|
PRAYING FOR
ISRAEL
Shalom Al Israel
22nd August 2006
Download
the PDF version of this Article
As
there is a temporary break in the hostilities
in the Middle East, now is a good time to
stop and ask: How should we pray for crises
such as this? Should we pray for God to
protect the Jewish people from terrorist
attacks and for Israel’s military efforts
to succeed, or should we pray that God will
have mercy on everyone involved – Muslim
and Jew alike – bringing a permanent end
to all bloodshed? Should we pray for lasting
peace to come to the region, or should we
pray for the Lord’s speedy return, since
that is the only way to achieve true and
lasting peace?
Should
we pray only for the salvation of lost souls,
or should we pray for God’s prophetic purposes
to come to pass? Since our prayer support
is crucial, let me offer some basic and
practical guidelines that will help you
to pray more effectively.
1)
The current crisis is another birth pang,
not the end of the world. It
is easy to overreact every time war breaks
out in the Middle East, as if we were about
to enter the final conflict and Armageddon
was only days away. Without a doubt, the
current situation is critical: It involves
more than Israel and Lebanon, it is part
of the larger conflict with militant Islam,
and Iran, which could soon be a nuclear
threat, is playing a direct role. And the
human suffering is certainly great: Many
lives have been lost; many families have
been devastated; normal life for many will
never return.
But
this is not the end of the world, and we
need to pray accordingly. God is at work,
the enemy is raging, and the plan of redemption
continues to unfold. This is not the time
to panic; this is the time to dig in! “You
will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but
see to it that you are not alarmed. Such
things must happen, but the end is still
to come. Nation will rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom. There will
be famines and earthquakes in various places.
All these are the beginning of birth pains”
(Matt 24:6-8). As the birth pangs increase
in speed and intensity and duration, we
will know we are getting closer to the end
– which will really be the beginning of
a whole new world. But, to repeat: This
is just another birth pang, with many more
still to come.
On
the other hand, the devil is trying to bring
about greater disaster and war before that
final end, attempting to wreak whatever
havoc he can and to destroy as many lives
as possible. We should therefore pray for
God’s restraining hand in the Middle East,
not allowing Satan’s work to triumph.
“Father,
do not allow the enemy to accomplish his
plans and purposes. May Your will, and Your
will alone, be done in Israel and the surrounding
nations!”
2)
Jesus Died For The Sins Of The World, And
Every Soul Is Precious In His Sight.
It is certainly appropriate to pray that
God will thwart the attacks of those who
seek to destroy His people Israel, but whenever
we pray, we must always remember God’s heart
for a lost and dying world. Every life is
precious to Him, and Jesus died for Jew
and Gentile alike. The Scriptures are totally
clear on this: He is not willing that any
should perish but that all should come to
repentance (2 Pet 3:9), and 2
He
wants all people to be saved (1 Tim 2:4).
Jesus is not only the propitiation for our
sins, but also for the sins of the whole
world (1 John 2:2).
In
terms of our salvation and standing in the
Lord, “there is no difference between Jew
and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all
and richly blesses all who call on him,
for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of
the Lord will be saved.’” (Rom 10:12-13)
In light of this, we should pray that God
would use the current crisis to open the
eyes of both Israelis and Arabs to the good
news of the Messiah, and we should ask our
Father for a great harvest of souls, for
many new births to take place – even among
the terrorists. Is anything too hard for
the Lord? Jesus is still the one who saves
to the uttermost (Heb 7:25).
So,
pray for the gospel to go forth in love
and power and compassion. Pray for divine
opportunities for Jesus to be exalted in
the Middle East. Pray that God would open
up closed hearts and uncover deaf ears,
remembering that it is often during times
of crisis that people turn to the Lord.
Be sure also to pray for those who are Christian
in name only – this is prevalent in Lebanon
– that their eyes would be opened to the
truth. And pray that God would expose the
emptiness of Islam, since many young people
around the world are being drawn into it,
especially in its most radical forms.
“Father,
save a multitude of Jews and Muslims through
the mercy of Your Son! In this time of displacement
and upheaval and fear, turn people’s hearts
to You!”
3)
The Lord Has Special Purposes For The Jewish
People And The Land Of Israel.
The
Scriptures are totally clear in this regard
too. Even though the great majority of the
Jewish people still do not believe in Yeshua,
the Word declares, “As far as the gospel
is concerned, they are enemies on your account;
but as far as election is concerned, they
are loved on account of the patriarchs,
for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable”
(Rom 11:28-29). The Jewish people are still
loved by God, still elect, and His promise
still stands: No matter what sins His people
may commit, He will not utterly destroy
them (see Jer 31:35-37).
The
Lord is still working to preserve and keep
His ancient, covenant people, and He will
still judge those who seek to destroy them
or wipe them out. As He said through Jeremiah
more than 2,500 years ago, “‘I am with you
and will save you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Though
I completely destroy all the nations among
which I scatter you, I will not completely
destroy you. I will discipline you but only
with justice; I will not let you go entirely
unpunished.’” (Jer 30:11) This holds true
to this very day.
It is the Lord who brought back the Jewish
people to the Land of Israel in the 20th
century, an event of great prophetic significance
(see Ezek 36:22-36; this passage not only
applied to the return from the Babylonian
exile; it speaks to our day and age as well).
Just as Ezekiel prophesied, the Jewish people
have returned to their homeland – for the
most part, in unbelief, and therefore unworthy
of God’s grace – and, just as he prophesied,
it is in the Land that God is having mercy
on them and changing their hearts. He is
doing it in ever-increasing measure, with
more and more native-born Israelis coming
to faith every year.
The Lord is still in covenant relationship
with Israel in a special and unique way,
which means that those who seek to wipe
out Israel, who launch terrorist attacks
against the Jews, who plot for Israel’s
destruction, are ultimately fighting against
God Himself. Whether they know it or not,
they are seeking to make Him into a liar,
to prove His Word false, to destroy those
whom God promised to preserve.
In
light of that, we should pray for God to
stand against those who seek to destroy
His people, asking Him to frustrate their
devices, but we must still never forget
that the ultimate need of the people of
Israel is a personal relationship with God
through the Messiah.
We
are mindful of the fact that every life
is precious in His sight, and the Lord grieves
over the death of a Lebanese child just
as He grieves over the death of an Israeli
child. He has compassion on all of His creation!
But He does have specific plans for Israel,
plans that will ultimately affect the entire
world.
There
is also a difference in the war being waged
today when viewed from the perspective of
Israel and from the perspective of the terrorists.
As Israeli leaders have said on numerous
occasions, for them, the death of every
Lebanese child or civilian is a terrible
tragedy, something to be avoided. For the
terrorists, the death of every Israeli child
or civilian is a great victory, something
to be celebrated. Israel is fighting for
survival, longing to live in peace; the
terrorists are fighting for Israel’s destruction,
longing to triumph in war.
So, pray for God to preserve Israel in the
midst of the terrorist attacks, praying
specially for His protection on all those
who know Him and call upon Him in truth.
“Father,
frustrate the devices of all who would seek
to wipe out Your people Israel, and cause
Your purposes for Israel to stand – in the
region and the world. Remember Your covenantal
promises, and continue to reveal Yeshua
as the only Hope of our nation.”
4) Yeshua Will Return To A Jewish Jerusalem
That Welcomes Him As King. Shortly before
His crucifixion, Jesus spoke to Jerusalem
and said, “Look, your house is left to you
desolate. For I tell you, you will not see
me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord.’” (Matt 23:38-39)
In other words, “Jerusalem, you are about
to devastated and destroyed, and you will
not see Me again until you welcome Me as
your Messianic King.” Yeshua will return
to a Jewish Jerusalem when the Jewish people
in Jerusalem welcome Him back.
That
means that Satan is trying desperately to
keep the Jewish people from recognizing
Yeshua as Messiah, he is trying to keep
Jerusalem out of Jewish hands, and he is
trying to wipe out the Jewish people.
The
devil knows that when a Jewish Jerusalem
welcomes back Yeshua, it’s over and done
for him.
The
Scriptures teach that, at the end of the
age, God Himself will cause Jerusalem to
be at the center of a great world conflict,
out of which He will deliver His people
(see Zechariah 12-14). That’s why the battle
for Jerusalem is so intense. And so, just
as the ultimate reason for anti-Semitism
is that the Messiah is a Jew and that God
has worked out His salvation purposes for
the world through Israel, so also, it is
because Jesus will be returning to a Jewish
Jerusalem that this city is the ultimate
spiritual battleground. That’s why God’s
people are called to pray specifically for
Jerusalem.
The
Scriptures are clear on this point too:
“I have posted watchmen on your walls, O
Jerusalem; they will never be silent day
or night. You who call on the LORD, give
yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest
till He establishes Jerusalem and makes
her the praise of the earth” (Isa 62:6-7).
We are called to pray for the peace of Jerusalem
(Psalm 122) and, more specifically, to give
God no rest until “He establishes Jerusalem
and makes her the praise of the earth.”
Jerusalem is the chosen city, but it is
a city in desperate need of divine visitation.
Pray
for God’s purposes for Jerusalem to stand,
for all attempts to wrest it out of Jewish
hands to fail, for war and disaster to be
held back until the appointed times, and
for the eyes of the Jewish people – including
the leadership! – to be opened to recognize
Yeshua as Messiah and King. It’s time!
To
sum up, we are to pray for souls, and we
are to pray for God’s prophetic purposes
to come to pass. We should pray for great
mercy to be poured out in the region, for
a great ingathering of souls, for the Jewish
people to be preserved, for God’s plans
for Israel to come to pass, and for the
lost sheep of the house of Israel to be
reunited with their Shepherd.
“Your
kingdom come, Lord! Your will be done on
earth as it is in heaven! Your name be exalted!
Preserve Jerusalem, Father! Make this city
the praise of the entire earth! And prepare
the hearts of Your people there to welcome
back Your Son!”
Be
assured, fellow-laborers, that you are making
a great difference, and keep pressing in
and holding God to His promises. He is faithful!
And let us believe that the time to favor
Zion is at hand, knowing that, as great
mercy comes to Israel, extraordinary grace
will come to the nations of the world as
well. As Paul stated in Rom 11:13-16, “Again
I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond
recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of
their transgression, salvation has come
to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.
But if their transgression means riches
for the world, and their loss means riches
for the Gentiles, how much greater riches
will their fullness bring! I am talking
to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle
to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry
in the hope that I may somehow arouse my
own people to envy and save some of them.
For if their rejection is the reconciliation
of the world, what will their acceptance
be but life from the dead? If the part of
the dough offered as firstfruits is holy,
then the whole batch is holy; if the root
is holy, so are the branches.”
Israel is still a people of promise, and
the loving intercession of Messiah’s people
will speed the day when every promise is
fulfilled. Hasten it, Lord! ( Dr Michael
Brown)
How
Should We Then Pray? At this time of Israel’s
greatest challenge and dilemma, how should
we as Christians pray for her?
-
Pray for Israel from the perspective of
a blood relative. We are, with them, of
the seed of Abraham. Israel is our elder
brother. We are integrally related to
Israel through the Covenants God made
with them that “all nations would be blessed”
through Abraham’s Seed.” Gen 12:1-3
-
Pray that God will impart Divine wisdom
to the leaders and people of Israel. To
the Prime Minister and government, the
Rabbinic Council and all the people. Pray
that a spirit of genuine deep repentance
and supplication will come upon the Jewish
nation. (Zech 12:10-12)
- Pray
that they will speedily reach the firm
conviction that only God, the Holy One
of Israel and the Lord of Armies can save
and deliver them.
-
Pray that they will see that Yeshua, their
Messiah is the One that God has appointed
as their “Deliverer from Zion.” (Psalm
18:2, 144:2, Matt 23:38-39, Romans 11:26)
- Pray
for Muslim people and nations everywhere
to be delivered from the deception they
are under, that the light of God’s glorious
truth will shine into their hearts. {Pray
for a tremendous harvest of Muslim people
into the glorious light of God’s Kingdom)
- Pray
for the soon and speedy return of Jesus
the Messiah of Israel and the world. Rev
22:16-17
-
Pray to the Father in Heaven that HisWill
be done on earth as it is in Heaven. (Matt
6:9)
|
