I fully agree with you that we need to pray for Israel but not because of a threat from Assad's chemical weapons or Iran's weapons of mass destruction. These enemies pose no real threat to Israel. We need to pray for Israel for the following reasons:

 

1. The Israeli Prime Minister and his right-wing government have used every trick in the book to derail all international and US effort to make peace between Israel and its Palestinian and Arab neighbors. This extended the occupation for 50 years and there is no end to this cruelty in sight. Yes! Pray for Israel!

 

2. Most Israelis are either outright atheists or agnostics and only a small percentage of the Israeli population believes in God or in the prophets of the OT. Yes! Israel needs our prayers since most Israelis know no god to pray to!

 

3. Over 99 per cent of the Jewish population of Israel have no faith in Jesus Christ. The Messianic Jewish population of Israel (Jews for Jesus) numbers between 10,000-12,000 people. Pray for all Israelis that their eyes may be opened and pray for Messianic Jews because often they are persecuted by Orthodox Jews and are not favored by the Israeli government. Certainly, Israel needs our prayers!

 

4. Israel is fast becoming an Apartheid state. Since most Israelis reject a one-democratic-state and most government officials reject a 2-state solution, Israel is fast heading towards a regime where, within a few years, the minority (the Jewish folks) will control the majority (the Palestinian folks). The Jewish population of Israel will never accept a one-democratic-state solution and the leaders of Israel are doing their utmost in destroying the possibility of a 2-state solution. Pray that Israel will get out of this dilemma!

 

5. Injustice against Palestinians has become the norm in Israel. Consider for a moment the Israeli Law of Return. It states that any Jew, living anywhere in the world, has the right to come to Israel and become an Israeli citizen. Palestinians however, whose ancestors lived in Palestine/Israel for the last 1,400 years, have no Law of Return to protect them and often they lose their citizenship if they leave the country to pursue a job or an education in another country (This actually happened to me). This is discrimination that is based only on a person's race. Please pray for Israel!

 

6. Israeli human rights organizations are screaming foul over their country's oppressive measures against Palestinians. The list of these oppressive measures is long but here are a few to help us as we pray for Israel:

 

• Miles and miles of the segregation wall and/or security barriers that Israel built to separate Israel from the Palestinians is built on Palestinian lands in the West Bank against international laws and UN agreements.

 

• A minimum of 6,000 Palestinians suffer in Israeli jails. Some of them have not been tried or convicted. Israeli officials call this inhumane practice, administrative detention. The struggle for freedom, independence and justice is what got these men and women incarcerated. Nearly half of all Palestinian males have been incarcerated at one time or another by Israeli authorities. Pray for Israel!

 

 

• Israeli policies in Jerusalem continue to inflame 1.7 billion Muslims around the world and pour fuel on radicalism and extremism. This and the actions of Israel in Gaza and in the West Bank are recipes for future wars and much bloodshed. Indeed! We need to pray for the peace of Israel!

 

7. Sooner or later, Israel will drag the US into another bloody war in the Middle East. It will not be good for Israel, for Israel's enemies or for the United States. US citizens who care for their children and grandchildren and desire peace on earth should fervently pray for Israel!

 

8. Israel has friends in the US that are cheering it on to Armageddon and down to hell. Among them are US Zionist organizations, many members of the US Congress and Christian Zionist organizations such as Charisma's "Standing with Israel". These Christian Zionist organizations have no understanding of the prophetic mandate of the Bible to "Do justice and love mercy". We need to pray for Israel because with friends like these, Israel needs no enemies!

 

Let us heed the call to pray for Israel and pray for Israel's enemies and friends .

 

Rev. Alex Awad

Former United Methodist Missionary to Israel and Palestine

Former Pastor: East Jerusalem Baptist Church