Jerusalem All City Prayer Meeting tonight
Tonight we will be co-leading an all-city prayer meeting for the elections, for security, for revival in Body of Messiah and for the salvation of Israel. Please be in prayer with us for those things and please be in prayer with us for the prayer meeting itself. It will take place tonight from 19:00 to 21:00 for unity among the leadership, for clarity, for prayers that are Word-based and in the Will of God and for a true spirit of prayer on all of us as we intercede.

High tension in Gaza
As you might already know, Hamas launched a rocket into the heart of Israel this week. Israel attacked in Gaza and has moved two brigades and other forces to the area in anticipation of a possible military operation. Tensions are high in anticipation of a massive march on the anniversary of Land Day. 

Read about it here 

In our prayer meeting last night, we prayed: 

For the Elections
Reading Jeremiah 23:1-12 regarding the shepherds of Israel.
Although we will never have the perfect shepherd till Yeshua sits on the throne of His father David to rule over Jacob (Luke 1:32-33) nevertheless, God loves His people and cares for them via good leaders. Oh, how we need good leadership in the Land! We need good leaders to protects us (security), we need good leaders to care for us as a nation (social equity, economy, infrastructure, health, welfare, work and jobs, transportation and so much more.) We need leadership free from corruption, an administration that will not sell the people to make coalition deals that will give them the majority. Corruption and inefficiency are on all levels of government, down to the municipal and local.

• We prayed that the Lord will arrange for a government which will take care of the people
• We prayed for leaders who would have the heart of fathers and would want to care for the nation as their goal
• We prayed God would kick out of office those who abuse their office, the selfish and corrupt.
• We prayed that God would raise up godly leaders, or at least give us leaders with a high moral standard
• We prayed for leaders who would understand the season Israel is in and act in wisdom
• We prayed for leaders who would be competent to rule (some of the ones who are at the head of different ministries are utterly incompetent,)
• We prayed for leaders who would carry out justice in the land
• We prayed that the Lord would bring about a coalition of parties that will free us from the orthodox and religious
• We prayed for a coalition that would be good for the land economically 
• We prayed for a coalition that would maintain law, order, and justice
• We prayed for a coalition that would be an instrument in His hands according to His purposes for the nation at this time.

For Israel’s salvation 
Ex. 19:17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
Yeshua was crucified out of the camp (outside of the city of Jerusalem.) Israeli society and definitely the government (under the influence of the Orthodox) have pushed us, Messianic Believers, outside of the camp. 

• We prayed God would bring all of Israel out of the camp to meet the one they have rejected; their savior and their King. 
• We asked God to send the Holy Spirit to convince Israel of sin (John 16:8)
• We pleaded with God to break the bondage of Israel to sin and the rejection of the Messiah; it is worse than the slavery of Israel in Egypt.
• We asked the Lord to come in great mercies to His people
• We asked God to reveal His crucified Son to the Jewish people, who died for them in His great love and compassion to make a New Covenant with them
• We asked the Lord to come to the blind, the desperate the suffering, those on the edges of society (they usually come to Messiah first, ahead of the rich and the famous and the learned). 
• One of our intercessors prayed specifically for Holocaust survivors as she works with them daily.

We prayed for the Body of Messiah - for a reviving and a return to Messiah Himself

Here is a quote from Leonard Ravenhill (whoever says they enjoy reading Ravenhill, has never really understood him. One goes away smarting after reading him.

“The Church began with these men in the ‘‘upper room’’ agonizing—and today is ending with men in the supper room organizing. The Church began in revival; we are ending in ritual. We started virile; we are ending sterile. Charter members of the Church were men of heat and no degrees; today many hold degrees, but have no heat! Ah, brethren, flame-hearted men are the crying need of the hour!"(1)

More than anything else we need praying men and women who have made it their life to fall on their face and seek His face, and cry for a Body that has turned away from God. We feel this need, greatly, here in the Land. And we cry to God to give us an awakening that will burn the dross away, that will cause us to run back to God, that will arrest our hearts in the sight of His glory and grace, His wounds and His crown. Oh, how we need to honor God and to fear Him again. Mal. 1:6 A son honors his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honor? and if I be a master, where is my fear?.... 

• Oh, pray with us for the Fire of Heaven to fall once again on dedicated, turned, willing, surrendered hearts! 

We prayed for Israel’s defense from a slightly different angle
Israel is militarily strong at the moment (may we continue to grow in strength), but power is not only physical; it must also be moral. It is not for naught that the nations, primarily through the UN have been attacking Israel on this very point, and blaming Israel for crimes against humanity. 

But God is way ahead and over 2700 years ago He already spoke a promise to deal with this issue. We should pray into it and from it for Israel’s moral strength.

Is. 54:17  No weapon formed against you shall prosper,  And every tongue which rises against you in judgment  You shall condemn.  This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,  And their righteousness is from Me,”  Says the LORD.

Nathan Alterman was a very prominent poet in Israel during its founding and first years. Here is a stanza from a poem that touches on this very issue. I hope you are inspired to pray and stand for Israel’s inner strength as well as its military strength.

Satan then said; 
How do I overcome This besieged one? 
He has courage And talent,
 And implements of war
 And resourcefulness. only this shall I do, 
I'll dull his mind And cause him to forget 
The justice of his cause.

Blessings from Jerusalem,



_____________________________
1. Ravenhill, Leonard. Why Revival Tarries (p. 155). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

Purim
Tonight is Purim eve, and Israel will be celebrating the story of the Jews deliverance from Haman, (in Persia) through prayer and intercession.

One of the traditions of Purim is to eat Hamantaschen. These are baked dainties usually filled  with poppy seeds. Hamantaschen mean Haman’s ears.

Quite gruesome, isn’t it?

Of course, maybe Haman was too quick to listen to his wife’s and his so-called friends' advice: “Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.”  Esth. 5:14

Perhaps Zeresh was too quick to give such advice to her dear husband. In the next chapter, once things begin to unravel by the providence of God, she tells him, “….If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.” Esth. 6:13

Hmmm…seems Zeresh should have done some research before advising her husband. 

Iran (Persia of old) still threatens Israel’s existence 
Here are some headlines recently published:
January 21, 2019: “Iran threatens to eliminate Israel from the earth as tensions escalate over Syria airstrikes.”

January 21, 2019: “commander of Iranian army's air force  says his troops "cannot wait to fight Israel and wipe it off the planet,"

January 29, 2019: “Iran threatens Israel with ‘inferno,’ vows to improve missile accuracy.”

But maybe they need to do some research (as in reading the Bible) before they threaten Israel. 

God’s amazing love and faithfulness to His people and covenant
But they do not know that God has other plans and that no one can thwart God’s love, commitment to His people, and His plans and purposes for Israel and for the whole earth. 

Hear the heart of God, let it fill your own heart with gratefulness and thanks to Him who is Israel’s and your God! 

Is. 54:5 For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.
Is. 54:6 For the LORD has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Like a youthful wife when you were refused,” Says your God.
Is. 54:7  “For a mere moment I have forsaken you, But with great mercies I will gather you.
Is. 54:8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”  Says the LORD, your Redeemer.
Is. 54:9 “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
Is. 54:10 For the mountains shall depart  And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you,  Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”  Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.
Is. 54:11 “O you afflicted one,Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires.
Is. 54:12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal,  And all your walls of precious stones.
Is. 54:13 All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children.
Is. 54:14 In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;  And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
Is. 54:15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.
Is. 54:16 “Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
Is. 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment  You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,  And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD. 

His purpose for the earth
Jer. 3:17 “At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts.

Called to Intercede and pray
Esth. 4:14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

The time was a time of need and danger, and Esther had a choice. She could ignore the danger and threat to her people and continue to enjoy palace life, or she could risk all for God and for Israel’s destiny.

We have a choice too. We can continue to be oblivious, as many in the Body are, to time we are living in, or we can choose to stand, to pray, to intercede and be part of that great move of God to deliver His nation, and to complete His purpose and plans for the earth. 

Oh, may we all be stirred and challenged to stand up and pray instead of just enjoying “palace life”. May we stir ourselves up to get a hold of God and intercede for His Will to be done on earth as it is done in heaven! 

• Please pray into Iran’s treats, they are real, and they are exceedingly dangerous.
• Please pray into the situation with Hezbollah (an Iranian proxy) in Lebanon. Our former chief of staff just disclosed, in a recent speech, that during his tenure Israel and Hezbollah were, several times, a hair’s breadth away from an all-out war.
• Please pray for Israel as it comes under the pressure from the nations - such ill will in the nations, so permeates the atmosphere, it is hard to take in. 
• Please pray into the Trump’s Peace Plan - it will be unveiled supposedly after Israel’s elections (April 9)
• Please pray into Israel’s elections. Seems like we are in a terrible crisis of leadership. The Lord has promised to give us good leaders (Jeremiah 23:1-4) May it be so now at this elections. 

 

• Please pray also for us, we are believing the Lord for revival. The believers in the land are in dire need of it. We are believing the Lord for an awakening, for a return to the Lord, for a revelation of the cross and the crucified one in our midst. For a humbling and coming down of ourselves. For a true, heart felt, pure worship of God in life and deed as well as song and proclamation. For victory over a self-centered life. For a spirit of volunteering to serve the Lord in the Body. For many to turn to God in seeking His face. For believers to awaken to the need for intercession and prayer. 

Thank you and may you experience the Lord’s delivering mercies in your own life!

Blessings from Jerusalem,

The night Jeremiah had a good night sleep
For over 40 years, Jeremiah ministered in Judah, proclaiming the Word of the Lord. For this, he was beaten, imprisoned, reviled, rejected, and blamed for conspiring with the enemy. For all of his efforts, he saw zero results. That’s right, zero! Nothing. No change. 

Yet, he faithfully spoke and wrote the Word of the Lord and is known today as one of the great prophets.  Maybe we in the west need to redefine the word ‘success,’ and ‘results,’ and ‘fruit’ when it comes to ministry. 

But there was one night, oh what a night, in which the Lord revealed to Jeremiah His Mercies and Goodness and Love for His people. Beyond showing him the restoration of the Jews from Babylon, He revealed to him the ultimate restoration of Israel in the last days. All centered and founded on the New Covenant! And this of course, through His Son. 

There was one night in which Jeremiah saw the Mercy, the Goodness of God such as He had never seen it before. There was one night, in which Jeremiah heard such words of love and grace that brought his weary soul rest. "After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me." Jer. 31:26

Oh, what a revelation this is! How wonderful for us too, those who pray here in the Land, and for all you who pray in the nations. May you be refreshed by such a revelation. Our prayer for you is that you will receive a renewed revelation of this Goodness and Grace and that you may find new ‘fuel’ in your tank to keep on pressing in prayer.


We prayed for Israel along the lines of the chapter mostly.
The heart of the chapter is the promise of the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34); the basis and fountain of all the Grace and Goodness of God to us.  

Jeremiah 31:2-4 Redemption and restoration

• We thanked God for His grace and everlasting New Covenant love
• We thanked God for the drawing power of the Love of God and asked God to draw Israel to Himself. (John 12:32)
• We prayed He will indeed become the God of all the families of Israel (Jer. 31:1)
• We cried for the Presence of God in the Land again - Oh for His presence!
• We cried to God that all Israel shall come to know Him through the cross
• We cried to God that all Israel shall know His forgiveness in the Son - “for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jer. 31:34)
• We prayed that God would send upon Israel a deep yearning after Him
• We prayed that Israel would be given a deep sense of its need of the Word of God — We have the book, but it is sealed to us; we do not see the Son (Isaiah 29:11)
• We prayed that the Lord would expose the emptiness of all religion without Him
• We prayed that our sovereign God would remove the veil cast over our nation’s eyes

Jeremiah 31:7-9 Salvation of Israel includes a return to the Land
Have you noticed that the command to ask God to save Israel, in verse 7, is answered in verse 8 by His bringing them back to the Land?

• We thanked God for the millions of Jews of who have come back to the land
• We prayed for a great stirring up of Jewish people everywhere to go home
• We prayed that although anti-Semitism is most evil, God would use it to wake many Jewish people to the imperative of the need to emigrate to Israel
• We cried for God to fulfill His promise to bring every last Jewish person to the land
• We asked God to ignite the heart of Jewish people in the US and release them from clinging to a comfortable life or a particular lifestyle
• We asked God to bring the remaining Jews in Arab countries
• We asked God to especially stir up Messianic Jews in the world to come home
• We prayed for the Lord to break up the ‘iron gates’ in the ministry of interior that are preventing Messianic Jews from making Aliya.  (We mentioned that it must have looked like the gates of Gaza were formidable and unmovable until Samson walked away with them). We prayed God would remove the ‘gates’ that are barring the way of Aliya, even if it means a change of government. 

Jeremiah 31:13-14 The Body of Messiah in the Land
Satiate  (vs.14)  - filled beyond capacity to absorb any more. Fully satisfied.
​Abundance (vs. 14) Deshen in Heb. Fatty ashes left from the sacrifice. Fully satisfied from the sacrifice on the altar - pointing to the future where we will be fully satisfied in Yeshua. He will be more than enough; He IS enough! He will be the joy and All of our heart. All of this is equated to God’s Goodness in the verse.

• We prayed that believers in the land will be taken up utterly with Yeshua
• We prayed that the body of Messiah would turn to seek the Lord as its only love
• We prayed God’s people would hunger and thirst after Him alone
• We prayed for the Body of Messiah to have an eye and ear for Messiah only (See 2Cor 11:1-4 and rest of chapter.)
• We prayed for the Word to rise in our midst, as truth and light giving the Body a taste for God alone, and His Word.
• We prayed for brokenness of heart and heaven’s fire to descend upon the believers
• We prayed for a true and real and straightforward move of God in the congregations to revive them in fervency towards the Lord 

Isaiah 64:1-4 The intervention of God on Israel’s behalf

• We prayed for the Lord’s intervention in World affairs
• We prayed for a redemptive move of God on behalf of Israel that the nations might tremble at His presence and know that He alone is LORD
• We prayed for the move of God on the earth in the face of all those nations who have become His adversaries by opposing His eternal plan
• We prayed for the Lord to “fill their faces with shame” that the nations might seek His name (Psalm 83:16-18)

Thanks for standing with us for Israel's restoration -- all for the Glory of God! 

Blessings from Jerusalem,

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