Standing in the Gap
The Lord showed me something about a month ago that has really transformed the way I think about ministry and intercession.
On Tuesday nights we have a prayer meeting for our church. We pray for our leadership, for God's vision of the church, the youth ministry and outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I usually walk around during the prayer meetings because it helps me to stay engaged and focused. About a month ago while we were praying for the youth, I felt the Lord tell me to lay on my face on the ground. So I did.
As soon as I got down there I just kept asking the Lord to pour out His Spirit on the youth of Mt. Carmel and for salvation. After about a minute of this the Lord showed me a picture. What I saw was two cliffs. You know in a movie like Indiana Jones or something like that where there are two cliffs in the middle of the jungle and a really old and rotting rope bridge in between them that the hero inevitably has to cross? It was a scene like that except there was no bridge in the middle. As I'm seeing in my mind these cliffs, I suddenly see myself stretched out in between them in the same way that I was laying on the floor. Then I heard the phrase "standing in the gap."
Most of us probably refer to intercession as standing in the gap, or have at least heard of it referred to as that before. The image that typically comes to mind for me when I hear that is soldiers marching and someone has fallen and I come running into their spot so that there are no breaks in the line. I will also sometimes think of a game of red rover. The point is the image I saw was always horizontal. In my mind intercession was always keeping the line strong so the enemy had no room to get in. I saw ministry in pretty much the same light. I was fighting the fight of faith. Taking my place in the army. Taking back ground. Holding my place in the line.
In this vision, God showed me that what intercession really looks like is laying your life down. What ministry looks like is creating a bridge. You are playing a role in connecting people to God. And what that looks like is laying your life down. We will talk about being a forerunner or trailblazer or pioneer, and again the image that might come to mind is someone cutting down the forest with a machete. Yeah, they have to cut through the hard parts, but they're still the cool ones in front with the machete. What being a forerunner looks like really is laying down so the path is brought low for the next person. With your laid down life, you are making a clear path from that person to the Lord.
The vision progressed as I a teenage girl start to walk across me as a bridge between her and the Lord. I saw my footing start to wobble and I started to shake. The girl couldn't safely walk across and she fell through my cracks. The word that I heard at this point was "inconsistency."
The Lord was speaking to my heart so plainly that if I have any inconsistencies at all then the bridge that my life is intended to create becomes shotty and just like the bridges in the movies it will fall apart. If I can be shaken, then my bridge can be shaken. If someone is traveling your bridge while you're shaken, then they will be lost.
He was especially highlighting to me young people. Sometimes kids and young adults that we are trying to lead and influence are a whole lot better at seeing our inconsistencies then we are. If I'm telling my youth girls to get in the Word and that the Word sustains you, and yet I am not reading my Bible on a daily basis, I am an inconsistent bridge. I am not a life fully surrendered to the Lord.
I am encouraged by this encounter with the Lord. I am encouraged because my God is the God who said "Well done good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a little; I will set you over much." (Matt. 25:21a) What I love about this verse is that the Lord didn't say, "You've succeeded with a little " Or "You've made a profit with a little" Or even "You did well with a little"
He said "You've been faithful."
He's not asking for spectacular feats.
He's asking for faithful.
He's not asking you to get an A on every test or project. He's asking you to show up to class every day.
What could God do with one life fully surrendered and faithful?
What could God do with a community full of people fully surrendered and faithful?
More than we could ask, speak or imagine.
On Tuesday nights we have a prayer meeting for our church. We pray for our leadership, for God's vision of the church, the youth ministry and outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I usually walk around during the prayer meetings because it helps me to stay engaged and focused. About a month ago while we were praying for the youth, I felt the Lord tell me to lay on my face on the ground. So I did.
As soon as I got down there I just kept asking the Lord to pour out His Spirit on the youth of Mt. Carmel and for salvation. After about a minute of this the Lord showed me a picture. What I saw was two cliffs. You know in a movie like Indiana Jones or something like that where there are two cliffs in the middle of the jungle and a really old and rotting rope bridge in between them that the hero inevitably has to cross? It was a scene like that except there was no bridge in the middle. As I'm seeing in my mind these cliffs, I suddenly see myself stretched out in between them in the same way that I was laying on the floor. Then I heard the phrase "standing in the gap."
Most of us probably refer to intercession as standing in the gap, or have at least heard of it referred to as that before. The image that typically comes to mind for me when I hear that is soldiers marching and someone has fallen and I come running into their spot so that there are no breaks in the line. I will also sometimes think of a game of red rover. The point is the image I saw was always horizontal. In my mind intercession was always keeping the line strong so the enemy had no room to get in. I saw ministry in pretty much the same light. I was fighting the fight of faith. Taking my place in the army. Taking back ground. Holding my place in the line.
In this vision, God showed me that what intercession really looks like is laying your life down. What ministry looks like is creating a bridge. You are playing a role in connecting people to God. And what that looks like is laying your life down. We will talk about being a forerunner or trailblazer or pioneer, and again the image that might come to mind is someone cutting down the forest with a machete. Yeah, they have to cut through the hard parts, but they're still the cool ones in front with the machete. What being a forerunner looks like really is laying down so the path is brought low for the next person. With your laid down life, you are making a clear path from that person to the Lord.
The vision progressed as I a teenage girl start to walk across me as a bridge between her and the Lord. I saw my footing start to wobble and I started to shake. The girl couldn't safely walk across and she fell through my cracks. The word that I heard at this point was "inconsistency."
The Lord was speaking to my heart so plainly that if I have any inconsistencies at all then the bridge that my life is intended to create becomes shotty and just like the bridges in the movies it will fall apart. If I can be shaken, then my bridge can be shaken. If someone is traveling your bridge while you're shaken, then they will be lost.
He was especially highlighting to me young people. Sometimes kids and young adults that we are trying to lead and influence are a whole lot better at seeing our inconsistencies then we are. If I'm telling my youth girls to get in the Word and that the Word sustains you, and yet I am not reading my Bible on a daily basis, I am an inconsistent bridge. I am not a life fully surrendered to the Lord.
I am encouraged by this encounter with the Lord. I am encouraged because my God is the God who said "Well done good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a little; I will set you over much." (Matt. 25:21a) What I love about this verse is that the Lord didn't say, "You've succeeded with a little " Or "You've made a profit with a little" Or even "You did well with a little"
He said "You've been faithful."
He's not asking for spectacular feats.
He's asking for faithful.
He's not asking you to get an A on every test or project. He's asking you to show up to class every day.
What could God do with one life fully surrendered and faithful?
What could God do with a community full of people fully surrendered and faithful?
More than we could ask, speak or imagine.
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