Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
In Psalm 122 David instructs us to:
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you be
secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within
your citadels."
Christians over the years have held differing views on the
nation of Israel. Some believe that the returning of the Jews
back to the Middle East and the nation of Israel reforming is
part of God's plans for the end times. Others say that the
Church has replaced Israel in fulfilling God's purposes.
Whichever of the two views one may hold it is important to pray
for the people who live in this troubled land. But how do we
pray? What is God's will for the Middle East?
In his first letter to Timothy, Paul says:
"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers,
intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings
and all those in authority...."
So the first thing we can do is to pray for the leaders of
Israel and its neighbouring countries. We may or may not like
the various leaders in that part of the world, but God has
allowed them to rise to these positions. In the Old Testament
God used kings who did not know him to fulfill his purposes.
Therefore, it is important to pray for them that they will
govern wisely and make Godly and just decisions.
The second way that we can pray is to follow David's plea and
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." Humanly speaking getting
peace in Jerusalem is impossible. However, we are instructed to
pray for this. One of the advantages of praying this pray is
that we can put aside some of our political and religious bias
and pray for the inhabitants of that great city. I have found it
helpful to pray for the different religious and nationality
groupings in Jerusalem: Israelites, Arabs, Palestinians,
Armenians, Christians, Jews and Muslims. And we need to keep in
mind that God loves all those in Jerusalem and his Son died for
all of them. That includes the ones whose views and policies we
do not support!