Intercessory Prayer: Standing in the Gap
- Guy Cohen
- 7 hours ago
- 4 min read
Last week, David Hillel, a young boy from Akko, asked the mayor for permission to paint one of the city's public bomb shelters. In his mural, he chose to honor the memory of Yemanu Binyamin Zelka, a 21-year-old young man who had recently completed his IDF service. While working a late shift at a Pizza Hut in Petah Tikva, he politely asked a group of teenagers to stop spraying Independence Day party foam inside the restaurant. After his shift ended, the group waited outside, surrounded him, brutally attacked him, and one of them fatally stabbed him. The murder took place on the night of Israel's Independence Day, a day when our nation celebrates its restoration and freedom. Instead of being remembered only as a day of joy and thanksgiving, it also became a day of unimaginable grief for one family and a wake-up call for the entire nation. Although the attack occurred in Petah Tikva, it shook all of Israel and reignited a painful conversation about the growing violence among our youth.
David Hillel's act was much more than painting a memorial. It was a cry from the heart. It reminded us that even a child understands the value of human life and refuses to become indifferent to violence.
As I reflected on this story, I found myself thinking about David Davis, the founding pastor of Carmel Congregation, who is now with the Lord. During one of our conversations, we spoke about Akko and the Galilee. David had a special love for this region and for the people who call it home.
David Davis was a disciple of David Wilkerson, the author of The Cross and the Switchblade. Wilkerson became known for bringing the Good News to street gangs in New York during the 1950s and 1960s. He entered places that most people avoided because he believed that no one is beyond the reach of God's love.
David carried that same heart to Israel. He established Carmel Congregation, from which many ministries have gone out to serve the Galilee and the nation of Israel. He also helped establish Beit Nitzachon (House of Victory), a place that has brought hope, restoration, and the love of God to many lives. Throughout the years, he worked to bring hearts together, building bridges between Jews and Arabs through the love of the Lord. He had a deep love for Akko and believed that God desired to touch this city and the entire Galilee.
When you read David Wilkerson's story, you discover that the strength of his ministry did not begin on the streets of New York. It began in prayer:
Before he stood before gangs, he stood before God.
Before he spoke to people, he listened to God.
Before he went out to minister, he bowed his knees before the Lord.
This is the same pattern we find throughout the Scriptures. The prophet Ezekiel records these words:
"I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one." (Ezekiel 22:30)
God is not primarily looking for gifted people. He is not first looking for talented leaders. He is looking for men and women who are willing to stand before Him, people who will carry the pain of the nation in intercessory prayer, people who refuse to curse the darkness and instead become light within it.
Moses stood in the gap for Israel.
Daniel continued to pray even when prayer was forbidden.
Yeshua spent entire nights in prayer before choosing His disciples and before every major step in His ministry.
Throughout the Scriptures and throughout history, every genuine move of God has begun with people who first stood before Him before standing before others. As we look at the violence, hatred, fear, and brokenness around us today, it is easy to point fingers. Governments, schools, law enforcement, and social institutions all have important responsibilities. Yet the question the Lord asks His people is different.
Who will pray for this generation?
Who will bring the hope of Yeshua to young people who believe they have no future?
Who will reach out to those whom society has already given up on?
I believe this is the hour when God is once again calling the Body of Messiah in Israel to rise and stand in the gap. Not out of fear, not out of anger, and not out of despair, but out of the love of Yeshua the Messiah. This is the time to pray for our families, for our young people, for Akko, for the Galilee, and for the State of Israel. This is the time to fast, to proclaim the Good News found in Yeshua the Messiah, and to reach out to those whom society has already given up on.
Every genuine move of God begins when one person first stands before Him in prayer and then goes out into the world to be a light in the darkness, the salt of the earth, and a living testimony of the love of Yeshua.
