Powerful Prayers of a Gap Woman | Today with Dr. Mark Jobe

“There is nothing in your life that is beyond His control. We can bring every need, no matter how desperate, to Him.”

Do you know a gap woman? Someone who devotedly stands in the gap for her family, praying fervently on their behalf? In 2 Kings, chapter 4, we meet one such woman. This woman lived in Shunem, a town in the Jezreel Valley. Scripture tells us she was a woman of significant social standing, but she privately struggled with infertility. She and her husband had invited the prophet Elisha to their home for a meal. They even furnished a room for him, so he could stay when he passed through town (v. 10). To thank them, this prophet asked God to open the woman’s womb. And, despite her age, the woman gave birth to a son.

Then tragedy struck. One day the child was with his father in the fields (v. 18). The boy cried out to his dad saying, “My head! My head!” (v. 19). The father asked his servant to take the child to his mother. I can imagine her holding her little boy on her lap, this child she had wanted for so long. We don’t know what was wrong—some think he had sunstroke or a brain aneurysm. But this woman’s only son died in her arms. The Shunammite woman had done all she could, but even so, her child died. Mothers will do whatever they can for their children based on their human abilities. But gap women go to God in faith for the supernatural. Verse 21 tells us the Shunammite woman laid her son on Elisha’s bed, shut the door, and went after the prophet. She knew her son had died, but she was getting ready for a resurrection. I don’t want to give away the end of the story; but what I want you to know is that, through prayer, you have direct access to the throne of God. There is nothing in your life that is beyond His control. We can bring every need, no matter how desperate, to Him.

Are you in a situation where you’ve done everything you can? You need the supernatural. When we’ve done everything we can, we need to carry our sons or daughters to God. Some of the greatest prayer warriors I know are mothers who are fiercely interceding on behalf of their family. But all of us, men and women, can stand in the gap for those we love, bringing them before our God who knows, hears, and has the power to change lives.

BY Dr. Mark Jobe, President

Dr. Mark Jobe is the president of Moody Bible Institute. He has served as the lead pastor of New Life Community Church, one church that meets at 27 locations. Mark earned a diploma from Moody Bible Institute in 1984, a master’s degree from Moody Theological Seminary, and a doctorate in transformational leadership from Bakke Graduate University. He is the author of What Now?: How to Move into Your Next Season (Moody Publishers) and can be heard on Bold Steps, a daily program on Moody Radio. He and his wife, Dee, have three adult children and one grandchild.