Mind the Gap!

I was 16 when I traveled to England on a youth missions trip. They have an audio message that plays in the London Underground warning passengers of the gap between the train door and the platform. The recording says "Mind the gap". If you don't mind the gap you could be in serious physical danger.

Today I am thinking of Ezekiel 22:30 when God could find no one who would stand in the gap for a nation desperately in need of a wake up call.

While the subway warning would urge us to mind the gap by getting out of the way, we should be pulled by a spiritual call to mind the gap which is very opposite.

This spiritual call urges us to get in the way! Block the attacks of the enemy. Stand firm and don't budge. When the enemy throws a train at you and it's so close you can see your guts on the track don't budge. The life of another is on the line. Mind the gap.

When your leadership is floundering- Mind the gap!
When your marriage is on the rocks- Mind the gap!
When your children are forsaking the faith you raised them in- Mind the gap!
When illness steals your energy- Mind the gap!
When fear crouches at the door- Mind the gap!

Will you stand in the gap? Are you committed enough to put yourself in danger for the safety of another?

Will you lay down your life (your agenda, your finances, your very existence) for a friend? It's something to think about.

Abba, Father, I will stand and intercede on behalf of the unsteady, broken, spiritually blind, weak and terrified. Help me to stand for the things I cannot see in this world, in this country, in this city, and in my home. I will (by faith) call those things as if they were. Help me to stand in this gap of danger for my loved ones, friends and those who I have never met but hold a special place in your heart. 

I ask for wisdom for our leaders. Prepare them for what you are doing. Make them strong in the right ways that they would bend their knees to you and protect those they serve. Help them to never bow to the schemes of distraction. 

I ask for protection on the family unit. That the leaders in the home would be united with one purpose and one heart. 

I pray for the children to be inspired and their faith to be awakened. Make them confident in what they have been taught, a generation that cannot be deterred. 

I pray for health, both physical and spiritual. Heal our nation inside and out. Pour your spirit out like a salve to repair the illness and teach us to be strong. 

Shoo away fear, sweep it from our porch. Let your peace rest in its place. Equip your people with soldier's hearts that we would mind the gap and stand in for the sake of those too weak or foolish to call on you. 

I pray that we would hold nothing back which could save one. Make us bold. Help us to love deeply, beyond our needs, ambitions. Make us in tune with others. Expose their needs so that we can fill the void with faith. See us. When you look for a people willing to stand. Find us. Hold back your anger. Pour out your grace. 

Amen.