Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure.”
Psalm 122:6
On September 1, 2014, Anne invited believers around the globe to join her in praying and fasting for all those living in His Land…Then, this September 1, 2015, she recalled each one of us to continue to pray for Jerusalem! Keep Praying!
NOTE: This prayer may be prayed in one hour, or it may be prayed section by section over a longer period of time. Although it is patterned after Daniel 9, it is my personal prayer that has been birthed in my own heart, on my own knees.
Our Father in Heaven. God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are the Eternal I AM. The One who is age to age the same. There is no shadow of turning with You. You are fully present in every generation—past, present, and future. You are the All-Mighty. Your power has not been deleted or depleted over the millennia of human history. We know that You so loved the world that You gave us Heaven’s treasure when You sent Your only Son to die, so that anyone and everyone who places their faith in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Yet we also know that Your great heart of love still longs to pour out Your blessing on the City and the people that You have uniquely chosen as Your own. Jerusalem. The House of Israel. The Jews.
In this present worldwide climate, we are increasingly desperate! Evil seems to be unrestrained. Babies are not only aborted, but sold piece by piece on the market. Sex trafficking is thriving. Marriage has been redefined. Nations are unraveling. Wars are raging. Arms deals are being struck behind the closed doors of our enemies. There are rumors of more wars breaking out as a nuclear arms race begins in the most dangerous part of the world—the Middle East. Kingdom is rising against kingdom. Our spirits feel the turmoil and agitation that surely are a reflection of the warfare being waged in the invisible realms. We need You! For everything! But our hearts are now burdened for the Epicenter of the world. For Jerusalem and all that she represents at this critical, strategic last hour.
So we humbly turn to You now. For one hour we turn away from our responsibilities and routines, our busyness and our business, our own problems and pressures. We turn away from focusing on our own nation and the needs of the church. We turn away from any self-reliance or self-interests, and we look to You. We run to You. We join together with one heart and one voice to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. You alone are the One who makes us to dwell in safety. You alone are the One who makes us secure. You alone are God. And You alone are our God. We turn to You, deeply aware we do not deserve in ourselves to address You, yet boldly confident of access into Your most holy presence through the blood of Your Son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so…
We pray with confidence, because You are the God of Creation, Lord of the Universe. Elohim. The Strong One. You alone are The LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship You.1 We sing Your praises, for You are highly exalted. No one is higher than You. You are our strength and our song. Again and again, You have been the salvation of Your people. Whether they are enslaved in Egypt; running from Pharoah’s pursuing army; harassed by Midianites, Amorites, Edomites, Moabites, Canaanites, Perizzites or Philistines; held in captivity by Babylon; scattered to the four corners of the earth; imprisoned in Nazi death camps; threatened with annihilation by Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, the Taliban, Al Quaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood and Boko Haram–You alone are able to shatter Israel’s enemies.
Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power. And in the greatness of Your excellence You overthrow those who rise up against You; You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff. While You are slow to anger and great in power, You will not at all aquit the wicked. You have Your way in the whirlwind and in the storm. The clouds are the dust of Your feet.2
Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders? In Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed; in Your strength You have guided them to Your holy habitation.
You will reign forever and ever. We long for the day when our faith becomes sight, and the whole world is filled with the glory of who You are. Our highest joy will be to see You face to face; to gather around Your throne with multitudes from every tribe, language, people, and nation that You have purchased with the blood of Your own Son, and worship You.3
I pray with confidence because _________________
We pray with compulsion for the peace of Jerusalem, and for the whole House of Israel. Your people and the city that bear Your name are surrounded by a vast multitude of hostile, evil men seeking to kill and destroy. Men who behead those who refuse to embrace their evil dogma, who bury alive those who refuse to submit to their will, who crucify those who are identified with Your Son. And now these demonic forces are on the verge of being equipped with nuclear weapons and with WMD’s, such as mustard and sarin gas. Your people are subjected to the continuing barrage of enemy missiles and mortars that are destroying farms and families, communities and children. While one ceasefire after another promises peace, when Israel’s land is divided and surrendered for peace, when people cry out for peace… peace, there is no peace. Are You not the God who rules over all the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can withstand You.
We are compelled to pray for Your people because they are facing their enemies without the strength, wisdom, peace, comfort, security and hope that You reserve for those who are indwelt by Your Spirit through faith in Your Son, Jesus. They have no deep, blessed assurance that their sins are forgiven, that eternal life is theirs, and that a heavenly Home is waiting to welcome them.
We are compelled to pray because…
- You have promised that You will give Your people a new heart and put a new spirit within them; that You will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.4
- You have promised that in the very last days, You will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication.5
- You have promised that You will open the eyes of the spiritually blind, and they would look on You, the One they have pierced.6
- You have promised that all of Israel, tribe by tribe, clan by clan, family by family, will mourn for their sin of rebellion and rejection of their Messiah.
- You have promised that on that day of national mourning and repentance, all of Israel will be saved. That the deliverer will come from Zion; that You will turn godlessness away from Jacob.7
- You have promised that You will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and You will cleanse them.8
- You have promised that they will be Your people, and You will be their God.9
- You have promised that You will make an everlasting covenant of peace with them.10
- You have promised that one day, and we believe soon, You will set aside 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel who have been redeemed and on whose foreheads You write Your name, to be proclaimers of the Gospel to the whole world.11
- You have promised that You will go out and fight against the nations that come against Your people; that You will set Your feet on the Mount of Olives once again; that you will be king over the whole earth.12
O Abba Father! We do not ask for what we want or what we hope. We are asking You to do what You have said! You are a great covenant-keeping God. You do not mock Your children. You keep Your Word. We are therefore compelled at this moment when faced with problems that have no human solution to pray and hold You to Your promises.
I pray with compulsion because of our problems and Your promises_____________
We pray with a contrite spirit. We are ashamed and embarrassed to lift up our faces to You, for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens.13 So now, our God, what shall we say?
We have sinned and done wrong.
We have been wicked and have rebelled.
We have turned away from Your commands and Your Word.14
We have not listened to Your servants, the prophets…like Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah…who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and to all Your people.
We have not obeyed or kept the laws You have given us.
We have rationalized and explained away the evidence of Your greatness that we see in Creation around us.
We have suppressed the truth that we were created by You and for You, and have exchanged it for the lie that we are masters of our own fate.
We confess to defying Your creation principles, marching in the streets of Jerusalem to assert the right to a gay lifestyle.
We do not glorify You as God, nor give thanks to You, but live our lives as though we have no accountability to You.15
We have looked to our own strength for salvation and have forgotten Your mighty acts of deliverance in the past. As though the God of Abraham, Moses, David,and Elijah no longer exists. Or if You do, You no longer involve Yourself in the affairs of Your people.
We confess that our faith in You and Your strength is weak, as though what we face today is beyond Your ability to overcome. Or beneath Your interest to intervene.
We confess to pride and arrogance that have determined we must face our enemies in our own strength. That this present darkness will pass without Your intervention.
We confess to religious intolerance that condemns those who are not like us.
We confess to religious indifference that gives lip service to You, but lacks sincere faith, so that our lives are lived and our decisions are made as practical atheists—as though You do not exist.
We confess to generational hatred and racial prejudice that is like a disease, perpetuating divisiveness, destruction and turmoil.
We confess to the idolatry of good luck charms and amulets, as though gods of stone and wood have power and You don’t.
You are merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against You. But this day we are covered with shame.
With a humble, contrite spirit, I confess_____________
We pray with clarity. We ask, great Creator God, that You give sight to those born spiritually blind. Open the eyes of Your people to see You for who You truly are. Don’t let their sight be dimmed or distorted by centuries of religiosity and rejection of The Truth. Open their eyes to Jesus as their Messiah. Then show up in great power, giving Your people supernatural strength to withhold vengeance, to execute justice, to remember mercy, to walk humbly as they acknowledge that victory will be won not by their might nor by their own power, but by Your Spirit.16 Yet we do ask You for victory over the enemy…
We pray for the enemies who are coming against Jerusalem to be convicted of their sin, for them to repent and turn from it and ask You for forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ. But if they do not, we ask that this day, You defeat and destroy them.
We ask that You strip Jerusalem’s enemies of peace and cooperation among themselves, so that they are divided and turn on each other.
We ask that their evil plans would be exposed or fall back on the enemy’s own head.
We ask that the face of every man, woman or child that they have slaughtered, beheaded, buried, or crucified be indelibly imprinted on their mind’s eye, filling them with turmoil and robbing them of clear thinking.17
We ask that for every man, woman or child who is martyred for their faith in You, ten others would rise up to take their place, so that the persecution would fan revival fires throughout the Middle East. Please, dear Jesus, keep showing up in dreams and visions and in any form You choose in order to change hearts and minds, melting generations of prejudice and hatred with Your love and peace.
We ask that the fear of the One, True, Living God would fall on Israel’s neighbors…and on Israel.18
We ask that the ancient prince of the Persian kingdom and every other demonic force coming against Your City be bound and rendered powerless in the face of the hosts of Heaven.19
We ask that the Iron Dome would be 100% effective in the north as well as in the south, and that You would continue to anoint Israel’s engineers and physicists with ability to design systems that would provide a protective shield for The Beautiful Land.
We ask for supernatural wisdom for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Cabinet, his counselors, and all government officials, so that they make decisions in line with Your perfect will. Draw the Prime Minister into Your Word. And then, when he opens and reads it, speak to him through it.
We ask that You intervene to give President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Netanyahu a shared vision and agreed-upon steps to accomplish it so that Israel has clear, unified leadership during these dangerous days.
We ask that You turn the heart of The Honorable Nir Barkat, Jerusalem’s mayor, toward You; that he would acknowledge his need of You and re-issue a city-wide call to prayer.
We ask that You comfort the mothers, fathers, and children living in the farming communities near the Gaza border. Give them an overwhelming sense of Your presence and love for each of them. As they turn to You, give them peace…and a good night’s sleep.
We ask that You bless The Beautiful Land and all those who live there, both Jews and Arabs, with Your peace.
We ask especially that You woo Your people to Yourself. Draw them to put their trust in You, so that You are their refuge and their fortress. Save them. Cover them. Be with them in trouble. Command Your angels to guard them and keep them in all their ways.20
You are a great prayer-hearing, prayer-answering, covenant-keeping, miracle-working God. Hear our prayer! Listen to Your children as we pray for the peace of the city on which You have placed Your name. Rise up, great Lion of Judah, and defend Your people. Deliver Jerusalem from her enemies so that all the nations of the earth may know that You alone are God. Answer us! For the glory of Your great name!
I ask specifically for____________
We will pray until our prayers are confirmed, because we believe in You. We believe that Jerusalem’s God is God. We believe You are as strong today on her behalf as You were in the beginning, and always have been, and always will be. We believe that since the first day we set our minds to gain understanding and to humble ourselves before our God, our words have been heard.21 Because our words are based on Your words. We believe that we have asked according to Your will, in the name of Your dear Son, and for His glory alone. Therefore we expect to receive answers.22
Now we await Your confirmation. We have prayed for the peace of Jerusalem. We don’t know what else to do. But our eyes are fixed expectantly on You.23
For the Glory of Yeshua
AMEN
To view a printable PDF of this prayer, please click HERE.
[1] Nehemiah 9:6
[2] Nahum 1:3
[3] Based on the Song of Moses, Exodus 15
[4] Ezekiel 11:19
[5] Zechariah 12:10
[6] Acts 26:18, Zechariah 12:10
[7] Romans 11:26-27
[8] Hosea 14:4
[9] Ezekiel 37:23
[10] Ezekiel 37:26
[11] Revelation 7:1-4, 14:1-5
[12] Zechariah 14:3-4, 9
[13] Paraphrased from Ezra 9, Daniel 9, and Romans 1
[14] Israel has the most liberal abortion laws in the world. Tel Aviv is marketed as the gay capital of the Middle East. Alcohol consumption among Israeli children is surging to the extent that Prime Minister Netanyahu has called it “an epidemic.”
[15] Paraphrased from Romans 1; 42% of Israelis are secular.
[16] Zechariah 4:6
[17] Romans 2:9
[18] 2 Chronicles 20:29
[19] Daniel 10:13
[20] Psalm 91
[21] Daniel 10:12
[22] John 14:13-14
[23] 2 Chronicles 20:12
