The Peace of Jerusalem

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you! Psalm 122:6 (ESV)

Jesus wept over Jerusalem.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!” Luke 13:34 (ESV)

Yet, we have this hope that they will return home. Their land is once more their own, but  the prophet Zechariah speaks of the inner transformation that will take place in the hearts of the Jewish people – when the veil is removed from their eyes and they recognise their Messiah.

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on Me, the One they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son. Zechariah 12:10 (NIV)

The day of their return will be a glorious day – like ‘life from the dead’, as Paul writes in Romans 11:15.

The world owes a great debt to Israel. From this tiny land, went forth the word of God– which teaches the whole world to do what is right, as Anne Frank put it. Despite this great spiritual inheritance, we find them separated from their God.

Today is the Holocaust Remembrance Day, when the world remembers the terrible suffering of the Jewish people at the hands of the German Nazis under Hitler. After the WW2 their 2000 year exile finally came to a close and they could return to the Promised Land. Let us pray earnestly for them to receive the promised new awakening through the knowledge of the Messiah.

“O God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, we pray for Israel, Your firstborn among the nations. Thank You for restoring to the Jews, their land. You have also promised to change their hearts of stone and to give them hearts of flesh. Remove the veil that blinds their eyes, so that they see the God who was pierced for the transgressions of the world and weep for Him as one weeps for a firstborn son.

Remember their suffering for they have received double from Your hands for all their sins. Heal their land and restore them to their spiritual inheritance. Deliver them from all their enemies and bring peace to Jerusalem. In Christ, may they be reconciled even to their enemies and live in peace.

Father, we pray for the day when Your firstborn returns to Your embrace.” 

P.S. A service of repentance was held in Jerusalem in 2001 by Mother Basilea Schlink, a German protestant nun and her order the Sisterhood of Mary. The moving prayers are to be found at this website:

http://www.mayimhayim.org/Daily%20Devotional/Service%20of%20Repentance.htm