What is Intercessory Prayer and Standing in the Gap?
My Personal Experience With Prayer
For the longest time, I was hesitant to ask people to pray for me. Not because I thought it wasn't important, but because I felt like I was burdening people. I didn't want to add the weight of my problems to someone else, and it seemed mentioning my most important prayer requests to a few close friends was good enough.
But I was missing out.
Now things are different. More and more I ask people for prayer because I want as much of it as I can get! I know that with more people standing in the gap on my behalf, the far better off I am. There is power in intercessory prayer!
What is Intercessory Prayer?
Intercessory prayer is when a person intercedes on another's behalf and pleads for their cause. Essentially, they stand in the gap between God and that person.
This ministry of intercession is a calling placed on all Christians. Not everyone is called to pastor, write, sing, or lead bible studies, but everyone is called to a ministry of praying for others. It's a high calling for the righteous person in Jesus Christ.
One Bible scholar defined standing in the gap as the call “to expose oneself for the protection of something.” This means you take the position on the battlefield in place of a wounded brother or sister in Christ.
This isn't always the easy thing to do, but it's certainly the necessary thing to do.
Standing in the gap and calling on God for another is a holy act with great power.
Who Stood in the Gap in the Bible?
Ezekiel 22 shows what happens when there is no one to stand in the gap between God and others. Verse 30 says,
“I looked for a man 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 none.”
Israel was in a bad place. Murder, idolatry, mistreatment of others, and adultery are just a few of the sins listed in the chapter. It was here in Ezekiel 22 that God's anger began to burn against the sins of the people, and He looked for one righteous man to plead the cause of the wayward nation. Just one. But He found none.
As a result, the wrath of God was poured out upon the nation. It was destroyed, along with the temple, and the people went into captivity.
What if there had been one, just one person, who would have stood in the gap between God and Israel? Imagine the relief so many could have experienced; the condemnation that could have been spared.
It wasn't an impossible notion either—it had happened before. Psalm 106:23 in the Old Testament illustrates a moment that it did,
“So he declared he would destroy them. But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the Lord and the people. He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them” (NLT).
You could read further about Moses' intercession in Numbers 14. He was one man who stood in the gap between God and others, and a nation was spared judgment.
The Lord relented His mighty hand because the leader and prophet was able to stand firm in prayer for this great nation God had called forth.
To stand in the gap has great power in God's Kingdom.
The Power of Prayer
Just think of what could happen if one person stood in the gap for another. If you stood in the gap for another. Imagine what would happen if you became an advocate for others.
Perhaps you can't sing, or you're not gifted with preaching, but prayer is more effective than anything, so if you would pray for another, imagine what could happen?!
Charles Spurgeon said this when referring to Moses,
“Like a bold warrior who defends the wall when there is an opening for the adversary and destruction is rushing in upon the city, Moses stopped the way of avenging justice with his prayers.”
Prayer saved a nation.
Praying Like a Warrior
To intercede in prayer is to be like a bold warrior. If the battle is won in prayer (and it indeed is), then there must be warriors willing to stand in the gap and fight. Moses isn't the only one either. Romans 8:34 in the ESV reads,
“Christ Jesus…who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
Every moment, of every day, Jesus is standing in the gap between God and you. Fighting on your behalf. Pleading your case before the mighty judge, our Heavenly Father, and doing it with his blood.
By his stripes, we are healed and set free. It's grace, praise God!
Jesus is the mighty warrior who fights on our behalf; who stands in the gap for you and me. Are we worthy? Only by His own shed blood is it so. But He sees us as His own and pleads our case as a bold warrior in the gap.
Does Praying For Someone Else Work?
There is something very powerful when one person will pray for another. Even more powerful, when many will intercede and advocate on behalf of another.
My prayer is that God's people would turn to Jesus Christ because of these examples given and incorporate prayer for others into their daily lives.
These words share precious things of the heart in the power to stand in the gap.
Give me a man of God,
one man whose faith is master of his mind
And I will right ten thousand wrongs
And bless the name of all mankind.
Give me a man of God, one man,
Whose tongue is touched with heavens fire
And I will flame the darkest hearts
With high resolve and pure desire.
Give me a man of God, one man,
One mighty prophet of the Lord,
And I will give you peace on earth
Bought with prayer and not a sword.
Give me a man of God, one man,
True to the vision that he sees
And I will build your broken shrines
And bring the nations to their knees.
One man.
Prayer's Power in Revival
In the early 1800's there was a revival that swept through the New England area of America. Churches in the area had been dried up for a while and fervor for God had declined.
A man by the name of Charles Finney felt led by the Holy Spirit to take the Gospel to towns throughout the Northeast. Charles became the face of one of America's greatest revivals, however, he didn't work alone.
Behind the scenes was a man standing in the gap—Daniel Nash. He had pastored a church for a long time and once preached the Gospel, but turned to a ministry of prayer, serving in a quiet room all by himself. Why? Because God called him to pray and he knew just how vital it was for someone to stand in the gap.
This mighty man of God, Daniel Nash, would go before Finney into a town, sometimes a few weeks before. He would rent a room and he would begin praying. Often he would find a few people in the town who would commit to praying with him as well.
While people were hearing Finney preach the Gospel in a local Bible study, and many were getting saved, one man no one heard from was praying as if every life depended on it.
Nash laid a solid foundation of prayer for this great revival and I would submit that the revival itself wouldn't have had the effects it had if it had not been for one man willing to stand in the gap.
Revival was kindled by prayer—and often is.
Who Has God placed in Your World For You To Be an Advocate For?
Your family? Certainly. A neighbor, a friend or coworker, or perhaps a casual acquaintance from the soccer games?
There are people all around you that need God and have deep needs on He can meet. God has placed you there, for such a time as this, to be a prayer warrior for most people in your life in some way and at some point. So fight for them.
Stand in the gap between God and that person, and watch God work as only He can!
** If prayer is new to you or you'd like to explore the foundation of it a bit more—perhaps how to pray and why it's important—check out my blog post Breaking Down the Basics of Prayer for a strong foundation to a flourishing prayer life.
FAQ
What does standing in the gap mean?
To fight in prayer on behalf of someone. To be a mediator, a warrior, willing to battle in prayer for the salvation and/or needs of others.
How do you stand in prayer?
There is no right or wrong way. You simply pray authentically and boldly for another.
Should we stand in prayer?
Absolutely!
