Jerusalem is near and dear to the heart of God and those who love God. Scriptures teaches us to pray for Jerusalem. How should we pray? The Scripture does not spell it out, but the Holy Spirit will guide our prayers and show us how to pray.

Some suggestions would be to pray for:

The people--for their safety in an area of constant unrest
Israel's leadership -- that they seek God's face for decisions
The land -- this is the land God covenanted to Israel, so we know it is important to God. Therefore, pray for fertile soil, protected borders, prosperity
Salvation -- Pray for salvation of not only the Jewish people, but the Gentile people living there
The Churches/Congregations -- that they teach the pure Word of God; are able to care for their members; that they are effective lights to those who do not know Jesus/Yeshua
Their enemies -- that they might see God in the nation of Israel and fear Him and come to know Him as their own Savior
Protection of Israel's inhabitants -- protection from rocket fire; protection from attacks from enemies hiding in tunnels; protection from suicide bombers, etc.

Anne Graham Lotz has prepared a beautiful prayer on her website: AnneGrahamLotz.org. We have inserted a few paragraphs of her prayer below.

Why not take a few moments right now to PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.

We pray with compulsion for the peace of Jerusalem, and for the whole House ofIsrael. Your people and the city that bear Your name are surrounded by a vast multitude of hostile, evil men seeking to kill and destroy. Men who behead those who refuse to embrace their evil dogma, who bury alive those who refuse to submit to their will, who crucify those who are identified with Your Son. And now these demonic forces are on the verge of being equipped with nuclear weapons and with WMD’s, such as mustard and sarin gas. Your people are subjected to the continuing barrage of enemy missiles and mortars that are destroying farms and families, communities and children. While one ceasefire after another promises peace, when Israel’s land is divided and surrendered for peace, when people cry out for peace, peace, there is no peace. Are You not the God who rules over all the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can withstand You.

We are compelled to pray for Your people because they are facing their enemies without the strength, wisdom, peace, comfort, security and hope that You reserve for those who are indwelt by Your Spirit through faith in Your Son, Jesus. They have no deep, blessed assurance that their sins are forgiven, that eternal life is theirs, and that a heavenly Home is waiting to welcome them.

We are compelled to pray because…

You have promised that You will give Your people a new heart and put a new spirit within them; that You will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.4
You have promised that in the very last days, You will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication.5
You have promised that You will open the eyes of the spiritually blind, and they would look on You, the One they have pierced.6
You have promised that all of Israel, tribe by tribe, clan by clan, family by family, will mourn for their sin of rebellion and rejection of their Messiah.
You have promised that on that day of national mourning and repentance, all of Israel will be saved. That the deliverer will come from Zion; that You will turn godlessness away from Jacob.7
You have promised that You will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and You will cleanse them.8
You have promised that they will be Your people, and You will be their God.9
You have promised that You will make an everlasting covenant of peace with them.10
You have promised that one day, and we believe soon, You will set aside 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel who have been redeemed and on whose foreheads You write Your name, to be proclaimers of the Gospel to the whole world.11
You have promised that You will go out and fight against the nations that come against Your people; that You will set Your feet on the Mount of Olives once again; that you will be king over the whole earth.12

O Abba Father! We do not ask for what we want or what we hope. We are asking You to do whatYou have said! You are a great covenant-keeping God. You do not mock Your children. You keep Your word. We are therefore compelled at this moment when faced with problems that have no human solution to pray and hold You to Your promises.

We pray with clarity. We ask, great Creator God, that You give sight to those born spiritually blind. Open the eyes of Your people to see You for who You truly are. Don’t let their sight be dimmed or distorted by centuries of religiosity and rejection of the Truth. Open their eyes to Jesus as their Messiah. Then show up in great power, giving Your people supernatural strength to withhold vengeance, to execute justice, to remember mercy, to walk humbly as they acknowledge that victory will be won not by their might nor by their own power, but by Your Spirit.16 Yet we do ask You for victory over the enemy…

We pray for the enemies who are coming against Jerusalem to be convicted of their sin, for them to repent and turn from it and ask You for forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ. But if they do not, we ask that this day, You defeat and destroy them.

We ask that You strip Jerusalem’s enemies of peace and cooperation among themselves, so that they are divided and turn on each other.

We ask that their evil plans would be exposed or fall back on the enemy’s own head.

We ask that the face of every man, woman or child that they have slaughtered, beheaded, buried, or crucified be indelibly imprinted on their mind’s eye, filling them with turmoil and robbing them of clear thinking.17

We ask that for every man, woman or child who is martyred for their faith in You, ten others would rise up to take their place, so that the persecution would fan revival fires throughout the Middle East. Please, dear Jesus, keep showing up in dreams and visions and in any form You choose in order to change hearts and minds, melting generations of prejudice and hatred with Your love and peace.

We ask that the fear of the One, True, Living God would fall on Israel’s neighbors…and on Israel.18

We ask that the ancient prince of the Persian kingdom and every other demonic force coming against Your City be bound and rendered powerless in the face of the hosts of Heaven.19

We ask that the Iron Dome would be 100% effective in the north as well as in the south, and that You would continue to anoint Israel’s engineers and physicists with ability to design systems that would provide a protective shield for The Beautiful Land.

We ask for supernatural wisdom for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Cabinet, his counselors, and all government officials, so that they make decisions in line with Your perfect will. Draw the Prime Minister into Your Word. And then, when he opens and reads it, speak to him through it.

We ask that You intervene to give President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Netanyahu a shared vision and agreed-upon steps to accomplish it so that Israel has clear, unified leadership during these dangerous days.

We ask that You turn the heart of The Honorable Nir Barkat, Jerusalem’s mayor, toward You; that he would acknowledge his need of You and re-issue a city-wide call to prayer.

We ask that You comfort the mothers, fathers, and children living in the farming communities near the Gaza border. Give them an overwhelming sense of Your presence and love for each of them. As they turn to You, give them peace…and a good night’s sleep.

We ask that You bless The Beautiful Land and all those who live there, both Jews and Arabs, with Your peace.

We ask especially that You woo Your people to Yourself. Draw them to put their trust in You, so that You are their refuge and their fortress. Save them. Cover them. Be with them in trouble. Command Your angels to guard them and keep them in all their ways.20

You are a great prayer-hearing, prayer-answering, covenant-keeping, miracle-working God. Hear our prayer! Listen to Your children as we pray for the peace of the city on which You have placed Your name. Rise up, great Lion of Judah, and defend Your people. Deliver Jerusalem from her enemies so that all the nations of the earth may know that You alone are God. Answer us! For the glory of Your great name!

We will pray until our prayers are confirmed, because we believe in You. We believe that Jerusalem’s God is God. We believe You are as strong today on her behalf as You were in the beginning, and always have been, and always will be. We believe that since the first day we set our minds to gain understanding and to humble ourselves before our God, our words have been heard.21 Because our words are based on Your words. We believe that we have asked according to Your will, in the name of Your dear Son, and for His glory alone. Therefore we expect to receive answers.22

Now we await Your confirmation. We have prayed for the peace of Jerusalem. We don’t know what else to do. But our eyes are fixed expectantly on You.23

For the Glory of Yeshua

AMEN

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Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem - Psalm 122:6