HOW SHOULD WE PRAY FOR ISRAEL? (4) Andrew Larkin
PART 4: SIX THINGS TO PRAY FOR ISRAEL
How then should we pray for Israel? I have six suggestions to fuel our prayers. I am sure there are many more.
First, as Psalm 122:6 say, let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem; let us pray for Israel. The whole region has become a place of violence, bloodshed and war. We should pray for the ceasing of hostilities and for God’s shalom to be made known there. Of course, given its history, Jerusalem has a special place in many peoples’ hearts. It is important to pray for peace.
Second, let us pray for salvation – for many to turn to Jesus. Let us pray for many in Israel to come to Jesus. Let us also pray for those Palestinians who do not know Jesus. God is the God of all nations and His people are to come from every tongue, tribe and nation. Let us not favour one people at the expense of another – especially when it comes to praying for salvation.
Third, forgiveness. It is one thing to say, from the relatively comfortable confines of a desk in Plymouth, people should forgive those who have wronged them and, furthermore, to love their enemies…and another to say it in the middle of a war zone, when your home has been destroyed, your loved ones slaughtered, and village razed. Nevertheless, forgiveness is at the heart of the gospel and we worship a Saviour who prayed for forgiveness for his enemies as he died for them. This is also why the next prayer point is so important.
Fourth, pray for justice. This is so important. In praying for justice, we believe God will one day deal rightly with, and execute just vengeance, on those who have committed atrocities (Deuteronomy 32:35; Roman 12:19). The Croat theologian, Miroslav Volf, has written poignantly on this theme when he says:
My thesis that the practice of nonviolence requires a belief in divine vengeance will be unpopular with many Christians, especially theologians in the West. To the person who is inclined to dismiss it, I suggest imagining that you are delivering a lecture in a war zone…Among your listeners are people whose cities and villages have been first plundered, then burned and levelled to the ground, whose daughters and sisters have been raped, whose fathers and brothers have had their throats slit.
The topic of the lecture: a Christian attitude toward violence. The thesis: we should not retaliate since God is perfect noncoercive love.
Soon you would discover that it takes the quiet of a suburban home for the birth of the thesis that human nonviolence corresponds to God’s refusal to judge. In a scorched land, soaked in the blood of the innocent it will invariably die. And as one watches it die, one will do well to reflect about many other pleasant captivities of the liberal mind.[1]
If we do not believe God will take vengeance, then people will load their guns and kill in retaliation. To be honest, it would be hard to blame them.
Fifth, as Jesus taught us, we should pray, “Your kingdom come, you will be done; on earth as it is in heaven.” The kingdom has come. We await its fulfilment and consummation upon Jesus’ return.
This leads to the final thing we should pray which is, “Marantha! Come, Lord Jesus.” When he returns, all wars, bloodshed, fighting, violence, sin, suffering, death and destruction will cease. Are we ready for that day? Do we long for that day? Let us be praying for that day to come, and come soon.
[1] Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), p.304