WEDDING FEAST

Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

"May those who love you be secure.

May there be peace within your walls

and security within your citadels."

For the sake of my brothers and friends,

I will say, "Peace be with you."

For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,

I will seek your prosperity."

(Psalm 122:6-9)

The final stage of a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony is the Wedding Feast.  The couple has spent the day fasting, putting aside their flesh, in preparation for them becoming one new flesh as husband and wife.  The first time they will break bread together will be a symbol of communion as they eat their first meal as husband and wife.  It is tradition for covenants to be confirmed and sealed with a covenant meal (Exodus 24:7-11).  When the disciple's ate and drank the covenant meal with the Lord, they celebrated the new covenant of the blood that was sealed by Christ's death. "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26).

When the Bridegroom returns to take His Bride home with Him we will celebrate our nuptials in the great wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).  It will be a day of great rejoicing and feasting.  However, until our Bridegroom returns we are told to fast (Matthew 9:15) so we can be emptied of the flesh and the world and remain a purified vessel filled with the oil of His Holy Spirit so we will be found as the faithful virgins who were ready with their lamps to receive their Bridegroom the moment He arrives (Matthew 25:1-13).  One of the great blessings of being filled with the Holy Spirit is we become a people who pray, instead of a people who sleep.  When our Bridegroom returns He will find us watchful and awake.  "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the body is weak" (Matthew 26:41).

The New Covenant will not be completely fulfilled until the second coming when the Lord comes to restore Israel and establish His kingdom upon the earth.  As we intercede for marriage in our land, it is important that we understand God's covenant of love is tied to the original covenant with His people Israel, and any debate on the definition of marriage is attack on the heart of God and the people that He loves and intends to be reconciled with.  The war on marriage has far reaching affects, because it seeks to unravel all that God is and has done.  Our final day of intercession will be spent praying for God's ultimate restoration of His people and for all of creation.  We will be Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem as we look forward to the fulfillment of God's covenant of love and the presentation of His bride, the New Jerusalem, when all will be made new and the dwelling of God will be with men (Revelation 21:1-5)!

PRAYING FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM

1.      Extend the day of fasting for the Day of Atonement until sundown on Sunday, October 5^th

2.      Unite with believers and ministries around the world in The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem (www.daytopray.com)

3.      Pray God's heart for His people Israel, and commit to being faithful stewards of the light we have been given.  "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand.  I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.  I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols.  See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you" (Isaiah 42:6-9).

"I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers,

so that you may not be conceited:

Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number

of the Gentiles has come in. 

And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

"The deliverer will come from Zion;

He will turn godlessness away from Jacob.

and this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins."

(Romans 11:25-27)

4.      Partake of the covenant meal with the observance of the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

5.      Continue praying for the peace of Jerusalem and extend your 40 day journey with the 10-day online devotional journey "Praying for Peace" and travel back to God's original marriage covenant with Israel. 

Click HERE to begin your prayer journey.

Additional prayers and Scriptures for the Wedding Feast will be provided

in our final email devotional.

Prepare for our time of intercession with these prayers of deliverance and restoration:

"O LORD, God of Israel,

There is no God like You in heaven above or in earth below -

You who keep Your covenant of love with Your servants

who continue wholeheartedly in Your way...

yet You give attention to Your servant's prayer

and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God.

Hear my cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying in Your

presence this day...

Hear from heaven, Your dwelling place,

and when You hear, forgive...

when they turn back to You and confess Your name,

praying and making supplication to You...

then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people...

and bring them back to the land You have to their fathers.

When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because

your people have sinned against You,

and when they pray toward this place and confess Your name

and turn from their sin because You have afflicted them,

then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants...

Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land

You gave Your people for an inheritance...

Hear from heaven, Your dwelling place.

Forgive and act;

hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

and forgive Your people who have sinned against You;

forgive all the offenses they have committed against You..."

(1 King 8:23, 28, 30, 33-36, 39, 49-50)

"O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God,

who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him

and obey His commands, let Your ear be attentive

and Your eyes open to hear the prayer Your servant is

praying before You day and night for Your servants,

the people of Israel.

I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house,

have committed against You.

We have acted very wickedly toward You.

We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws

You gave Your servant Moses..."

(Nehemiah 1:5-11)

"O LORD, God of Israel,

enthroned between the cherubim,

You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth.

You have made heaven and earth.

Give ear, O LORD, and hear;

open Your eyes, O LORD, and see...

Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand,

so that all kingdoms on earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God."

(2 Kings 19:15-16a, 19)

"Stand up and praise the LORD your God,

who is from everlasting to everlasting."

"Blessed be Your glorious name,

and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.

You alone are the LORD.

You made the heavens, even the highest heavens,

and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it,

the seas and all that is in them.

You give life to everything,

and the multitudes in heaven worship You.

But You are a forgiving God,

gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and abounding in love.

And when they cried out to You again,

You heard from heaven, and in Your compassion You

delivered them time after time.

You warned them to return to Your law...

but in Your great mercy You did not put an end to them

or abandon them, for You are a gracious and merciful God.

In all that has happened to us, You have been just;

You have acted faithfully, while we did wrong..."

(Nehemiah 9:5-6, 17b, 28, 31, 33)

"In that day you will say:

"I will praise You, O LORD.

Although You were angry with me,

Your anger turned away and You have comforted me.

Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust and not be afraid.

The LORD, the Lord, is my strength and my song;

He has become my salvation.

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

In that day you will say:

"Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name;

make known among the nations what He has done,

and proclaim that His name is exalted.

Sing to the LORD, for He has done glorious things;

let this be known to all the world.

Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,

for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

(Isaiah 12:1-6)