Ezekiel 22:30  “I looked for a man among them who would build up a 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.”

The above passage is from yesterday’s UCB readings. Lately I have been reading the lessons from the NIV verson of the Women’s Devotional Bible published by Zondervan Press which also has 365 devotions for the year.  There was one specifically for the passage shown above and it is so powerful, I would like to share it with you here.

Author:  Kathi Mills

Looking back on my life prior to my conversion in 1974, I realize now there were many intercessors on my behalf.  In addition to my own dear family who prayed for me faithfully, I remember one instance in particular when God burdened the heart of a woman I hardly knew to pray for me.

I was in a hospital, far from home and family, drifting in and out of consciousness.  Several times I became aware of a woman’s voice praying for my salvation, as well as for my physical healing.  At one point I heard a doctor describing my condition as critical, warning that I might not survive.

It was then that I recognized the voice of my intercessor once again as she spoke out in faith, “Doctor, I respect what you say, but I cannot accept it.  I’ve been praying for Kathi and I believe she will not only recover, she will walk out of here and live for God someday!”

Before long, I did walk out of that hospital, returned to work, and learned that it was my boss’s wife (I had only met her twice) who had “stood in the gap” for me.  When I tried to thank her, she responded with a confident smile, “Don’t thank me – thank God!  He has great plans for your life.”

Soon after that I moved away, never to see her again; but five years later when I gave my life to Christ, I remembered her – this faithful woman of God who never saw the results of her prayers for my salvation, but who believed God to answer those prayers in his time.

We often give up too easily on God in our busy lives.  Peter, a few Sundays ago, talked about the bright sunshine that we see when we get high enough in an airplane regardless of how many clouds obscure it from below.  Like the sun, which is ever present, Jesus is always there for us.  It is only we who move away.  Keep on praying and keep on intercessing.  Go to Revelation 8: 1-4 and see how God responds to the prayers of the saints.  God is alive yesterday, today and tomorrow and we are part of his great kingdom not just in the here and now but from all ages to eternity.