Millions worldwide pray for Jerusalem

Evangelical Christian event in capital is beamed abroad; "We will lift our voices loudly, clearly, strongly,saying Israel, you are not alone!"

By RON FRIEDMAN
Jerusalem prayer event (photo credit: Ron Friedman)
Jerusalem prayer event
(photo credit: Ron Friedman)
Sunday was the Global Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, marked by evangelical Christians around the world as a day dedicated to solidarity with Israel and prayer for the future of its capital city.
In Jerusalem, the day was celebrated with an afternoon of speeches, songs and prayer at the Haas Promenade, overlooking the Old City, while around the world millions watched a live feed from the event on Christian television network God TV and participated in special prayer services held in thousands of churches worldwide.
“We believe that where man’s peace plans fail, God’s peace plan will come to pass.
God is the key to peace and blessing for the city of Jerusalem and all of her inhabitants, Jew and Arab alike,” said Robert Stearns, the founder and executive director of the Eagles’ Wings ministry and the co-chairman of the event.
“God loves the sons of Isaac and God loves the sons of Ishmael and we are going to see a blessing for all the people’s in this land,” he said.
While the expressed theme of the day was peace, much of the sermonizing at the event framed the question of the future of Jerusalem as a battle for its continued unity.
“The people of God are alert, awake, on watch and we’re saying it’s turnaround time,” said Stearns. “As we live in the day where the twin threats of radical secular humanism on one side and radical Islam on the other pose a massive threat to all people of good will, to all the civilized world, we understand that this city is the front line of the battle over how this world will be moving forward in the days ahead.
“The battle of Jerusalem is not a battle about land. It is not a battle about ethnicity. It’s a battle about a God of love versus a god of hatred and violence.
“We say to our Jewish brothers and sisters and we say via God TV to the world today that there is a new breed of Christian that is rising up in the nations of the earth. And today, a generation past the Holocaust, we declare that the Church of Jesus Christ will never be silent again.
“We will lift our voices loudly, clearly, strongly. We will lift it in the United Nations. We will lift it in the European Union. We will lift it in the media. We will lift our voice in the universities. We will lift our voice to the White House. We will lift our voice to the four corners of the earth, saying ‘Israel, You are not alone,’” said Stearns.
One of the main guests of the event was Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. In his address, Barkat welcomed the participants to Jerusalem on behalf of the residents and urged all Christians around the world to come and visit the city and experience its spirituality firsthand.
“My vision for the city of Jerusalem is to return it to the role it played two and 3,000 years ago, dramatically increase its ability to welcome people around the world and to develop it for the benefit of all the world to enjoy, to explore our ancient past and build a modern future and integrate between the two,” said Barkat.
“In order to accomplish this vision we must keep Jerusalem open for people of all faiths…. In order to enable people to practice their religion, we have to ensure and must keep Jerusalem the united and undivided capital of the sovereign State of Israel,” he said, to a standing ovation.
Representing the Israeli government was Tourism Ministry Director-General Noaz Bar-Nir. Bar-Nir also welcomed the participants and thanked them for their prayers and support.
“For us, Jerusalem is the heart of Israel and our deepest desire is that Jerusalem will be the city of peace,” said Bar-Nir. It is inspiring to note today that nearly 200 nations and 300 million evangelicals around the world have joined together to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
“We are humbled by this amazing demonstration of commitment, faith and love,” he said. “It is good to note that we can count on evangelical Christians like you to stand in Israel in good times and bad.”
Kadima MK Yoel Hasson welcomed the participants on behalf of the Knesset and its Christian Allies Caucus.
“We in the Israeli leadership need to always make sure that we keep Jerusalem safe, united and open to everyone. In order to do so we need a lot of supporters all over the world,” said Hasson.
“We are now here to stay. We are here to stay with you and we are here to stay because we know that we have millions of people that pray for Jerusalem and pray for Israel. God is going to be with us and will help us develop and keep Jerusalem… “We need you here with us because we know that when we have many people like you touring and praying in Jerusalem, nothing can threaten it.”