The news has not discussed how the Christian community views the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories. According to our local partners, there are over a thousand Christians in Gaza. Christians in Israel include both Messianic Jews and non-Jewish believers. Amid the violence in Israel and Gaza, both Palestinian and Israeli Christians are asking their brothers and sisters around the world to pray.
Our regional partners sent us these prayer requests. As the conflict continues, stand with both the Palestinians and the Israelis as people who confess the name of Christ gather in the churches. We can pray as follows:
1. We pray for the grieving Israeli families. Whose loved ones have been killed or taken hostage.
Following the attacks, the Israel Bible Society released a statement on its website. It reflects the sentiments of many Israelis: “We are shocked, angry and sad. In a few hours, the lives of hundreds of people were extinguished. Among them were women, men, children and the elderly. Several thousand were wounded and over a hundred were taken hostage. More than three thousand rockets were fired into southern Israel. Every family has lost members or friends. We need your prayers more than ever. Pray for the bereaved. Pray for the effect of the tragic situation on people: that they would seek the living God, His mercy and think about their eternal destiny.”
Please pray and remember those who lost family members and friends in the brutal attacks by Hamas. Ask God to comfort them and show them the peace that only He can bring.
2. Please pray for all those caught up in the Gaza conflict
Christians in Gaza fear Israel’s military influence on them and their congregations. “We are currently living in a difficult situation. It seems incomprehensible because we don’t know what’s coming,” a Christian living in Gaza told Open Doors. “We see, hear and feel only war… Everywhere there are explosions and destruction, and children are screaming because of the intensity of the bombing. We fear the future. There is no safe place in Gaza.”
“We are in a safe place, but we have not slept at all; nor our children,” shared another believer. “We are physically and morally exhausted. We don’t know what to do.”
Christians around the world condemn Hamas’ violence against innocent Israelis. However, we must continue to support our Christian brothers and sisters in Palestine. They have been forced to live in the midst of constant conflict. Pray that they will be protected and see God’s work in the midst of this destruction.
3. Let us ask God for protection for innocent people
Our Palestinian pastor in the Western Territory and Open Doors partner shared a plea on social media: “We are concerned about the high number of civilian casualties, whether Palestinian or Israeli. We ask that the international community monitor the observance of the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law.”
A Christian father living in Gaza told Open Doors this week that his family is afraid. “My family and I feel fear and anxiety because of the strong explosions. We feel like the house is collapsing, it’s like a constant earthquake,” he told us. “We try to hug our children and ease their fears and anxieties. Due to the strength of the blows, this is often not possible.»
Innocents always suffer in armed conflicts. This situation is no exception. We ask God to protect families, children and civilians in both Israel and Gaza. We ask Him to comfort and strengthen His own. We pray for God’s help that those affected by war may find healing and hope in the midst of destruction.
4. We pray that God will influence the situation and bring more people to Himself. We ask that His people be salt and light.
People in both Gaza and Israel are watching the events unfold with horror. We pray that God can also use violence for good. We serve a God who can do good in the midst of evil (Genesis 50:20). Although it seems impossible, our brothers and sisters ask us to pray this bold prayer.
“Let this current war be the reason why many Israeli Jews seek help from the Creator of heaven and earth,” said one Israeli Christian who is a friend of Open Doors. “And may many Arabs agree.”
Another believer repeats this prayer: “We pray that love and peace reign in our country. I pray for God’s protection for my family and our home and for a quick end to the war. May the Lord meet all needs, especially at this time. Let us be a light in this total darkness and reflect the light and love of Christ in Gaza.”
5. Let us pray for those who have been driven from their homes
We ask God to release the hostages taken by Hamas and return them to their families. “We pray for freedom for those who have been taken from their families for the wounded and healing for the wounded,” a Catholic priest in Gaza told Open Doors’ local partner.
Let us also pray for the people living in Gaza who have fled their homes due to the constant shelling. Our local partners reported that one church had provided shelter to 200 Christians. In addition, there were 450 people from their neighborhood in the same church. “Our homes were bombed and they were destroyed, the entire neighborhood no longer existed,” a Christian living in Gaza told an Open Doors partner. “There were no more houses, there was only a dark cloud in the sky and the air was thick with dust. My belongings were scattered in the ruins. I tried to imagine where my room was.”
We pray that God be with the people who had to leave. May He show His mercy to those who seek Him.
6. We pray for Open Doors partners operating in the Holy Land.
Open Doors has a long history in Israel and the Palestinian territories. In fact, brother Andrew once gave Sheikh Yassin, the founder of Hamas, a Bible!
Many of our ministry partners and friends in the area are shocked. Long-term church cooperation practitioners in Gaza provide Christians with food and medicine. They fight under constant Israeli military threat. We mourn with our friends the destruction wrought by Hamas in Israel.
We pray that we can share the hope of Jesus despite the situation in Gaza and the Holy Land with the help of our work and partners.
7. We pray for peace
The situation in Israel and Gaza seems humanly impossible. Is this a disaster that will never change? We serve God. He is not bound by the human perspective. He can bring the peace and change of heart needed to stop the violence.
“Ask the Lord to stop the war and the attacks on the civilian population of Gaza,” says the Gaza pastor.
“Pray with us that God will influence the leaders whose decisions will determine the fate of many people these days,” the Israel Bible Society says on its website.
“Let a loving God decide how to end this disaster.”
Although services were canceled in Gaza last Sunday, they were held among Palestinian believers in the West Bank. “We prayed for peace and justice in the Holy Land,” a Christian from Bethlehem told our local partners. We ask God for peace. We know that only He can bring peace.”
Source: Seitsemän rukouspyyntöä Israelista | Open Doors Finland
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