Standing in the Gap

O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. Ezekiel 13:4-6

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Ezekiel 22:30

Here the word ‘hedge’ in Hebrew is ‘gadar’ which means a fence, wall, or hedge that encircles something. The word ‘stand’ is ‘amad’ which means to ‘take a stand, stand’. And the words ‘in the gap’ mean ‘a bursting forth, breach’. So to ‘stand in the gap’ means to stand where the enemy would come through, which is why the individual would want to build a wall / fence / hedge in front of the breach / opening.

Lately my long morning walks are where I pray, asking Him to guide me in praying for people. And lately I’ve been led to pray for their protection by asking God to surround them with His Presence / Light / Glory. So that the enemy would be pushed out, and his plans, schemes, and devices would have zero effect on those I’m praying for. I was using words like ‘Standing in the gap’ for these individuals who I love so much. Which led me to this study of the concept. Here in Ezekiel the Lord is looking for just a single person to ‘stand in the gap’ for them before allowing the consequences to rain down on the people.

I was envisioning a large pool of God’s light surrounding a home or a person as He was then sending messages and instructions to them. How many times do we need the Lord to speak to us — but the noise and distractions of the situation is so great it’s very hard to hear Him? As the days increase and the storm gets louder we need His Rhema Word(s) to come to us more and more. 

The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. James 5:16b

Read Daniel 10 for more interesting facts on how prayer moves things, and how your prayer can have effects in the spiritual dimension.

When praying I’m always asking the Holy Spirit how to pray, and what to pray for individuals. Often times I confess that my heart is just ‘heavy’ for them and just begin to pray in the Spirit. 

I think we often negate the real power of prayer, because we don’t see immediate results or actions. And if we actually do? We’re really shocked. But heartfelt prayer is so much more that we know. And how did Jesus walk in such power of the Holy Spirit? Jesus often went off to pray alone and be with His Father.

Let’s begin to pray WITH the Holy Spirit for those we love AND anyone else He brings to our minds and hearts. Let’s be the ones who ‘stand in the gap’ for the ones we love.