Pray for A Real Peace

A Call To:

Believe against the evidence that peace is possible in Palestine / Israel

Remember that God loves all His children – all!

Hope in the Prince of Peace

Learn or re-learn how to pray together

Discover the Meaning of Salaam / Shalom

Ask the Father for Peace in this Land.

www.arealpeace.org

Why Pray Now? Part 1—What We See

I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.
[Isaiah 62:6-7]

First, we observe that the situation in the so-called Holy Land is disastrous, painful, insecure and unjust. What peace there is in Jerusalem is the silence of walls and guns, the antagonization of neighbors and silencing of victims. This is not peace. We may diverge on our understanding of causes, responsibilities, destinies and aspirations but we start by recognizing that the land now hosts two alienated people, each divided in many groups.

As it stands today the state of Israel continues to expand geographically and feels compelled to do so in a way, which ensures a control of resources and demography. In this process and perhaps too because of this process, the nation of Israel continues to feel threatened by hostilities and by terrorism. Yet some feel that it has also become resistant to calls for peace, including those voiced jointly by all its Arab neighbors, which would put a hold on its geographic and demographic ambitions. Others feel that these calls for peace are disingenuous and that hostility and hatred against the Jewish people and against Israel are growing in the larger Middle-Eastern region on their own account. Israeli political leaders compete to out-hawk each other. Far too many see the security of Israel as a dangerous us-versus-them dead-end game; none tackle the real issues for peace.

From here, we also see a Palestinian population fragmented, placed under a rigid and violent control against which it has no recourse. From Hebron to Jenin, each city becomes a prison and Gaza continues to suffer more than its lot. Neither the prospect of an independent and viable state, nor that of integration of all inhabitants of the land into one equitable multi-ethnic and multi-religious state seems close at hand. Radicalization of Palestinian polity into competing religious-political movements has increased. When political movements remain aligned with a violent resistance agenda, it has yielded the fruits of terrorism but no liberation. When Fundamentalist Islamic groups have joined a political process, it has led to more international isolation and more division for the Palestinian population. Suffering, loss, stigmatization, and hopelessness have only increased. Also the Palestinian church has been bleeding its members seeking a better future abroad, as many Palestinians are tempted to do.

Numerous Christian, Secular, Jewish and Muslim groups are working and striving for peace and justice to the best of their understanding on both sides. But their voices often remain unheard to the larger world opinion. When world figures raise their voices in truth to propose a path of healing, these voices can be silenced by attacks and slander from those who place peace and justice as distant seconds to a sectarian agenda. Many feel discouraged by the evolving situation in the land, in spite of 1,001 small lights flickering in this sad darkness.

Why Pray Now? Part 2—What We Seek

While we may ourselves feel this discouragement, our second observation is that Jesus calls us to pray. He did so in words and through His example while He walked the land of Palestine as a man. He does so in His written word and we believe He still does so in the breath of His Spirit in our hearts. Jesus always prayed and called His followers to prayer. He spoke and acted in peace, when dealing with gentile or Jews, occupiers and occupied, zealots and religious fundamentalists of His day, and He demonstrated the centrality of prayer in His mission. Not all of us understand why God wants or seems to need us to pray, but we observe that He commands us to, and pleads with us to pray.

We want to obey and follow Him. But many of us need help to learn how to do so with consistency, inspiration and faith. In order to be helped by each other, to be encouraged and motivated, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, we meet to be guided in prayer, to be motivated and to learn how to pray in His Spirit for the situation which we witness in the land. As followers of Jesus, we are compelled by the necessity to learn how to pray and to pray for a real peace. This is our purpose.

Prayer or Action? Learning Prayer and Action

We are asking for a better tomorrow, so we act for this better tomorrow. We do not sit complacent and hopeless, or satisfied that tomorrow will bring desolation. Fatalism cannot be the fruit of the presence of God in our midst. We take different actions; but prayer is where we meet to surrender, to intercede and ask the Father for that which we cannot accomplish alone. God acts before we do. For this reason we rise to serve and work and struggle. But for this reason also, we turn to Him before, during and after the moment of action. Not instead of.

Who Are We and What About Our Politics?

We are not of one church, we are diverse people. We are not an organization; we are not of a denomination; we are simply trying to become better imitators of Jesus in this one thing. We reject pretense – we join hands as children, welcoming all who trust in a loving God of all, without consideration of persons. We don’t have much to teach, but we have much to learn together.

We do not necessarily have a single political view, but we do not close our eyes and we do not accept the current status quo. We see that the political reality in this land is—if not the cause then certainly a manifestation of turmoil and injustice. Refusing to look at the political reality is itself a dishonest political choice, which we reject.

We know that God is beyond politics and we believe that—whatever it is—peace means more than a political solution, but it is also translated into political realities. We do not define ourselves by political activism but we dare believe that God’s Kingdom can infiltrate flawed human systems. We are forming a common foundation, which we hope will welcome all who trust the Father, want to see a neighbor in their enemy, and are growing thirsty for peace. We are suggesting five simple statements about how we look at our neighbor as followers of Christ—this is the foundation of our diverse political positions. [See http://resources.toserve.net/arealpeace/FundamentalPrinciples.pdf]

How Shall We Pray? Guiding Principles

We have no recipe or template for prayer; prayer is a call of the heart. But many of us feel we have forgotten how to pray. We will not presume to reinvent what has been learned through the centuries by the Church through its many reinventions.

We will step out of our comfort zone and experiment with practices, which have served other believers through the ages. By practice we may also learn new ways for our time to do this simple thing: surrender and turn to God as trusting children, receiving the gift of faith and the vision of an alternative to death, darkness and domination.

We do not claim expertise, but we are committed to honesty. We are learning and can only do so with humility.

Prayer is a challenge and an exercise in faith – faith that God can and will change people’s heart when He is sought. It is also an exercise in hope--hope that there can be a better future for this land and that tomorrow is not written in stone.

We are learning what real peace means and many of us are also just learning how to pray. We start by:

- acknowledging God’s love for all the people living in this land;

- listening to the voice of God through the movement of His Spirit, His Written Word, the silence of our hearts, and by listening to one another;

- rediscovering the character of God—who desires all people to live in peace with one another, who cares about all who suffer, who loves the world, all the world, and hates injustice.

Contact us – Visit us – Add your efforts to ours

Visit our website -- www.arealpeace.org – we will provide information about prayer meetings (we hope in different churches and assembly points) in Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine and elsewhere in the world.

We will share our experience with prayer, the questions we have, what we hear and learn along the way through forums, in which we hope to have your participation.

We encourage you to start your own initiatives. Meet with one or two others, just one or two times and engage in a practice of listening, surrendering, and turning to God, and tell us what you are learning.

Write to us at: PrayForRealPeace@gmail.com