God loves Jerusalem! He said it is the place He’s chosen for His presence and His Name to dwell. He chose the place and said throughout Scripture that Jerusalem is His city and His dwelling place, and Jesus will rule the earth from there. When the earthly government of God’s kingdom is set up, that’s where it will be. Jerusalem is the capital of the world. When you come into the city of Jerusalem, you can sense that it is a place of authority.
So that men may declare the name of the Lord in Zion and His praise in Jerusalem (Psalm 102:21, The Amplified Bible).
I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord! Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!—Jerusalem, which is built as a city that is compacted together (Psalm 122:1-3, The Amplified Bible).
There are paintings in Israel, some in the oldest synagogues, that show this about a city that is compacted together. When the Word talks about the city compacted together, it is talking about the heavenly Jerusalem and the earthly Jerusalem. Now, Jacob saw the ladder between the two. He saw the opening between the heavenly Jerusalem and the earthly Jerusalem. When the scriptures say this city is compacted together, and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, it is talking about the wholeness of the heavenly Jerusalem and the earthly Jerusalem connected together.
To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed and as a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. For there the thrones of judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May they prosper who love you [the Holy City]! May peace be within your walls and prosperity within your palaces! For my brethren and companions’ sake, I will now say, Peace be within you! For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek, inquire for, and require your good (Psalm 122:4-9, The Amplified Bible).
We are to hold Jerusalem before the Lord. When you pray for Jerusalem, hold it up with the attitude of love. God loves Jerusalem. And I want to love what He loves! Isn’t that what you do when you love someone? You love what they love. By faith, look for that in your own heart. Just begin to love that city, and when you love the city, you love the people. As the Holy Spirit takes hold with you, you will encounter a treasured place in prayer that is different from any other. There is nothing like praying for the peace of Jerusalem. There is nothing like loving what God loves.
Let’s pray for the peace of Jerusalem right now:
Father, in the Name of Jesus, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem according to Psalm 122:6-9, The Amplified Bible. We hold Jerusalem before You with love in our hearts for her. Father, we love what You love. We pray and confess they prosper who love Jerusalem. Peace be within her walls and prosperity within her palaces. For our brethren and companions’ sake, we now say, peace be within you, Jerusalem! For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, we seek, inquire for, and require Israel’s good! In Jesus’ Name, amen!
