Our Prayers for Israel Are Having a Significant Impact!
By: Joshua Gooding, ICEJ Prayer Department Head
Since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas last October 7, the Christian Embassy has taken a stand by committing before the Lord to lift up prayers for Israel every day until the nation can declare victory in this current battle.
Just as the armies of Israel are at war, we have engaged in the spiritual battle in the heavenlies through our daily online prayer meetings. One of these intercessory efforts is the Global Prayer Gathering (GPG), where Christian leaders and prayer warriors faithfully come together for an hour every morning to pray for Israel.
For the past 10 months, over 25,000 people from more than 170 nations around the globe have joined this prayer call as we pray for Israel and the region amid the present turmoil. We thank everyone who has joined us in prayer on the GPG.
Throughout this prayer vigil, we have seen God move in powerful ways. I want to share some testimonies of God’s faithfulness we have seen.
First, we must thank God that roughly half of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have been freed. Hamas is widely known to be cruel Islamic terrorists—just look at the atrocities they committed on October 7. To get that many hostages safely back has to be considered a miracle and an answer to our many prayers for the hostages.
Since the onset of this conflict, there also has been a looming threat that Hezbollah, Iran’s strongest proxy terror militia, would attack Israel from Lebanon. In response, Israel has evacuated all the communities within three miles of the northern border. There has been an artillery duel and war of attrition in the immediate vicinity of the border since October 8 last year, but in our daily prayers, we have been asking the Lord to hold back a wider attack by Hezbollah in the North. We can report with thanksgiving that the restraining hand of God has held the enemy at bay for over 10 months.
Another answered prayer is that the Lord is raising Rahabs in the enemy camp to assist Israel against Hamas and other Iranian proxy militias. Early in this war, the Lord revealed that we should pray for Him to raise people in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran who would be like Rahab, the local woman in the battle of Jericho who helped the Israeli spies with key intelligence into the movements of the enemy. In the same way, we have been praying that the Lord would use ordinary people to reveal the plans of Israel’s enemies. We have seen this prayer answered many times, especially when people inside the enemy camp have helped locate their leaders and, in some cases, the Israeli hostages. This intel has been vital for Israeli forces to successfully carry out their missions against the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, even when they were honored guests in Tehran.
In addition, we saw Iran launch a massive attack of over 320 cruise and ballistic missiles and armed drones late one night in mid-April. Many of us in Israel were already asleep, but others alerted our intercessors abroad to start praying. Over the next couple of hours, most of the missiles and drones were hunted down and destroyed before they ever entered Israeli airspace, and the few that got through did only minor damage. We are so grateful that the prayers of believers all around the world helped raise an added wall of protection around Israel and her people.
So, we see that God is answering our prayers, and His hand is moving as we continue to stand in the gap for Israel. Thank you again for your earnest, effective prayers for the Jewish nation and people.
Join our daily Global Prayer Gathering at 9:00 a.m. (EST) at: www.icejusa.org/global-prayer
Our God is awesome, for He can save to the uttermost. —Hebrews 7:25