[Please join me in praying for our nation and world on Tuesdays this year.]
“O Jerusalem, you were built as a city of praise, where God and man mingle together.
This is where all the tribes of Yahweh are required to come and worship him.
This is where the thrones of kings have been established to rule in righteousness;
even King David ruled from here.
Pray and seek for Jerusalem’s peace, for all who love her will prosper!
O Jerusalem, may there be peace for those who dwell inside your walls and prosperity in your every palace.
I intercede for the sake of my family and friends who dwell there, that they may all live in peace.
For the sake of your house, Yahweh our God, I will seek the welfare and prosperity of Jerusalem.”
(Psalm 122:3-9 TPT)
“It was an unfathomable scene in the synagogue on Oct. 8. One by one, as men were dancing with the Torah in celebration of the holiday of Simchat Torah, the phones in their pockets began buzzing. And they knew exactly what it was. Each one of them had the same response: They kissed the Torah, hugged their friends, and then ran home to change from their holiday clothes into their army fatigues.
“In the span of an hour, nearly a dozen men in our tiny synagogue were called up to reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces, to transition from spiritually protecting Israel through prayer to physically protecting the country with their bodies. David, my neighbor, returned to the synagogue wearing his fatigues to give one last kiss to his wife and two young children before he departed. His wife broke down hysterically; her reality had changed too quickly and drastically for her mind to process. Just a few hours earlier, she had been eating a carefree holiday meal with her husband and children, laughing and taking joy in each other’s presence. Now, she was sending her beloved out to war.
“In Israel, unfortunately, we know war. We’ve gotten used to things that no one should have to get used to: thousands of rockets being launched at our cities, cafés being blown up, stabbing attacks at bus stops, and terror tunnels being dug under our towns or even our homes. But we’ve never experienced anything like this. The images of an elderly Israeli woman being abducted from her home by Hamas terrorists and taken as a captive to the Gaza Strip is too much to bear. Watching a mother and young baby be taken hostage by terrorists is a living nightmare.
“I’m a mother of four children myself. Thank God they’re OK. But since I saw the images of young, beautiful children who were enjoying an outdoor party being dragged away by terrorists to be held hostage in Gaza, my tears haven’t stopped flowing. War in Israel may be world news, but it’s also deeply personal for every single Israeli. In this tiny country of less than 10 million citizens, we all have horror stories already … and it’s only day one of this war.
“My niece’s friend was one of those kids kidnapped from the party. My other niece was deployed for active duty on the front lines. …And how to comfort my son, whose teacher was called up for duty…This is Israel’s 9/11. We’re experiencing deep fear, the terrifying unknown, and devastating loss. Yet even after the men left the synagogue earlier today, there were still people dancing with the Torah.
“No one should think that we have lost even a bit of hope. Israel is a nation born of hope in the face of disaster, a people of hope despite endless catastrophes; it embodies a spirit of hope that can’t be extinguished—although many have tried. We’ve sung this verse for generations, with hope, and we’re singing it now in Jerusalem, Sderot, Tel Aviv, and even among those imprisoned in Gaza: ‘Am Yisrael Chai—the nation of Israel lives!'” *
God,
When I first heard that Hamas had attacked Israel I knew the situation was not good. Over the past few days I’ve read the reports of thousands killed, hundreds kidnapped to be used as hostages – including children and elderly, infrastructure destroyed, and death and more death in this war. Your heart of love must be breaking for all the sorrow in this area of the world. God, I know that the hostilities in that region have roots going back to Abraham’s sons, but I pray in the name of Jesus that somehow you would stop this war. I realize that there is a time for peace and a time for war, and that there are times in which you allow war and violence for your own just purposes. I do not have your perspective, so I do not claim to understand all that is happening there, but I know that nations, communities, and families are being ripped apart. That can not be your good plans and purposes for that region. And I know that this localized war has the potential of pulling many other nations into it. The more I study our past, the more I realize we are doomed to repeat it if we do not know our history, and recognize you as sovereign in our world. God, protect our nation from being sucked into another world war; we are already too divided to be able to effectively protect ourselves. Pour out your Spirit and wisdom on all the policy makers in each nation. Thwart any “leader” who wants to escalate the brutality or bring nuclear weapons into this war. Eliminate the funding and resources that terrorists use to steal, kill, and destroy. Protect those who are hostages from more trauma, fear, or violence. Protect families from further destruction, and strengthen those who are awaiting news of loved ones. Rescue those who are missing, heal those who are injured, comfort those whose loved ones were killed. Thwart the plans of the enemy and break the power of the wicked, we pray in Jesus’s name. Pour out your peace in this area, we ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9 ESV)
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10 ESV)
“The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.” (Proverbs 10:3 ESV)
“Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;
for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the Lord upholds the righteous.” (Psalm 37:16-17 NIV)
“There is…a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:8 NIV)
“Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God….And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. 18 David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. 20 David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.” (1 Samuel 30: 1-6, 16-20 ESV)
*https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/from-dancing-with-the-torah-to-war-in-an-hour-5506101