If you watch a variety of Christian shows about Israel, you might honestly believe that the greatest prayer need in Israel lies somewhere between the 6th trumpet blast and the rebuilding of the third temple (no disrespect intended, since any attempt by Christians to bring Israel to God’s attention is greatly appreciated by both Him and us!) I can only assume that the reason these things become the focus of prayer is because Although, Christians worldwide get tremendous insight from the Bible, they often lack updated information to make their prayers for Israel more specific and relevant to the times. The quickest way to overcome this problem is simply to go to the best source for things going on in modern day Israel - Israeli believers.
Since every Christian does not have the luxury of sitting down for coffee with an Israeli believer to get the scoop, we’ve compiled some categories that we hope will help you direct your prayers when beseeching our Father on behalf of Israel.
LAND/MILITARY: I know this will come as a surprise to some of you, but I would personally care little for land disputes because I have no desire to live in the desert hills of Judea and Samaria or Gaza (even though Gaza has stunning beaches!), except for the minor detail that God’s honor is at stake so long as the land lies in the hands of those who curse His name.
Nonetheless, focusing solely on Israel’s land right is attacking the problem in reverse. In his initial failed attempt to conquer Ai, Joshua was informed by God that the failure was not due to military error, but because there was sin in the camp. It should also be noted, that God did not tell Joshua it was wrong for them to send a military force. The military was and is the tool that God uses when establishing the children of Israel in their land. Once the sin was dealt with, the win over Ai came automatically. Before the sin was removed, even the most logical approaches faltered. Still, in the beginning of God’s deliverance from Egypt, He did work miracles on Israel’s behalf regardless of their state.
Psalm 81:13-16 (The Message) "Oh, dear people, will you listen to me now? Israel, will you follow my map? I'll make short work of your enemies, give your foes the back of my hand. I'll send the GOD-haters cringing like dogs, never to be heard from again. You'll feast on my fresh-baked bread spread with butter and rock-pure honey."
As Israeli believers receive more and more recognition as being reliable soldiers with an excellent spirit of service, pray that God will give great favor and responsibility to believers in the army. Pray that God will give these believers insight, boldness and courage that will assist operations and ultimately glorify their God.
ECONOMY: While the world economy has teetered, the Israeli economy has (so far) held its own. To be clear, the standard of living in Israel is far below American standards. Nevertheless, it continues to move forward.
Israeli minds and ingenuity have impacted the world. And the world in turn has offered up many dollars in appreciation. However, not far down the line Israel’s economy faces the crisis of a government practice that drains the economy - welfare.
In Israel welfare is used to temporarily help the unemployed or disabled. But there is a sect of society that has a permanent hand out from the government - the Orthodox Jewish community. Their children are born into it, and are not raised to ever leave it. And since this sect of society can boast of fulfilling God’s first commandment of being fruitful, in a couple of decades, the population demanding subsidies will outweigh the scales of the working population’s treasure chest.
Pray that God would raise up responsible leaders who will rein in welfare pay outs. And pray that God would give the government wisdom in integrating that sect of society into the workforce.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH: We’ve spoken of this before, but it is a major issue in Israel. While our declaration of independence declares freedom of religion and expression, there are religious groups who only want freedom of religion as long as it is their religion. And protecting other people’s freedom of religion or expression often takes tens of thousands of dollars and years in court to defend. And even after all that, in the end, a ruling in the favor of the persecuted is often ignored by the persecutors - in the name of God.
For example, some believers paid for radio commercial spots and billboards simply stating “Yeshua = yeshuah” meaning Jesus = salvation. Within hours of the first radio spot, anti-religious freedom groups successfully pressured the radio stations and billboard companies to remove the ads.
Pray that there would be a flow of freedom of information in the land. Truth always triumphs, and the only way to keep truth from winning is to keep it from getting out.
A level of religious persecution is something that every individual who follows God wholeheartedly has experienced since before the time of Yeshua. It seems to be something that comes with the territory. Nonetheless, pray that God would give strength and courage to those undergoing persecution, as well as wisdom as to how to avoid it if possible or react to it if not.
Pray against the fear that persecution can cause among others in the community who hear about it so that they will not be shaken in their faith.
Pray against lawlessness, and that the government would enforce Supreme court rulings against sects of society who reject its supreme authority over their rabbi, or imam.
GOVERNMENT: “When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan.” (Proverbs 29:2)
Without a doubt, our government is a bit on the corrupt side. But not in the way the U.N. would have the world believe. Our military is the most honorable entity in our land, and indictments against their policy of conduct are of the most misguided accusations spinning the globe today. In other matters however, in regards to money favors and sexual harassment, the indictments pour in to the courts. And there is an overwhelming sense of lack of justice for all the clever ways lawyers can get serial criminals out of paying their dues to society, while people with lesser offenses or involuntary offenses get slapped with hard sentences.
Pray that justice and mercy would reign in the land.
Pray that the illegal or unethical deals in the government would be exposed and quickly prosecuted serving as a deterrent in the hearts of government leaders.
Pray that God would put a desire in the hearts of Israel’s government leaders to live pure, honest lives.
SAFETY: While Israel is a land with the uneasy threat of terror looming, her streets are statistically by far safer than the streets of many cities in the U.S. You could walk around at 2 a.m. almost anywhere in Israel’s cities (large or small) and feel safe.
Recently, however, there are a few neighborhoods that have been overrun by illegal immigrants and Sudanese refugees. Their only source of income is crime because they don’t register with the system. Israel’s illegal immigrant situation carries very different variables than the one in the U.S. since being born in Israel does not automatically qualify you for citizenship. And fixing the problem is very tricky.
Aside from that, while we don’t have much in the way of street crime, large scale mafia-like organized crime is as serious a problem as Israel’s human trafficking. In fact, the two are connected.
Pray against human trafficking and a spirit of violence in these neighborhoods. Women and children are particularly vulnerable since reporting a crime against them would mean reporting themselves.
Pray that Israel will find creative ways to deal with refugees who fled their homes for fear of death, as well as those who came here to make a few extra bucks.
MORALITY: A friend of mine told me the other day that she had been attempting to work with schools to share with students the benefits of abstinence and options of dealing with an unexpected pregnancy other than abortion. The schools told her they couldn’t allow her to speak on such matters because they did not want to teach on morality issues. I’ve heard similar stories regarding army bases. Unfortunately, the stifling of such conversation has created a society that is not immoral - but amoral. Meaning the absence of moral standards, restraints, or principles. Then it should come as no surprise that prostitution is legal, abortion rates are through the roof and an estimated 40% of men of eligible age visit a brothel once a month.
Pray that God would prick the conscience of Israelis to become aware of their proverbial “nakedness."
CHARACTER: I remember someone explaining to me that some of the aggression in modern Israeli culture contains the residue of Holocaust trauma. They say soldiers would throw 100 loaves of bread into a pin with 200 people. Those who did not fight for it did not survive. Those who did lived to see their homeland and share their secret of success - aggression.
The selfishness that aggression breeds will not lead to lasting prosperity. Israelis will prosper when they have the courage to look past the extra shekel they could squeeze of out of someone and see God who is waiting with outstretched arms full of blessings to shower on those who will regard their neighbor above themselves.
Pray that God would give Israelis, especially new believers, the courage in their hearts to trust Him to honor their integrity. And pray that God would show His pleasure with even the smallest baby steps in that direction.
PET PROJECT: Pick a field, a subject or a sect of society that you find interesting or feel deeply about and make it your pet project. Praying for the “whole world” to be saved is vague, and hard to track its success rate. Specifics help your heart engage in your prayers and encourage you when you get word back that God is moving in that area.
Example: Since music and worship is something dear to our heart, we pray that God will raise up Israeli believing musicians who know the culture, and that He will give them the means by which to excel in their craft. We pray that God will search out and save musicians who already excel in the music world. We pray for God to grant creativity to songwriters to write songs that would pierce the hardest hearts in this land. We pray that those who don’t know Him will experience His presence through it. There is nothing that gives God more glory that to witness what He can do out of a surrendered mortal man.
SALVATION: “All Israel Shall be saved.”(Rom. 11:26) It’s one of the clearest and most controversial verses in the Bible. Is it possible for God to save a whole people group? Before you go trying to explain why God can’t do it, remember He’s the one who created every speck of dust in the universe. And if He can save you, surely He can save a whole nation of individuals like you.
While it may feel over your head to “give God no rest”(Isa. 62:7), realize that imploring God to “hold to His word” is a guaranteed way to assure an answered prayer. Praying through Romans 9-11 is a great place to start!
But the salvation of Jews is not just about Israel, it is about the salvation of your own non-Jewish friends and family members. Romans 11:15 promises that the salvation of the Jewish people will bring about world-wide revival among the Gentiles!
Pray that God would open the eyes of the Jewish people to their need for salvation and grant the Jewish people the spirit of repentance.
YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS: While the salvation of Israel is a culmination of the plan of God for Israel, the main tool God will use to represent Himself to them are the Jews who are already believers (and therefore members of your family in God!). It seems reasonable then to say that prayers and resources of the saints around the world should be focused on Jewish believers who against all cultural backlash have embraced their destiny in the New Covenant.
As more and more native Israelis have the blinders taken off their eyes, the believing body in Israel takes on more and more of a native expression.
Since the believing community is only in its “first fruits” stage pray that God would bring Israeli believers to full maturity and sanctification despite the hardships and isolation many of them face where they live, work or go to school. Pray that God would raise up congregations of every style, culture and size that will be most effective here in bringing Him glory.
Pray for those God has called to be leaders (especially native Israelis) in the Body to rise to the occasion and have opportunities to realize and utilize their giftings. Also, pray that those who are called to lead will experience God’s financial blessings so they will be able to ‘devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’ (Acts 6:4)
It’s hard to explain if you’ve never been here, but one of the greatest hinderances in the lives of believers here are the random everyday crises that occur and keep them from accomplishing important things. Pray against time and money stealers.
YESHUA ISRAEL: Pray against anti-semitic theology in the Church and that God will grant opportunities to share of His love and commitment to the Jewish people among the nations. Pray that God will connect us with mature Israeli believers we can work with to strengthen each other and spread His love. Pray for resources and skilled co-laborers to create more quality media. Pray for the safety of our family and possessions against persecution and terrorism. Pray that our family will be an example of a godly home and a testimony to non-believers. Pray that our relationship with God will remain strong as the responsibilities of ministry grow. Share these prayer requests with others!
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