Intercession: To Stand In The Gap...

The English word "intercession" is derived from Latin intercedo, which means "to come between". A very good illustration of it is what God spoke to Ezekiel: Ezekiel 22:30 "I looked for someone 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 no one". If you're familiar with the story of Nehemiah, you know that He came back from exile (around 445 B.C.) to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. So, the first thing he does is to "assess the damage". Nehemiah 2:13 And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. The second is to "reveal" the plan and gather people around to help him to do the work. Nehemiah 2:17-18 Then I said to them, "You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach". And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. The third is to "stand against" (resist) the enemy, because they tried to discourage and make them afraid in order to stop their effort. Nehemiah 4:1-3 But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish stones that are burned?" Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, "Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall". Nehemiah 6:9 For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, "Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done". Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. Nehemiah 4:21 So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. The fourth is to deal with people's oppression, that came from their own rulers and governors. Nehemiah 5:7-8 After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, "Each of you is exacting usury from his brother". So I called a great assembly against them. And I said to them, "According to our ability we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren? Or should they be sold to us?" Then they were silenced and found nothing to say. Nehemiah 5:15 But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God. The fifth is to deal with the enemy's conspiracy: Nehemiah 6:2 That Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, "Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono". But they thought to do me harm. When the enemy sees the progress of their work, they knew they couldn't stop them, so they tried to deceive and kill the "overseer" (Nehemiah). Do you remember the prophecy of Zechariah 13:7 that Jesus Christ spoke about? Matthew 26:31 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered"'. The enemy knew if they killed the leader (overseer), the would manage to stop the work and defeat the people. Of course in Jesus' case, it didn't happened because Jesus Christ interceded (prayed) for them, just as He told Peter: Luke 22:32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren. Pay attention that Jesus said "when you have returned", not "if you have returned", because Jesus' prayer was according to the will of God. The sixth is to stand against the false leaders and false prophets who made Nehemiah afraid: Nehemiah 6:14 My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid. The seventh is to finish the work: Nehemiah 6:15-16 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God. 

Now, after reading all of that you might be asking: "What does that have to do with me?" Good question! Please, bear with me, because this is extremely important if you are "rebuilding the walls of your life or your church". In the same manner, it works for us just as it did for Nehemiah and his people, those seven "accounts" happen to all of those who are in the process of "rebuilding the walls". The first thing to do is to "assess the damage" and "count the cost". See what Jesus Christ spoke about "building" (rebuilding): Luke 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it. When we start "rebuilding our spiritual life", we must know what needs to be repaired (rebuilt) in our lives and the only way to know that is asking the Holy Spirit to reveal it to us, otherwise we'll never change, because our hearts are deceitful: Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? But, before we start "rebuilding", we must answer this question: "Do i have what it takes to finish the work?" In other words, "do i have perseverance, patience and commitment to endure anything in order to finish the work?" God is working IN us: Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. Fellow workers means "to be involved in the same activity", God wants to work within and through us, our work is (if we are children of God) to allow Him to change us and to do His will. The second is to "reveal" God's plan and gather people around to help us to do His work: We cannot work alone, there is no "lone rangers" in the Kingdom of God. We need each other to be able to "rebuild the walls" of our lives and our churches, Paul addressed this issue when he wrote: 1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. Individually we have to work to "rebuild" our spiritual lives, or as Paul wrote, work out our salvation: Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. But as a church, we are a body, as members of this body, we cannot function (work) by ourselves. The third is to "stand against" (resist) the enemy, because they will try to discourage and make us afraid in order to stop our effort: If your read the Gospels, you'll see how many times Jesus Christ Himself dealt with his "enemies", not only with satan and his demons, but also against the people who opposed His ministry: John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of lies. We are told to resist the enemy: James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. The fourth is to deal with people's oppression, that sometimes come from our own leaders: Matthew 23:1-4 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers". The fifth is to deal with the enemy's conspiracy: Matthew 5:11 Blessed are you when people revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Acts 23:12-13 And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy. John 10:10 The thief (devil) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. The sixth is to stand against the false leaders and false prophets who will oppose us and try to bring fear in our lives: Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 2 Corinthians 11:13-14 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. The seventh is to finish the work: James 1:4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Matthew 24:13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. God is calling us to pray and intercede (stand in the gap), and the best way to learn how to do it, is to learn with the Holy Spirit, who intercedes for us: Romans 8:26-27 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. Here is the key to a successful intercession: Interceding according to God's will! Our worst mistake when praying and interceding for ourselves and other people (church), is that we pray for our (people's) desires and don't ask God to know what is His will for us (people), and most often, we are not successful. Why not? Because we should know better that God will always answer our prayers according to His will and not according to ours. On the other hand, there is a way to have our desires fulfilled: Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Why is that? Because when we "delight" ourselves in the Lord, we will for sure, delight ourselves in His will, meaning, we will understand that His will is good, pleasing and perfect! Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. When our minds are renewed by God, we start thinking and desiring His will for us, we are no longer satisfied with our own will and desires, even when they are good (don't get me wrong). Do you remember what God said? Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. We don't need to be a genius to realize that our thoughts are here on earth and God's are in heaven, meaning, He sees and knows everything, from eternity He already "preordained" (predestined) what we should do and be, we only need to "conform" (from the Latin conformare "to fashion, to form, to shape; modify"), ourselves to His will. Now i can see clearly how i failed (there times), when God was moving (revival) in the churches i was part of. Those first six "accounts" happened in these churches. The first time i was a baby (spiritually speaking), the second i thought i was mature, but i was naive, and in the third time i just badly failed, i didn't "stand in the gap", i didn't endure (persevere) to the end, i gave up too soon. I thought it depended only in the pastor to see "revival", but actually, we were all guilty of failing to stand and prevail, to "seek until we find", to persevere to the end. God is not interested in "revival" for revival's sake, "revival" is only the result (consequence) of obeying His commandments, which is summarized in two: Mark 12:30-31 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength". This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself". There is no other commandment greater than these. As a church (body of Christ), we are failing to observe those two commandments, that's why when revival starts, the result is either division or numbers (lots of people), either way, it does not prosper, because the "foundation", which is love, is not there. Today we want "revival" without "renewal", as Jesus said: Mark 2:21-22 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins. We pray a lot, we fast a lot, we have many "worship" services, we read the bible a lot, but when it comes to love our neighbor as Jesus loved us, we fail. If you pay attention to Jesus' ministry, everything He did, He did it all for love. Every teaching, every healing, every correction, every miracle. He showed the way to His disciples, the way of love, a sacrificial love. That's why when "Pentecosts" came, the disciples were ready for it. Jesus prepared them for that day. That's why they experienced God's glory "in" and "through" their lives. They reflected Jesus: Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. Today, we are filled with pride (my church is bigger/better than yours), education (my pastor is a PhD), we have our churches filled with "skeptical" believers (we talk the talk but don't walk the walk), we value the organization more than the organism (body of Christ, people), etc. It is time to wake up from our spiritual slumber and start loving as Christ loved us.