Mind the Gap
“Mind the Gap”
“An intercessor is someone who stands between heaven and earth to ask God to intervene on behalf of another.”
1 Timothy 2:1 (NLT) I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.
Who will mind the gap for them?
The secret to prayer is that we pray.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV) if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, THEN I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sins and will heal their land.
Ezekiel 22:23-30 (NLT) Again a message came to me from the Lord: 24 “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: In the day of my indignation, you will be like a polluted land, a land without rain. 25 Your princes plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land. 26 Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean. They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them. 27 Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money! 28 And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, ‘My message is from the Sovereign Lord,’ when the Lord hasn’t spoken a single word to them. 29 Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice. 30 “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap...
Intercession is where spiritual battles are fought and won.
Biblical examples of intercession…
Abraham (Gen. 18)
Aaron (Num. 16)
Samuel (1 Sam. 7)
Esther (Esth. 4-7)
Daniel (Dan. 9)
Romans 8:34 (NIV) Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Wherever God has moved in a powerful, lasting way, it has always startedin prayer.
1. They prayed with BOLDNESS
Psalm 106:23 (AMPC) Therefore He said He would destroy them. [And He would have done so] had not Moses, His chosen one, stepped into the breach before Him to turn away His threatening wrath.
“Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers.” —Mark Batterson
Revelation 2:12-13 (NIV) “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: 13 I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is…’”
2. They prayed with PERSISTENCE
“The great fault of the children of God is, they do not continue in prayer; they do not go on praying; they do not persevere.” —George Muller
Persistent prayer matters!
3. They prayed with CLARITY
2 Corinthians 1:20 (ESV) For all the promises of God find their ‘Yes’ in Him. That is why it is through Him that we utter our ‘Amen’ to God for His glory.
We need to pray answer instead of the problem.
4. They prayed with FAITH
Matthew 19:26 (NIV) With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
Jeremiah 32:27 (NIV) “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for Me?”
Matthew 21:22 (NLT) You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.