Intervention Prayer: ‘Devil, You Can’t Have My Family!’
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).
The phrase stand in the gap coincides with the previously stated phrase make a wall.
The cities were protected by a surrounding wall, and they needed to defend any gap or breach in their wall.
God uses this analogy in a reference that refers to intercession. He wanted someone to pray for mercy so that He would have a legal right to defer judgment, allowing the people space to repent.
Abraham, who was referred to as a friend of God (James 2:23), stood in the gap to defer the judgment that was coming on Sodom and Gomorrah.
And Abraham came close and said, Will You destroy the righteous (those upright and in right standing with God) together with the wicked?
Suppose there are in the city fifty righteous; will You destroy the place and not spare it for [the sake of] the fifty righteous in it?
Far be it from You to do such a thing—to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as do the wicked! Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth execute judgment and do righteously?
And the Lord said, If I find in the city of Sodom fifty righteous (upright and in right standing with God), I will spare the whole place for their sake (Genesis 18:23-26 AMPC).
Abraham continued asking for mercy until God agreed to spare the city if He could find ten righteous people. Although God did not locate ten righteous and judgment fell on the city, God sent angels to rescue Lot and his family. Because Abraham was willing to stand in the gap before God, his family received mercy.
God said, “I sought for someone to stand in the gap before Me.” Even now, the Lord seeks for someone in every family, place of employment, suburb, city, state, and region who will petition for His mercy. When you stand in the broken place of your loved one’s life and pray for God’s love to be demonstrated, they have the opportunity to turn from their ways and walk in God’s plan.
Aaron took that stand when the plague was traveling through the camp of the Israelites. The plague was judgment for something they had done, but Moses instructed Aaron to petition God’s mercy by standing in the breach they had caused, holding the holy fire from the altar.
And Moses said to Aaron, Take a censer and put fire in it from off the altar and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them. For there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague has begun!
So Aaron took the burning censer as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and behold, the plague was begun among the people; and he put on the incense and made atonement for the people.
And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stayed (Numbers 16:46-48 AMPC).
Aaron’s intervention allowed God’s mercy to prevail. This is what happens when you pray! You are standing in the gap, making up a wall of mercy. You have a relationship with God that allows you to intervene and allow God’s mercy instead of judgment!
Give the Lord No Rest
Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work… (Isaiah 62:7 NLT).
When you are established on God’s will to save your loved one, you will understand that God is not insulted by your persistence. His love is the force that is causing you to keep asking for mercy even when your loved one has repeatedly pushed the limit. The mercy of God is the source of your boldness to stand in the gap for them. God wants you to stay with your intervention praying until the job is done. Like Abraham continued the negotiations, God wants you to stay on the line, working His will into the situation with your authority.
I’ve posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. Day and night they keep at it, praying, calling out, reminding God to remember. They are to give him no peace until he does what he said, until he makes Jerusalem famous as the City of Praise (Isaiah 62:7 MSG).
Paul didn’t ease up on his intervention prayers when they were caught in a storm on the sea. Paul had warned them by God’s revelation not to set sail, but they ignored his insight. Paul intervened for them anyway. In Acts 27:24 (AMPC), the angel said, “God has given you all those who are sailing with you.” In verse 37 (AMPC), we discover how many people were saved by Paul’s intervention prayer, “All told there were 276 souls of us in the ship.” God granted Paul’s intervention and saved 276 people, and God, who is rich in mercy, will extend mercy to your loved one in answer to your prayer!
Make Up the Hedge
Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord (Ezekiel 13:5 KJV).
The phrase made up the hedge is also defined as “hedged the hedge.” Growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, I saw a lot of hedgerows that indicated property lines. The hedge marked where one family’s property started and another’s property line ended. If the hedge is missing or broken down, who can tell where the property lines are?
In context, the verse speaks of spiritual preparation so the nation can stand on the day of battle. If the hedge is broken, the defenses won’t stand.
In our lives, who can tell where God’s property line begins and ends? The enemy will trespass on your property or in the lives of your loved ones unless we mark the hedge.
God wants you to make up or rebuild the hedge. God needs a sentry on the battleground, marking the territory that belongs to God’s kingdom. The salvation of our family members is promised to us.
So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31).
God made the covenant promise to Abraham about his children. The well-being and prosperity of our families are part of our inheritance and covenant!
And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you (Genesis 17:7).
You must claim their lives as territory for God and make up the hedge to indicate the property line. Picture this scenario. The enemy is camped in the life of your family member. He has a drug-addiction flag flying over his campsite. He has barbed wire fences of fear and shame surrounding the entire land. He has guards with armed weapons at every entry to this person’s life. The guards are using addictions, pornography, or shame from their failures to hold this person in bondage. The enemy has marked their lives as his territory and claimed them as his.
You have the title deed of faith that includes the map of this territory. This property line has been torn down by sin, and the enemy has illegally claimed this property. You must take the authority of Jesus’ name and reestablish the property line. Make up the hedge! Rebuild the boundary that marks this person as kingdom ground!
Every person has free will, and our prayers won’t override their right to choose God or refuse Him. But our prayers supercharge the atmosphere with God’s light, employ the angel armies, and open doors for God to reveal His love, compassion, and mercy to our loved ones. Our prayers resist the adversary’s schemes, wiles, and strategies, tearing down things he has spent years building. Our prayers stock the shelves of their lives with spiritual answers, hope, and strength.
You can make up the hedge! God will strengthen you, but you must stand in the gap!
Your Intervention Prayer
Father, in Jesus’ name, I plead the blood of Jesus to cover the mind, will, and emotions of (insert your loved one’s name). I apply the blood of Jesus to the spirit and body of (insert your loved one’s name). I reclaim the territory the enemy has illegally taken. I stand up to the adversary in Jesus’ name and enforce the kingdom boundary lines.
Satan, you are trespassing! I command you to leave this life. I command you to remove your weapons from (insert your loved one’s name)’s life. In Jesus’ name, I pull down the strongholds of rejection, unbelief, selfishness, and fear in (insert your loved one’s name)’s life.
I build a wall of hope around (insert your loved one’s name) and hedge their life with God’s covenant. Let the banner of God’s love be on display, marking (insert your loved one’s name) for God.
I release angels to enforce this kingdom boundary. The devil and his forces have no power here. I declare Jesus Christ is Lord of this land. (Insert your loved one’s name) belongs to the kingdom of God because of God’s covenant with me.
Lord, I stand on Your promise and willingness to save my family. Your Word says that You will pour out Your Spirit upon my offspring and Your blessing upon my descendants (Isa. 44:3 AMPC). You will contend with him who contends with me, and You give safety to my children and ease them day by day (Isa. 49:25 AMPC).
I confess Isaiah 54:13 (AMPC) over (insert your loved one’s name). (Insert your loved one’s name) shall be a disciple taught by the Lord and obedient to His will, and great shall be the peace and undisturbed composure of (insert your loved one’s name).
God, You know the thoughts and plans that You have for (insert your loved one’s name), thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give (insert your loved one’s name) hope in his/her final outcome (Jer. 29:11 AMPC).
According to Colossians 1:12-13, I give thanks to the Father, who has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. I declare this into (insert your loved one’s name)’s life. God has delivered and drawn (insert your loved one’s name) to Himself out of the control and dominion of darkness and has transferred (insert your loved one’s name) into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. I rejoice that Your Word will not return empty.
