- "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem" Psalm 122:6
- Pray for Jewish people to accept "Yeshua" as Messiah
- Pray for those suffering for their faith and give as the Lord leads to help those in need.
Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
This Scripture is certainly the most remembered verse from the Psalms and probably from the whole Bible. It is such a key verse for the Nations to remember and to help to understand the Father’s heart not only in the End Timebut also for today. At the rate prophecies are being fulfilled in the Middle East, feeling is that we are already well into what we call in Hebrew ‘acheret hayamim’ – the last days or in English the End Times. For those of you that have a working knowledge of Hebrew I may be preaching to the choir but thsignificance and depth of this Scripture needs to be fully understood so that we can pray the completion of the Psalm and with ‘kavannah’ - intent.
We are taught to pray with intent. If we do not it is only a half hearted prayer! So how can we pray with ‘kavannah’ if we do not fully understand the verse? Time is needed to look at how much there is in just this one verse of Scripture. I hope the explanation from the Hebrew will help you to pray more effectively and in that way hasten the return of Messiah.
Psalm 122
“A Song of ascents; of David. I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of HASHEM. Our feet shall stand within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built like a city that is all joined together as one; where the tribes go up, the tribes of HASHEM, to the testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of HASHEM. For there were set the thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; those who love you shall be blessed. Peace be within your walls, blessings within your palaces. For my brothers and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within you. Because of the house of HASHEM our God I will seek your good."
Many do not know the time that the Psalms of Ascents were read. As the people would walk up the Southern steps of the Temple to enter into the House of HASHEM the Psalms of Ascents would be read as they were ‘making aliyah’ to the Temple and into the presence of the Most High. This was a very solemn procession as all were ritually clean already and had their sacrifices in their hands on their way to hand them to the priests. This is a time when the focus of the believer is totally focused on the redemptive grace of the Father.
Let’s look at the verse, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” – In Hebrew the word ‘she’elu’ does not mean pray! It means to enquire of or about. Its root is the word for ‘to ask’ or ‘to question’.
Does this mean then that it is incorrect to pray for the peace of Jerusalem? Not at all, in fact our prayer is but just the starting point. The deeper meaning is however that we need to get involved with Jerusalem. We need to know what is going on there on a daily basis so that our prayers can be with ‘kavannah’ and not merely lifted up to heaven. In these days when the future of Jerusalem appears to be hanging in the balance it is of vital importance that we know exactly what we are praying about and for.
With this said and done let’s look at the second half of the verse – ‘the peace of Jerusalem’. Most people pray, even with ‘kavannah’, that the wars and conflict about Jerusalem would end. This is good intent but it is not the full meaning of the word ‘shalom’. The word ‘shalom’ comes from a very strong root that not only means peacecompleteness and wholeness as well to pay, like redemption.
‘Shalom’ – Peace
‘Shilem’ – Whole of complete
‘Shoolam’ – Paid for
So when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem we need to actively get involved in what is happening in Jerusalem as well as praying for peace from wars but more importantly for her restoration and completeness which will of course happen when ‘Mashiach’ returns. But for this to happen there is a price as we derive from the root that there is no peace or completeness without a price. How does this affect you? You can buy food products from the Land. By eating something grown in the Land you ingest the essence of the Land and by doing this you become a part of the Land. You could consider giving to organizations in the Land financially, this too is a blessing but givers need to be aware of the motives of the groups they are giving to. We need to check thoroughly movements that we give to. There are many groups and movements that may not be operating in a very righteous spirit.
By praying “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” one is praying for Messiah to come and also for the facilitation of ‘Covenant moments’ here on earth. Many would like to live in the Promised Land or Jerusalem but this is not always possible. By committing to pray we need to remember that there is merit for the one praying as there is for the one being prayed for. Prayer and repentance will bring about the final redemption, the reestablishment of the Temple in Jerusalem and the return of King Messiah.