It was very shocking to wake up this weekend to the news that Israel has declared war on Hamas after Hamas’ horrific and unprovoked attacks on its citizens. We are reading accounts of women and children being murdered, raped, and kidnapped to be held as hostages. The attack was one of the broadest invasions on Israel territory in over 50 years. As of this writing, over one thousand people have died in Israel and Gaza with the death toll expected to rise every day. On the first day of the attack the militants infiltrated 22 Israeli towns and army bases. The reason? “So that the enemy will understand that the time of their rampaging without accountability has ended.”

This tiny sliver of land has been in dispute for centuries. Following the holocaust, Israel became a nation in 1948. The West Bank was captured during the Arab-Israeli war of 1967.Hamas seized control in 2007 and was put under an Israeli blockade that restricted the import of goods. There has never been peace in this part of the world.

What do we do in the face of such news? We pray.

Psalm 122 (New King James Version)

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
² Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!

³ Jerusalem is built
As a city that is compact together,
⁴ Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the Lord,
To the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
⁵ For thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.

⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
⁷ Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces.”

⁸ For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
⁹ Because of the house of the Lord our God
I will seek your good.

Revelation 21 speaks of a New Jerusalem coming down from the heavens. Zechariah prophesied that God will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for battle on the Day of the Lord, and the Lord himself will go out and fight. The location of the Lord’s arrival will be the Mt. of Olives, the exact place where Jesus ascended into heaven. Jerusalem will be the location of the Second Coming. We are warned to watch and be ready in Matthew 24. Jerusalem has always been important to God’s people from the time King David made it his capital to today.

And so we pray. Pray for peace. Pray for salvation. Pray for deliverance. Pray that you are ready.

Lord, In Your Mercy, Hear our Prayers by Faye Gardner