Urgent prayer points for Israel
 – 10 October 2023

Thank you for your commitment to pray for Israel in their time of need. The situation facing Israel is heart-breaking and extremely serious. It is essential that Christians intercede for Israel with urgency. We hope that these prayer points are not just informative, but also help equip you as you seek the Lord’s direction in praying for the nation of Israel.

Pray for the victims

• More than 900 Israelis were massacred by Hamas terrorists who crossed the Gaza border into Israel on Saturday. The terrorists went from house to house in southern Israeli towns, burning properties and shooting Israelis in cold blood. Thousands of rockets were also fired by Hamas targeting civilian areas.
• Pray for the Israeli people who are mourning. May they experience God’s comfort and the healing of their pain.
• Over 2,500 Israelis sustained injuries. Pray for their physical and emotional healing.
• During the invasion of Israel’s border towns, the Hamas terrorists dragged over 100 people out of their homes and from cars, taking them as hostages into Gaza. These hostages are mostly civilians, from babies to Holocaust survivors. Families have been torn apart. Children have seen their parents killed in front of them. This evening, Hamas has threatened to execute the hostages. We must pray that this evil scheme will be thwarted, just as the plot by Haman was thwarted (Book of Esther).
• The victims of Hamas’s attacks include Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs as well as many foreign workers and visitors to Israel. Here are some of the countries whose citizens were either murdered or are unaccounted for: United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, Canada, France, Thailand, Nepal, Germany, Cambodia, China, Paraguay, Mexico, Ireland and Tanzania.

  “For thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.’” Zechariah 2:8

Pray for Israel’s leadership

• Pray for the Israel Defence Forces. Over 300,000 reservists have been called up – the largest in Israel’s history. 
• Pray for all those defending Israel’s borders. May they witness God move in a miraculous way in their protection and deliverance.
• Pray for wisdom for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and for all of Israel’s leaders.
• Pray for Israel’s next action. Israel has already started to strike Hamas terror targets in Gaza, but an unprecedented ground invasion is expected to take place in the coming days.
• Whilst Israel does its best to avoid civilian casualties, Hamas places its infrastructure, launch pads, bunkers, operational centres, equipment and ammunitions in densely populated areas using civilians as human shields and locating these terror sites near schools, mosques, press offices, etc. Therefore, Palestinian civilian casualties are sadly inevitable and are often propagated by the terror group. Pray that there will be minimal Palestinian civilian casualties. 
• Unfortunately, the Israeli hostages in Gaza are also at risk by Israel’s counter-terror measures. Pray that this will be avoided.
• Pray that the truth about the conflict will also be reflected by our media channels.

“Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
Psalm 121:4

For Israel’s peace and security

• The Bible commands us to pray for Israel’s peace.

  “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces.” For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, “Peace be within you.” Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good.” Psalm 122:6-9.

• Pray for Israel’s protection from the north. In addition to the threat from Gaza (south), there is also the threat from Hezbollah in Lebanon (north). This could be minimal, as an act of solidarity with Hamas, or Hezbollah could take advantage of the situation and launch a full-scale attack from the north in an attempt to stretch and weaken Israel, which could develop into war on two fronts.
• Pray also for the safety of all those living in Israel, especially with the threat of terror attacks in Israel’s heartland from Palestinian terrorists acting in solidarity with Hamas.
• Pray about the implication of Iran’s support for Hamas. Iran is directly linked to Hamas’s capability to attack Israel. The Iranian regime needs to repent of its antisemitism, as reminded this week by Tehran’s ayatollah who praised the massacre of Jews.

“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” Isaiah 62:6

Pray for the people of Gaza

• As Christians, our motivation should be to pray for peace.
• Pray for the Palestinian people, who live under the oppression of the ruling Hamas terror group. Hamas’s manifesto declares the destruction of Israel and murder of Jews. Gaza is controlled by Hamas both militarily and politically, ruling its population under strict Islamic law. Children are taught to hate Israel from an early age and this indoctrination and glorification of terror is reflected throughout society. Pray that the younger generation of Palestinian youth will reject the path of their forefathers.
• Pray for the softening of hearts among the Palestinian people; for an openness towards the Gospel, and for a desire for peace with Israel. May they experience an encounter with Jesus Christ.

“Do not keep silent, O God!
Do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God!
For behold, Your enemies make a tumult;
And those who hate You have lifted up their head.
They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.
They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation,
That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” Psalm 83:1-4

For the Jewish community in Britain

• There have been a number of antisemitic incidents over the past few days in the United Kingdom. A rise in antisemitism is sadly a common trend during the Israel-Gaza conflict, but we’re now seeing an unprecedented escalation that will likely increase the risk to Jews in Britain. The root of antisemitism is a spiritual one. Pray for their protection.
• Pray also for the wider security implications affecting the United Kingdom. Britain faces the challenge of some sympathetic to the Palestinian cause that openly support Hamas, which is a proscribed terror organisation in the UK and therefore illegal. Therefore, pray for wisdom for those overseeing Britain’s national security. 

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

That the nations will stand with Israel

• Praise the Lord that the UK has made a clear stand in solidarity with Israel. Pray that this will strengthen and not be weakened by those who seek to delegitimise Israel’s right to defend itself. 
• Pray that nations around the world will have a revelation of the Biblical mandate to bless Israel in accordance with Genesis 12:3.
• Pray that the Church in Britain will likewise recognise the importance of Israel in God’s plans and purposes, develop a heart for Zion, pray for the Jewish people, and fulfil the role of ‘Watchmen on the walls’ of Jerusalem, especially in these last days. 

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’
“So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Numbers 6:22-27

 

Figures correct on 9^th October 2023