Why Pray for Jerusalem

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.” Psalm 122:6

Our text this morning can feel challenging for people who are not Jewish or who do not share Israel’s political perspective.

When you read the scripture, you often find that the name of a person or a place carries meaning far beyond what first appears. Sometimes it even hints at what God plans to do. Jerusalem is like that. Its name speaks of being the foundation and possession of peace. It reminds us that God offers peace to those who seek Him, and that one day, through the Messiah, He will establish justice and lasting peace over all nations. One flows from what already took place in that city. The other will come because of what God has promised will happen there in the future.

Jerusalem had been the place of God’s presence, God’s worship and God’s promises. It is the city where God’s presence was most manifest in the Old Testament: the temple, the sacrifices, and the dwelling of God among His people. Yet again and again it resisted the very God who loved it. Jesus said that Jerusalem killed the prophets and refused the ones sent to it (Matt 23.37). Jesus looked at that city, knowing its history and its future, and he wept. The city did not recognise the time when God came to offer peace.

Think of what happened just outside those ancient walls almost two thousand years ago. Our Lord Jesus was crucified on Calvary. The scriptures show how he was rejected, led out, and put to death there for us (Matt 16.21, Luke 13.33, Luke 23.26 and 33). It was not an accident or a tragedy beyond God’s control. It was the atonement that brings peace to every repentant and believing soul. Isaiah says he was wounded for our peace (Isaiah 53.5). Paul tells us we are justified and have peace with God through him (Rom 5.1) and that he himself is our peace (Eph 2.14–15, Col 1.20). So a person who has trusted what Jesus did there can say with quiet confidence that his blood brings peace within.

But the story of peace does not end there. The world cries out for a different kind of peace. Leaders have tried to build it. Nations have signed treaties and formed alliances. Yet wars keep returning and fear never sleeps. Peace between nations remains only a hope.

Still, God has promised that peace will come. Not by human skill, not by politics, but by the same Lord Jesus who once died outside Jerusalem. He rose again, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb 1.3). He will return to that same city one day. When he does, he will reign and put an end to hostility. The peace humanity longs for will finally take root where the Prince of Peace reigns.

This is why Jerusalem’s name matters. It points us back to the cross where personal peace is already offered. It also points forward to the coming kingdom where global peace will no longer be a dream but a living reality. Praying for Jerusalem is, in essence, a plea: ‘Come, Lord, and bring the peace only you can give. Redeem humanity.’” prophet Isaiah declared in Isaiah 9:6–7 and 2:2–4 that the Messiah will bring justice, righteousness, and lasting peace.

It leaves us with a question. If God has already made peace available for our hearts, have we received it? And if he is bringing true peace to the world when Christ comes again, are we living with that hope shaping our choices today?

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” John 14:27. As you pray and longing for the coming King, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Kay Alli