We’re so glad you’re joining us for Watchmen Arise. Over these ten days leading up to Pentecost Sunday, may your heart be stirred, your prayers empowered, and your love for Israel and the Jewish people deepened as we journey together.

Why a Prayer Guide for Israel?

As Missions advocates and prayer leaders, the critical need for intercession for the Jewish people has become increasingly evident. Israel holds a central role in God’s redemptive plan, yet many Jewish people remain unreached by the Gospel. Despite Israel’s prominence in Scripture, the Jewish population, both in Israel and the diaspora, continues to require our focused prayer.

There are approximately 15 million Jews worldwide, with 6 million residing in Israel. However, only about 1% of the Jewish population identifies as Messianic believers. According to Joshua Project, over 5 million Jews in Israel remain unreached, with many others in Jewish communities around the world still waiting to hear the message of salvation.

In Romans 10:1, Paul expressed his heart’s desire for Israel’s salvation:

“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.”

This call to prayer resonates deeply within parts of the Church today, while other parts are awakening to this call. The power of intercession has proven to bring breakthroughs in areas long considered spiritually hard. Israel, despite its history and significance, remains in desperate need of the Gospel.
Rejoicing is found in the fact that the number of Messianic Jews in Israel has grown from a handful in the early 1970s to some 30,000 believers today.

This prayer guide aims to engage believers in focused prayer for Israel’s spiritual awakening, salvation, and their role in God’s Kingdom. It calls the Church to pray for the Jewish people to recognize Yeshua as the Messiah and for Israel’s place in God’s unfolding plan to be realised.

International Prayer Connect, in collaboration with other prayer movements, is focusing on 110 cities around the world that have disciple-making teams reaching out to many unreached people groups and different communities with the Gospel. The vision is to see the 110 most unreached cities in the world reached with the Gospel, praying for the fulfilment of the Great Commission. This guide highlights 6 of the key cities with links to more information on how to continue praying for those cities throughout the year.

As believers seeking to obey Jesus’ command, prayer for Israel and the Jewish people is an expression of God’s continued love, faithfulness, and desire to bring them to a full knowledge of Himself.

Our prayer is that this guide inspires you in your intercessions for Israel, so that God’s promises for His people are fulfilled!
Shalom

The IPC Team
www.ipcprayer.org

“For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” — Romans 11:15

“He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new man from the two groups.” — Ephesians 2:15 (NLT)

In Isaiah 62:1-2, God speaks of His unceasing commitment to Jerusalem, saying, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch.” The fulfillment of this promise has not yet fully come, and the Lord continues to call watchmen to stand in prayer, day and night, for Jerusalem’s spiritual restoration. Isaiah 62:6-7 declares, “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent… give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

We pray for the release of a global ‘gift of tears,’ that the Church would deeply feel God’s heart for Israel and His people. Just as Jesus wept over Jerusalem, may we intercede with compassion and urgency for the city’s salvation (Luke 19:41).

God’s love for Israel is unwavering. Though Zion feels forsaken, the Lord responds with the tender image of a nursing mother—yet even more faithful than that. He is a covenant-keeping God. Deuteronomy 32:10–11 describes His care, saying Israel is “the apple of His eye,” the very center of His gaze. Zechariah 2:8 reaffirms this, declaring, “Whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye.”

Testimony:
A pastor discovered that the church building his congregation now used had once been a site for anti-Jewish rallies during the Nazi era. Deeply convicted, he led the church in a special service of repentance—not only for historical sins but also for the Church’s ongoing silence and indifference toward the Jewish people. He invited Jewish believers from a local Messianic congregation to join the gathering. In a profound moment of reconciliation, Jewish elders stepped forward and offered words of forgiveness:

“What you have confessed, the Lord has already forgiven. Let us walk together from this day forward.”

Jesus, moved with compassion, recognized the need for workers to bring the good news to the lost. Today, this call remains urgent—especially for the Jewish people. We praise God for the growing number of Jews who have come to faith in Yeshua as Messiah and Savior. Still, many are waiting to hear the truth that will set them free.

Jesus invites the weary and burdened to come to Him and receive rest for their souls (Matthew 11:28–29). May many hear His voice and respond with open hearts.

Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) is celebrated by Jewish people as a time of first fruits and the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Fifty days after Passover, it also marks the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. Devout Jews from many nations were gathered in Jerusalem when the Spirit came—fulfilling Joel’s prophecy and launching the Church with power.

Believers celebrate Pentecost as a reminder of God’s faithfulness and empowerment to live boldly. In Jewish tradition, the Book of Ruth is read during Shavuot. Ruth, a Gentile, demonstrated covenant love toward Naomi and embraced the God of Israel. Her story foreshadows God’s redemptive plan that includes both Jew and Gentile in one new man (Eph. 2:15).