Why 70 Million Christians Will Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem This Sunday

This Sunday, more Christians will pray for Jerusalem at the same moment than at almost any other time in history, and most churches in America have no idea it is happening.

Sunset over the Old City of Jerusalem from the mount of olives (Shutterstock)

On October 4, the first Sunday of October, organizers of the Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem expect more than 70 million believers in 175 nations to join together. Christian leaders from around the world will gather at the Tower of David in Jerusalem's Old City, and the prayer will be broadcast live so that churches and families everywhere can pray along with them. This is the 24th year of the event, which was started by Pastor Jack Hayford and Robert Stearns. I live in Israel, and I want to tell you why this matters so much to us here, and why I believe it should matter to you too.

The words come from Psalm 122, a psalm of David. It belongs to a group of fifteen psalms called the Songs of Ascents, which Jewish pilgrims sang as they walked up the hills toward Jerusalem for the biblical feasts.

Verse 6 says, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee." In Hebrew, the verse opens with the words sha'alu shalom Yerushalayim. The Hebrew word shalom carries a wide meaning that includes safety, wholeness and wellbeing for the people who live there. When you pray for the shalom of Jerusalem, you are asking God to keep the city whole and secure and to protect every family inside it.

Notice the promise attached to the prayer. The psalmist says that those who love Jerusalem will prosper. That promise echoes what God told Abraham in Genesis 12:3, that He would bless those who bless Abraham's family.

Why One City Gets This Much Attention

Some Christians ask me why the Bible asks us to pray for a specific city on a specific piece of land. It is a fair question, and the answer runs through the whole story of Scripture.

Jerusalem is where King David established his capital about three thousand years ago, and where his son Solomon built the Temple. It is the city the prophets wept over and the city Jesus entered on a donkey while the crowds shouted Hosanna. He taught in the Temple courts, He was crucified outside the city walls, and Christians believe He rose from the dead there. The early church was born in Jerusalem on the Jewish feast of Shavuot, which Christians call Pentecost.

The prophet Isaiah wrote about watchmen standing guard over the city: "I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night" (Isaiah 62:6). Many Christians who love Israel see themselves in that verse. They cannot stand on the walls in person, so they keep watch in prayer from wherever they live.

Golden Sunset at Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem (Shutterstock)

I wish I could tell you that Jerusalem is calm this year. Israel has spent much of 2026 at war. Israelis have run to bomb shelters during the war with Iran, and families in the north have lived under fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon.

This Saturday is also the third anniversary of October 7 on the Hebrew calendar, the day more than 1,200 people were murdered and 251 were taken hostage. For the families here, peace looks like a child who sleeps through the night without a siren and a soldier who comes home safely.

At the same time, the lies about Jerusalem keep spreading. Young people on social media are told that Jews have no real connection to the city, that the Temple never stood there, or that Israel is a foreign colony. When you pray for Jerusalem, you are also standing with the history of the city as the Bible and archaeology record it.

How You and Your Church Can Take Part

You do not need to travel to Israel to join in. Here are practical ways to be part of the day.

1. Read Psalm 122 aloud during your Sunday service or with your family at dinner.

2. Pray for the people of Jerusalem, Jewish and Arab, and for the soldiers who protect the city.

3. Pray for the families who are still grieving after October 7 and the war that followed.

4. Pray for Israel's leaders ahead of the national elections on October 27, asking God to give wisdom to whoever is chosen.

5. Watch the live broadcast from Jerusalem and invite your small group to watch it with you.

6. Ask your pastor whether the church can set aside one minute of prayer for Jerusalem during Sunday's service.

If your pastor has never spoken about Israel from the pulpit, this Sunday is a gentle place to begin. Psalm 122 is a biblical prayer that believers have spoken for thousands of years, and nobody needs a political opinion to pray it.

Many Israelis are surprised and deeply moved when they learn that Christians abroad pray for their safety, because they are used to hearing hostility from the outside world. Your prayers reach further than you think.

At Torch of Truth, we are working to bring this kind of biblical understanding back into churches through our Light the Church project, which equips pastors and young Christians to speak about Israel with confidence and knowledge. If this article helped you, please share it with your pastor before Sunday morning.

This Sunday, wherever you are, take one minute, open your Bible to Psalm 122, and pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Millions of believers around the world will be praying with you, and the people of Israel need every one of those prayers.