Prayer Concerning Jerusalem Chaos

My capital is burning.

It’s not the first time, and my guess is it won’t be the last. But it’s still unnerving every time I see the flames in Jerusalem’s night sky.

The situation is so complex, it’s hard to tuck into a few sweet prayer points. My only comfort is that God can take our prayers and with them do wonders far beyond our words and understanding.

The simmer of hate and murder is always under the surface. Muslims have a saying that they are taught to hate Israel with their mother’s breast milk. The school system in Palestinian-controlled areas stands behind this message with the education of victimhood. “They took our land!” is their history lesson. Recently, Hamas flags can be seen spray-painted on the streets.

Ramadan is still two months away and already attacks are ramping up. This past week a Muslim terrorist ran down a street shooting randomly at people, killing seven – among them a 14 year old boy. A mother and her grown daughters were returning from a synagogue service when the mother was hit by a bullet. A soldier who happened by was able to stop the bleeding and the mother made it to the hospital.

“Please don’t shoot us,” begged the women. “I don’t shoot girls,” the terrorist replied and then shot the nearest lady in the head.

The cold-blooded nature of this type of attack is not uncommon, but always disturbing—especially since this terrorist was a resident of east Jerusalem—a resident with access to all of Israel. It only took one day, and his actions inspired a 13-year-old special needs child to pick up a gun and go shoot Jews. He managed to kill two.

When a military operation goes wrong and an innocent Arab is killed, Israelis are troubled by this. Sometimes they will even take to the streets to protest the carelessness—or visit their Arab neighbors to encourage the bond between the communities.

On the other side, it doesn’t work that way. After these attacks, there were mass celebrations and fireworks in the Arab neighborhoods. All the kids his age who visited his mourners’ tent told the news media they were proud of the 13-year-old martyr who had reached the highest goal—to defend their land and die killing Jews. You can imagine how the international media covered the story.

An older man who was also there gave a more sobering message: “I think we’re going all the way, and both Jews and Arabs will kill each other off together.” He blamed the existence of the current, very right-wing government that is taking bold steps toward Jewish sovereignty for the “push back” from the Palestinian Arab community.

I have little concern that the Jewish people will be destroyed, as God said in Jeremiah 31 that the sun, moon, and ocean waves would disappear before Israel does. But I do have concern for the number of Jews and Arabs who could lose their lives and loved ones over something that has already been decided: the land of Israel will be a land where the God of Israel is worshipped by both Jew and Gentile.

• We worship you Father, Maker of heaven and earth. Definer of the boundaries of the dry land and the sea. Establisher of the rulers of nations. All who challenge You and the words You declare will fail. We declare our loyalty to the throne of heaven and the plans of the One who sits on it. We do not bow to the whims of men and their plans.

• We ask for protection for the people You have called from the ends of the earth to return home. Many Israelis suffer from PSTD because of the constant threat we live in. Comfort them and show them You are the source of this comfort.

• You promised all Israel shall be saved and so we ask for their salvation and complete restoration to You.

• Expose the lies of the enemy that would oppress an entire generation of Palestinian Arabs to believe they are just victims.

• Send revival to the Arab people in Israel from the youngest child to the oldest Imam.

• Speak to and deliver those Arabs who would call themselves Yours but still harbor hate for Israel. Both Israel and surrounding Arabs know how to talk big and dive into war. Simply showing strength and pushing harder will not calm the tensions.

• Give our current government wisdom how to approach these sensitive topics and still fulfill Your plan for this nation.

• Expose the plans of terrorists—whether they are working as a team or are “lone wolf”  attackers.

• Draw Muslims in Israel to You. Let them experience the difference between Your love for their life and Allah’s demands for their death.

• Let it be known there is a God in Israel who exposes the enemy and protects His people.