Stopping to Pray

I’m a very impulsive person. I have found over the years that I drive people crazy, especially when they try to give me directions or instructions. Before they can get the completed instructions out of their mouths, I have already supposed the task at hand and have taken off of my own course of action. Just ask Honey. That’s been his biggest frustration with me during the ten years of our marriage. I do the same thing with God more often than not. He starts to show me something that I need to write about in the future, and before I have been given the complete picture, I’m off on my own gathering notes on the topic, starting my rough drafts, etc. He usually stalls me out after a short period of time and I can almost hear Him audibly say “Wait! I’m not through yet.” I suspect that I know why writing is such a challenge for me. Maybe He uses my deficits to slow me down where I have to wait on Him. The things that God has been putting on my heart lately haven’t completely formulated yet. Instead I want to share something that came to mind today.

Early this morning while I was browsing the news, I was reading how the terrorist groups are forming coalitions against Israel. The Scriptures talk about how in the last days the nations will join forces to attack the country of Israel. (Sadly, the U.S. administration has taken the formal stance to turn its back on Israel recently as well.) As I was reading about this coalition of sorts, the following Scripture came to mind,

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my breathren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God will I seek thy good.” Psalm 122:6-9

I paused for a moment and told the Lord that I try to pray for Israel, but it’s difficult for me to pray, with passion, for a country. When I pray for Israel, the image that comes to mind is an outline on a map. Then I was reminded of the blog A Soldier’s Mother. I have the link in my favorites file so I opened it up. The writer and her family live in Israel, and she writes about having sons in the military there. She also writes of other things like what it’s like to live in Israel, some of the Jewish customs, life in a country that is always under the threat of war & terror, and about raising a family in these troubling times. The woman who writes this is a very gifted writer. She gives faces to the people that live there. When I read her accounts, Israel stops being a place on a map. It becomes a country filled with people. People with hopes and dreams. Families with love and concern for each other and their country. People who want nothing more in this world than to live in the same peace that we all take for granted.

After reading the account about her little girl learning the ABC’s of first aid in school, I knew without any hesitation that I could now pray in total earnest for the people of Israel. I don’t pray for them in an attempt to seek God’s blessings, as He promised. I pray because He said we should. And whenever I read about the people who live there, I know it’s simply the right thing to do. I am always amazed that even though they are a tiny country whom the entire world has turned against; they don’t live in fear. God promised them that He would give them their land back; He did. They live in the assurance that God will protect them. Maybe we could take some lessons from them.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Then stand and watch God’s mighty hand protect them; and know that with total assurance that the same God who watches over them is the same God who watches over you.

Have a great day & may the Lord bless you.