Devotional: A call to prayer for Australia.
Standing in the Gap
The cold winter weather and rain continue to linger, keeping the warmth of spring sunshine at bay. Once again, we awaken to cool temperatures and grey rain clouds moving along with the chill of the southern wind.
Just like these bleak conditions, pro-Palestinian protestors are again preparing to amass—unabated—at the Sydney Opera House, to celebrate the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
It has now been two years since thousands of Hamas-led militants poured into southern Israel after a surprise barrage of rockets. They stormed army bases, farming communities, and an outdoor music festival—killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, including women, children, and the elderly.
They abducted 251 others; most have since been released through ceasefires or other deals. Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza—around 20 believed to still be alive. Hamas has declared it will release them only in exchange for a permanent ceasefire and Israel’s withdrawal. Prime Minister Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until all captives are returned and Hamas is disarmed.
Yet our own federal government, courts, and police jurisdictions in the eastern states continue to allow protests that support, glorify, and celebrate these terrorist atrocities. We hang our heads in shame as Australians, seeing our nation permit wickedness and evil to be publicly championed in our streets.
But as I write this, I must also look at the Church of Australia.
Where is its voice? Its stand? Its power?
The Church of Jesus Christ has the authority to call upon Almighty God—to proclaim His name and to stand in the gap for this once great nation.
Ezekiel 22:30
“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.”
Each Wednesday evening, as we meet to pray at Calvary Chapel Secret Harbour, a small group gathers to fill that very gap which God still cries out for—a gap in a nation that has become deeply lost and turned its back on its Creator.
A nation so blessed, yet so ignorant of the One who blessed it.
Sadly, many churches in Australia today are following the same tragic path as Israel during the time of the Judges:
Judges 17:6
“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
When Israel lived this way, they fell once more into sin—into idolatry and selfish living—and this opened the door for their enemies to attack, to destroy their crops, and to bring suffering upon the nation.
Only when Israel repented and cried out to God did the Lord raise up a deliverer—a Judge such as Samson or Gideon—to restore His people to strength and obedience.
Australia does not have a Samson or a Gideon today. But we do have the Church of Jesus Christ.
Yet the Church seems more like Gideon before the battle than during it—
Judges 6:11 (NLT)
“Then the angel of the LORD came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites.”
The Church, too, is hiding.
Each Wednesday night, as we gather to pray, we talk and share our hearts about the state of our nation. We encourage one another to persevere, to keep praying, to stand firm. We pray for one another’s needs and come alongside those in trials. This is why Wednesday evening is called a discipleship night—because it is the one time our church family gathers to stand and call collectively on Almighty God to have mercy on our land.
Having visited the Holocaust Museum in Israel many times, I am always deeply moved. Each time I see the people of Israel fighting once again for their survival, I am reminded of six million powerful reasons why I cannot remain silent—why I must pray earnestly for God’s chosen people.
“Never again” has, sadly, happened again.
So I ask you—
Will you be a Daniel, who prayed faithfully though the lions waited?
Will you be a Gideon, who went to battle trusting the Lord with only a few?
Australia is being ravaged by the enemy at this very hour.
Will you go to battle on your knees?
The time is short!