He guides, teaches and leads us by the Holy Spirit.
Sermon Series: From the Closet to the Board Room
