Shalom everyone,
​
Although I was not present at our Wednesday prayer meeting, I am sending these prayer issues that are on our heart. (We bear these constantly whether we are in a prayer meeting or not.) 

Our nation's great need
Reading the 7th chapter of Acts is difficult for those who love God's people are praying for them. Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Acts 7:52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, Acts 7:53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.” 

What a rebuke! O' how painful it is to realize the depth of our resistance to God and our rejection of our own King and Messiah! 

But there is light and hope in this passage, for among the blasphemers and persecutors (1Tim 1:13) and killers of Stephen, stood one who was going to become a Champion and a Defender and a mighty Spreader of the Faith! Saul. 

• O' how we long for our people to encounter Messiah in the way Saul did! Nothing is too difficult for God! 
• Pray for those who resist the Body of Messiah in the Land and persecute it
• Pray for a mighty visitation of the Living God in this land
• Pray for Yeshua, our King, and Savior to rip the veil from our eyes, that we might behold Him who was pierced for us
• Pray for a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of repentance, and brokenness of heart.
• Pray Psalm 51 for our people. 

We have a great hope, firmly anchored in the Word, the Day is approaching, it is coming, soon we pray, that our people will no longer be able to resist the love of God, the Spirit of God and indeed shall become His People and He, their God.

The Servants and leaders of the Body of Messiah
Ezekiel 44 describes two kinds of servants. One type, "the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity." (Eze 44:10) Those ministers who perhaps yielded to popular sentiments and "served" the people by leading them in the way they wanted, straight into idolatry.

The other kind, "kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me," (Eze 44:15) These servants kept the Word, kept the way, and were faithful to God, no matter what the people wanted, no matter how popular or not they were, no matter if anyone followed them or not; lonely road this is!  

Each will have their reward and place in the coming kingdom. We cannot go into it here, but just to say that the greatest reward for anyone who is willing to walk the lonely road of the Word rather than the popular, of the cross rather than the worldly, is "they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:" (Eze 44:15)  

• This is what we ourselves long to be; faithful to Him. O to be "near" to Him! Please pray for us in this way.
• Pray for the leaders in the Body of Messiah that they would hear the call of God to be His
• Pray for God's ministers here in the land to be purged of any alloy in their spirit or character
• Pray for God's servants to be made faithful to Him, to bear the Word with both truth and love and preach and teach the full counsel of God
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to bring a purging fire into our hearts and minds. Let Him not spare us, let him not leave us or forsake us to ourselves, but rather bring us near to Himself in purity, holiness, and brokenness

He that Keeps Israel
Lately, there has been lots of jet activity in our area. This morning as they passed by, an ex-lieutenant-colonel who happened to be at our home, remarked and said: "We are close to war."  "Hamas," I asked? Not Hamas; in the north (Lebanon, Hezbollah, etc.). "Hamas is nothing" he added.  That was the entirety of his comment. What he meant was that Hamas is not our biggest headache, but Hezbollah is. I repeat it not to alarm, nor to excite, but for prayer. Some think that Israel is not ready, or rather is not in the best state of readiness.

We should keep our watch, we should be alive to God and ready to pray as led of the Spirit. We must be confident of this one thing. Psa. 121:4 "Behold, he that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." And, Psa. 27:2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

Let us keep vigilant, standing on the promises of God for this nation, and for His Kingdom plan. We believe that as was in the time of Joshua, so will be in our times: Josh. 21:45 There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

Messianic believers making Aliya (immigrating to Israel)
Just recently, a young messianic woman made Aliya to Israel. When the authorities found out she was a believer, they refused to give her citizenship. She went to court (the Supreme Court) and lost the battle. 

Personally,  I believe she was ill-advised to go into a head-on battle with the Supreme-Court, for recognition as Jew after having accepted Yeshua as Messiah and Lord. The Law states explicitly that those who converted to another religion will not be recognized as Jews and therefore forfeit their right to make Aliya. This law is horrendously wrong and unjust; nevertheless, our people are not ready to change it. The supreme court advised this dear sister to withdraw her case, and they did not even want to discuss it. 

Yeshua is The Stumbling Block which the builders rejected, and so it seems even the modern builders of Israel have also rejected. We must pray, we must believe for the breakthrough, for a change, but I believe this change must first be won in prayer in the spiritual realm before it is challenged in court. When our people change, so will the law. 

The scriptures must and will be fulfilled. Is. 51:11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

But it must be won in prayer first. 

• Pray for this young woman - I think she went back to the US or shortly will. Pray for the Lord to draw near her and comfort her and lead her.
• Pray for the successful immigration of Messianic believers
• Pray for a change in the Ministry of Interior (which is controlled by one of the more rabid religious parties)
• Pray for the Word to be fulfilled (as in Isaiah 51:11), all things must yield to the Word! This is our faith, and that is why we pray! 

Blessings from Jerusalem,

Revisiting Ezekiel 36
Ezekiel 36 is comprised of two words from the Lord. One, from vs. 1 to 15, is addressed to the land, the second one, from vs. 16 to 38 is directed to the people of Israel. 

In the first part what comes to view is the humiliation and shame the land had borne when Israel's enemies overran it and desolated it. The second part deals with the shame and embarrassment brought to God's name when Israel rebelled against Him as it turned to idols in the worst possible manner. The consequent destruction and exile of the people furthered the disgrace and shame of God's name. (Ezekiel 36:20)

In the first part the enemy comes against God's land, but in the second part, God's people have gone against God Himself, which seems worse and much more grave than the first.

God's remedy for both catastrophes is one: grace and mercy! Reclaiming the land from the enemy and blessing it, and reclaiming his own people and giving them a faithful heart -- such as they could not seem to have before on their own; a loyal heart to love Him and serve Him in singleness of mind -- this time forever! 

The Revival of God's People Ezekiel 36:16-38
God's remedy for Israel's unfaithfulness to Him, is to give them a new heart, a new spirit and to make them His own people. The heart He will give will be a New Covenant heart. Washed in the Blood of Messiah, circumcised and knowing the depth of His forgiveness at the cross, broken by His unfathomable goodness -- Israel will finally come into a permanent condition of being His forever. Only He can supply the New Heart, the Washed-in-the-blood new heart... 

• We prayed for the great outpouring of the Spirit of Repentance upon our nation
• We prayed for the great revelation of the crucified one (Zech 12:10)
• We prayed for the opening of that fountain for cleansing (Zech 13:1)
• We prayed for the Old Heart, the Stony heart to be removed
• We prayed for the New Heart, the heart of flesh to be given
• We prayed for the cleansing of Israel in the blood of the Messiah (Zech 13:1), 
• We prayed for the great sanctification of God's name in His people
• We prayed for the justification of God's name in the earth
• We prayed for the demonstration of the power of God in pouring out His mercies and graces to bring Israel to the place of utter surrender to Messiah
• We prayed  for the Spirit of God to break the wall of partition between God and His people Israel
• We prayed for a hurricane of grace to destroy the walls of partition between God and His people. 
• We prayed God would bring Israel "home" -- to Himself. 

The revival of God's Land Ezekiel 36:16-38
It is utterly astounding to find that the words of the enemies of Israel, uttered so long ago, describe precisely the attitude of her enemies today:

Ezek. 35:10 “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess them,’ although the LORD was there,  (Two nations = Judah and Israel).
Ezek. 35:12 I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They are desolate; they are given to us to consume.’
Ezek. 36:2 Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,’ ” ’

Do not these verses describe what Israel's enemies say and want? Do not these words express the enemy's utter hatred of all things God; all things that pertain to His eternal plan of redemption? 

What is God's answer? Blessing, fruitfulness, grace, multiplication, an abundance of goodness, blessing of the land, blessing of the people, blessing of their work...  All in the face of Israel's enemies. (See end of the chapter: Ezekiel 36:35-36). O the goodness of the Lord is by far, the greater-than-the-enemy's power. Life overcoming death, His faithfulness and love overcoming their hatred. Yes, His holiness and grace flowing from Calvary greater than our nation's sins! Multiplied sins, yet an even greater grace and mercy that will bring an utter change! 

• We prayed much into the current and deep threat from Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas
• We prayed for God's goodness to be poured unto the land and prosper it
• We prayed for God's divine protection over the land and its people
• We prayed for the undoing of the enemy's plans, means, and ways
• We prayed for Israel's utter readiness
• We prayed for God to give Israel wisdom and insight so that it might outdo the enemy's dark and evil wisdom
• We prayed into Zech 12:9 where God Himself promises to withstand Israel's enemies
• We prayed for the Lord to come into the field as once David did when Goliath defied the armies of the living God
• We prayed for Israel to be given a unique strategy to overcome what has bedeviled the whole western world, i.e., the enemies' use of civilian centers such as hospitals and schools to hide rockets and to fight from.

The revival of the God's Body
Praying for the restoration of Israel spiritually, we could not help but pray for the Body of Messiah in the Land and in the world, along similar lines.
O That we might be brought face to face with the crucified Messiah, that we might experience a true revival, sent down from above. 

We shared the following excerpts on prayer. May they be a blessing to you as well. One can easily pray for oneself along the same lines. 

(Excerpts from Torrey, R. A.. The Power of Prayer and the Prayer of Power, Kindle Edition.)

"Prayer will bring blessing, definite and rich and immeasurable blessing, to the church; praying will do more to make the Church what it ought to be than anything else we can do. Prayer will do more to root out heresy than all the heresy trials ever held. Prayer will do more to straighten out tangles and misunderstandings and unhappy complications in the life of a church than all the councils and conferences ever held. Prayer will do more to bring a deep and lasting and sweeping revival, a revival that is real and lasting and altogether of the right sort, than all the organizations ever devised by man.
 
"Time and time again the church has seemed to be on the verge of utter shipwreck, but just then God has sent a great revival and saved it. And if you will study the history of revivals you will find that every real revival in the church has been the result of prayer. There have been revivals without much preaching; there have been revivals with absolutely no organization, but there has never been a mighty revival without mighty praying.

"It is true that we have a terrific fight on our hands, that “our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12), but we can win this fight by prayer; for prayer brings God on the field and the devil is no match for Him."

O' how we need to pray!! 

Let us cry to the Lord dear friends, for ourselves, for our congregations, for the body in our lands (wherever we may be living). 

• Send revival dear Lord
• Renew our sight of you
• Sweep clean your Body
• Send the fire from above, to burn the chaff
• Send a fire from above to ignite our hearts
• Purify our love for you
• Purify our love for each other 
• Until you see only a reflection of yourself in us dear Lord

May the Lord pour out upon you afresh His Holy Spirit, may your heart be re-ignited from above with that Holy fire of His Love, and love for Him! 

Thanks for praying with us,

Crisis:  an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending (Merriam Webster) [or necessary - O.A.]

We prayed into several issues and used the word crisis to describe them, within the sense given above: "a crucial time, or state of affairs in which change is needed and impending."

We prayed into the Leadership Crisis in the land, the Spiritual Crisis, and the Body of Messiah Crisis

*
The Leadership crisis
There is a growing sense in Israel of lack of leadership, primarily as a result of the last few months of the conflict with Hamas in Gaza. We prayed into this without getting into the political issues but beseeching the Lord to raise the leadership Israel needs to move forward in His redemptive plan. (Which includes her physical survival and wellbeing.)

We read 1Samuel 8:1-7  There the people, out of insecurity, demanded a king.  We read it with the desire to refresh our confidence that ultimately God IS our King and Shepherd; we can trust him to give us good leaders in time of need.
We read Jeremiah 3:15 and stood on it as a covenant promise we can call on the Lord to fulfill

• We declared and proclaimed:  God's sovereignty, God Supremacy, God's omnipotence:
• 1Chr. 29:10 ....“Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.
  
• 1Chr. 29:11  Yours, O LORD, is the greatness,  The power and the glory,  The victory and the majesty;  For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours;  Yours is the kingdom, O LORD,  And You are exalted as head over all.
  
• 1Chr. 29:12  Both riches and honor come from You,  And You reign over all.  In Your hand is power and might;  In Your hand it is to make great  And to give strength to all."
• We Acknowledged that God has already planted His King on Mt. Zion: Psalm 2:6-8
• We proclaimed that He is the ultimate leader and King of Israel, even now.
• We asked the Lord for the good shepherds He has promised to give Israel, those who would protect, feed and lead God's people in good ways.
• We asked the Lord to overrule in the current political situation to put the right people, Israel needs, in leadership.
• We asked for great wisdom for the leaders He will put in place, who would be able to navigate the complicated security situation Israel is currently in and the challenging political situation in the world.
• We prayed explicitly from Joel 3:9-14 The rise of nations against this land and people are actually, of the Lord, but are not meant for destruction but for their judgment. It will be God who has the last word! Joel 3:16
• We declared Psalm 47:8-9

The Spiritual Crisis
Matt. 23:39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ”

The problem: Throughout the last two millennia the Jewish people have become entrenched in a deep resistance to Yeshua being God's Son who is her savior and king. It is hard to describe how deep this goes and what a problem that is. And yet, until Israel acknowledges Him as such, she will not see Him! What is the solution? Where will such repentance such as needed, come from?
The answer is: From God. God will have to supply the repentance, the turning, the yielding.
Zech. 12:10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn."

The Spirit of Grace and Supplication is the Spirit of repentance. The Spirit will turn us to God, to Messiah, to the crucified one. It is the Spirit that produces the soft heart, the tender-towards-God heart, it is the Spirit that produces the seeing of God as He is. "...They shall see Me whom they have pierced..."

• We cried for Israel, with the words of Jeremiah 31:16-19,
• We cried for the Spirit's outpouring on the people of this land
• We cried for great conviction and the piercing of hearts
• We cried for the opening of blind eyes to SEE the crucified one
• We called on the Lord to fulfill this promise
• We called on the Lord, longing to see repentance in the land
• We asked the Lord to give SIGHT of Himself to our people
• We asked for the breaking of the power of religion that has kept our nation in the dark.
• We asked for the great conviction of the Holy Spirit to come upon our nation until we say as  one man: "what must we do to be saved?" (Acts 2:36-39)

The Body of Messiah Crisis
It is no secret that the Body of Messiah needs revival. Yet revival is a confrontation with God. Surely He is Love, but Also He is Holy, and He is Truth. We see their union in one place: At the cross. From there Yeshua always comes to us to make us His own, to bring us to the Father, to reveal Himself.  Just today I received an email with this quote. Though it may sound grim, if you read it with the eyes of love, you will get the true sense of it. God comes to us to make us His own and to give Himself to us, entirely! Here is the quote: 
*
"To the church, a revival means humiliation, a bitter knowledge of unworthiness and an open and humiliating confession of sin on the part of her ministers and people. It is not the easy and glorious thing many think it to be, who imagine it fills pews and reinstates the church in power and authority.... It comes to scorch before it heals; it comes to condemn ministers and people for their unfaithful witness, for their selfish living, for their neglect of the cross, and to call them to daily renunciation, to an evangelical poverty and to a deep and daily consecration....Because it says nothing to them of power such as they have learned to love, or of ease, or of success; it accuses them of sin, it tells them they are dead, it calls them to awake, to renounce the world and to follow Christ." (- James Burns in his 1909 book 'Revival, Their Laws and Leaders'.)
*
We too long for a renewed sight of the face of the crucified one. We long to be drawn by the one who has been lifted up on the cross and is now exalted in heaven of heavens. We long to have a heart that is broken, turned, freed from any other love but for Him. O, how we too need the Holy Spirit, to reveal Messiah and Him crucified to us. We do not want only a visitation, but an abiding, We do not desire just to see power and miracles, but to be invaded by the power of God in our lives; our hearts, our souls, our minds and yes, even our bodies.

But it will take a willingness to be searched by the Holy Spirit, it will take a willingness to be exposed or corned by God, till we have nothing to say, but "I come to you without one plea, but that the blood of Yeshua was shed for me."  But O, how great a freedom that is! 

We need God!
We used the same scriptures as prayed for the land: Zechariah 12:10, Jeremiah 31:16-19

• We cried for this outpouring of the Spirit that is Holy, for the Spirit who is God the Spirit, who is Holy!
• We cried for the Lord to overrule in the Body of Messiah great revelation of His crucified Son.
• We cried for the Lord to take over in our congregation and in other congregations.
• We cried for the Kingdom of God to come upon us as a Body
• We asked that we would, as a Body, look to Him, depend on Him, Love only Him...
• We cried for a personal revival in this way (won't you join us in this cry?)

Let us stand before the Lord together, until he sends the rain, the showers we so need. Let us believe and trust and look to God until His Word comes to pass. Thank you for standing together with us in these things. 

Blessings,

God ever the same, His Word is sure
Is. 17:12  Woe to the multitude of many people Who make a noise like the roar of the seas,  And to the rushing of nations That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
Is. 17:13  The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;  But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,  And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,  Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

What with the ebb and flow of world politics, changes in the US elections, the tumult in other nations and kingdoms, it is good to know and to be sure that the Lord is ever the same and that His word is sure! 

Sing O Barren - interceding for Israel in Isaiah 54
We prayed with Isaiah 54 as our guide. It would be of great benefit to you, to read it and absorb it before you begin to pray out of it. 

We looked at: 
The great background of this chapter, The great comfort, The great promise, The great vow, The great fulfillment, The great protection.

Being a prayer meeting, we did not elaborate too extensively on these points but just mentioned them so we could adequately pray from the Word. 

The great background - of this chapter is Isaiah 53. All the goodness and comfort and promise flows out of calvary here. We noted that Yeshua died as a lamb for the nation (Isaiah 53:). In other words, all of this goodness belongs properly within the New Covenant, which God has made with Israel (see Jeremiah 31:31-34)
The great comfort - The promise of children. Jerusalem thought God had forsaken her (Isaiah 49:14-23), He comforted her by assuring her it was not so (Isaiah 50:1-3). Children in the Word speaks of Sonship, inheritance, co-heirs with Messiah. This is Israel's calling (Romans 9:4) - i.e., the adoption.
The great promise - Mercy! See Isaiah 54:7-8 
The great vow - Isaiah 54:9-10  As the waters of Noah! What a pledge God is making here to do His Mercy to His people.
The great fulfillment - Isaiah 54:11-12 The beautification of Israel here is a symbol for the restoration of the spiritual. See Revelation 21:10-17. The JFB commentary connects this spiritual restoration of Israel, to the fullness of the Church. "The glory of the Church on earth, when the Hebrew Church, according to the original design, shall be the metropolis of Christendom."
The great protection - Isaiah 54:15-17  God assures Israel (this is so amazingly appropriate for today), that when the nations gather against Israel, it is not of Him. What is being said here, is that He is, that the time of His wrath and punishment is over. The gathering of the nations against us is not of God. This also means that He will be against those nations! (See Zechariah 12:9) 

We touched on the security situation we are facing, and read several paragraphs from an article 1 
When the next conflict erupts between Israel and Hezbollah, its scale and intensity will bear little resemblance to those of recent memory. Hezbollah today is highly competent, adaptable and lethal. Its forces have gained invaluable battlefield experience in Syria and amassed more weaponry than 95 percent of the world’s conventional militaries, including at least 120,000 rockets and missiles. This is more than all of Europe’s NATO members combined, and ten times as many as when it last went to war with Israel in 2006.

Especially troubling is Hezbollah’s growing arsenal of powerful long-range precision missiles capable of striking targets throughout Israel. Unlike in recent conflicts, Israel’s missile defenses will be incapable of shielding the nation from such a threat. From the outset of the conflict, Hezbollah will be able to sustain a launch rate of more than 3,000 missiles per day – as many as Israel faced in the entire 34-day conflict in 2006.

Despite this quantum leap in its capabilities, Hezbollah is under no illusion about its ability to inflict military defeat on Israel. It will not seek victory in the valleys of Lebanon or the skies over Israel, but in the court of public opinion.

To do so, it will use combat operations to lay the groundwork for an information campaign delegitimizing Israel.1

Amazingly, God's promise in those verses deal precisely with the combined double threat, that of weapons and that of delegitimizing Israel in the court of world opinion.

Is God ahead of everybody or what?! 

How we prayed

• We thanked God and acknowledged the cross of Messiah, we took time to thank Him for the Blood of the covenant, for the atonement, and for His amazing love and grace in taking upon Himself such great suffering, such great wrath, such great guilt, such great condemnation. 
• We prayed much for Israel's salvation and the great work of God. We acknowledged that many times we are overwhelmed by the greatness of the need, than the greatness of the cross and God's power to do what seems impossible.
• We prayed for the fulfillment of Israel's calling as a priestly nation. 
• We prayed for the bringing of Israel into the fullness of Sonship (this seems so far away, but it is only as far in human eyes, not to God. 
• We prayed for the comforting of Israel through the reunification of God with her (Isaiah 54:4-5, 11)
• We prayed for those great mercies to come, which will make two thousand years as if they were a small moment (Isaiah 54:7-8) O for the revelation of the crucified one n our midst. O for Israel to experience that forgiveness that flows from Calvary. O for Israel to experience the Presence of God in her midst again. O for God's love and grace to be revealed in the face of Yeshua! 
• We prayed for Israel's security - Isaiah 54:15-16 Pay attention to the sequence there, of the gathering of the nations, the military threat and the attacks on her to legitimize her. All these efforts by the enemy will be met and defeated! 

Finally, we prayed for the Body of Messiah in the Land and worldwide. 

Paul's prayers in the epistles express God's agenda for the Body. We ought to pray them more, much more. In light of the condition of much of the Body in the world, we ought to intercede, not just telling God what to correct, but asking God to fulfill His Will as expressed in these prayers. 

• In light of Revelation 21:1-3 we prayed out of Ephesians 3:16-19. God will bring the Body of Messiah into the fullness of God! 

God bless each of you as you meditate on this chapter, as you pray out of it, as perhaps you use some of what we have written, to approach the throne of Grace to ask God for Help in time of need.

Blessings,




___________________________
1. Article

​