“So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:30 (NKJV)
To understand the intensity of God’s declaration above we must read the Hebrew definition of the word “baw kash’” (Strong’s 1245) translated here as “sought”. "to search out (by any method; specifically in worship or prayer); by implication to strive after {ask} {beg} {beseech} ..."
We quickly see that God did not simply glance about for this “man”, He went all out in His search for someone to stand in the gap. Can you imagine that God would beg us to do anything? He must have given this search top priority that He would go to such lengths in order to find someone to stand before Him as an intercessor for the land.
To stand in the gap is to literally be the one who stands between God and man to turn away His wrath. To do so puts us in the company of Abraham as he talked with God about Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah; with men like Moses, the prophets, and later the Great Apostle, Jesus was of course the greatest of intercessors.
You see, God is not just looking for anyone to fill a slot; He is looking for men and women who know how to pray, who are accustomed to prayer and praying in difficult circumstances, who know that “the earnest, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” and are not concerned with the enemy, only with the God Who calls them to pray.
How can it be that God found no one among the people of Judah willing and able to pray?
Our nation is at a critical juncture very similar to that of Judah; we are a nation over run by wickedness, and our leaders are often those most guilty. Good has become evil and evil good, untold millions of babies have been killed for convenience sake, and wealth and power are the driving forces behind most endeavors. Who is willing to stand in the gap before God and pray? Who will say as did Isaiah “here am I send me”, or who will rush to fill the void and shore up the crumbling wall so that God’s wrath will not fall and crush us all?Who will pray?
