ICS Daily Devotions
Close All the Gaps

Romans 8:26-27,34 (NKJV) Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God….Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

Prayer and intercession move God—they invoke Him to act. We can partner God in prayer because He has a heart of compassion towards His people regardless of whether they are saved or unsaved.

What we should note in this passage is that if God is having Jesus to intercede at His right hand and the Holy Spirit is praying through us, then God can’t be the source of our tribulation.

Romans 5:9 (NKJV) Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

God’s wrath towards the entire sin issue of mankind was dealt with on the Cross of Calvary when Jesus became sin for us. Because we are justified by His blood, we have established peace with God. As the sin issue has been dealt with, God is standing on our side and He is interceding for us, but because we now have a common enemy, we will need to deal with the attack of the evil one as well as the work of the flesh. Therefore, when faced with a crisis, we should ask ourselves whether there is something that we need to deal withthe work of the flesh or wrong choices that we have madewhich led to the situation. In other words, to close all the gaps in the hedge that God has built around us, we need to ask ourselves questions such as, “Did I bring something unclean home from my travels or business dealings if I am experiencing oppression, such as idols, object of worship, philosophical script?”, “Did I partner someone who engages in occult practices?”, “Do I live in a lifestyle of sin or participate in unethical practices?”, or “Did I voluntarily or unknowingly open a door for the enemy to slip in?”.

We need to realise that we are shielding our loved ones from the fiery darts of the evil one when we are standing in the gap between God and the onslaught of the devil. That is the essence of intercessory prayers and the work of standing in the gap. However, we can take heart that we are interceding from the position of victory and enforcing the victory of Jesus Christ using His name. Therefore, Let’s trust that God will act in the spiritual realm while we wait for the result to be manifested in the physical realm.

Sermon Series: I Have You Covered