Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

In Psalm 122 David instructs us to:

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels."

Christians over the years have held differing views on the nation of Israel. Some believe that the returning of the Jews back to the Middle East and the nation of Israel reforming is part of God's plans for the end times. Others say that the Church has replaced Israel in fulfilling God's purposes.

Whichever of the two views one may hold it is important to pray for the people who live in this troubled land. But how do we pray? What is God's will for the Middle East?

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul says:

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority...."

So the first thing we can do is to pray for the leaders of Israel and its neighbouring countries. We may or may not like the various leaders in that part of the world, but God has allowed them to rise to these positions. In the Old Testament God used kings who did not know him to fulfill his purposes. Therefore, it is important to pray for them that they will govern wisely and make Godly and just decisions.

The second way that we can pray is to follow David's plea and "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." Humanly speaking getting peace in Jerusalem is impossible. However, we are instructed to pray for this. One of the advantages of praying this pray is that we can put aside some of our political and religious bias and pray for the inhabitants of that great city. I have found it helpful to pray for the different religious and nationality groupings in Jerusalem: Israelites, Arabs, Palestinians, Armenians, Christians, Jews and Muslims. And we need to keep in mind that God loves all those in Jerusalem and his Son died for all of them. That includes the ones whose views and policies we do not support!

Heartbreak and Triumph

One of the books I received for Christmas was "Heartbreak & Triumph - The Shawn Michaels Story." For those who do not know who Shawn Michael is he's a American wrestler who works for the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment).

For two or three years in the mid to late 1990's Shawn was regarded as the most entertaining wrestler in the business. However, although he was at the top of his profession Shawn's personal life was not in a good way. He battled against drugs and severe back problems which he got from wrestling. In addition to this he was not always the the best employee. Eventually in the late 1990's he had to retire due to his back problems.

In retirement he still struggled with his personal demons. However, change was on the horizon. His wife Rebecca recommitted her life to Christ and then Shawn also met with Him too. God gave him the power to kick his habit and healed his back so that Shawn was able to return to wrestling. The Shawn that returned to wrestling was a different one to the one who retired injured. God was and is changing him.

Although this book is mainly written for wrestling fans it's great to see the way that God has intervened and dramatically changed Shawn Michaels life. Read it and see what you think!

Prayer for the New Year

Happy New Year!

Psalm 119:37 "Turn my eyes away from worthless things; renew my life according to your word."

As we start this new year it's important for us to fix our eyes on "things above" and get our priorities right for 2006. It can be so easy to get distracted by worthless things. This can lead us to not making the best use of our time and wasting it. The Psalmist recognised this and asked that God would help him to turn from this. He asked that God would renew his life through his word. All of us need to experience God's renewal in our life and to have a freshness in our relationship with God. It's so easy to drift along as a Christian and to miss out on the joy of a close vibrant relationship with him. Like the Psalmist this can be a prayer that we can make use of as we seek to grow in God.