A Prayer For Peace In Israel and Gaza and In Our Own Hearts

 As we've watched news of unrest and violence in the Middle East, particularly between Israel and Gaza, I've been praying for peace and for God's will to be brought about with blessing on all sides.  Then in one of my daily readings I came across a beautiful part of Israel's story.

As you know, the history of Israel is told in the Old Testament in the Bible. We can read the story of how God brought the people out of slavery in Egypt and promised that He would take them to the Promised Land.  Actually, that land was promised hundreds of years before to their ancestor Abraham and in the part I was reading, God was bringing about the possession of that land about after rescuing Abraham's grandson's family from famine and starvation through the hand of Joseph.  What an incredible story that was as well. 

Now 400 years later the people have been brought to freedom. Unfortunately, on their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land they've sinned against God over and over again and so they've wandered about in the desert for 40 years on their way. But here they are now, ready to cross the Jordan River and enter into their homeland.  God speaks to them through Moses who has been their leader. 

There's an amazing set of verses that contrast the blessings God's people can expect when they obey His commands and an equally long list of devastation and suffering that results when they walk in their own stubborn self well.  We don’t have time to read the whole list but you’ll find them in Deuteronomy 28 – it’s the 5^th book from the beginning of the Bible.  Near the end of those lists are these words.

The Lord is happy to make you successful and to help your nation grow while you conquer the land. But if you disobey him, he will be just as happy to pull you up by your roots.  Deuteronomy 28:63

Over the centuries we know that the nation of Israel has gone through many seasons of following God and obeying His laws and then straying into self-will with God’s word accurately describing the things that took place as a result.

What will the history of our lives record?  Will it be full of God’s blessing or filled with the devastation that comes when we are allied with Satan’s influence?  There’s no in between demilitarized zone.  We are either with God or against God.  Jesus clearly said:

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Matthew 12:30

Well Lord today we want to be with you not against You.  There’s plenty of evidence that Your blessing that rests on those who obey You is so far superior than conditions when people rebel.  You make things clear and uncomplicated.  You tell us to believe in You, trust You, love You with all our heart and our neighbour as ourselves.  Everything else will be clear to us when we do.

And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.  1 John 3:23

Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Matthew 22:37-39

Help us today to not just know what we should do but to actually put it into practice so we can experience the freedom and blessing You are so longing to give us.  In Your word You tell us:

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. James 1:22–25

It’s not that folks won’t get tested by trials or suffer if they follow You- because we do live in a broken world -  but there are ongoing conditions of blessing that we know are ours when we walk with You. 

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.  James 1:12

We pray for peace in Jerusalem and all the surrounding area and we pray for peace in our own souls as all of us seek to know and follow Your will today.  Amen