Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem

In Genesis 12:2–3, we read God’s original promise to Abraham when He told him to leave Ur of the Chaldeans and go to another land:

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (NIV)

The Jewish people are the touchstone by which all other nations are going to be judged. Scripture gives us a warning in this regard:

“May all who hate Zion, be put to shame and turned backward” (Psalm 129:5, NASB)

Any nation that opposes God’s purpose for the restoration of Zion will be put to shame and turned backward. Nations determine their destinies by how they respond to the restoration of God’s people.

A beautiful and familiar promise of blessing for those who align themselves with God’s purposes for Jerusalem, for Israel, and for God’s people is found in Psalm 122:6:

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (KJV)

We cannot merely take a neutral attitude and say, “Let’s see what happens.” We have to actively align ourselves with what God is saying in His Word and what He is doing in history.

The primary way in which we can do this is through our prayers. We can pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for its restoration—for Jerusalem to become all that God has declared in the Scriptures that it shall be. To those who pray and are concerned, this is the promise: “They shall prosper that love thee.”