“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,






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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.
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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,