Pray for Israel

Pray for Israel today Wednesday 9th July 2014

Received this news of what happened last night from in Israel

Just a quick update. Hamas fired 40 rockets at once about 1 hr. ago and three or four fell around us, one opposite us in the cemetery area. They have fired on Tel Aviv and also tried Haifa but it fell near Caesarea. We are now in a major confrontation which will take time and we will have to stay close to home.

Pray Zechariah 2:5; Psalm 55:9; Ephesians 6:12; Psalm 122:6-8;

Pray against Terrorist Psalm 56:9; Psalm 91:5; Isaiah 54:14; Psalm 50:23

This has been another hard week for Israel. With barely time to mourn the loss of our 3 murdered teenagers, war drums are pounding again – both within and beyond our tiny borders.

How should we pray for Jerusalem in this terrible hour? One of Judaism’s oldest prayers, recited more than any other blessing, gives us guidance to face the unique challenges of these difficult times.
The Aaronic Blessing is packed with beauty and meaning for such a time as this.

Numbers 6:24-27New King James Version (NKJV)

24 “The Lord bless you and keep you;25 The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”’ 27 “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”

Prayer direction from a Messianic Pastor: How to Pray for Israel in This Dark Hour

The first section – “May the Lord bless you and Keep you” asks God to prosper us with material and physical well-being. Here we are commanded to recall that He is our ultimate protection, and not only our own efforts.

May we turn our faces to the Lord in this difficult hour to the “Keeper of Israel and the Shield of Abraham.”

Let us not allow the stones thrown at us become a stumbling block, but may they become footsteps drawing us closer to Him.

The second section – “The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you” asks the Almighty to grant us wisdom (“Ya’er” is related to the word “Or” – light, a metaphor for wisdom). We cannot live by gut reactions alone. When in trouble, it is time to fall on our faces before God and allow His face to shine on us. It is in the midst of uncertainty and danger that we must pray, “Your will be done, and not mine…”

This is also a plea that we should find favour (gracious in the Hebrew) with God so that others should be built up with our teachings. His wisdom does not make us so arrogant that people resent us. This is especially true when we are angry and hurt and want to lash out at others, and our nation is seething right now. Let us ask the Lord to be gracious to Israel so that we might find favour with Him especially as we face of such turmoil.

The third section – “The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” calls us to look at our Lord right in the eye. When a person does not conduct himself properly and knows that he is wrong, even in the face of danger, he cannot face his Lord, nor can he face others with integrity. But when we do the right thing, we can lift up our heads in the sight of God, and this, in turn, evokes a similar response from the Lord.

When our gaze meets our Maker, we are at Peace, and there is no greater strength than to walk in the light and be in fellowship with the will of God.
These are the blessings we should have in mind as we pray for Israel. Security, wisdom, humility, favor with God and the peace that comes from knowing that we are doing the right thing. When we live like this “in the image of God,” we will bring Shalom not only to ourselves, but to the entire world.