7 Reasons Why I Pray and Take a Stand for Israel

Israel is Still the Apple of God’s Eye and His inheritance – Close to His heart.

Pray for and take a stand for Israel because Israel is still very close to God’s heart. I have already shared Zechariah 2:8, which says, “He who touches you [Israel], touches the apple of His eye.” Centuries before Zechariah prophesied these words, Moses wrote a song containing a very similar picture:

For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob [Israel] is the allotment of His inheritance….He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye….He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions (Deuteronomy 32:9-11).

The first reason why I pray for Israel is not profound. I pray for Israel because I want to be close to God’s heart and I want to be in alignment with God’s sight. If God says that Israel is the apple or pupil of His eye, then I want to pray with insight with His sight. Do you want to be close to the heart of God? Then be close to the things, people and purposes that are close to His heart. Fulfill your appointment. Take a stand and be a watchman for Israel!

God Desires His Servants to be Filled with Compassion for Israel’s Conditions.

Pray and act for Israel because God desires us to be filled with compassion for Israel’s conditions. Psalm 102:13-14 says, “You will arise and have compassion on Zion; for it is time to be gracious to her, for the appointed time has come. Surely Your servants find pleasure in her stones and feel pity for her dust.” The time has come!

God wants to give us His heart so that we can pray over Israel with compassion. The time has come for us to receive His heart so that our prayers will go far beyond merely saying correct words and into the prayer of the heart – even the prayer of tears. It is time to have compassion on Zion. I have cried out to the Lord to tenderize my heart. You too can ask the Holy Spirit to give you His heart of compassion for Israel.

That is why I pray and take a stand for Israel. Want to join me?

God Commands Us to Give Him and Ourselves No Rest Until He Establishes Makes Jerusalem a Praise in the Earth.

Pray and take a stand for Israel because God wants to establish Jerusalem and make her a praise in the earth. The prophet Isaiah declared the following:

On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62:1, 6, 7).

Give Him no rest until what? Jerusalem! He didn’t say Washington D.C., Paris, or London. He didn’t say Constantinople, Athens, Damascus, Moscow, or Cairo. He said until Jerusalem, until Jerusalem is made a praise. A what? A praise! Many news reports will tell you that Jerusalem seems to be far from being a praise in the earth. Many curse Jerusalem and call the Jewish people names I will not even dare restate. So we must lift our voices in prayer until she becomes a praise—a glorious praise—in all the earth.

Now we must have something real clear – this is not for our sake! It is for Zion’s sake! It is not about what is convenient. It is a priority! Just set your heart to be resolute. Pray until!

That God’s Heart Would Work through Us for Israel’s Salvation.

Pray and act for Israel so that Israel will be saved. I have shared that God wants to give us His heart of compassion—His tears—for Israel. Tears or compassion are not God’s end objective. God desires that we receive His heart so that He can pray with accuracy and discernment for the salvation of Israel. The Apostle Paul said, “I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart…. My heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation (Romans 9:2; 10:1). Paul declared, “I could wish that I myself were accursed…for the sake of my brethren…who are Israelites” (9:3). Paul was willing to be separated from Christ that his brethren might know their Messiah. What sacrifice Paul was willing to make for the sake of Israel.

I have read this verse from the book of Romans many times. I have fasted and prayed much over the years for Israel’s sake. We must pray for Israel’s salvation to go forth like a torch that is burning. God has desires . . . the apostle Paul had desires . . . do you pray with a burning heart of desire for Israel’s salvation?

God Commands us to Seek the Spiritual and Physical Good of the People of Israel and to Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.

Pray and take a stand for Israel because God wants to bless Jerusalem and her inhabitants with His peace and goodness. David, the psalmist, loved Jerusalem. This great warrior fought many battles for Jerusalem. Wars and heated conflicts still rage today around the world over this piece of land in the Middle East. David’s exhortation in his song recorded in Psalm 122 must still be prayed and sung today:

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love You. May peace be within her walls and prosperity within her palaces.”

The Apostle Paul also loved Jerusalem and was concerned for the city and for the welfare of her inhabitants. In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote the following:

But now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things (Romans 15:25-27).

Today, with all of the hundreds of thousands of new immigrants, tourism on a down turn, tension and pressures, terrorism, wars and rumors of wars, Israel’s economy has absolutely been devastated. We must pray for the shalom of God for the city of peace. But we must do more. I have often quoted intercessor S. D. Gordon, “You can do more than pray after you’ve prayed. But you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”

It is time for works to match our faith. It is time to feed and clothe the poor, and to give a cup of water to “the least of these my brethren,” Jesus’ brothers after the flesh.

The Jewish People’s Acceptance of the Messiah Jesus will lead to Life from the Dead—Worldwide Revival of Unprecedented Magnitude.

Pray and act for Israel because the Jewish people’s acceptance of the Messiah Jesus will lead to worldwide revival of unprecedented magnitude. Romans 11:15 says, “For if [Israel’s] rejection [of Christ] be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” Wow! Life from the dead!

Isaiah prophesied, “In the days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and sprout, and they will fill the whole earth with fruit” (Isaiah 27:6). With fruit! This is more than just natural fruit. One of the major keys to world revival is praying for Israel. As the Jewish people are awakened out of their sleep and behold their Messiah, this will create a divine acceleration into a time when hundreds of thousands if not literally millions turn to Jesus as their Messiah. There is nothing more potent than a Jewish believer in the Messiah telling others about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Want to see worldwide revival? Then pray!

Israel’s acceptance of the glorious Messiah will be used to catapult the greatest worldwide spiritual awakening that this planet has ever seen. The whole earth will be filled with the fruit of revival. I pray towards this end! Will join me?

Jesus Linked His Second Coming to Israel’s National Turning to Him.

Pray and take a stand for Israel because the Second Coming of Christ is linked to Israel’s response to Him. Jesus prophesied before His death, “For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord'” (Matthew 23:39). Jesus linked His Second Coming to Israel’s national returning, or turning to Him.

Do want to see Jesus come back in your lifetime? Is it possible to hasten the day of His appearing? (2 Peter 3:12) Do you want to see Jesus come again? Then pray that the blinders on the Jewish people’s eyes will fall off (Romans 11:25) and that they will welcome their Messiah with a whole heart.

Why pray and take a stand of action for Israel? Because Jesus said to, because Isaiah said to, because David the psalmist said to, and because today the Holy Spirit is saying to. There may be many other reasons to pray and act for Israel. Pick whatever reason you want, but pray and take a stand for Israel!