Diabolical forces in Iran, Venezuela and in our own country are aligned against Israel today. Here’s how you can pray for the apple of God’s eye.
I have a growing conviction in my life, more pronounced with each day, that the nation and people of Israel must be a central theme in our intercession before the Lord. Never has this been more vital to our lives as Christian believers! I urge you to keep the following prayer directives continually before you:
1. Pray and work against the dramatic rise in global anti-Semitism. In our world today, there is no indication that anti-Semitism is on the decline-only signs that it is rising. As Christians, we must stand against injustice toward any people group. And if we believe that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s descendants were chosen by God to fulfill a special, unique calling in the earth, we must especially unite our voices in prayer and action to counter the constant, belligerent attacks against the Jewish people.
Just a few months ago, as Israel responded in self-defense to the barrage of rocket fire perpetrated by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, Jewish people worldwide were targeted by an outbreak of anti-Semitic acts in a host of global cities and nations. From Florida to France, an international surge of anti-Israel demonstrations condemned Israel as a bloodthirsty country attempting to kill civilians in Gaza, despite the fact that the Israeli forces sent thousands of text messages warning the people of Gaza beforehand of the counterattacks to come against Hamas in the region.
We as Christians must pray that in place of anti-Semitism, God will raise up those who will love and stand with Israel, whom God has appointed as “a people for Himself” (Deut. 7:6, NKJV).
2. Pray the Scriptures. It should be evident in our churches and Christian communities that we must pray according to the Scriptures related to Israel, but my experience tells me we still have much work to do in making this truth known.
Isaiah 62:6-7 (NIV) exhorts us, “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.” Do you call on the Lord today as a believer in Him? Then this Scripture and many others are speaking to you about the importance of living as a watchman for Israel.
We are commanded not to lose heart in this hour of trial but to pray fervently in unity until the Lord establishes Jerusalem and makes it the praise of the earth.
3. Pray for world governments. There is no guarantee that America and other nations will continually stand with Israel, even if they have in the past. We need to be praying that the new U.S. president, the new Israeli prime minister and the government leaders around the world will defend the position of Israel relative to other nations.
Israel has been called by God to be a light to the nations (see Is. 49:6). If Israel arises in righteousness, the nations will experience the Word of the Lord coming forth from Zion (see Is. 2:1-3).
4. Pray for salvation of Muslims. Every day I hear about new cases of aggressive encroachment by radical Muslims into regions that have traditionally been non-Muslim. In the same spirit in which Israel’s enemies have tried to obliterate the Jewish people repeatedly throughout history, the Muslims today are coming not only for Jews but also for Christians and the West. If you are a person who calls on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and lives by the Bible, you are an infidel and automatically the enemy-one who would be classified among the dhimmi (second-class people) under Muslim Shariah law.
Because Israel represents the testimony of God in the earth, this nation and all who stand with it are under constant threat from God’s enemies. One example of antagonism against Israel is the Al-Aqsa TV programming in the Gaza region, which, since the recent war, introduced a new teddy bear puppet character that declares that Palestinian children should join the jihad fighters of Hamas to attack Israel.
We must pray that all threats of radical Islam against Israel and the church are exposed and thwarted by the power of God. We must pray that the power of the gospel will begin to penetrate the Muslim world as never before and that God will raise up laborers for the harvest.
5. Pray for an awakening in Israel. Ultimately, our “help comes from the name of the Lord.” Israel’s help in this hour will not ultimately come from the nations or even from America. It must look up to the Lord. God is able to cut through secularism, materialism and even a religious spirit to bring His truth to His people.
Pray for the opening of eyes and softening of hearts to the voice of the Spirit. Pray that the unease and fear that Israelis and Jewish people around the world are feeling would cause them to turn toward the Lord, not away from Him.
Will the watchmen of our Lord, for Israel and His kingdom, hear the call in this hour? I thank God that these watchmen are arising around the world with greater strength than ever before; yet we are still far from where we need to be.
As I consider the city of London-once a bastion of Christianity and now a growing base for radical Islam-I am gripped with the urgency of faithfully and fervently praying for Israel in this day in which we live.
If we, the body of Christ, do not arise as a corporate Esther now-“for such a time as this”-there will not be a freedom-loving society in the future, in which our sons and daughters have the ability to worship openly. Beloved, we must pray.
Robert Stearns is the founder and executive director of Eagles’ Wings ministry and the publisher of KAIROS magazine. He is also co-chairman of a worldwide prayer initiative, The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, observed every year on the first Sunday in October.
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