Power of Intercession
October 2: Day to Prayer for
Jerusalem's Peace
The 700 Club
CBN.com –
Robert Stearns, worship leader and founder of Eagles’
Wings Ministries, is praying for the peace of Jerusalem, and he’s
calling others to do the same. A day of prayer for the peace of
Jerusalem has been established and is held on the first Sunday
of every October each year until the return of Jesus. Last year
more than 50,000 churches and 70 nations united in this prayer
initiative, and double that number are expected to participate
this year on October 3, 2005. Robert and over 500 other major
Christian leaders are following God’s mandate from the Psalms
to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
PAT ROBERTSON: Would you please welcome back
to The 700 Club Robert Stearns. Robert, I understand 53 churches,
72 nations?
ROBERT STEARNS (Founder Eagles' Wings Ministries):
Well, we had an extraordinary response for the first Sunday day
of prayer for the peace of Jerusalem last year. You were with
us at the Rose Garden in the Knesset. And we had 53,000 churches
and 72 nations around the world, 27 languages. The Lord is raising
up watchman on the wall to fulfill the biblical mandate to pray
for the peace of Jerusalem.
PAT ROBERTSON: That’s what it says. “Blessed
are they that love you. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
And I was there. It coincided, of course, with the Feast of Tabernacles.
And that’s coming up very shortly, Rosh Hashanah and then
sukkot. This is a key time. Do you see the prophetic significance
in this particular feast in the Bible?
ROBERT STEARNS: I really do. I believe that
the season of the high holy days is just such a special time,
and Christians around the world are awakening to the Jewish roots
of the Christian faith and the reality that God has His hand on
Israel in such a covenantal and unique way. And so the first Sunday
of October day of prayer has been positioned to coincide with
the high holy days so that Christians around the world in the
season of the high holy days are standing in prayer on behalf
of Jerusalem.
PAT ROBERTSON: What birthed this in your mind?
What brought it to pass?
ROBERT STEARNS: It began in New York City several
years ago. I was invited into the Israel consulate to host a day
of prayer with local pastors in the New York City area. God sparked
a wonderful relationship with the ambassador who was there at
the consulate, and that event began to grow. And out of that,
Dr. Jack Hayford joined us, and he, of course, serves as the co-chairman
of this movement. When he added his strength and his emphasis
to this movement, it began to expand globally. We now have over
a thousand major Christian leaders of global significance who
have banded together in this coalition all around the world. It’s
very exciting.
PAT ROBERTSON: Christians love Israel. I think
the Jews know that, too, don’t they, the Israelis?
ROBERT STEARNS: I think more than ever local
Israelis are beginning to understand the distinction between Bible-believing
evangelical Christians and the more mainline, liturgical. And
so, they are beginning to understand that Bible-believing Christians
who believe in the covenants of God are the best friends that
Israel and the Jewish people have. In this day of rising anti-Semitism
globally, it’s more important than ever that Christians
are clear on their stand.
PAT ROBERTSON: Israel really is beleaguered,
isn’t it? I mean from what I can see, with giving up Gaza
and the pressure that’s being put to bear against Israel
and United Nations and the nations of the world, this is a crucial
time for this little nation.
ROBERT STEARNS: It’s an extraordinary
time for this nation and globally for the Jewish people who do
not live in the nation of Israel. There is a very real rise of
anti-Semitism just 50 or 60 years after Hitler. It’s extraordinary.
But the enemy—Satan hates the Jewish people, because they
stand as a representative of the covenants of God in the earth.
And so folks who want to be involved in the day of prayer for
the peace of Jerusalem can join these thousands of churches around
the world on the first Sunday of October and take their stand
on this important issue.
PAT ROBERTSON: That’s October 2, the first
Sunday.
ROBERT STEARNS: That’s right.
PAT ROBERTSON: Is there anything in particular
they have to do?
ROBERT STEARNS: They can visit the web site
and they can register their church. There are materials available
to them there that they can download and get sent to them. We
encourage them to appoint a coordinator in their local church.
It’s really a grass roots mobilization that’s happening
around the world.
PAT ROBERTSON: Well, I believe people want to
do this. There is this replacement theology, which I think is
so pernicious. And there is the feeling among the Muslim people
that really extirpate the Jews, not just Israel, but the whole
Jewish race.
ROBERT STEARNS: That’s right. And, of
course, Hitler came for the Jews, but radical Islam is standing
against Jews and Christians alike, all of the infidels. And so
those of us who are of the Judeo-Christian worldview have to wake
up to what is happening in this generation.
PAT ROBERTSON: Our hope is in the Lord, isn’t
it? Prayer is more important than all the weapons that we’ve
got and anti-terrorism fighters, all of that.
ROBERT STEARNS: The weapons of this warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God to pulling down of strongholds.
And that’s why it’s time for the church to heed the
shofar of God, the trumpet of God that is blowing, calling us
to awaken as watchmen on the wall.
PAT ROBERTSON: Well, Robert, thank you for being
with us. Robert Stearns. Ladies and gentlemen, your church, you
as an individual, you can pray. But pray for Israel. Pray for
the peace of Jerusalem. Sunday is being set aside as a day of
prayer for the peace of Jerusalem, Sunday, October 2. And we’re
just delighted that Robert can be here with us. I shared with
him a marvelous moment over there in Jerusalem last year at the
Feast of Tabernacles.
ROBERT STEARNS: It was a great honor to have
you with us.
CBN IS HERE FOR YOU!
Are you seeking answers in life? Are you hurting?
Are you facing a difficult situation?
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.
|