Day Two in Jerusalem:

Today was a tour day for our group. 11 of us (one of our leaders, Chantal, is sick- please pray for her) walked down to the Wailing Wall, which is only a 10-minute walk from our hostel. The air shifts as you walk down to the square. Outside the gate there is chanting, dancing, and celebration… but as you walk through to the square there is a sense of expectancy and yearning. Women on the right and men on the left, the Wall is covered in tiny rolled pieces of paper and is wet with tears from faces pressed up against the stone. All I knew to do, in order to relieve the spirit attacking my thoughts and emotions, was to pray in the opposite spirit. I touched the wall, thanking God for sending Jesus- the Messiah- to the world and rescuing us from all evil- my heart felt relieved. I began to tremble and felt the Spirit had more for me to pray for. We gathered the girls from our team in the woman’s section and began to worship Jesus- telling Him who He is, thanking Him for all He has done, and loving Him with our mouths.

After the Wailing Wall we walked down to City of David. It was trashed and smelled like sewage. We turned out and walked over to the tomb of Zechariahs. The air felt old, cool, and pure. The Mt. of Olives was closed today so we walked down to Mary’s tomb. It was decorated in a manifest of Catholicism. It felt dark, empty, and sickly religious- it made me feel humorously nauseous. I thought it was funny that everything they called Holy looked like garage sale junk and people were worshiping it and giving money to it?! Poor Mary, I don’t think she ever intended to be worshiped before her son, GOD. Jesus is God! Not Mary. Without Jesus, Mary wouldn’t be saved. It made me ill.

We continued our journey down the Via Delarosa and back up through the Market.  There is a definite shift in the Spirit every single time you go from the Jewish quarter to the Arab quarter. The Jewish side is clean and sweet, while in the Arab quarter you are always on guard. It felt like Heaven as we walked back up to our Hostel. Jesus is so sweet. All He wants is for His people to notice it.

Pray that our hearts will stay open and sensitive to the Spirit and that we will stay strong and bold. The Lord is with us and He is risen!

A Warrior for the King,

Bekah