That they may know that I am the LORD

We prayed along three lines: Israel and God, Israel and the nations, God and the nations.In all cases, the outcome of what God does is the same:  They shall know that I am the LORD!

Israel will know that He is the Lord through salvation, the nations will know that He is the Lord when they see His great works in Israel, and the nations who resist God will know that He is the Lord through judgment.

Israel and God - You shall know that I am the Lord
Ezek. 20:42 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I raised My hand in an oath to give to your fathers.
Ezek. 20:43 And there you shall remember your ways and all your doings with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed.
Ezek. 20:44 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

Israel shall know that He is the LORD; how? By the mercies He does; He will return them to the land, will grant them repentance, will sanctify them, (Ezekiel 36:23) Each of these are all the work of the pure mercies of God

Read the whole chapter, and you will find those mercies shining like jewels on the background of the dark and evil condition of our people. We rebelled (repeated three times), we despised, profaned, provoked. Yet he spared us, withdrew His hand of punishment, and pleaded with us. Oh, how gracious, lowly, and merciful is this God. How patient and kind.

But to fully gain sight of this, we must take in that it is in Yeshua crucified that these mercies become ours.

2Cor. 5:20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

The word ‘pleading’ in the verse quoted means: to summon to one’s side in order to admonish and console. Can you believe it? God is consoling us, who have rejected Him?! Yes, pleading with our nation to come to Him by faith and receive salvation by Grace! O’ what a God is this?! How gracious and merciful and kind is His holy love!

Israel needs to be reconciled to God through the Messiah, and it is coming. Soon the Day will dawn of His appearing. Soon the Day will dawn of the Revelation of the Son of God, our King, and Messiah

Nevertheless, as it is now, Israel stands on the wrong side of the cross. And for this, we cried to the Lord on her behalf.

• We thanked God for His utter and unfathomable lowliness in which He is pleading with Israel and beseeching her to be reconciled to Himself.
• We cried out to God that in His lowliness, He would pour out The Spirit of brokenness and repentance upon us. (Zechariah 12:10)
• We prayed that His promise to come to us would be fulfilled - It is Him we need, it is Him we want
• We prayed that His promise to give us a new heart and a new spirit would be fulfilled
• We acknowledged that although we have been resurrected physically as a nation, we are dead spiritually. 
• We cried for the spiritual resurrection of our people. See Ezekiel 37:8-9
• We prayed for the religious in the land, who are so bound by fear and works that they might see Yeshua crucified for them
• We prayed for the secular who are bound by the fear of being restricted. They see anything that has to do with God as limiting rather than freeing! O’ that they too might see the crucified one and know what true love is!
• We prayed for the children of the land - growing wild and free of all sense of God. We cried to the great shepherd, our good shepherd to come to the children of the land, to gather them, to save them in His great compassion
• We asked the Lord to send laborers, ambassadors as it were, who would plead with the people for God
• Help us, O God of our salvation, For the glory of Your name; And deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, For Your name’s sake! Psa. 79:9

Israel and the nations - They shall know that I am the Lord
Is. 62:1 For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, And her salvation as a lamp that burns.
Is. 62:2 The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, And all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD will name.

A great light will shine in the earth when God saves this nation. A light that will shine and pierce the deep darkness this world is steeped in. 

What Light is this? The Light of the Glory of God in the face of Yeshua the Messiah. It is the Light of salvation and of the pure mercies of God, the Light of justification by faith and salvation by grace through faith!

What will be Israel’s righteousness? (She has none of her own.) It will be His imputed righteousness in Messiah. It will be that in Israel, God will demonstrate the unimaginable power of Grace and Love. The power of His cleansing blood.

Israel’s salvation will fill the world with Light! God will be seen as He is in Himself. God will be seen in what He does in the Land. Perhaps it will be the greatest act of evangelism the world has ever known. The nations will know that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah is the LORD

Ezek. 36:23 And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes

Why this demonstration? Because God loves the world. It's not that He loves Israel more than the other nations, its that Israel is His special, chosen vessel to reveal God’s nature, character, and power on the earth!

• We prayed for Israel’s restoration in this Light of her calling to be a light in the earth
• We pleaded with God for the sake of the peoples of the earth to not delay any longer 
• We asked Him to turn the Light of salvation on! 
• We asked Him to glorify Himself in Israel that the peoples of the earth might turn to Him
• We thanked God for His plan of mercy for the nations
• We asked God to turn many in the nations to Him
• We remembered that the queen of Sheba was drawn the land to see for herself the works of God through Solomon. Yet, there is a One who is greater than Solomon. 
• O’ may even our enemies see the Grace of God in action and be astounded and confounded 
• May many in the nations, especially Iran, see such a great light that they are freed from the darkness they are in and turn to the Living God.
• May, the Church in the Arab nations around us, believe the Word and pray these things so as to be a light even now in their nations
• May many in the nations come asking: Who is this God who shines this way? What is this, Mercy? What is this, Grace? Who is this Messiah, the Son of God?

God and the nations — they shall know that I am the LORD
Ezek. 28:22 and say, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Sidon; I will be glorified in your midst; and they shall know that I am the LORD, When I execute judgments in her and am hallowed in her.
Ezek. 38:16 You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.”
Ezek. 38:23 Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.”

God is made known, not only in His grace and mercy but also in judgment.
Those nations who respond with hatred and rebellion to the display of God’s goodness to Israel (as a testimony to His gracious offer - see Psalm 2:10-12) will have to find out that God is the LORD by another means - Judgment.

We already see this hatred and evil against Israel’s physical restoration, what will the reaction be to her spiritual restoration? Just read the latest expression, for instance, of this hatred, coming from Iran: “Top Iranian official: We’re looking for a pretext to raze Tel Aviv to the ground” read here

But even judgment can bring life if that nation relents.

Psa. 83:16 Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your name, O LORD.
Psa. 83:17 Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
Psa. 83:18 That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.

• We prayed in this Light for the nations of the earth, especially where there is such a rise of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel hatred
• We prayed for the Lord’s defense for Israel against those immediate neighboring countries who are animated by a Great Hatred for God and Israel. 
• We prayed into the situation in Syria — the situation on the Golan is tense
• We prayed for God’s defense against the growing tide of anti-Israel and anti-Semitism (same really) in the nations. 
• We thanked God for Israel’s military but pleaded for God to defend her

Thank you for praying and standing with us for the whole counsel of God to come to pass.

O’ that each of one us will pursue the LORD and cry to Him: “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” (Phil. 3:10) So that we may be conformed to His image. (Romans 8:29)

Blessings from Jerusalem,

Who can truly estimate the mighty power of Intercessory prayer?!

When D.L. Moody went to London to “learn from the Bible scholars”, he was invited to preach in a London church. “Everything about the service dragged”, and Mr. Moody wished he had “never consented to preach.”

“There was a woman in the city who had heard of Mr. Moody’s work in America and had been asking God to send him to London. This woman was an invalid. Her sister was present at the church that Sunday morn­ing. When the hearer reached home, she asked her sister to guess who had spoken for them that morn­ing. She guessed one after another of those with whom her pastor was in the habit of exchanging, never guessing aright. Her sister said, ‘No, Mr. Moody from Chicago.’

“The sick woman turned pale and said, ‘This is an answer to my prayer. If I had known that he was to be at our church, I should have eaten nothing this morning but waited on God in prayer. Leave me alone this afternoon: do not let anyone come to see me; do not send me any­ thing to eat.’ All that afternoon, that woman gave herself to prayer. As Mr. Moody preached that night, he soon became conscious that there was a different atmosphere in the church. ‘The powers of an unseen world seemed to fall’ upon him and his hearers. As he drew to a close, he felt impressed to give out an invitation. He asked for all who would accept Christ to rise. Four or five hundred people rose. He thought that they misunderstood him, and so he put the question several ways that there might be no mistake. But no, they had understood. He then asked them to go to an adjoining room. As they passed out, he asked the pastor of the church who these people were. He replied, ‘I do not know.’ ‘Are they your people?’ ‘Some of them.’ ‘Are they Christians?’ ‘I do not think so.’

“In that adjoining room, he put the question very strongly, but still there were just as many who rose. He told them to meet their pastor the next night. Next day he left for Dublin, but no sooner had he reached there than he received a telegram from the pastor saying that he must return and help him, for a great revival had commenced, and there were more out the second night than the first. Hun­dreds were added to the church at the time.”

“That was the beginning of Mr. Moody’s work as an international evangelist. Out of that work came the religious quickening of Great Britain and Ire­land, and the salvation of thousands upon thousands of souls throughout the world. Well was it for England and all Europe that the invalid woman did not cease to pray for the ministry of God’s world.”

(Quoted from: "A Mighty Means of Usefulness - A Plea for Intercessory Prayer", James McClure. The book was written before 1923 as far as I can tell….)

So central is the place of prayer in the economy of God that Samuel saw it as a sin against the Lord not to pray for Israel, in a time of great failure and need.
1Sam. 12:23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way..

The Christians in Wuhan are awaking to their need to turn to God in prayer
Just two days ago, I received a message from a dear sister in Hong Kong, in which she wrote about someone who had been in touch with a Christian in Wuhan. Among other things, the person in Wuhan said this: “The lukewarm believers who never pray are now crying out to the Lord. And the nonbelievers are coming to seek salvation.”

Far from being cheered by this, I was saddened that it would take a threat and a danger to awaken Christians to their need of God. Lukewarmness is not normal! It should not be normal. And who is to say that the believers won’t sink into their material life and forget God again?

So it was after 9/11 in the US. For a while the churches were full of inquirers, shaken by events, but then, it all subsided to ‘normal’.

O’ dear ones, Yeshua still asks: “Could you not watch one hour?” (Mark 14:37)

And again, Luke 18:7-8 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Israel
As might have been expected, the Peace Plan so called is brewing much opposition and trouble from many sides. It is possible that we may see a significant spike in terror attacks. It may be that this year becomes a year of great trouble, not of peace.

But we will continue to do as Abraham who “stood yet before the LORD.” (Genesis 18:22)

These times of trouble and of judgments are yet also times of fulfillment.
God is committed covenantally to the physical seed of Abraham to make yet them a blessing in the earth. Read Romans 11 if you desire more light on this. It was clear to the apostles that the fulfillment of all of what the prophets said, was coming!

Acts 3:24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
Acts 3:25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

(Read Acts 3 if you wish to gain a better understanding of the background)

We prayed for Israel’s redemption and fulfillment

• We Acknowledged before God that He is the God of the covenant who will fulfill His promises now and in the future.
• We acknowledged before the Lord that although we are, as a nation, far from God, yet we are inscribed on His hand! (Isaiah 49:16)
• We prayed for the physical seed of Abraham that they might also become the spiritual seed of Abraham. 
• We Prayed from Ezekiel 37:11 that God and only He can, will bring us out of our graves and breath life into us 
• We reminded God that these are His covenant people
• We asked God to come to those who feel furthest from hope, from the faith, from seeing God and who think He has forsaken us
• We asked God to send His Holy Spirit and breathe on His people. In Joel 2:28, He gives vision, in Ezekiel 37, life, in Zechariah 12:10 His Spirit opens the eyes of Israel to "see". And He gives  repentance and brokenness that cries out for Mercy.
  
• We asked that He would make Israel’s offspring a blessing on the earth, to the world, and to the Church. 
• “Your people are desperate, Lord, they are Lost! Lost! Hell-bound without you! Intervene O’ God and save your people.”
  
• We cried from Mark 10:46-52 "Have Mercy on me" (our nation), open my eyes that I might see YOU, dear Lord…. 
  
• We cried out to God for the diaspora Jews - the He might draw their hearts and do for them all that we are asking Him to do for our nation.
• “Lord, let those who live in the diaspora flee to you for refuge…. Let them also come to Israel as the only refuge left for the Jewish people.”
• Lord call on your lost sheep, and let them hear your voice once again!”
• “Thank you, Lord, that your Word through the prophets is 100% true and sure. 

We prayed for Israel’s security at what seems to be the beginning of troubles
We reflected on the astounding fact that all it took to stop a nation as great as China in its tracks, is one small virus. History is full of examples such as this: the mosquito has changed the course of history. And the hornet was used by the Lord to drive out the Canaanites in some places. (see Deuteronomy 7:20, Joshua 24:12) In other words, it doesn't have to be some big-deal drama or weapon or any such thing.

• Lord, do whatever is needed to stop the mad hatred of Iran against Israel
• Lord, do the same with Hezbollah, and Hamas and all those who are driven by the madness of this hatred
• We prayed the Lord would use whatever means he deems fit, natural, supernatural, or human, such as diplomacy and politics (He did that with Truman, for instance.)
• “Lord preserve, protect Israel beyond its natural ability.”
• “Defend Israel from this demonic passion for destroying and obliterating the Jewish people, you preserved the nations for centuries, and you have not brought us back to be destroyed.”
• We prayed that Israel will not agree to anything that is not of God in His plan for her.”
• We asked the Lord to give guidance to our leaders, even at this uncertain time before the elections
• We cried in desperation that the Lord would overrule in the affairs of state in Israel and give her a government that is of His own will and for His own purpose.
• We lamented the fact that Israel is lacking in good leadership at this moment, but acknowledged our faith and trust in Him to lead us unto the fulness of His Will

We prayed for the Body

• We prayed for the Body in Wuhan that there will be a true revival and renewing of passion and love for God and not just a passing turning because of fear
• We prayed for the Christians in Wuhan that the Lord would preserve them and make them a light to their neighbors, and that many would turn to the Lord and be truly saved
• We prayed for the Body here in the Land for revival
• We prayed that the Holy Spirit will pass by on the “streets” and be as the town crier who cries: “Awake, Awake.” 
• We prayed for every believer to awaken from the sleep of the love of the world. 
• We prayed that in every believing home, people would respond to the Crier to awaken.
• “Save the Body from lukewarmness, dear God.”
  
• “Draw us deeper into you, O’ Lord.”
• “Have Mercy upon us, Lord, save us from ourselves!”
• “Ignite in our hearts a passion for your Word.”
• Lord, make us true, real, steadfast believers, transformed, and obedient to you.”
• “Lord, help us to live out your word.”
• “Lord help to live in the reality of your presence.”
• “Quicken your Body Lord, we want to live and know and experience Your Life!”
  

Thank you for standing with us in there challenging times. May you too be stirred to call upon the Lord and find Him more than enough for every need, and for every challenge.

Blessings from Jerusalem,

“But our eyes are upon you.”
This has been quite a week for the world and for Israel. The recent discovery of the Wuhan virus, the dramatic unveiling of the “Deal of the Century” peace plan, and the indictment of Israel’s prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu. Wow...

No doubt, rivers of digital ink are going to be poured out, with analysis, opinions, and explanations. Not only is Israel’s government and people are divided about the plan,   Christians too will be divided if this is from God or not, and how it fits into the prophetic calendar.

But the only “opinion” that really matters is the Lord’s.

What matters for us as intercessors and pray-ers is the Word of God. We may have many opinions, thoughts, interpretations of the Word, about the times, the season, the hour, whatever we may call it. But God is interested in His own opinions and not ours. As I have shared before, once when I was greatly moved by some terrible event that happened on the Gaza border, the Lord sternly cut my prayers short with this warning, “Ofer, don’t pray your opinions to Me!” I was responding to events in a sourish manner, praying emotionally, rather than standing before the Lord for His Word (will) to be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

And so we want to keep our eyes on the Lord Himself

Dan. 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.

Do you notice that? “as was his custom since early days…”

Daniel had been going along with God’s program, without really being moved by threats, decrees, events.  And guess what? It was his praying over the words of Jeremiah that changed history, not the politicians of the day.

Isaiah 40 - What a view of our God — Our Limitless, Infinite God
The view I need, the view you need is of God as He is in Himself. Being human, we limit God in our own minds and heart, and “man” becomes a great thing, for good or bad. We need a sight of God to correct that. And the only safe, reliable, and true revelation of who God is, as He sees Himself, is found in the Word of God. And if you’re and my God does not fit what He has revealed Himself in the Word to be, either we are worshiping the wrong god, or our God is not God enough, as someone said.

Isaiah 40 gives us a view of God that we need, especially now. We must get a hold of this Word of God, we must regain the sight of our supreme God, infinite in all His attributes, limitless, unbound. Our great God.

“God’s will cannot be thwarted. So invincible is his power that no one, not even the greatest king or nation on earth, can “stay his hand.” No one, absolutely no one, has the right to question him, asking, “What have you done?” He alone is Lord of heaven and earth; he does as he pleases; he answers to no one but himself.” (1)

The wonder of it all is that this infinitely powerful God, is also infinitely good! His intent and purpose in this chapter are to bring salvation to His people and to reveal His Glory in the earth.

I highly recommend that you read this chapter devotionally. Thank God for who He is as He reveals Himself to be in this chapter. I guarantee you that you will be uplifted, your sight will clear up, and the things of earth will regain their proper size (Isaiah 40:22-23)

We prayed from this chapter.

We thanked God for His great greatness:

• As the creator: Isaiah 40:12, 21-22, 25-26
  
• For His infinite Spirit, knowledge, justice: Isaiah 40:13-14
  
• For His authority and dominion: Isaiah 40:15-17, 23
  

We thanked God for His Sovereignty and prayed

• That He would carry out His own plan for Israel, and not her own vision of herself
  
• That He would carry out His own plan in spite of the nations resistance and rebellion
  
• That He would carry out His own plan in spite of the Church’s view and plan that is otherwise
  
• We prayed that God will disappoint all wrong opinions of Him, and establish His own purpose for, in, and through Israel.
  
• We prayed for His Glory to shine forth as He comes to redeem His people
  
• We prayed that whatever is not of the Lord in the peace plan, He will obliterate and remove
  
• We prayed that whatever is of the Lord in these plans, he will establish…
  
• We cried out for the Will of God to be done now on the earth and in Israel.
  

We thanked God for our Savior-Shepherd-Comforter Isaiah 40:1-2, 10-11
The expressions in these verses are breathtaking. Here God is saying to a stiff-necked, rebellious people who have rejected Him, “It is hard for you, sin has caused you great sorrow. I am coming with saving mercies, which will comfort your heart!” To a wayward people who have gone their own way (see Isaiah 53:6), He says, “I will look for you, I will find you, will gather you in my arms, I will bring you to myself.”

• We cried out to God to come and comfort His people in great saving mercies
  
• We cried out to God to bring the comfort of His presence once again in this land
  
• We asked the Lord to send the comforter, who would reveal our savior to us as a nation
  
• We cried for the gathering of our people from the diaspora
  
• We asked for God to retrieve us from all the ways and byways where they have been aimlessly walking in their lost condition.
  
• We prayed for the healing sight of The One who was lifted up on the cross.
  
• We prayed for the drawing power of the cross and the sight of the crucified one to draw the hearts of Israel to God (John 12:32)
  
• We asked the Lord to open the eyes of the Jewish people, to His great goodness, His great tenderness, Hi great forgiveness in Messiah, and His great glorious Being. O’ that we might, as a nation, know the I AM, the great God of Israel and the Father of our Messiah Yeshua
  

We prayed for the Body of Messiah to be brought again to a great high view of God

• We prayed for a revelation of our Great High God as Isiah had in Isaiah 6
  
• We prayed for God’s coal from the altar of the cross to be applied to our mouths!
  
• We prayed for ministry to flow out of this kind of revelation of Yeshua both crucified and reigning supreme
  
• We cried out to God in repentance that we, as a Body, walk in a different spirit than the Holy Spirit.
  
• We cried out to God in repentance that we as a Body walk by a different or changed Word, rather than His Word. (Our will or His Will?)
  
• We asked the Lord to rise up in great authority in the Body and to bring His Body to be under Himself as the Head
  
• We asked for true worship to arise out of a renewed sight of Him as He is.
  

“Oh O Lord Jesus, how long, how long, Ere we shout the glad song, Christ returneth! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen. Hallelujah! Amen.”

May the reading of Isaiah 40 bring you a new revelation of the greatness of God, of His great love and tenderness as our Shepherd and Savior. May you have a renewed appreciation and joy of your salvation and redemption. May you be revived in your walk after God with renewed passion and desire to give yourself to Him again and entirely. May you give your life to seek His face. May you give yourself to intercede for His Kingdom, for Israel, and for the Church.


Blessings from Jerusalem,






_________________________________________________________________
1. Barrett, Matthew. None Greater (p. 187). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore, …you…are not consumed. (Mal. 3:6)

This new year has turned out to be not so new after all. The same old hatred, violence, and greed for power and dominance continue as usual. The same old mankind, ever falsely believing, and hoping in its own goodness to make things better, is hopelessly in need of God but does not know it. 

We are grateful that something else has not changed this year, God's sovereignty, God's faithfulness, and God's goodness. Thank God!

He continues as ever to unfold His plan for this earth. He will not leave the earth, or mankind for that matter, forever in the hands of man. He is working providentially to fulfill His purposes on the earth, and that also means Israel. He reigns! 

Thus says the Lord
For our prayers, we considered the ten "thus says the Lord" declarations in Zechariah 8. They unfold the amazing and marvelous power and goodness of God. You will have to read chapter 7 to understand the flow of the mind of God in this chapter, and you might as well read beyond chapter 8 to see where it is going. 

I am jealous for Zion (Zech 8:2-3)
God is "red hot" and determined deeply to return to His chosen abode to dwell amongst His people.

Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city (Zech 8:3) 
When was Jerusalem ever a faithful city? But this is her destiny. It is only possible when Messiah will rule in our midst. 

• We deeply acknowledged our need of Messiah
• We owned up to our unfaithfulness to Him, as a nation
• We acknowledged our rejection of Messiah
• We cried out to the Lord for the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon Israel, in great conviction, in a tremendous, overwhelming flood of grace to bring about a brokenness of heart that acknowledges our rejection of our King and Savior
• We recognized this has to be the work of God, and that our nation is unable to produce this turning by ourselves. We cried out to God, to do the impossible. (Zech 8:6)

Old men and old women,,, boys and girls will fill the streets… I will bring them from east and west (Zech 8:7)
Looking at Israel today, we may miss the wonder of its restoration. But looking back in history, even 150 or 200 years ago, the land was desolate, and the Jewish people were hopelessly and helplessly at the mercy of the nations, they resided in.
But there is more here. Jerusalem is called the Faithful City, the Holy Mountain. This means not only a people returned, but a people transformed! A holy people, a people, reconciled to their God in Messiah.  

• We thanked God for the wondrous restoration of Israel to the land, it is all His Work, it is all His faithful fulfillment of His Word and Promise
• We asked the Lord "turn us, and we shall be turned, restore us, and we shall be restored
• We cried out to God for this wondrous work of the physical restoration of the Jewish people to their land
• We prayed for these words to be fulfilled to the fullest, to fill the land with a transformed people who rejoice in their Messiah and King.
• We asked the Lord to break through the bondage of a religion that relegates Yeshua to being a blasphemer instead of acknowledging His Messiahship
• We asked the Lord to break through the culture bondage that has kept Yeshua out!
• We prayed for a greater fulfillment yet, of the ingathering of His people to the land

As I have plotted disaster to you….so again I have plotted good to Jerusalem (Zech 8:14-15)
The word "purposed" (ESV) in those verses is a word that means to plot. Usually that word is used in a negative way, but here it is God who is plotting! And His purpose is to plot good! The sense is that 'with resourcefulness and discretion, God will (is) carry on His plan. It is all there, plain as can be for anyone to see, in scripture, but it is hidden from man who is blinded by his own wickedness and rebellion against the Lord and against His anointed (Psalm 2)

• We prayed for the Lord's plots to be carried out in great success
• We prayed for the goodness of God (in Messiah and in His cross) to overwhelm every evil plot of the enemy who is dead set on our destruction
• We prayed for the providence of the Lord to guide His mercies and grace to their ultimate goal (Hab. 2:14)

We prayed briefly into the new situation regarding Iran in light of those verses. 
We prayed in light of His eternal plan, and in light of the prophecies of Zechariah.
We see God's sovereign hand in the affairs of the world, and in the Middle East in particular. The Lord may be "dragging" the US into the fray to help Israel handle Iran. Everything is too fresh right now to make assessments, and we all need the patience to see how things will develop. Meanwhile, we can continue to pray into the Will of God as it is made plain in the scriptures regarding all of these things, and then, we must wait for wisdom and light, rather than rush to predict or find a verse or two that might fit into the situation. 

We prayed briefly for the (third) coming elections in March.
​

Dear friends, the one most important thing that needs to change is you (and me). And the only real agent of change is the Lord. 

2Cor. 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Perhaps, this year can be a New Year for us after all, if we turn to Him, and if we behold Him, and if we yield to the Holy Spirit as He transforms us from the inside out, till we shine, transformed and conformed to His image.  (Romans 8:29) 

Blessings from Jerusalem,

Recently, I found an American Bible Society bookmark, from 1959, in one of the used books I bought some years ago. It is a Bible reading plan to be read between Thanksgiving and the end of the year; November 26 to December 31.
Looking closely at it, I saw that the readings for December 1-3 were from the book of Romans as follows: December 1 - Rom 8:1-17, December 2 - Rom 8:18-39, December 3 - Romans 12:1-21.

Romans 9 to 11 is skipped entirely; Israel’s restoration is skipped entirely, and its place in world redemption ignored, this by the Bible Society. How tragic!

This kind of thing is also true of the Jewish yearly cycle of daily readings, which include readings from the Torah, and from the prophets (and other portions.) Isaiah 53 is skipped over! One of the greatest prophecies that describes the Savior, is ignored! 

Skip over Yeshua? Can’t be done, it will do no good. Skip over Israel’s restoration, the same thing; it will do no good. 

Without Yeshua, there is no salvation, and God’s plan regarding Israel’s place in world redemption cannot be changed by man. Romans 9-11 describes some of the most profound things regarding the fullness of God’s eternal plan.

We read: Romans 9:1-8, Romans 10:1-4, Romans 11: 11-12, 15

Rom. 9:3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,
Rom. 9:4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;

Paul’s wish to be accursed for his own people if it could help in their salvation does not stem from some sentimental emotion. Rather from a profound recognition that those things that belong to Israel’s restoration are absolutely central to the fullness of God’s plan. Think of it; he was willing to be separated from Messiah forever if it would further God’s global and eternal plan.

O’ may we at least have a zeal to live for Him and give our lives in His service! How few of us actually have a revelation of God’s purposes on the earth and then give ourselves to intercede for its fulfillment!

Adoption speaks of sonship, and of a full and complete inheritance—the fullness of salvation, body soul and spirit! It is the fullness of God in His saved ones. Of this, Paul declares, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1Corinthians 2:9)

We prayed into the eternal purpose of God and cried for its completion

• We thanked God for the cross of Yeshua, for the salvation we have in Him
• We thanked God for Yeshua who became accursed for us and for His eternal plan that God may fulfill His will on the earth
• We prayed for the fullness of salvation to be fulfilled in the earth and for Israel to be restored that those things may come to pass.
• We were moved by the realization that God is moving with a purpose to fulfill His purpose. “You have a purpose, Lord, you have a plan. We thank you for it and ask for it to come to pass, as you have spoken.” 
• Lord, you put in Abraham’s heart hope for a son, for an heir, and he did not give up believing and hoping and waiting upon your Word to be done. Birth within us the same expectant faith and desire for the fullness of your Son’s reign in our lives 

We prayed for Israel’s restoration
Rom. 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

• O’ Lord, what vanity! How futile is the pursuit of establishing our own righteousness! How horrific it is that we, as a nation, have not submitted to the righteousness of God
• We cry for our people, secular and religious, we are always correcting each other, teaching each other, always trying to be the ‘right one.’  
• Lord, Israel is so full of self-righteousness, how odious this must be to you!  
• Open our eyes, Lord! Let us see that all our righteousness is as filthy rags. 
• Let a deep conviction come upon us as a nation, by the holy spirit, of our need, of our nakedness before you. 
• Lord, open the eyes of our nation to see the gift of God in Messiah as you have been offering it for two thousand years now. 
• Let a great humbling of ourselves come at the sight of you, the one who was crucified. 
• Thank you, Lord, that you have loved us with an everlasting love in spite of this folly.
• Thank you, Lord, that you keep your covenants and are faithful to them
• We thank you that your plan cannot fail! Because you will keep and fulfill all your promises. It cannot fail! Isaiah 49:13-16

We prayed for the Church

• Lord, Paul wrote the gentiles because they have a role in the fulfillment of your end-time purposes. 
• Lord bring the Church to an understanding, light, godliness that she may fulfill the role you have called her to!
• May the Church understand your Word and respond to the altar call of Romans 2:1-2
• Thank you for those in the Church who know, who intercede, who teach without apology those things
• Lord, remove the opinionated attitude of the Church that is informed more by the media than the Word of God
• Lord let the Church do mercy as it is called to in Romans 11:30-31 (See the ESV for a very good translation of these verses)
• Lord, the Church is so filled with false teachings, bring light dear Lord. 
• Let the Church come back to the Word, let the Word become central in it preaching
• Let the Church desire, like Paul, to get a hold of your heart and lend itself for the fulfillment of your will in the same passion

We prayed for the formation of a government in Israel
We are just a few days before the time to form a government runs out, and new elections are declared. Avigdor Liberman has promised that his party will make some fateful decisions during this coming weekend, all to avoid the 3rd election. 

The whole thing points to the rather awful condition in which our political system finds itself. It also points to the deep philosophical differences and visions regarding Israel's character and future.

• We thanked God for His eternal plan, using Romans 9:4-5
• We thanked God that His Word cannot be broken
• We thanked God for His promises regarding this land and its role in the world
• We prayed for God to move sovereignly to align Israel with that role
• We prayed that God will give us a government that will even unwittingly carry out His will for this time
• We prayed that He will provide us with a government that will fit His own prophetic time 
• We prayed for the Lord to move and give us governors after His own heart, and that will be aligned with Him. 
  
• Egos -Lord deflate egos, bring down the pride of man
• Remove the impasse 
• Lord give us a government that will do much good for this country, according to your promises

Blessings from Jerusalem,