Want to know how to pray concisely and effectively for Israel throughout the year? Our new Prayer Guide offers 31 key petitions and Scripture proclamations for each day of the month and will be relevant for years to come. We know this tool will benefit and help many, so please forward it on to friends who love Israel. [Scripture quotes are from the NIV unless otherwise noted.]
1. Yeshua’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven, reveal to Israel Your faithful and forever, intimate Fatherhood. May Your holy Name be worshiped in Your holy land. May Your kingdom come in purity and power, and Your will be done in the Jewish nation, as it is in heaven. Give Your people the physical and spiritual nourishment they need to live for You. Forgive their sin according to Your covenant promises. Do not lead them into temptation, but deliver them from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and glory without end. (Matt. 6:9-13)
2. Jerusalem: Son of David, Jerusalem belongs to You, for it is the city of the Great King (Ps. 48:2, Isa. 60:14, Ps. 132:13-14, Matt. 5:35). Surround and saturate Jerusalem with Your peace (Ps. 122:6, Isa. 33:20; 40:2). You are the One wonderfully building her up (Ps. 147:2). Though nations gather against the city to divide her, protect Jerusalem and make her an immovable rock (Zech. 12:3). Pour upon her inhabitants a spirit of grace and supplication so they will recognize their Savior (Zech. 12:10). Let Jerusalem be a praise in all the earth (Isa. 62:7) and Your chief city of worship (Ps. 102:21; 122:4; 147:12, Isa. 27:13, Zech. 8:22; 14:17). Fulfill Jerusalem’s destiny to minister Your Word and truth to the nations (Isa. 2:3, Zech. 8:3, 22), dispensing righteousness and justice (Jer. 33:16, Isa.60:17; 62:1-2, Ps. 122:5). Establish Jerusalem as holy unto You (Isa. 4:3; 27:13; 52:1; 66:20, Joel 3:17, Zech. 8:3; 13:1; 14:21). Make it a place of comfort (Isa. 40:1-2; 52:9; 60:15; 62:5; 65:18; 66:10, Zeph. 3:14, Zech. 9:9), glory and splendor (Isa. 52:1; 60: 1, 7, 13, 19; 62:2-3; Ez. 43:1-2, Zech. 2:5). Protect, purify and empower the believers, congregations and ministries in Jerusalem with your fiery love.
3. Israeli Authorities: I pray for all those in positions of authority in Israel, that the people may lead peaceable lives in godliness and reverence towards You (1 Tim. 2:1-4). The government is on Your shoulders (Isa. 9:6) and there are no authorities except those You appoint (Ro. 13:1). Therefore, raise up and protect national, regional and city leaders whose hearts fear You. Give them supernatural wisdom and strength to govern rightly, for the king’s heart is in Your hand (Prov. 21:1). Surround Israel’s kings of today with counselors who hear Your voice. Enable the branches of government to work together for the good of Your people, according to Your will. Please bring all changes needed in the government system for effective, efficient and moral leadership. Protect and empower authorities in military, media, education, health, business and religious realms as well.
4. Messianic Israelis: Protect, mature, strengthen and empower believers in Israel in faith, hope and most of all, love (1 Cor. 13:13). Grant them boldness to share Yeshua in fiery love, truth, signs and wonders. Raise up shepherds after Your own heart to pastor Your flocks (Jer. 3:15). Summon Israeli intercessors to stand in the gap before You in prayer for Your people (Ez. 22:30). Reconcile male and female in Yeshua, that Messianic women might serve You and Your people, along with Messianic men, free of unbiblical restraint (Gal. 3:28). Let there be unity as believing Jews, Arabs, and other ethnic groups reconcile in You as one new humanity (Ps. 133:1,Eph. 2:15). Provide abundant spiritual and material resources for Messianic Israeli ministries.
5. Messianic Israelis and the Church: As members of one new humanity, let Jewish believers bless Gentile believers around the world, humbly and meekly, in unconditional love. Let Gentile believers likewise bless their Jewish brothers and sisters (Eph. 2:14-16). Please make a way for every Gentile believer You call to visit or live in Israel to do so. “Aliens will join them and unite with the house of Jacob” (Isa. 14:1). Mercifully open the eyes of Christians to the truth of Your everlasting covenant with Israel (Gen. 12:1-3; 28:13-14, Ro. 9:1-4; 11:1). Forgive us for the evil of anti-Jewish, anti-Israel theologies, old and new, that seek to remove Your covenant promises from Israel and re-assign them to the Church. Expose and overturn lies that distance Christians from Israel due to the Palestinian conflict. Stir the Church to “not boast…or be arrogant, but fear” Your passion for Israel (Ro. 11:18-20, TLV). Stir Christians to share resources according to Your Word: “For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings” (Ro. 15:27). Fulfill Your end times destiny for Jews and Gentiles in Messiah to serve together as a testimony of You to the world (John 13:35; 17:21).
6. God’s Passion: Creator and Lord, may Your own heart rejoice greatly over Your people! You zealously desire to “heal their waywardness and love them freely” (Hos. 14:4). Fulfill Your Word: “’Is not [Israel] My dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him” (Jer. 31:20). Let Israel hear You say, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness” (Jer. 31:3). You Who wept over Jerusalem, fulfill the yearning of Your heart for the passionate, intimate love of the Jewish people. May it be as You declare, “Hear, O Israel…you shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all you strength” (Deut. 6:4-5).
7. Israel’s Salvation – part I of II: Despite Israel’s sin, please give [her] lavish grace to turn back to You. Restore [Israel] to righteousness “for the sake of [Your] great name.” (1 Sam. 12:20-22, TLV). “We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. O Lord, listen! Oh, Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act!” (Dan. 9:18-19) Hear the heart cry of Your covenant people and grant them the gift of repentance. “The Lord longs to be gracious to you [Israel]…How gracious He will be when you cry for help. As soon as He hears, He will answer you” (Isa. 30:18-19). “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God…Say to Him, ‘Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously’” (Hos. 14:1-2).
8. Israel’s Salvation — part II of II: Sovereign One, would You remove the veil You have placed over the eyes of Israel so they may recognize Messiah (2 Cor. 3:14, Isa. 53). Pour upon Zion “a spirit of grace and supplication [so] they will look on Me, the one they have pierced, and mourn for Him as one … grieves for a first born son” (Zech. 12:10). Cause the salvation and Spirit-fullness of the Gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy for her Messiah (Ro. 11:11, 25-26). As You instruct, I proclaim, “O Lord, save Your people, the remnant of Israel” (Jer. 31:7). “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved” (Ro. 10:1). Make Your salvation known to Jewish people scattered among the nations, as well as in the land. Raise up laborers around the world for this harvest.
9. Unity: Elohim, would you endue Israelis with a spirit of love unto true unity as related, extended family members and children of one Father. Remind the Jewish people how good and pleasant it is when they dwell together in unity, for there You command the blessing of life (Psalm 133:1). Restore camaraderie to bickering factions throughout society. Raise up voices of forgiveness between Israeli Jews and Arabs, political and religious opponents, and others whose views and interests sharply differ. Empower and mature the Body of believers to exemplify the love and unity You desire.
10. Protection and Defense: “Let Israel say, if the Lord had not been on our side when men attacked us….they would have swallowed us alive…Praise be to the Lord, who has not let us be torn by their teeth….Our help is in the name of the Lord” (Ps. 124:1-8). Please “keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings from … my deadly enemies who surround me” (Ps. 17:8-9, NKJV). Along the borders of Israel, would You dispatch Your angelic guardian hosts. Protect Your land from division by the nations. “Hide [Israel] in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of men…keep [her] secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues” (Ps. 31:20, NKJV). Bring the counsel of ungodly nations to nothing, and their plans against Israel to no effect (Ps. 33:10). Expose and overturn schemes of terror and genocide against the Jews (Est. 9:25). May Israel trust in You for deliverance, not in their own strength, military might or in other nations.
11. Northern Israel: Please protect Israel’s mountains and northern borders from foreign invasion, for in Scripture her fiercest enemies come from the north. Summon Your shields over the north for “the shields of the earth belong to God” (Ps. 47:9, NKJV). Expose and neutralize underground tunnels. Defend Israel against terror and war from Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Russia (Ez. 38:14-39:29). When enemies do invade from the north, “show [Your] greatness and [Your] holiness, and make [Yourself] known in the sight of many nations” (Ez. 38:23). Protect and mature the Messianic congregations and believers in the north.
12. Coastal Region and Center: Guard and defend Israel’s Mediterranean coast from foreign invasion, for in Your Word the sea represents the nations and their affairs. Mercifully command any schemes of the wicked to be exposed which are hidden aboard vessels or underwater. “The voice of the Lord is over the waters…the Lord thunders over the mighty waters…the Lord sits enthroned over the flood…the Lord blesses His people with peace” (Ps. 29:3,10-11). Bless with peace the Mediterranean coast as a shipping and trade harbor, media center and hi-tech hub. Prosper Israel’s center as a region of nourishment. Protect and mature the Messianic congregations and believers in the coastal and center region.
13. Southern Israel: Please be a shield to Israel’s south and the desert You have blossomed. Send Your watcher and warrior angels to guard southern borders from invasion, terror and war. Thank you for intercepting and re-directing rockets and missiles shot from Gaza into Israeli civilian centers. Enhance peaceable cooperation with the Bedouin, and along Israel’s borders with Egypt, Jordan and the Red Sea. Expose and shake enemy hideouts and tunnels in desert lands, for “the voice of the Lord shakes the desert” (Ps. 29:8). Make a way where there is none for the desert to grow as a population center (Isa. 43:19). “Provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland to give drink to … the people [You] formed for [Yourself] that they may proclaim [Your] praise” (Isa. 43:20-21). Protect and mature the Messianic congregations and believers in the south.
14. West Bank and Palestinians: Please protect Israel from Palestinian terror and hate, militarily and diplomatically. Expose and dismantle violent conspiracies, tunnels and never-before-seen modes of attack. Draw Palestinians to faith in Jesus and an embrace of Your plans for Israel. Implement true and righteous justice between them and Israel. Expose the errors and evils of some Palestinian Christian theologies that teach God’s covenant with Israel has expired. Strengthen the Palestinian remnant following You in Spirit and in truth. Raise up Palestinian leaders who seek genuine peace, discern honest justice, and operate with wisdom. Do not allow Israel’s land to be wrongly divided, for “I know You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). Mercifully spare Israel from a false peace treaty with the Palestinian people.
15. Israel’s Enemies: Send Your Spirit to convict and convert the hearts of Israel’s enemies. May they turn to You and find salvation in Jesus. As to those who refuse You, “May all who hate Zion be turned back in shame” (Ps. 129:5-6). “Confuse the wicked, O Lord, confound their speech, for I see [their] violence and strife” (Ps. 55:9). “Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is … my shield in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. … Deliver me and rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose [handshakes] are deceitful” (Ps. 144:1-2, 11). When Your enemies rage against You, rebuke them and say, “I have installed my King on Zion, My holy hill. … Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth [and] serve the Lord with fear” (Ps. 2: 6, 10-11). Defender of Israel, “see how Your enemies are astir, how Your foes rear their heads. With cunning they conspire against Your people; they plot against those You cherish. ‘Come,’ they say, ‘let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.’ … ‘Let us take possession of the pasturelands of God.’ Make them like tumbleweed, O my God…pursue them with Your tempest and terrify them with Your storm. … May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace. Let them know that You, whose name is the Lord – that You alone are the Most High over all the earth” (Ps. 83: 1-4, 12-18).
16. Restoration of Israel: Restore Israel according to Your Word, physically to the Land and spiritually to the Lord. “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, proclaim it in distant coastlands: He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over His flock like a shepherd” (Jer. 31:10). Fulfill Your covenant promise: “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of My holy name…I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ez. 36: 22-28) Bring to glorious completion Your promised restoration.
17. Rain: Creator, glorify Yourself through the mercy You show to the land. Bring the necessary seasonal rain to Israel. Supply water to drink and enable crops to be bountiful. “The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of His bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands” (Deut. 28:12). “Then He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful” (Isa. 30:23).
18. Aliyah: Call each of Your people who are still in the nations back to the land of Israel at Your appointed time. Give grace for them to heed Your holy call. “In that day the Lord will reach out His hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of His people and gather the exiles of Israel…from the four quarters of the earth” (Isa. 11:11-12). Strengthen with joy new immigrants as they settle in the land. Help them learn Hebrew, support their families and absorb into society. Let it be said, “‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where He had banished them.’ For [You] will restore them to the land [You] gave their forefathers” (Jer. 16:15). Raise up Gentiles who will aid in the Jews’ return. “See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up My banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders” (Isa. 49:22). Please overturn current Israeli policies that restrict or refuse aliyah to Messianic Jews.
19. Youth: Pour out Your Spirit on Israel’s children and youth. Protect them from worldliness, terror and other spiritual or physical harm. Secure their childhood in Your shalom and teach them Your ways. Grow a righteous remnant for the next generation and raise up future leaders who worship You. “Turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers” (Mal. 4:6). Be a father to the fatherless in the land (Ps. 68:5).
20. Israeli Arabs: Bless the Arab minority in Israel with Your love and salvation. Prosper and reward those who are loyal citizens. Guide those holding positions of authority. Convict and bring to repentance Israeli Arabs who seek the Jewish state’s destruction. Mercifully expose and overturn homeland terror cells and “lone wolves” before their schemes can be hatched. In the Body of believers and beyond, release forgiveness and reconciliation among Israeli Jews, Arabs, Arameans, Druze and other minorities. Bless, mature, protect and embolden Arab Christians who follow Jesus. Where genuine injustice against Arab and other minorities exists, give wisdom and strategy for peaceable correction.
21. Economy: Praise You, Lord, for how You have prospered many of Your people in the land. “The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to” (Deut. 28:8). At the same time, give the wisdom needed to lower the very high cost of housing and living. Mercifully shield the people from material greed. Show the nation how to reduce and care for its large sector of the poor and needy, including Holocaust survivors. Instill desire to “defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy” (Ps. 82:3-4). Cause the nations’ growing movement to Boycott, Divest and Sanction Israel, which seeks to economically destroy her, to backfire and do her no harm.
22. Israel and the Nations: May Israel to be a light to the nations by upholding Your Word of Truth. May she continue to bless the world through medical, scientific, agricultural and technological advances inspired by You. At the same time, may she gladly remain, according to Your will, “set apart from the other nations” (Nu. 23:9, NLT). Bless the nations that bless Israel. Let other nations quickly see that those who curse her are cursed (Gen. 12:3). Raise up many across the globe to counter and stand firm against anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel. Grant moral clarity to ruling international bodies (UN, EU, ICC and others) concerning the lies and attacks against her.
23. Military: Captain of the armies of heaven, would You surround Israeli soldiers with Your defending, warring angels. Strengthen and protect every believer in the army, navy, or air force. Empower them to reveal Yeshua as Messiah to others in their units. Disclose to military intelligence agents the secrets of darkness to keep Israel secure. As in ancient times, reveal strategies of defense and attack. Maintain moral righteousness throughout the armed forces. Shield the troops from physical, spiritual or emotional harm by those who hate Your people. Let them say, “With Your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall…He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me Your shield of victory….You armed me with strength for battle; You made my adversaries bow at my feet. You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes.” (Ps. 18:29, 34-35, 39-40)
24. Abortion: Please supply abundant spiritual and physical resources to the pro-life ministries You have raised up in Israel. Increase their effectiveness supernaturally. Reveal to the rabbis and the Israeli public that abortion is murder and an abominable sin (Jer. 1:5; 20:17, Ps. 139:13,16). Give grace to repent, for many do not know what they are doing. Bring to a swift end to state-sponsored abortions for women in the armed forces. Cleanse the military from this shedding of innocent Jewish blood.
25. Religious Strongholds: Pease vanquish the very powerful religious strongholds over Israel of unbiblical Judaism and Christianity, as well as Islam. Diminish their political influence and expressions of violent hate. Let worship of YHVH arise in Spirit and truth by Your remnant and spread across the country. Mercifully draw to Yourself those enslaved by religion who “have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men” (Mark 7:9). Pour out on them the Spirit of liberty (2 Cor. 3:17).
26. Foreign Strongholds: Would you dispel any influence of ancient idols and deities worshiped in the land. Overturn spiritual strongholds from the Ottoman Empire that still impact Israeli law and society. Shield Israel from the atmosphere of death coming from extremist Islam in the region. Break the seduction of secularism, universal humanism and hedonism. “I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and make you like a warrior’s sword” (Zech. 9:13). “Hear O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is One” (Deut. 6:4).
27. Revival in the Middle East: Revive the blessing You put on Ishmael and his descendants throughout the Middle East (Gen. 17:20) Reveal Jesus to multitudes throughout the region and bless them with Your heart for Israel. Fulfill Your Word to establish an Israeli alliance in the Mideast. Strengthen believers from Arab countries gathering together with Messianic Jews to worship You. “In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a mountain to the Lord at its border. … In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.’” (Isa. 19:19, 23-25)
28. Middle East Christian Persecution: Please spare those who follow Jesus from the barbaric evil of murderous Islam. “If it is possible, may this cup be taken away from [them], yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39). Give believers in the Middle East the right words to courageously make Jesus known to their persecutors (Eph. 6:19-20). Let them experience Your grace as sufficient for them and Your power perfected in their weakness (2 Cor. 12:9-10). Enable them to rejoice in sharing the sufferings of Messiah, so they will rejoice even more when He is revealed (1Peter 4:13). Infuse them with Your intimate love, so they will in turn love You more than life itself (Phil. 1:21). Grace them with endurance and the ability to bless their enemies. Give each one destined for martyrdom the hope and strength of reaping an eternal reward. May the blood of each martyr serve as seed for the Church. Thank you that Israeli law allows for personal freedom of faith. When religious extremists illegally persecute followers of Messiah in the land, please cause the authorities to enforce the law, dispense great grace to the victims, and vindicate Your name.
29. End Times: Prepare Israel and the Church for the times ahead. Do not allow Your enemies to upset Your timing, of which only You are fully aware (Dan. 11:27, Matt. 24:36). Mercifully send revival to Israel and the nations before Messiah comes. “You will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord’” (Matt. 23:39). Purify Your people according to Your Word: “The wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready” (Rev. 19:7). Empower us to stand firm and act with unconditional love toward Israel in times of trouble (Dan. 11:32, Matt. 24:12-13; 25:31-46). Keep our “blessed hope” on Your appearing (Titus 2:13).
30. Praise, Thanksgiving and Consecration: I praise You, Sovereign Lord, that Your ways are not our ways; they are perfect. Your Word is certain and settled in heaven. Thank You for calling me to priestly intercession on behalf of Israel. Thank You for the joy You give in return: “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her” (Isa. 66:10, NLT). Purify me daily, that my prayers would be acceptable to You and effective by Your Spirit to achieve the desires of Your heart. As You promise blessing to those who bless Israel, I ask You to bless me with more and more of You.
31. Specific Individuals: If you pray according to the Gregorian calendar, on the last day of months that have 31 days, pray for Jewish people you know personally, who do not yet know Yeshua. If you do not know any Jewish people personally, ask God to bring some into your life. Meanwhile, pray for those Jewish people you know of, and whom God brings to mind and heart. Intercede as well for specific individuals serving the Lord by ministering to the Jewish people—and please do include us!
By Sandra Teplinsky, Light of Zion Ministries, www.lightofzion.org