A Christian Prayer for Israel

Israel is where Jesus did His ministry. It is where He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, lived a sinless life so that we should live, died the death we should have died, and resurrected on the third day, proving that He is indeed the Son of God. It is where Christianity sprang forth from its earliest followers of Christ, like the apostles and other disciples, and then spread throughout the world as they fulfilled the mandate of making disciples of all nations, since the Gospel of Christ is not just exclusive for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles. However, this does not mean that Israel is not a country you should remember in your prayers.

Here is a Christian prayer for Israel:

Heavenly Father, I pray for the nation of Israel, that You would protect them from the aggressions of their surrounding enemies. I also pray for more open doors for both Jews and Gentiles to hear the Gospel. I pray for the ministry of our missionaries and Christians who are being the salt and light there to bear fruit. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

How do you pray for the peace of Israel?

If you often watch the news, you have seen Israel frequently involved in conflicts. There is a conflict with the Palestinians and other surrounding nations. Some of these conflicts are armed. An enemy fires rockets at Israel, and Israel defends itself. One of the most well-known technologies of Israel is called the Iron Dome. This battery intercepts rockets fired towards them. You should always include peace when praying for Israel, as civilians are most affected by these conflicts. Here is one of the ways you can pray for peace for Israel:

Father in heaven, I pray for peace upon Israel and its surrounding nations. Despite their differences, I pray that they will find ways to cohabit with each other. I pray that they will settle them peacefully whenever there are conflicts and not always resort to armed measures that may affect or harm civilians. I also pray for the surrounding nations of Israel to stop their aggressions. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Another thing you can pray for is for the protection of the civilians there. Here is a prayer you can pray:

Heavenly Father, I pray for the protection of the civilians in Israel. I pray that no danger will come upon those civilians whenever countries that Israel is in conflict with use violent measures against Israel. I pray that no innocent civilians shall become a casualty due to the conflict, and that Israel and the surrounding nations will not resort to violence. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Why should I pray for Jerusalem?

Aside from praying for peace, an essential thing you can pray for is for the Gospel to propagate. Israel is a nation that missionaries reach out to because there are still Jews who do not believe in Christ. There are, however, Jews who have repented and now follow Christ. Still, some don’t. There are even Jews who are still waiting for the Messiah—not believing that the Messiah came two thousand years ago and died for our sins on the cross. There are also other Gentiles that must be reached out to in Israel, aside from the Jews.

This is a prayer you can pray for the people who have not yet repented and found belief in the Gospel of Christ:

For the Jews:

Heavenly Father, I pray for the Jews, whom You have promised a Messiah to come to them millennia ago. I pray that You would open their spiritually blinded eyes so they may see that Your promise was already fulfilled two thousand years ago when Jesus came to fulfill every prophecy that the prophets prophesied about the Messiah and died for their sins on the cross. Yet, He didn’t stay dead, but resurrected and proved that He wasn’t blaspheming God and that He is indeed the Son of God. I pray for our missionaries in Israel to always be bold and courageous to preach the Gospel to the Jews. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

For the Gentiles:

Heavenly Father, I thank You because salvation is not exclusive to the Jews. You have made forgiveness and eternal life available even for Gentiles through Christ. I also thank You because You have included the Gentiles in the new covenant with Christ. I pray for the Gentiles in Israel to see the truth of the Gospel, that only Jesus is the way to the Father, the only one true living God and that in Him is eternal life. May they see the unsearchable riches in Christ that cannot be found in anything else. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

In Zechariah 9:9, it is written:

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

It is a prophecy of the Messiah’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem while riding on a donkey. We all know that Jesus has fulfilled it. It is written in John 12:12-15:

John 12:12-15

12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,

15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.

Also, in Isaiah 53:3, it is prophesied that Jesus will be rejected by His own people. It is written:

Isaiah 53:3

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

We saw this fulfilled in John 1:10-11 and John 12:37-38, where it is written:

John 1:10-11

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

John 12:37-38

37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:

38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?

There are many other prophecies. Some of these are about Jesus dying for our sins, Jesus being buried in a rich man’s tomb, Jesus resurrecting from the dead, and more. They were all fulfilled by Jesus. There were over five hundred prophecies about the Messiah, and Jesus fulfilled every single one of them.

Another verse to keep in mind as you pray for Israel is that Jesus is the king that God has promised to Israel. The king came not to establish an earthly kingdom like a superpower nation, but to bring forth the kingdom of God.

Mark 1:15

And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

John 18:36

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Indeed, we should pray for restoration in Israel, and for peace to be restored. However, the most important restoration that we can pray for Israel is their restoration in God, which can only be achieved through Christ and grace alone. Whether Jew or Gentile, God has already provided a way for a person to be reconciled with Him… through Christ alone.