In bible days, cities were walled like Jericho was and gated to fence away enemies. In those primitive days before boundaries were well defined, every family and every ethnicity fought to establish themselves and only defined their territories by their ability to settle in a place by military conquest over others and being able to hold the ground permanently. When gaps opened up in walls, they made cities vulnerable and whoever stood in the gap during a war became the city’s defence. It is this picture that is employed by God with reference to Israel as he spoke to the prophet Ezekiel in this vision. Israel had given herself to idolatry, her priests had compromised in worship, the leaders were corrupt and ignored injustice. The transgressions of God’s laws had opened up gaps in the country’s defences and God was looking for a man to stand in the gap and protect the city so His righteous judgement would not fall upon the land according to the law of Moses; and He found no one .

 

In a world of increasing disdain for morality, where blood is being shed daily in criminality, brigandage and religious rituals, where leaders oppress with impunity and the pulpit is desecrated with greed and avarice, the gaps are massive and allow the enemy invade and have a field day. Yes, God’s grace is abundantly available because of Christ’s finished work at Calvary but where the Grace of God is ignored and unrighteousness is elevated to great heights, so much room is given to the enemy to run riot; to steal, kill and destroy at will. God sought for a man but unfortunately, Israel was all either given to personal pleasure and idolatry or the remnant who were righteous were indifferent and self centred. They were too self absorbed to care about the land.

 

One of the greatest blessings the body of Christ has witnessed is the Charismatic renewal that came on the back of the revival of Pentecostalism. Gaining momentum in the 60’s to the 80’s in the last century, it gave momentum to the ministries of the likes of A A Allen, Oral Roberts, Kathryn Kuhlman and of course the Word of Faith teachers led by Kenneth E Hagin. Revelations of Righteousness by Faith, Divine Healing, Redemption and the Authority of the Believer were restored to the church. Particularly helpful was the realization that poverty and piety were not associated as we realized it was not a badge of honour to be poor nor a qualification for heaven.

 

However, it is my personal observation that the flesh seized the opportunity presented by teachings on prosperity and redefined it into materialism; giving birth to a generation of believers that are as self centred as the unsaved and indifferent about the lost.

 

One the greatest blessings of the charismatic renewal is the discovery of Keys to answered prayer. I do not even know what would have become of me personally if I had not learnt how to pray the prayer of Faith. However, in the foundation of my life and ministry and in that of many others like me are the lessons we learnt from Kenneth E Hagin about Intercession. His book ‘The Art of Prayer’ was initially titled ‘The Art Of Intercession’ and still had a lot of lessons on that type of prayer which means ‘Standing in the Gap’. Like the defender of a city, who stands in the gaps of the wall, an Intercessor carries the burden of individuals, communities and nations on their spiritual shoulders and call upon God for His mercy and intervention. They also confront forces of darkness in operation in such places and exercise authority over them. Such prayer followed by the preaching of the gospel and the deliberate discipling of the people births spiritual revivals and transformation. We cannot be consumed with our personal need for finances, jobs, marriages, cars and material success making them all we pray about to achieve spiritual renewal in our communities. Indeed, nothing happens without prayer. Charles G Finney, a great American revivalist of the 19th century was known to precede organized crusades and revival meetings with days and weeks of fasting and prayer with a group of men. No wonder entire cities and regions were transformed by the impact of his ministry.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples to pray ‘..thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven’ before ‘Give us this day, our daily bread’. The expansion and interests of the Kingdom must be our priority as Ambassadors of Christ before our personal needs. Our Faith in our King rests on His faithfulness to meet our needs. In fact, He promises all of our personal needs will be added to us in addition to His government in our lives. Who will stand in the gap today for Nigeria, Kenya, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada, the USA, India and coming home, our various cities and communities? May heaven count you worthy to prioritize His kingdom in your daily prayers and may you follow up your prayers with evangelism that we may see true transformation and renewal in our days.