There are a lot of people who are concerned about gaps.   Gaps in employment when people are suddenly laid off or lose their job.  Gaps in wages, especially between men and women, where there is not equal pay for equal work.   Gaps in education when you compare the standardized tests between students in one school or the next, one state or the next.  In my woodworking days when I glued two pieces of timber together I made sure there were no gaps in the joints.  Many people spend a lot of time in the dentist's chair, as well as a lot of money, to make sure there are no gaps between their teeth.  We just don't like gaps.

Well, neither does God!  In the Bible we hear God saying, "I looked for 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."  (Ezekiel 22:30)   The book of Ezekiel is describing a time in ancient Israel when the society of that day was in ruins.   Spiritually, economically, and politically things were in shambles.  Spiritual leadership was woefully absent.  The spiritual "wall" that had protected the Jewish people for centuries had fallen into ruin. Prophets like Ezekiel and Jeremiah were trying to rebuild and strengthen it by proclaiming the Word and calling the people back to God.  Instead, the spiritual leaders of that day simply "whitewashed" everything to make it all look good. (Ezek. 13:14)   So God tells them:  "Your prophets, O Israel, are like jackals among ruins." (Ezek. 13:5)  And God was looking for someone to stand in the gap -- the gap between Almighty God and a society in ruins.  God was looking for intercessors, for people to cry out to God in prayer on behalf of the land.  But he found none.  Not only was the Word of God missing.  As God looked for intercessors, there was no one!   Would the history of Israel have been different if God had found an intercessor?   The answer could only be unreservedly, "Yes!"

God is still looking for intercessors!   Our Triune God is seeking men, women, and children who will stand in the gap on behalf of Australia!   Not unlike ancient Israel, our society lies in ruins.  The 'spiritual' wall that has protected us as a nation has fallen into ruin.  Nationally, the Word of God has fallen into disrepute and our leaders, including many in our churches, simply whitewish everything.   It will be all right, mate!  No worries!  Today is not a day to simply brush on a fresh coat of paint on our land.  We need to rebuild the walls by faithfullly proclaiming the Word of God, in its entirety, and call our nation back to God!  And we need to stand in the gap with prayers of intercession on behalf of the land.   God seeks intercessors not because he does not have the power to do what he wills.  In his sovereign will God has chosen to work through the prayers of his people.

Alvin VanderGriend puts it like this:  "Things will happen when we pray that wouldn't have happened if we hadn't prayed.   And things will not happen if we do not pray that would have happened if we had prayed." ( Love to Pray, p. 51).  Since intercession was absent, the Sovereign God told the people in the days of Ezekiel:  "So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done." (Ezek. 22:31)  Imagine what might have been averted if God had found someone to stand in the gap.

I am so thankful that today there is One who stands in the gap between us and God.   The Lord Jesus, we are told, is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for those who believe in him.(Romans 8:34)   And in those times when weakness overcomes believers, "the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." (Romans 8:26)   As Jesus and the Spirit stand in the gap for we who believe, you and I are called to stand in the gap on behalf of our nation, our cities, our churches, our families, the lost, the last, and the least.  Will you?  Will you PRAY for the rebuilding of the ruins?  God is looking to fill the gaps.  Our heavenly Father is seeking intercessors!  Join me in filling the gap!