I was listening to KFLR (Family Life Radio) this morning in my car when I heard...
"What if you are the person that God has appointed to stand in the gap for someone you will come in contact with today?"
Years ago I was waiting at a red light. A young man crossed the street in front of me. He was dressed entirely in black. Black shoes, black pants, black t-shirt and a black trench coat that flapped in the wind. He had jet black hair that stood straight up in a mohawk and multiple piercings. His face was pale, his eyes blackened with makeup and his countenance was menacing, yet sad.
The wind blew his trench coat open again and I saw these words written in white across the front of his t-shirt, "I am the Devil."
My heart broke. This young man was once an innocent baby boy with all the promise in the world ahead of him. He was fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-16) in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27) The Creator had a definite plan for his life (Jeremiah 29:11 and I'm pretty sure this wasn't it.
When God formed this boy inside his mother's womb (Jeremiah 1:5), his life was full of promise...what happened?
I snapped up the opportunity to pray for that young man as he crossed the street and to continue praying for him as I drove toward my destination. In fact, God has brought him back to mind many times over the years and I have prayed for him again.
Ezekiel 22:23-31 recounts the story of ancient Israel, who had strayed far from following God. The nation was overrun with sin. The prophet Ezekiel was sent to warn the nation of the impending judgement of God and the destruction of the nation. God looked for someone to "stand in the gap before me...that I should not destroy it", but He found no one.
There are several incidents in the Word where God was willing to spare people if only there was someone praying, someone willing to beseech God for mercy for others.
I wonder, how many lives are turned over to their own destruction because there is no one praying for them? No one to plead for mercy. No one who cared enough to ask God to move on their behalf to bring them back to Him, to spare their lives and turn them around.
Which leads me back to the question...
"What if you are the person that God has appointed to stand in the gap for someone you will come in contact with today?"
Keep your eyes open today. God may bring someone across your path that desperately needs prayer.
If you feel God prompting you to pray for someone today, I would love to hear your story . Share it with us in a comment.
God bless and guess what - God has prompted me to pray for anyone who may stumble across this blog post, so I AM PRAYING FOR YOU!
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"What if you are the person that God has appointed to stand in the gap for someone you will come in contact with today?"
Years ago I was waiting at a red light. A young man crossed the street in front of me. He was dressed entirely in black. Black shoes, black pants, black t-shirt and a black trench coat that flapped in the wind. He had jet black hair that stood straight up in a mohawk and multiple piercings. His face was pale, his eyes blackened with makeup and his countenance was menacing, yet sad.
The wind blew his trench coat open again and I saw these words written in white across the front of his t-shirt, "I am the Devil."
My heart broke. This young man was once an innocent baby boy with all the promise in the world ahead of him. He was fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-16) in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27) The Creator had a definite plan for his life (Jeremiah 29:11 and I'm pretty sure this wasn't it.
When God formed this boy inside his mother's womb (Jeremiah 1:5), his life was full of promise...what happened?
I snapped up the opportunity to pray for that young man as he crossed the street and to continue praying for him as I drove toward my destination. In fact, God has brought him back to mind many times over the years and I have prayed for him again.
Ezekiel 22:23-31 recounts the story of ancient Israel, who had strayed far from following God. The nation was overrun with sin. The prophet Ezekiel was sent to warn the nation of the impending judgement of God and the destruction of the nation. God looked for someone to "stand in the gap before me...that I should not destroy it", but He found no one.
There are several incidents in the Word where God was willing to spare people if only there was someone praying, someone willing to beseech God for mercy for others.
I wonder, how many lives are turned over to their own destruction because there is no one praying for them? No one to plead for mercy. No one who cared enough to ask God to move on their behalf to bring them back to Him, to spare their lives and turn them around.
Which leads me back to the question...
"What if you are the person that God has appointed to stand in the gap for someone you will come in contact with today?"
Keep your eyes open today. God may bring someone across your path that desperately needs prayer.
If you feel God prompting you to pray for someone today, I would love to hear your story . Share it with us in a comment.
God bless and guess what - God has prompted me to pray for anyone who may stumble across this blog post, so I AM PRAYING FOR YOU!
-------------------------------------------------------
If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it with your friends using the Facebook, Twitter and other share buttons below. Thanks!
2 comments:
Hi Jan!
We get so busy going through our own life that we sometimes forget that those around us are dealing with difficulties as well. I can remember coming from ICU where my dad was connected to many tubes and being so upset with the circumstances. Then my husband and I met a distraught family in the hallway, and I felt God leading me to stop and pray with them. I never learned what they were going through, but I felt it gave all of us a renewed strength!
Thanks for sharing, Tresa. I don't think we will ever know, except maybe when we get to Heaven, just what a difference our prayers made.
Yesterday, while driving I passed an apartment complex with a couple of police cruisers in front of it. They had a woman and a man in handcuffs on the lawn. I prayed for them.
Opportunities to pray for people in trouble abound if we will only keep our eyes open and our hearts alert to the Spirits nudging to pray.
Thanks for dropping by.
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