Will you stand in the gap?

Do you ever wonder if your prayers accomplish anything? This morning I was thanking the Lord for the way He has always protected me my whole life and for the way He has taken such good care of me. What a wonderful God He is! But even as I thanked Him, I heard Him tell me that what He has done for me He desires to do for all. What He is doing for me is not special. It is what He does. In Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34 the Lord approaches Jerusalem and tells the city “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” His desire is to love and protect. But we have to be willing, as He told Jerusalem. So what does His desire to love and protect have to do with our prayers? Everything. If you look at Ezekiel 22:30, He tells Ezekiel the following: “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall (of protection) and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found no one”. The Lord went on to tell me that I should never underestimate the value of my prayers. The enemy might scoff at me, and He might try to discourage me from continuing to stand in the gap. But the real reason the enemy scoffs at my prayers is because he fears my prayers of protection, for he knows that they touch the Father’s heart and are therefore filled with power. When we pray for the lost, whoever they might be, we stand in the gap and allow Him the privilege of gathering and protecting His children, His chicks if you will. It gives them time to repent and return to Him. This image of a hen is the heart of a mother. A mother protects her children. Psalm 91:4 tells us that “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge. The very heart of God is protection. Your prayers and mine, when we intercede for those unwilling chicks who have scattered themselves and chosen their own ways, are powerful and they touch His heart. He is listening. He is working. He will restore. Will you stand in the gap? Will you make a wall of protection for the lost ones in your life?